Les contradictions de la mémoire : heures de gloires et honte des commémorations de la délivrance (xvie siècle – Révolution française)

This article examines the urban memory of French denominational conflicts over the long term, from 1562 to the beginning of the French Revolution, through annual commemorations. It focuses more specifically on Catholic commemorative rituals, known as 'processions of the deliverance of the city', in five cities: Carcassonne, La Rochelle, Marseille, Poitiers and Toulouse. The episodes commemorated date back to the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and the Rohan Wars (1621-1629), and involve the liberation of a town by the Catholic, consular or royal authorities from the threat of Protestantism and rebellion. These episodes, which varied greatly from one city to another, were immediately characterised as miracles worthy of remembrance by the town councillors or the monarch - in La Rochelle - and were recalled during anniversary processions throughout the modern era. In the 16th century, these commemorations were the bearers of an official and victorious memory, but they came up against the evolution of mentalities. Two centuries after their institution, enlightened thinkers rejected religious intolerance and condemned the violence of Christian fanaticism. The vestiges of a shameful past continued to exist until the beginning of the Revolution. The commemorations of the urban deliverances are thus part of a long and tumultuous history in which the official memory must be studied as an object of permanent construction, between glory and shame.