Georges Duby was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of France's most prominent public intellectuals from the 1970s to his death. In 2019, his work was published in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. He is one of the rare historians to benefit from such an honor, with Herodotus, Thucydides, Ibn Khaldoun, Froissart and Michelet.

The Collège de France, formerly known as the Collège Royal or as the Collège impérial founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The Collège de France is considered to be France's most prestigious research establishment. It is an associate member of PSL University.