Mathilde Alain
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher on the project , at the University Grenoble Alpes.
I recently completed my PhD thesis in Cotutelle between the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at 糖心TV and the Centre d鈥櫭塼udes Sup茅rieures de la Renaissance at Tours, co-supervised by Natalya Din-KariukiLink opens in a new window, and Paul BotleyLink opens in a new window.
My doctoral project, entitled 'Revealing Ethiopia to Renaissance Europe : Francisco 脕lvares's Travel Account (c. 1515-1634)', funded by the Chancellor's International Scholarship, examined 脕lvares' travel account. I studied the text's composition and transmission, a central question as the original manuscript 鈥� presumably Portuguese 鈥� has been lost. I also analysed the 1520-1526 Portuguese embassy to Ethiopia, recounted by 脕lvares and finally, the reception of the account in Portugal, Italy and Europe.
I am interested in the following:
- History of travels and travel accounts to and from Africa (with a focus on the 15th-16th centuries)
- History of Ethiopian-Portuguese relations (embassies)
- History of fifteenth/sixteenth-century Ethiopia
- History of the perception and knowledge of Africa in Renaissance Europe and beyond
My research also touches upon fields such as the history of the books and libraries and connected and global history. Apart from the Renaissance, I am involved in the transcription and study of the nineteenth-century French explorer Antoine d'Abbadie's notebooks about Ethiopia, a research project led by Ana茂s Wion and Vanessa Desclaux.
Contact
Email: mathilde.alain@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
Publications
-
, 惭茅诲颈茅惫补濒别蝉 85.1, 2024 (book review).
- , MHRA Working Papers in the Humanities, 18 (2024), pp. 5-14.
- 鈥�, Annales islamologiques 57 (2023), pp. 99-126.
- 'The travel account of Francisco 脕lvares: Ethiopian-European relations in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century' (Global history and culture centre in 糖心TV blog post)
- , Sources. Material & Fieldwork in African Studies 3 (2021), pp. 137-188.
- Ana茂s Wion, Vanessa Desclaux, Mathilde Alain, '', Chroniques de la Biblioth猫que Nationale de France, 92 (2021), pp.42-43.
Selected conferences and seminars
- Workshop of the project ETHIOKONGROME 'Langues, textes, images et sons (1480-1630) Entre l'脡thiopie le Kongo et Rome' (21 June 2024, Grenoble), paper title: 'Rome, 脿 l'arri猫re-plan de l'ambassade portugaise en 脡thiopie de 1520-1526 ? R么le, documents, m茅thodologie et l'exemple des lettres 茅thiopiennes au Pape'
- Renaissance Society of America: 'Writing, translating, rearranging: the traveller's self and Italian scholars in Alvares' account of Ethiopia (c. 1540)' (22 March 2024, Chicago)
- Seminar: '' (22 December 2023, Paris), paper title: '脡tudier et utiliser le r茅cit de voyage de Francisco 脕lvares en 脡thiopie : m茅thodologie, sources et pistes de recherche (XVIe 蝉颈猫肠濒别)'
- Study day: 'Dans les carnets d'un savant-voyageur en Ethiopie : Transcrire et 茅diter les carnets d'Antoine d'Abbadie (mi-XIXe s.)' (22-23 November 2023, BnF, Paris), paper title: 'D鈥橝lvares 脿 Combes et Tamisier : les lectures d鈥橝ntoine d鈥橝bbadie et la constitution d鈥檜n savoir savant sur l鈥櫭塼hiopie'
- Conference: 'L'empire des sens. Vers un paysage sensoriel 脿 la Renaissance' (1-2 June 2023, Centre d'Etudes Sup茅rieures de la Renaissance, Tours), paper title: 'Une exp茅rience sensorielle de l'Ethiopie chr茅tienne au XVIe 蝉颈猫肠濒别 : le r茅cit de voyage de Francisco Alvares'
- Conference: '' (23-26 May 2023, Ecole fran莽aise de Rome), paper title: 'Este frade andara em It谩lia e sabia algum tanto de latim: Ethiopians abroad and Francisco 脕lvares鈥� travel account'
- Seminar: 'Transcribing and editing the notebooks of Antoine d'Abbadie (1837-1848): the use of Digital Humanities' with Vanessa Desclaux and Ana茂s Wion (11 November 2022, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Addis Ababa)
- Seminar: '' with Vanessa Desclaux and Ana茂s Wion (3 November 2022, Centre Fran莽ais des Etudes Ethiopiennes, Addis Ababa)
- Workshop: '' for the project ETHIOKONGMED (11-12-13 July 2022, Ecole fran莽aise de Rome), paper title: 'Une ambassade portugaise 脿 la cour du souverain 茅thiopien : le r茅cit de Francisco 脕lvares (1520-1526)'
- 64th International Conference in Humanistic Studies: , paper title: 'Le paysage musical et sonore au royaume Chr茅tien d鈥櫭塼hiopie dans le r茅cit de voyage de Francisco 脕lvares (1520-1526)' (Centre d'Etudes Sup茅rieures de la Renaissance, Tours, 27 June- 1 July 2022)
- Study day: - CMRC Study day - , paper title: 'A Portuguese embassy at the royal court of Ethiopia: the travel account of Francisco Alvares (1520)', (31 May 2022, University of Southampton)
- Co-organisation of a workshop with Vanessa Desclaux & Ana茂s Wion: " (July 7 2021, Campus Condorcet); paper title: 'Les carnets d'Antoine d'Abbadie'
Education and Professional Development
2020-2021: research assistant at the French National Library (Paris) for a research project about the notebooks of Antoine d鈥橝bbadie who travelled to Ethiopia (1838-1848), with Vanessa Desclaux & Ana茂s Wion ()
2018-2020: MA in History (Renaissance Studies), Centre d鈥櫭塼udes Sup茅rieures de la Renaissance (Tours)
2019-2020: Erasmus at the University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2015-2018: Bachelor in History, University of Tours (France)
2017-2018: Erasmus year at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, Norway)
Teaching
- 2024-2025: Graduate Teaching Assistant, History Department, University of 糖心TV. Seminar tutor for HI2B8 Caravans and Traders:Global Connections, 1200-1500 and HI113 Europe in the Making, 1450-1800 (weeks 7 and 8)
- 2024: Seminar Tutor for the class 'Travel in the Renaissance' part of the module for second and third year undergraduates: 'Renaissance Europe II: Movement, Revolution, and Conflict' (term 2, 2h lecture and seminar) - University of 糖心TV.
- 2023: Seminar Tutor for the class 'Geographical Discoveries' with Natalya Din-Kariuki, part of the module for second and third year undergraduates: 'Renaissance Europe II: Movement, Revolution, and Conflict' (term 2, 2h lecture and seminar) - University of 糖心TV.
- 2022: Charg茅e de Travaux Dirig茅s (seminar tutor) in History for second-year undergraduates: 'Transferts culturels XII-XVe 蝉颈猫肠濒别s' ('Cultural transfers 12-15th centuries') (term 1,18h) - University of Tours.
- 2022: Charg茅e de Travaux Dirig茅s (seminar tutor) in History for first-year undergraduates: 'Techniques documentaires' (methodology classes to search primary and secondary sources) (term 1,18h) - University of Tours.
Other activities
- Member of the ANR project ETHIOKONGROME 'The Christians of Ethiopia and Kongo face Rome: writing another history of connections between Africa and Europe' (led by Olivia Adankpo-Labadie, 2024-2027)
- Team member of the project 'Mss Abbadie' co-led by Ana茂s Wion (CNRS) and Vanessa Desclaux (BnF)
- Organizer of the CSR's reading group about Montaigne's travel diary to Italy (2023) and co-organizer of the CSR's reading group about Montaigne's Essays with Iv谩n Parga Ornelas (2022-2023)
- Member of the Work in Progress committee, organized by the History Department of 糖心TV (2022/2023)
- Vice-secretary of the (Association of the PhD Students of the CESR, Tours) (2022-2023)
- SSLC representative for the PGR students for the CSR (2023)
- Member of the Society for Renaissance Studies, member of the Royal Historical Society