Bloch, Marc (1886–1944)

French historian, leading member of the Annales school. Most of his research was into medieval European history. He held that economic structures and systems of belief were just as important to the study of history as legal norms and institutional practices, and pioneered the use of comparative history.

Bloch was professor of economic history at the Sorbonne from 1936, Forced out of teaching during World War II, he joined the Resistance 1943 but was captured and shot by German soldiers 1944.

Bloch explored the relationship between freedom and servitude in his thesis Kings and Serfs 1920 and Feudal Society 1939–40.