Professor Catriona Seth (Université de Lorraine-World Leading Researcher at Queen’s University Belfast), will deliver the 2013-14 Belfast Lecture on Urban Culture organised by the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies at QUB, at 6pm on Tuesday 6 May 2014, 12 University Square, Room 101.
The lecture is entitled ‘The curious case of Mademoiselle de Choiseul’.
In the 1720s, all Paris was awash with rumours about the true identity of Mlle de Saint-Cyr. She claimed to be the hidden daughter of the duc and duchesse de Choiseul. The marks on her skin, medical records, the family’s fortune, her mother’s reputation were all discussed in private conversations and in the law-courts. Her case offers a fascinating insight into Ancien Régime mores and will allow us to address questions which are still of interest today.