Christian Pfister, name sometimes given as Chrétien Pfister (13 February 1857 in Beblenheim – 16 May 1933 in Beblenheim) was a French historian. He was the author of numerous writings associated with

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. He received his education at the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, and in 1881 obtained his

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in history. Afterwards, he worked as a lecturer at the universities of

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

(from 1882) and Nancy (from 1884). From 1887 to 1902 he was a professor of history at the University of Nancy. From 1904 he served as a professor at the Sorbonne 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 ...

, then in 1919 relocated to the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, where in 1927 he was named academic rector.Pfister, Christian
Sociétés savantes de France

Published works

He was the author of a major work on the history of Nancy, titled "''Histoire de Nancy''", being published in three volumes from 1902 to 1909. With

Charles Bayet Charles Marie Adolphe Louis Bayet (25 May 1849, Liège – 16 September 1918, Toulon) was a French historian, who was a specialist in Byzantine art. Biography From 1868 he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, then enlisted fo ...

and

Arthur Kleinclausz Arthur Kleinclausz (8 April 1869, in Auxonne – 30 November 1947, in Lyon) was a French medieval historian, best known for his work associated with the histories of Burgundy, Lyon and of the Carolingian era. He studied history at Lyon, and afterw ...

, he was co-author of "''Le Christianisme, les barbares. Mérovingiens et Carolingiens''", (

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, the barbarians,

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

s and

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

s; 1903), a work that was part of "''Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'à la révolution''", a multi-volume project on French history that was headed by

Ernest Lavisse Ernest Lavisse (; 17 December 184218 August 1922) was a French historian. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Lavisse is also known for being one of the main creator of the ''roman national'' ("National myth", lit. "nat ...

. Other noted written works by Pfister include: * ''Études sur le règne de Robert le Pieux (996-1031)'', 1885 – Studies on the reign of

Robert the Pious Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters (notably during the two ...

. * ''Jean-Daniel Schoepflin. Étude biographique'', 1887 –

Johann Daniel Schöpflin Johann Daniel Schöpflin (6 September 1694, Sulzburg – 7 August 1771, Strasbourg) was a professor of history, rhetoric and law at the University of Strasbourg. He was one of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s teachers. Biography Schöpflin was ...

, a biographical study. * ''Les manuscrits allemands de la Bibliothéque Nationale relatifs à l'histoire d'Alsace'', 1893 – The German manuscripts of the National Library relating to the history of

. * ''Lectures alsaciennes, géographie - histoire - biographies : 50 lectures'', 1917 – Alsatian lectures, geography - history - biographies: 50 lectures. * ''La question d'Alsace Lorraine'', 1918 (with Ernest Lavisse) – The question of Alsace-Lorraine. * ''La formation de l'Alsace-Lorraine'', 1918 with (Ernest Lavisse) – The formation of Alsace-Lorraine. * ''La frontiére entre l'Alsace et le Palatinat'', 1918 – Regarding the border between Alsace and the Palatinate.HathiTrust Digital Library
published works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfister, Christian 1857 births 1933 deaths Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of Nancy-Université 20th-century French historians French medievalists People from Haut-Rhin Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg