Jean-Clément Martin
French historian
Jean-Clément Martin (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ kləmɑ̃ maʁtɛ̃]), born on 31 January 1948, is a French historian, a specialist in the French Revolution, Counter-revolution and the War in the Vendée.
Biography
Jean-Clément Martin was a pupil of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. From 2000 to 2008 he was the director of the Institut d'histoire de la Révolution française, connected to the Pantheon-Sorbonne University. Since then he has been professor emeritus.
Research on the French Revolution
He studies the Vendée as a lieu de mémoire or memory space. His research focusses on understanding violence, the contribution of gender history and the role of religion and religiosity in the revolutionary process.
He refuses to consider the operations ordered in Vendée by the National Convention, either the infernal columns or the drownings at Nantes, as genocide. For him, "il y a bien eu des crimes de guerre et des batailles abominables, c'est clair, mais en aucun cas un génocide" [there were war crimes and abominable battles, that's clear, but in no way genocide] during the Vendée wars, the French Revolution having been civil war.
Works
Vendée-Chouannerie, Nantes, Éditions Reflets du passé, 1981 ISBN 2865070085
Blancs et Bleus dans la Vendée déchirée, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard, 1986 ISBN 2070762068
La Vendée et la France, 1789-1799, Éditions du Seuil, 1987 ISBN 2020095513
La Vendée de la Mémoire, 1800-1980, Éditions du Seuil, 1989 ISBN 2020105640
La Loire-Atlantique dans la tourmente révolutionnaire, Éditions Reflets du Passé, 1989
Le Massacre des Lucs, Vendée 1794 (with Xavier Lardière), Geste Éditions, La Crèche, 1992
Une région nommée Vendée, entre politique et mémoire, Éditions Geste, 1996 ISBN 2910919358
La Révolution française, étapes, bilans et conséquences, Éditions du Seuil, collection Mémo, 1996 ISBN 2020231271
La Vendée en 30 questions, Geste Éditions, La Crèche, 1996
Contre-Révolution, Révolution et Nation en France, 1789-1799, Éditions du Seuil, 1998 ISBN 2020258722
Le Puy du Fou en Vendée, l'Histoire mise en scène (with Charles Suaud), L'Harmattan, 2000 ISBN 2738449514
La Guerre de Vendée, Éditions Geste, 2001 ISBN 2020095513
La contre-révolution en Europe siècles.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jean-Clément Martin” as french historian. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as french historian. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1414029. VIAF identifies the subject as 24604944. The Library of Congress control number is n82094120. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 2000, 2008 and 1981.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jean-Clément Martin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jean-Clément Martin primary sources, Jean-Clément Martin archive and Jean-Clément research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jean-Clément Martin”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jean-Clément Martin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.