Des « études » médiévales à « l’histoire » médiévale : l’essor d’une spécialité dans les universités québécoises francophones

Abstract

This paper examines the process by which medieval history became a specialized area of research among history departments of francophone universities of Quebec, from 1942 to the present. For more than forty years, the Institut d’études médiévales de Montréal was the dominant institution in the study of medieval philosophy, theology, and, later, literature. During the 1980s, however, its leadership declined and gradually passed to the various history departments. This had the consequence of transforming the multidisciplinary domain of medieval studies into the disciplinary field of medieval history.