Louis Veuillot (11 October 1813 – 7 March 1883) was a French journalist, author and anti-Semite who helped to popularize ultramontanism (a philosophy favoring Papal supremacy).

Career overview

Veuillot was born of humble parents in

Boynes Boynes () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loiret department The following is the list of the 325 communes of the Loiret department of France. The communes cooperate in th ...

(

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.< ...

). When he was five years of age, his parents relocated to Paris. With little education, he gained employment in a lawyer's office, and was sent in 1830 to serve with a newspaper of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

, and afterwards to

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also ...

. He returned to Paris in 1837, and a year later visited Rome during

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

. There he embraced ultramontane sentiments, and became an ardent champion of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The results of his conversion were published in ''Pélerinages en Suisse'' (1839), ''Rome et Lorette'' (1841) and other publications. In 1840, Veuillot joined the staff of the newspaper ''Univers Religieux'', a journal created in 1833 by Abbé Migne, and soon helped make it the leading organ of ultramontane propaganda as ''

L'Univers ''L'Univers'' was a nineteenth-century French Roman Catholic daily newspaper that took a strongly ultramontane position. It was edited by Louis Veuillot Louis Veuillot (11 October 1813 – 7 March 1883) was a French journalist, author and ...

''. His methods of journalism, which made great use of

irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized int ...

and ad hominem criticism, had already provoked more than one duel, and he was imprisoned for a brief time for his polemics against the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. In 1848, he became editor of the newspaper, which was suppressed in 1860, but revived in 1867, when Veuillot resumed his ultramontane propaganda, causing a second suppression of his journal in 1874. Veuillot then occupied himself by writing polemical pamphlets against liberal Catholics, the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930s ...

and the Italian government. His services to the papal see were recognized by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

, on whom he wrote (1878) a monograph.

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lit ...

said of him:

M. Louis Veuillot is a polemic worthy of the golden age of polemics. He is singly devoted to ultramontanism; he lives on a small fixed salary from the proprietors of the ''Univers;'' he is a man of the purest and simplest domestic life; he is poor, and has a large family, but he has refused all offers of place and salary from the government, and maintains his entire independence.

And

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...

wrote:

euillotmanifests the temper and breeding of a fanatic, and seems to act on the principle that whoever differs on any important point in history, politics, or philosophy, from himself, must needs be a bad Catholic, or no Catholic at all. We question not his sincerity, we question not his personal piety; but we do question his qualification to be a Catholic leader. His mind is too narrow and one-sided for that, and his leadership, with the best intentions on his part, is fitted only to bring about the very results he most deprecates. Notwithstanding his hostility to those who regret the loss of parliamentary freedom, and his devotion to Imperialism, he has not been able to save his journal from an ''avertissement''; and it would seem that, after having aided in erecting an Absolute government for his country, and in breaking down all the safeguards established by constitutionalism to freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and public discussion, the police have had the cruelty to take him at his word, and give him a taste of the despotism he has been willing to fasten upon others.

Some of his papers were collected in ''Mélanges Religieux, Historiques et Littéraires'' (12 vols., 1857–1875), and his ' (7 vols., 1883–85) has great political interest. His younger brother, Eugène Veuillot, published (1901–1904) a comprehensive and valuable life, ''Louis Veuillot''.

Anti-Semitism

Veuillot was a virulent anti-Semite. As early as the 1840s, he wrote articles in ''L'Univers'' defaming Jews, portraying them as alien vagabonds, accusing them of

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

, and asserting that the Talmud commanded Jews to hate all Christians. He contemptuously dismissed Jews who criticized him as "the deicide people", claiming they were a foreign element which plotted to control all of French society. Veuillot's hatred intensified during the

Mortara case The Mortara case ( it, caso Mortara, links=no) was an Italian '' cause célèbre'' that captured the attention of much of Europe and North America in the 1850s and 1860s. It concerned the Papal States' seizure of a six-year-old boy named Edgard ...

to the point where it put him at odds with

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

whom he had previously supported, causing the latter to temporarily suppress the journal. Veuillot's two-pronged assault on the Jews and liberalism would influence the anti-Semitism of

Édouard Drumont Édouard Adolphe Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917) was a French antisemitic journalist, author and politician. He initiated the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder and editor of the newspaper ''La Libre Parole''. ...

, who worked for ''L'Univers'' in his youth.

Works

''Correspondance,''Tome IITome IIITome IVTome VTome VII
Société Générale de Librairie Catholique, 1885.
''Rome et Lorette,''
J. Casterman, 1841.
''De l'Action des Laiques dans la Question Religieuse,''
Au Bureau de L'Univers, 1843.
''Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ,''
Librairie Catholique de Périsse Frérés, 1864

st Pub. 1846 ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosoph ...

''Les Libres-Penseurs,''
Jacques Lecoffre et Cie., 1850.
''La Légalité: Dialogue Philosophique,''
Plon Frères, 1852.
''Les Droits du Seigneur au Moyen Âge,''
L. Vivés, 1854.
''Le Parti Catholique,''
L. Vivés, 1856.
''Le Pape et la Diplomatie,''
Gaume Frères et J. Duprey, 1861.
''Waterloo,''
Gaume Frères et J. Duprey, 1861.
''Satires,''
Gaume Frérés et J. Duprey, 1863.
''Le Guêpier Italien,''
Victor Palmé, 1865. * ''A Propos de la Guerre,'' Palmé, 1866.
''L'Illusion Libérale,''
Palmé, 1866.
''Les Odeurs de Paris,''
Palmé, 1867.
''Les Couleuvres,''
Victor Palmé, 1869.
''Corbin et d'Aubecourt,''
Victor Palmé, 1869.
''La Liberté du Concile,''
Victor Palmé, 1870.
''Paris Pendant les Deux Sièges,''
Victor Palmé, 1871.
''Le Parfum de Rome,''
Victor Palmé, 1871.
''Mélanges Religieux, Historiques et Littéraires,''Tome IITome IIITome IVTome VTome VI
L. Vivés, 1857–1875.
''Molière et Bourdaloue,''
Société Générale de Librairie Catholique, 1877.
''La Guerre et l'Homme de Guerre,''
Victor Palmé, 1878.
''Çá et Lá,''
Société Générale de Librairie Catholique, 1883.
''Historietes et Fantaisies,''
Société Générale de Librairie Catholique, 1883.
''Études sur Victor Hugo,''
Société Générale de Librairie Catholique, 1886.

Works in English translation

* In ''The Irish Monthly'', Vol. 5, 1877. *
"The Graves of a Breton Household,"
pp. 417–418. *
"The Legend of the Red Lillies,"
pp. 756–757.
''The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ.''
New York: Peter F. Collier, 1878.
''Stephanie.''
Dublin: M.H. Gill and Son, 1883. * "The Essence of Giboyer (A Retort to 'Giboyer's Son')." In: ''The Universal Anthology'', Vol. XXVII. London: The Clarke Company, Ltd., 1899. * In Béla Menczer (Ed.), ''Catholic Political Thought, 1789-1848'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1962. **
The True Freedom of Thought
" pp. 196–205. * ''The Liberal Illusion.'' Kansas City, Mo.: Angelus Press, 2005.

Biography

* ''Louis Veuillot, French Ultramontane Catholic Journalist and Layman, 1813-1883'', Marvin Luther Brown, Moore Publishing Co., 1977.

Gallery

File:Louis Veuillot, by André Gil.jpg, Caricature of Louis Veuillot, by André Gil, from ''La Lune,'' 21 April 1867. File:Portrait of Louis Veuillot.jpg, Portrait of Louis Veuillot, n.d. File:Louis Veuillot.jpg, Picture by Nadar, 1850s. File:L. Veuillot.jpg, Portrait of Louis Veuillot, n.d. File:La Petite Lune - 37.jpg, ''"Masque pour Mardi-Gras."'' Caricature of Louis Veuillot, ''La Petite Lune,'' No. 37, 1878–1879. File:La Petite Lune - 02.jpg, ''"Pâquerette."'' Caricature of Louis Veuillot, ''La Petite Lune,'' No. 2, 1878–1879. File:Caricature of Louis Veuillot.jpg, ''"Les Hommes D'Église."'' Caricature of Louis Veuillot, by Faustin Betbeder, 1870–1871. File:Louis Veuillot 2.jpg, Picture of Louis Veuillot, During the 1870s. File:Louis Veuillot, by Nadar.jpg, Pictures of Louis Veuillot, by Nadar, 1856. File:Les deux aveugles.jpg, ''"Les Deux Aveugles,"'' (Vermorel and Veuillot), by Claude Guillaumin, ''La Rue,'' 26 October 1867. File:Centenary of Louis Veuillot.jpg, Centennial Celebration of the Birth of Louis Veuillot, 5 October 1913. File:Veuillot's House.jpg, Louis Veuillot Birthplace, in Boynes, Loiret, n.d. File:Veuillot's Tombstone.jpg, Veuillot's Tombstone, Montparnasse Cemetery, n.d. File:Louis Veuillot and his Family.jpg, Veuillot, his two Daughters, Agnès and Marie, and his Sister, Élise, 1858. File:Veuillot's Wife and Daughters.jpg, Wife and Daughters of Louis Veuillot, n.d. File:Veuillot's Monument.jpg, Monument in the Church of Voeu National, in Montmartre.

Notes

References

* Ages, Arnold (1974). "Veuillot and the Talmud," ''Jewish Quarterly Review'' 64, pp. 229–260. * Allison, John M.S. (1916)
''Church and State in the Reign of Louis Philippe.''
Princeton University Press. * Boureau, Alain (1998)
"God's Party in the Great Combat."
In: ''The Lord's First Night: The Myth of the Droit de Cuissage''. University of Chicago Press. * Brown, Marvin L. (1977). ''Louis Veuillot: French Ultramontane, Catholic Journalist and Layman.'' Durham, N.C.: Moore Publishing Company. * Cornut, Etienne (1891)
''Louis Veuillot.''
Paris: Victor Retaux et Fils. * Corrigan, Raymond (1938)
''The Church in the Nineteenth Century.''
Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company. * Christophe, Lucien (1967). ''Louis Veuillot.'' Paris: Wesmael-Charlier. * Dimier, Louis (1917). ''Les Maîtres de la Contre-Révolution au 19e Siècle.'' Paris: Nouvelle Librairie Nationale. * Fernessole, Pierre (1923)
''Les Origines Littéraires de Louis Veuillot, 1813-1843.''
Paris: J. de Gigord. * Foucart, Claude (1978). ''L'Aspect Méconnu d'un Grand Lutteur.'' Atelier National de Reproduction des Thèses, Université de Lille III. * Gough, Austin (1996). ''Paris et Rome. Les Catholiques Français et le Pape au XIXe Siècle.'' Paris: Éditions de l'Atelier. * Gurian, Waldemar (1951). "Louis Veuillot," ''Catholic Historical Review'' 36, pp. 385–414. * Isser, Natalie (1979). "The Mortara Affair and Louis Veuillot," ''Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Western Society for French History'' 7, pp. 69–78. * Laurioz, Pierre-Yves (2005). ''Louis Veuillot: Soldat de Dieu.'' Éd. de Paris, 2005. * Le Roux, Benoît (1984). ''Louis Veuillot: Un Homme, un Combat.'' Paris: Téqui, 1984. * MacCaffrey, James (1905)
"Louis Veuillot,"
''The Irish Ecclesiastical Record'' 16, pp. 430–441
Part IIPart III
''The Irish Ecclesiastical Record'' 17, pp. 323–334, 541–555. * MacCaffrey, James (1910)
"The Church in France."
In: ''History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century''. M.H. Gill & Son, pp. 233–251. * Menczer, Béla (1962)
"Louis Veuillot."
In: ''Catholic Political Thought, 1789-1848''. University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 192–196. * Mirecourt, Eugène de (1856). ''Louis Veuillot''. Paris: Gustave Havard. * Murray, Eustace Clare Grenville (1873)
"M. Louis Veuillot."
In: ''Men of the Third Republic''. London: Strahan & Co., pp. 188–201. * Myers, Rev. E. (1903)
"Louis Veuillot,"
''The Catholic World'' 77, pp. 597–610. * Neill, Thomas Patrick (1951)
"Louis Veuillot."
In: ''They Lived the Faith; Great Lay Leaders of Modern Times''. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, pp. 299–324. * Nielsen, Fredrik Kristian (1906). ''The History of the Papacy in the XIXth Century,'
Vol. 2
London: John Murray. * O'Connor, R.F. (1879)
"Louis Veuillot,"Part II
''The Monitor'' 1, pp. 333–346, 413–428. * O'Connor, R.F. (1913)
"Louis Veuillot,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'' 38, pp. 612–627. * Parsons, Reuben (1901)
"Louis Veuillot."
In: ''Studies in Church History''. New York: F.R. Pustet & Co., pp. 427–440. * Pierrard, Pierre (1998). ''Louis Veuillot.'' Paris: Éditions Beauchesne. * Preuss, Arthur (1914)
"The Veuillot Centenary,"
''The Fortnightly Review'' 21, pp. 3–4. * Preuss, Arthur (1902)
"A Fighting Editor,"Part IIPart IIIPart IVPart VPart VI
''The Review'' 9, pp. 535–537, 546–548, 564–567, 582–585, 598–601, 616–618. * Sainte-Beuve, C.A. (1885)
"Veuillot as Journalist."
In: ''Causeries du lundi''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 86–90. * Soltau, Roger Henry (1959)
"Veuillot and L'Univers."
In: ''French Political Thought in the 19th Century''. New York: Russell & Russell, pp. 176–188. * Sparrow-Simpson, W.J. (1918)
"Louis Veuillot."
In: ''French Catholics in the Nineteenth Century''. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, pp. 107–121. * Spencer, Philip (1954). ''Politics of Belief in Nineteenth-Century France: Lacordaire, Michon, Veuillot.'' London: Faber and Faber. * Tavernier, Eugène (1913)
''Louis Veuillot; l'Homme, le Lutteur, l'Écrivain.''
Paris: Plon. * Teeling, T.T. (1905)
"Louis Veuillot and L'Univers,"Part II
''The Dolphin'' 8, pp. 546–558, 693–706. * Veuillot, Eugène (1904)
''Louis Veuillot,''Tome IITome III
Paris: Victor Retaux.

External links

* Catholic Encyclopedia

* Encyclopædia Britannica
Louis Veuillot
* Dr. John C. Rao

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veuillot, Louis 1813 births 1883 deaths People from Loiret French newspaper editors French Roman Catholics Roman Catholic conspiracy theorists Our Lady of La Salette Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery 19th-century French journalists French male journalists French male writers Antisemitism in France Late modern Christian antisemitism French conspiracy theorists