André Duchesne (; sometimes spelled ''Du Chesne'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized ''Andreas Chesneus'', ''Andreas Quercetanus'', or ''Andreas Querneus''; May 158430 May 1640) was a French geographer and historian, generally styled the father of French history. Duchesne was born in

L'Île-Bouchard L'Île-Bouchard () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. From 8 to 14 December 1947, L'Île-Bouchard was the site of Marian apparitions. Four girls aged 7 to 12 reported having seen the Virgin Mary and the archangel ...

, then part of

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

. He was educated at

Loudun Loudun (; ; Poitevin: ''Loudin'') is a commune in the Vienne department and the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars. The area south of Loudun ...

and afterwards at Paris. From his earliest years he devoted himself to historical and geographical research, and his first work, ''Egregiarum seu selectarum lectionum et antiquitatum liber'', published in his eighteenth year, displayed great erudition. He enjoyed the patronage of

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

, a native of the same district with himself, through whose influence he was appointed historiographer and geographer to the king. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1640, in consequence of having been run over by a carriage when on his way from the city to his country house at Verrières.

Works

Duchesne's works were very numerous and varied, and in addition to what he published, he left behind him more than 100 folio volumes of manuscript extracts now preserved in the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

( L. Delisle, ''Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale'', t. L, 333–334). Several of his larger works were continued by his only son

François Duchesne François Duchesne (1616–1693) was a French historian. Biography François Duchesne, the son of the historian André Duchesne, was born in Paris in 1616. He "cultivated history with a zeal" and obtained the title of historiographer His ...

(1616–1693), who succeeded him in the office of historiographer to the king. The principal works of André Duchesne are ''Les Antiquités et recherches de la grandeur et majesté des rois de France'' (Paris, 1609), ''Les Antiquités et recherches des villes, châteaux, &c., de toute la France'' (Paris, 1609), ''Histoire d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, et d'Irelande'' (Paris, 1614), ''Histoire des Papes jusqu'à Paul V'' (Paris, 1619), ''Histoire des rois, ducs, et comtes de Bourgogne'' (1619–1628, 2 vols. fol.), ''Historiae Normanorum scriptores antiqui'' (1619, fol., now the only source for some of the texts), and his ''Historiae Francorum scriptores'' (5 vols. fol., 1636–1649). This last was intended to comprise 24 volumes, and to contain the narrative sources for French history in the Middle Ages; only two volumes were published by the author, his son François published three more, and the work remained unfinished. Besides these Duchesne published a great number of genealogical histories of illustrious families, of which the best is that of the house of Montmorency. His ''Histoire des cardinaux francais'' (2 vols. 101. 1660–1666) and ''Histoire des chanceliers et gardes des sceaux de France'' (1630) were published by his son François. André also published a translation of the

Satires of Juvenal The ''Satires'' () are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written between the end of the first and the early second centuries A.D. Juvenal is credited with sixteen poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman g ...

, and editions of the works of

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert of York, Archbishop Ecgbert at Yor ...

Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philo ...

Alain Chartier Alain Chartier (1430) was a French poet and political writer. Life Alain Chartier was born in Bayeux to a family marked by considerable ability. His eldest brother Guillaume became bishop of Paris; and Thomas Chartier became notary to the kin ...

and

Étienne Pasquier Étienne Pasquier (7 June 152930 August 30 1615) was a French lawyer and man of letters. By his own account he was born in Paris on 7 June 1529, but according to others he was born in 1528. He was called to the Paris bar in 1549. In 1558 he be ...

. * ''Les Antiquités et recherches de la grandeur et majesté des rois de France'' (Paris, 1609) * ''Les Antiquités et recherches des villes, châteaux, &c., de toute la France'' (Paris, 1609) * ''Histoire d'Angleterre, d'Écosse, et d'Irlande'' (Paris, 1614) * ''Bibliothèque des auteurs qui ont écrit l'histoire et la topographie de la France'', 1618 * ''Histoire des Papes jusqu'à Paul V'' (Paris, 1619) * ''Histoire des rois, ducs, et comtes de Bourgogne'' (1619–1628, 2 volumes fol.) * ''Grande Histoire de la Maison de Vergy'', (Paris, 1625) *''Annales Francorum Mettenses'' (Paris, 1626) also known as

Annals of Metz The ''Annals of Metz'' () are a set of Latin Carolingian annals covering the period of Frankish history from the victory of Pepin II in the Battle of Tertry (687) to the time of writing (c. 806). Sections covering events after 806 are not origin ...

. * ''Historiae Normanorum scriptores antiqui'' (1619) * ''Histoire de la Maison de Chastillon sur Marne'', Paris, 1621 * ''Historiae Francorum scriptores'' (5 volumes fol., 1636–1649)

References

External links

*''Historiae Normannorum scriptores antiqui'' at Google Book

*''Historiae Francorum scriptores...'' at Google Books
Vol IVol IIVol IVVol V
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchesne, Andre 1584 births 1640 deaths People from Touraine French male non-fiction writers 17th-century French historians 17th-century French male writers