decades of the century. Firstly, museums were created that focused on the
exhibition of national antiquities. This transformation was exempliWed by the
Museum of French Monuments opened in Paris in 1793, an institution which
would be extremely inXuential all over continental Europe, even if it did not
survive Napoleon’s downfall. Secondly, the promotion of prehistoric remains
began at this time leading, later in the century, to their full integration into the
account of the national past. This was made possible, on the one hand, by the
aesthetic romantic interest in the natural and the unknown which rendered
them attractive and worthy of good taste and, on the other, by their chrono-
logical organization which allowed them to become conceptualized into the
temporal framework so essential for national histories. For the period under
discussion in this chapter, however, not the prehistoric remains, but mainly
those from the medieval period were those attracting most attention. Roman-
ticism thrived in its interest for medieval antiquities and history, and this led to
the increase in the number of scholars fascinated by it. Their studies set the
ground for future debates in the century, although the imperfections of their
techniques became apparent by their acceptance of fakes which had already
appeared in the previous period. The Gaelic epics of theWorks of OssianWrst
published in 1760 (Leersen 1996; Sweet 2004: 136–7; Williams 2004: 218), and
others which followed their tradition such as the Czech poems in theDvur
Kra ́love ́andZelena ́Hora, ‘discovered’ in 1817 and 1819 (Sklena ́r 1983: 66), are
typical examples. Not all literature was fake, for in 1818 the Anglo-Saxon epic
poem of Beowulf wasWrst studied (Sweet 2004: 217). At the same time, medieval
art became a focus for collecting (Fritzsche 2004: ch. 3). The third key develop-
ment to be discussed in this chapter is related to the last point. During the early
years of the nineteenth century there was a transformation in the historical
methodology which brought a renewed interest in the critical study of original
sources, not only manuscripts and other documents, but also inscriptions, coins
and statues. These sanctioned the entry into the university curriculum of the
Welds of epigraphy, numismatics and history of art, all three using material
retrieved through archaeology.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE MUSEUM
OF FRENCH MONUMENTSIn the early days of the French Revolution the attention to France’s own past was
strikingly diVerent from that referred to in Chapter 3 in relation to the ancient
Great Civilizations. In an attempt to wipe out the presence of the monarchy and
the Church in the modern French state, a systematic campaign was waged to
318 National Archaeology in Europe