The Trust On…
“English Frances”: Conference Report by Dr Katy Bennett

The Yorkist History Trust recently provided a grant in order to allow Dr Katy Bennett to attend the conference “English Frances” (1259–1558): Individuals, Networks, Institutions, Writings, hosted by the Centre Culturel International de Cerisy-la-Salle in a Norman château, from 23rd to 27th May 2026. Here Dr Bennett recounts the experience.

In May 2026, I attended the colloquium, “English Frances” (1259–1558): Individuals, Networks, Institutions, Writings”, organised by Dr Rémy Ambühl (Southampton) and Dr Fabien Paquet (Caen) with the Centre culturel international de Cerisy (CCIC). My attendance was very kindly sponsored by the Yorkist History Trust, enabling me to travel to Normandy and attend the colloquium in person. In doing so I benefitted from not only hearing the other papers but engaging in productive conversation in the breaks, including during meals prepared by the team at the CCIC from produce grown in the grounds of the castle.

The colloquium acted as something of a follow-up to a major 1986 conference on ‘English France’, which resulted in the 1988 publication La “France anglaise” au moyen âge. Forty years on, this new colloquium recognised the extent of English influence in what is now modern France throughout the Middle Ages: through possessions such as the duchies of Aquitaine and Normandy, but also through political, social, and economic exchange, shared mentalities, collaboration, resistance, and conflict.

Yet this conference also sought to challenge English France as a coherent framework. For instance, how far can “English” Normandy and “English” Gascony be compared? What kind of conceptual baggage does “English” carry as an adjective here, and does it map onto how contemporaries understood what England or Englishness meant (and vice versa for France and Frenchness)? Did top-down discourses of authority reflect how men and women living across the English Frances experienced the reality of “English” and “French” rule? The idea of English Frances encouraged speakers and attendees to think about the answers to the questions posed in terms of pluralities, rather than a single universal answer.

The conference took place over four days with seven sessions, all covering different aspects of the theme of English Frances. Day one saw two sessions consider the making and establishment of the English Frances. Two sessions on the second day focused on collaboration and resistance in Gascony and Normandy. Day three considered the practical administration of the English Frances in one session, followed by an afternoon session on the Armagnac-Burgundian conflict and its interactions with the “English” and “French” Frances. The final day’s session examined events towards the final years of the Hundred Years War, questioning how far this marked the “end” of the English Frances. To round off the conference, a roundtable brought together all the contributions and reflected on future directions.

I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at this colloquium, where I gave a paper on “Kings of England, France, or dukes of Aquitaine? Legitimising ‘English’ authority in the south-west, c. 1340–1453”. This explored some of the findings of my doctoral research (on allegiance in Gascony), in particular how far the “English” crown experimented with projecting different models of its authority (ducal, English-royal or French-royal) in Gascony, and arguing that there is evidence that locals also took advantage of and responded to the ambiguity about what exact kind of legitimacy the “English” kings could claim in Gascony. I received a number of helpful comments and queries from the audience, whose range of expertise encouraged me to make connections and think about my research in ways I might not have otherwise.

The papers were given by academics at a range of career stages, from emeritus professors to PhD and masters students. This created a welcoming atmosphere to share work in progress and communicate across generations of scholars. The conference, like its 1986 counterpart and other initiatives over the decades since, also represented a desire for collaboration across French and British scholarship which has at times fallen into segmented national historiographical traditions. This colloquium, and those who participated in it, recognised how far we benefit as historians from a cross-border approach, both to this period of history itself but also to our scholarship and community around it.

Alongside the academic aspect of the conference, it was amazing to spend five days in Normandy and in the Château de Cerisy, the home of the CCIC. We were also treated to a tour of the Château de Caen the day before the conference itself commenced, a castle with no small significance to the history of the English Frances. While staying at the Château de Cerisy, meals were all communal, adding to the welcoming and collaborative environment fostered overall by the conference. I am very grateful to the Yorkist History Trust for facilitating my attendance at this stimulating and timely event.

Katy Bennett is a Lecturer in History at the University of York, where she was also awarded her PhD in 2026. For more information about the funding opportunities offered by the Trust, please see our Grants page.