Jean Bérenger
Jean Bérenger (2 October 1934 – 8 September 2024) was a French historian and university professor. He was director of research at the CNRS and taught at the University of Strasbourg before joining the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1990.
His research focused on the history of Central and Eastern Europe and on military history, mainly of the modern era, with work also on the contemporary period. His doctorate studied the history of Austria and Hungary in the 17th century.
Bérenger died on 8 September 2024 at age 90.
In 1974, he urged other historians to study minister-favorites not only within a single country but as a European phenomenon. His influential Annales article on “royal favorites” is regarded as an important comparative study. He argued that the simultaneous success of several 17th‑century minister-favorites reflected broader changes of the era. This idea influenced later work by J. H. Elliot and Lawrence Brockliss in The World of the Favourite, a key comparative treatment. In 1975, he published what, for many years, was the only modern survey of the financial relationship between Government and Estates between the Peace of Westphalia and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
He received the Limantour Prize in 2005. He studied at Paris-Sorbonne University.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:47 (CET).