Auguste Molinier (30 September 185119 May 1904) was a French historian.
Biography
Born in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...
, Auguste Molinier was a student at the
École Nationale des Chartes
The École Nationale des Chartes (, literally National School of Charters) is a French '' grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at ...
, which he left in 1873, and also at the
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
; and he obtained appointments in the public libraries at the
Mazarine
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis ...
(1878), at
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
(1884), and at
Sainte-Geneviève, of which he was nominated librarian in 1885.
He was a good
palaeographer and had a thorough knowledge of archives and manuscripts; and he soon won a first place among scholars of the history of
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
France. His thesis on leaving the École des Chartes was his ' (inserted in vol. xxxiv of the '), an important contribution to the history of the
Albigenses. This marked him out as a capable editor for the new edition of ' by
Dom Vaissète: he superintended the reprinting of the text, adding notes on the feudal administration of this province from 900 to 1250, on the government of
Alphonse of Toulouse, brother of
St Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
(1220–1271), and on the historical geography of the province of
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximatel ...
in the Middle Ages.
He also wrote a ', which was awarded a prize by 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 ...
, but remained in manuscript. He also published several documents for the
Société de l'Orient Latin (', in collaboration with Carolus Kohler, 1885); for the
Société de l'Histoire de France (', assisted by his brother Émile, 1883); for the (', by Suger, 1887); for the (', 1894–1900); for the Recueil des historiens de la France (' 1904, 1906), etc., and several volumes in the '.
Applying to the French classics the rigorous method used with regard to the texts of the Middle Ages, he published the ''
Pensées
The ''Pensées'' ("Thoughts") is a collection of fragments written by the French 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. Pascal's religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the ''Pensées'' was in many ways his ...
'' of
Pascal, revised with the original manuscript (1887–1889), and the ''
Provinciales
The ''Lettres provinciales'' (''Provincial letters'') are a series of eighteen letters written by French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte. Written in the midst of the formulary controversy between t ...
'' (1891), edited with notes. In 1893 he was nominated professor at the , and gave a successful series of lectures which he published (', 1902–1906). He also taught at the . He died after a short illness, leaving in manuscript a criticism on the sources of the ' of
Vincent de Beauvais
Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his '' Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major wor ...
.
His elder brother, Charles (born 1843), is also of some importance as an historian, particularly on the history of art and on the heresies of the Middle Ages. He was appointed professor of history at the
university of Toulouse
The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...
in 1886.
A younger brother,
Émile (1857–1906), was keeper at the
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
and a well-known connoisseur of art.
Works
* "Catalogue des actes de Simon et d'Amaury de Montfort" in ''Bibliothèque de l’École des chartes'', vol. 34
* ''Étude sur l'administration féodale dans le Languedoc (900-1250)'', 1878
* ''Les Pensées de Blaise Pascal. Texte revu sur le manuscrit autographe, avec une préface et des notes'', 1877–1879
* ''Itinera hierosolymitana et descriptiones terrae sanctae bellis sacris anteriora'' (ed. with
Titus Tobler), 1879
* ''Inventaire sommaire de la collection Joly de Fleury'', 1881
* ''Chronique normande du XIVe siècle'', 1882, (ed. with Émile Molinier
Available on Gallica* ''Vie de Louis le Gros'' de Suger, suivie de lHistoire du roi Louis VII'', 1887
* ''Géographie historique de la province de Languedoc au Moyen Âge'', 1889
* ''Les Obituaires français au moyen âge'', 1890
* ''Les Provinciales de Blaise Pascal, avec une préface et des notes'' (2 vol.), 1891
* ''Les manuscrits et les miniatures'', 189
Available on Gallica* ''Correspondence administrative d'Alfonse de Poitiers'', 1894-190
Available on Gallica: tome 1tome 2
* ''Les sources de l'histoire de France (des origines aux guerres d'Italie, 1494)'', 1901–1906
* Collaboration on the catalogues of manuscripts of the libraries of Beaune, Toulouse, Dijon, Chartres, Cambrai, etc.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molinier, Auguste
1851 births
Writers from Toulouse
1904 deaths
French archivists
19th-century French historians
French librarians
French medievalists
École Nationale des Chartes alumni
École Nationale des Chartes faculty