Gabriel Monod (7 March 1844 – 10 April 1912) was a French historian, the nephew of Adolphe Monod.

Biography

Born in Ingouville,

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

, he was educated at

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

then went to

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 ...

to complete his education, lodging with the de Pressensé family. The influence of Edmond de Pressensé, a pastor and large-minded

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, and of Madame de Pressensé, a woman of superior intellect and refined feeling, who devoted her life to educational works and charity, made a great impression on him. In 1865 he left the École normale supérieure, and went to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he studied at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

and Humboldt University in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The teaching of Georg Waitz definitely directed his studies towards the history 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 ...

. Returning to France in 1868 he was nominated by Victor Duruy to give lectures on history, following the method used in German seminaries, at the École des hautes études. When the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

broke out, Gabriel Monod, with his cousins Alfred and Sarah Monod, organized an

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

with which he followed the whole campaign, from Sedan to

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. He wrote a small book of memoirs of this campaign, ''Allemands et Français'' (1871), in which he spoke of the conquerors without bitterness; this attitude was all the more praiseworthy as his mother was originally from

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 he was unable to resign himself to the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. The war being over he returned to teaching. At this period of his life he wrote '' Grégoire de Tours et Marius d'Avenche'' (1872); ''Frédégaire'', whose history, taken from original manuscripts, he published in 1885; a translation of a book of W. Junghans, ''Histoire critique des règnes de Childerich et de Chlodovech'', with introduction and notes (1879); ''Études critiques sur les sources de l'histoire carolingienne'' (1898, 1st part only published); and ''Bibliographie de l'histoire de France'' (1888). He himself said that his pupils were his best books; he intended to teach them not so much new facts as the way to study, endeavouring to develop in them an idea of criticism and truth. They showed their gratitude by dedicating a book to him in 1896, ''Études d'histoire du moyen âge'', and after his retirement in 1905 by having his features engraved on a slab (see ''À Gabriel Monod, en souvenir de son enseignement: École pratique des hautes études'', 1868–1905, ''École normale supérieure'', 1880–1904. 26 May 1907). Monod married Olga Herzen, daughter of Russian political thinker Alexander Herzen, in 1873. In 1876 he founded the ''Revue Historique'', which rapidly became a great authority on scientific education. Some of his articles in this and other periodicals were put together in book form, ''Les Maîtres de l'histoire: Ernest Renan, Hippolyte Taine, Jules Michelet'' (1894); ''Portraits et souvenirs'' (1897: on

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, Fustel de Coulanges, Victor Duruy, etc.) In 1903 he published ''Souvenirs d'adolescence'', and in 1905 ''Études sur Michelet, sa vie et ses Œuvres''. Gabriel Monod died in 1912 in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and is buried there in the Cimetière des Gonards.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monod, Gabriel 1844 births 1912 deaths People from Seine-Maritime 19th-century French historians French medievalists French people of the Franco-Prussian War École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Burials at the Cimetière des Gonards