Through its digital platform, Projet Colère seeks to constitute a place of research that disseminates, pursues and brings to life Jean Nicolas’ approach. Thus, the database hosted on the website brings together all the information collected by the historian and his team on the rebellion events in Ancien Régime France. Users of the platform can access this data in two ways, either by geolocation or by multi-criteria search.

Using Cassini’s historical maps, immediately visible on the site’s home page, all the conflict events collected by Jean Nicolas and his team have been precisely geolocated. Users can therefore, according to their curiosity and their own geographic interests, navigate the maps to target relevant events.

Each event is represented by a point which can be clicked to reveal a box containing some summary information: the record number; the year and date of the event; the historic site, then the contemporary commune and department; and, finally, the duration and intensity of the event, as measured by the number of participants. The “More information” button which appears at the bottom of the box then provides access to all the information on the event concerned. A new box then appears, which in turn contains three tabs. The first tab (“labels.viewRecord”) displays the data as they were entered into the Angry database, that is to say ordered according to a series of variables identified by their respective labels. The second tab (“labels.viewImages”) displays digitized copies of the original files created by Jean Nicolas and his colleagues. Beyond the importance of ensuring a transparent link between the database and its sources, the original files allow users to have access to certain information which could not be integrated into the database, including event summaries. Finally, the third tab (“labels.viewSourceLinks”) offers, where appropriate, hyperlinks to additional sources.

As the digital platform aims to be as close as possible to the content and form of the files used by Jean Nicolas, each entry thus constitutes a variable which can be mobilized, adjusted according to specific questions and research interests. This is why an extremely detailed multi-criteria search is authorized by the crossing and juxtaposition of the numerous filters which are available to users of the database. To start a multi-criteria query, you must first click on the “Filters” button on the home page. This brings up a box containing five tabs which correspond to different sets of variables: time, space, actors, authorities and event types.

In addition to the record numbers, the “Time” tab gives access to two variables, that is to say the year and the duration of the events. Two years can be selected between 1634 and 1789 to determine a specific chronological framework; Note that you must then press the “+” button to set this selection as a search filter. One or more durations, as categorized in Jean Nicolas’s files, can then be checked.

The “Space” tab opens with five variables relating to the location of rebellion events: contemporary municipalities, departments and countries, original historic places, as well as an indicator of the border proximity of the events. One or more options can be checked in each of these variables to refine the search. Regarding historic places, municipalities and contemporary departments, it is possible to click on the “See more” button at the bottom of each box to view all the options. Again, a text box at the top of these same boxes allows you to directly enter the name of the spatial entities sought.

The “Actors” tab allows you to manipulate eleven variables relating to collective identity, forms of participation or the judicial trajectory of individuals involved in the rebellion events. These are the social categories mobilized, the sex of the participants and the Protestant presence; weapons, insults and more broadly the form of confrontations; the number of rioters arrested, imprisoned, released, injured, killed; etc. Like the previous tabs, many options can be checked in each variable to refine the search. Alternatively, in the case of certain variables, two sliders can be adjusted to filter the results. For example, if we were interested in the number of rioters captured, the two sliders could be freely adjusted between the values “1” and “60” to narrow the search and target events of a particular demographic size.

The “Authorities” tab contains eighteen variables which mainly relate to judicial institutions and the sentences handed down against the rioters. Without enumerating the entire list of variables, these are therefore the types of judgment bodies involved in the repression of rebellion events (bailiwick, parliament, constabulary, seigniorial jurisdiction, etc.); the number and type of penalties incurred by the rebels (admonition, banishment, detention, straitjacket, galleys, hanging, etc.); or even interventions made by certain notables during the events. As before, a combination of options to check, cursors to modulate and search bars allow, depending on the variables, to refine the selection criteria to filter the results. Finally, the “Type” tab offers seven variables that categorize the nature of events. This is the intensity of conflicts, measured by the number of participants; general and detailed fundamental types, variables which constitute a first stratum of classification; then general and detailed secondary types, second layer of classification.

When all the desired filters have been selected in the different tabs, you must press the “Close” button at the bottom of the screen. All the selected criteria should then be displayed; each of them can be deleted individually, or collectively by the red “Clear all filters” button. The number of results found should appear, as well as the records that match the query. Likewise, Cassini maps will only display events that match the chosen filters.