He previously taught medieval history at the École normale supérieure and the University of Paris.

[4] He graduated from the École normale supérieure de lettres et sciences humaines (ENS) in Saint-Cloud and earned the agrégation in history in 1988.

[5] He regularly attends the Banquet du livre, an annual book festival in Lagrasse.

[4][5] His first book, Le pouvoir de bâtir : urbanisme et politique édilitaire à Milan (XIVe-XVe siècles), was his PhD thesis.

Une histoire des violences intellectuelles de l'Antiquité à nos jours, is about the use of words to wound others.

[11] His inaugural address before the Collège de France, Ce que peut l’histoire, was published as a book in 2016.