Maurice Prou (28 December 1861, in Sens – 4 October 1930) was a French

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

paleographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

and

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

. He studied at the École des Chartes and École française de Rome, afterwards working at the ''Cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque nationale''. In 1899, following the death of

Arthur Giry Jean-Marie-Joseph-Arthur Giry (29 February 184813 November 1899) was a French historian, noted for his studies of France in the Middle Ages. He was born at Trévoux. After rapidly completing his classical studies at the lycée at Chartres, he s ...

(1848–1899), he was appointed professor of

diplomatics Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

at the École des Chartes. In 1916 he became the school's director, a position he maintained until 1930. Within this time period (1916–1919), he also taught classes on ''histoire des institutions'', filling in for Paul Viollet (1840–1914). Prou played a major role in the revival of

history of law Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilisations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and hist ...

and its institutions during the latter part of the 19th century. He was a longtime member of the editorial board of ''Revue historique de droit'' ("Historical Review of Law") and the ''Société d’histoire du droit'' (Society of

Legal History Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilisations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and histo ...

). He was also a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

(from 1910), the Société archéologique de Sens and the Société française de numismatique.

Written works

Among his many publications are editions of

Hincmar Hincmar (; ; la, Hincmarus; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Ea ...

(''De ordine palatii'', 1884) and

Rodulfus Glaber Rodulfus, or Raoul Glaber (which means "the Smooth" or "the Bald") (985–1047), was an 11th-century Benedictine chronicler. Life Glaber was born in 985 in Burgundy. At the behest of his uncle, a monk at Saint-Léger-de-Champeaux, Glaber was se ...

(''Les cinq livres de ses histoires'', 1886). The following are a few of his other principal writings: * ''Étude sur les relations politiques du pape Urbain V avec les rois de France, Jean II et Charles V (1362-1370)'', 1887 -- Study on the political relations of Pope

Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the on ...

with the kings of France, Jean II and

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

(1362-1370). * ''Manuel de paléographie latine et française du VIe au XVIIe siécle, suivi d'un dictionnaire des abréviations avec 23 facsimilés en phototypie'', 1890 -- Textbook of French and Latin

palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

(the sixth to the seventeenth century), etc. * ''Les monnaies carolingiennes'', Catalogue des monnaies françaises de la Bibliothèque nationale, (1896) -- The Carolingian mint. * ''La Gaule mérovingienne'', 1897 --

Merovingian Gaul The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

.World Cat Identities
(bibliography)

References

France savante
(biographical information, includes extensive list of Prou's publications.) * Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prou, Maurice École Nationale des Chartes alumni École Nationale des Chartes faculty French numismatists French archivists French palaeographers 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians French medievalists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 1861 births People from Sens 1930 deaths