This article focuses on the example of Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, a public scholar working in Paris before the institutionalization of medieval studies, to examine a moment (The Commune of 1871) when medievalism and politics intersected in complex ways that reflect many of today’s seemingly intractable political conflicts. Could some of the “diplomatic” methods advocated by Fustel de Coulanges – notably the creation of a public “arena” for contemporaries to debate “friction points” from the past – provide ideas for medievalists to engage more actively with the public today?