Case studies

PORTIC developped three case studies, which resulted in three online texts with interactive visualizations of the data (scrollytelling). These visualizations  sustained the demontration but they also made the understanding of historical phenomena possible. The case studies use data on shipping (Navigcocoprus database) and the French Balance of Trade  (program Toflit18).

The first case study (2021) deals with the direction of the general Farm of La Rochelle region, corresponding to three admiralty offices  (La Rochelle, Marennes, Sables d’Olonne). It aims at understanding the multi-scalar shipping and trade of this region at the eve of the French Revolution. It has received the AFHE Prizes in Digital Humanities », category “Science Outreach, at the World Economic History Congress (Paris 2022).

The case-study on Dunkirk discusses the nature of this free port maritime trade and the extent of its smuggling toward the British Islands and toward France. It is presently (April 202) available in French, the English version will come soon ! 

The third  case-study deals with Marseille in the second half of the 18th century. It will be available in English by the Summer 2024

Click on image to access the case study
Click on image to access the case study
Multiscale trade in eighteenth-century La Rochelle region
Trade, smuggling and free ports: the case of 18th-century Dunkirk
Marseille: Prosperity and resilience in the 18th century