Léon Ménard (12 September 1706 – 1 October 1767) was a French lawyer and historian.Gustave Bayle, Léon Ménard, author of the History of Nimes, Avignon, Nîmes: impr. F. Chastanier 1895

Biography

Ménard was born at

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tara ...

. When he had completed his study of the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, he studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and became counsellor at the Superior Court of

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

. From 1744 he was constantly in Paris, busy with historical research. He was a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

, and several other learned bodies. He died in Paris.

Works

His first work concerned the history of his native city and its bishops, and was entitled "Histoire des évêques de Nîmes" (2 vols., The Hague, 1737). Later he enlarged this work, and between 1760 and 1758 he published at Paris the "Histoire civile, ecclésiastique et littéraire de la ville de Nîmes" in seven volumes with illustrations. An abridgement appeared at Paris in 1790, and one at Nîmes in 3 vols., 1831-33. He also wrote: *"Les Amours de Callisthène et de Chariclée", The Hague, 1740, Paris, 1753 (also Paris, 1765, under the title of "Callisthène ou le modèle de l'amour et de l'amitié"); *"Mœurs et usages des Grecs" (Lyons, 1743), a widely read work which became the model of similar productions. In addition he wrote a number of articles for periodicals, especially on topics from the history of France in Roman times. In 1762 the Magistracy of Avignon sent for him and confided to him the task of writing a history of that city. But after two years of work he was constrained by ill-health to leave it unfinished.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Le Beau, ''Éloge de Ménard'' in Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscript. {{DEFAULTSORT:Menard, Leon 18th-century French historians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French male non-fiction writers People from Tarascon 1706 births 1767 deaths 18th-century French male writers