Charles-Victor Langlois (; May 26, 1863, in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

– June 25, 1929, 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 ...

) was a French historian, archivist and paleographer, who specialized in the study of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and was a lecturer at the Sorbonne, where he taught paleography, bibliography, and the history of the Middle Ages. Langlois attended the École Nationale des Chartes and earned a doctorate in history in 1887. He taught at the University of Douai before moving to the Sorbonne. He was director of the National Archives of France from 1913 to 1929. Langlois was a leader in use of the

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...

, which taught a scientific form of studying history. His "Manual of Historical Bibliography" was a fundamental manual on how bibliographic methods, which went along with his studies of the historical method.

''Introduction aux études historiques''

His 1898 work ''Introduction aux études historiques'', written with Charles Seignobos, is considered one of the first comprehensive manuals discussing the use of scientific techniques in historical research. The "Introduction to the Study of History" takes a very detailed view at finding a way to make history as accurate of a study as the sciences. The basis of their method is the all history comes from facts retrieved from first hand documents. These facts are then viewed by the historian from many different perspectives, allowing for an unbiased approach at history. By using methods such as external and internal criticism, the historian is able to see both the reader's and author's perspective on a piece of history. In order to get a completely accurate history, these facts must be sorted into categories into groups to allow for easy research. To both of these men, the goal of history was to make it a learnable subject for anyone so that it may be passed down.The Project Gutenberg , The Introduction to the Study of History
/ref> To emphasize the importance of primary sources, Seignobos and Langlois began their handbook with the now well-known maxim, "History is made with documents."

Bibliography

*''Le Règne de Philippe III le Hardi'' (1887
Text freely available in gallica.bnf.fr
*''Les Archives de l’histoire de France'', in collaboration with Henri Stein (1891) *''Introduction aux études historiques'', in collaboration with Charles Seignobos (1897
Text freely available in Les Classiques des sciences sociales
*''Manuel de bibliographie historique'' (1901, 1904
Text freely available in gallica.bnf.fr
*''La Connaissance de la nature et du monde au Moyen Âge'' (1911
Text freely available in gallica.bnf.fr
*''Saint-Louis, Philippe le Bel, les derniers Capétiens directs'' (1911
Text freely available in gallica.bnf.fr
*''La Vie en France au Moyen Âge : de la fin du XIIe au milieu du XIVe siècle'' (1927)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langlois, Charles-Victor 1863 births 1929 deaths Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French archivists 19th-century French historians French medievalists École Nationale des Chartes alumni University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of the University of Douai French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French historians

''Introduction aux études historiques''

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links