Henri de Boulainvilliers (; 21 October 1658,
Saint-Saire
Saint-Saire () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
A village of farming and associated light industry situated by the banks of the river Béthune in the Pays de Bray, some sout ...
,
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
– 23 January 1722,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
) was a French nobleman, writer and historian. He was educated at the
College of Juilly
The College of Juilly ( French: ''Collège de Juilly'') was a Catholic private teaching establishment located in the commune of Juilly, in Seine-et-Marne (France). Directed by the French Oratorians, it was created in 1638 by the congregationis ...
; he served in the army until 1697.
Primarily remembered as an early modern historian of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Boulainvilliers also published an early French translation of
Spinoza's ''
Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
'' and wrote on topics as diverse as astrology, physics, philosophy and theology.
The
Comte
''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus'').
Comte or Comté may refer to:
* A count in French, from Latin ''comes''
* A ...
de Boulainvilliers traced his lineage to the
House of Croÿ
The House of Croÿ () is a family of European mediatized nobility, which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1594. In 1533 they became Dukes of Arschot (in Belgium) and in ...
, to Jean de Croÿ, sire de Clery et de Boulainviller, who died in the
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo- Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poiti ...
. At the time of his birth, however, the family's fortune had declined significantly. Much of Boulainvilliers' historical work and political life centered on the decline of the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
.
Education
In 1669, Henri de Boulainvilliers went to study at the Collège de Juilly, one of the most famous schools of the
Congregation of the Oratory
The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri ( la, Confoederatio Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii) abbreviated CO and commonly known as the Oratorians is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men (priests and lay- ...
of
Philip Neri
Philip Romolo Neri ( ; it, italics=no, Filippo Romolo Neri, ; 22 July 151526 May 1595), known as the "Second Apostle of Rome", after Saint Peter, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of th ...
.
Exact science
The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...
s,
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
were taught there.
The philosopher
Malebranche being one of the great educators at the Oratory,
cartesianism
Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. Descartes is of ...
was allowed reference in the classroom from 1662 till 1675 when it was banned by Royal arrest.
In 1673, Henry studied rhetoric with his teacher
Richard Simon, who was excluded from the Oratory (1678) because of his critical Bible studies.
The education at Juilly had great impact on Boulainvilliers: a special accent on critical history had been introduced into the Oratory by
Caesar Baronius
Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), whi ...
and
Richard Simon, and through the science classes he became familiar with the works of
Jean Baptist van Helmont
Jan Baptist van Helmont (; ; 12 January 1580 – 30 December 1644) was a chemist, physiologist, and physician from Brussels. He worked during the years just after Paracelsus and the rise of iatrochemistry, and is sometimes considered to be ...
,
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...
and
Edme Mariotte
Edme Mariotte (; ; c. 162012 May 1684) was a French physicist and priest ( abbé). He is particularly well known for formulating Boyle's law independently of Robert Boyle. Mariotte is also credited with designing the first Newton's cradle.
Biogr ...
.
Since he had also received private lessons in the German language, it is not inconceivable that he was able to read van Helmont in
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...
that author used as a critical means to an accessible reading of
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, and which so fluently worded his rich independence of mind.
Physics
In 1683 Boulainvilliers wrote ''l'Idée d'un Système Général de la Nature'', based on his reading of
Jan Baptist van Helmont
Jan Baptist van Helmont (; ; 12 January 1580 – 30 December 1644) was a chemist, physiologist, and physician from Brussels. He worked during the years just after Paracelsus and the rise of iatrochemistry, and is sometimes considered to ...
and
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...
, followed by ''Archidoxes de
Paracelsus
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
He w ...
, avec une préface sur les principes de l'art chimique''.
By 1715-1720, he wrote his ''Traité d'astronomie physique'' using the Cartesian method, commenting on the nature of gravity and the movement of planets and drawing on sources such as
Jean-Baptiste du Hamel Jean-Baptiste Du Hamel, Duhamel or du Hamel (11 June 1624 – 6 August 1706) was a French cleric and natural philosopher of the late seventeenth century, and the first secretary of the Academie Royale des Sciences. As its first secretary, he in ...
and
Huygens.
He described his method as experimental philosophy and closely preceded the Dutch experimentalists led by
Anthony Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " the ...
(Nieuwentijt,
Boerhave, Volder)
He retained affection for
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
, for which he was famous in Court gossip.
Critical history
In a ''Lettre à Mlle Cousinot sur l'histoire de France et le choix des historiens'', he explained why the writing of history was to be more than the "amateur" collection of dates and anecdotes related to old coins (
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
) and stones: The knowledge of history pertained to a distinct moral character of society. Related causes of past events, such as the 1346
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...
during the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
, could be instructive on related measures in the present — how to do things better or worse. Sometimes we want to know not only what a historical figure has done, but by what right he might have done so differently.
He stressed in his writings the corruption absolutism played in the fall of France when he contrasts the role English and French historians were able to investigate history. For instance, when stressing the importance of
sources
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
in developing fact, he contrasted
Thomas Rymer
Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, critic, antiquary and historian. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish 16 volumes of the first edition of ''Foedera'', a work in 20 volumes conveying agreements betwe ...
's way of access to the London
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
s to that of his own where he had to bribe the keepers of the French archives. For his neutral reasoning, his works were cited by subsequent writers whose works would prove influential in the development of Western political thought and historical research.
Philosophy
Parallel to his historical studies ran an untiring interest in philosophy which he wrote down in ''Considérations abrégées des operations de l'entendement sur les idées'' on the model borrowed from the famous ''
Port-Royal Logic
''Port-Royal Logic'', or ''Logique de Port-Royal'', is the common name of ''La logique, ou l'art de penser'', an important textbook on logic first published anonymously in 1662 by Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole, two prominent members of the Jan ...
'' by
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...
: psychology of the mind, logic, and method; to which he added
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
. His influences, apart from the
Schola
Scholae ( el, Σχολαί) is a Latin word, literally meaning "schools" (from the singular ''schola'', ''school'' or ''group'') that was used in the late Roman Empire to signify a unit of Imperial Guards. The unit survived in the Byzantine Empire ...
of his early education, were
Gassendi,
Descartes,
Malebranche,
Locke and Spinoza.
Spinoza
Boulainvilliers's translation of Spinoza's ''
Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
'' was not published until 1907 by Colonna d'Istria from an unsigned manuscript at Lyon.
Boulainvilliers's study of Spinoza, as captured in the collected treatises published by Renée Simon (1973), shows an exceptional development from a basic criticism to an enlightened understanding marked by the incredibly generous way in which he let his opponent use his own voice.
In the ''Essay de Métaphysique dans les principes de B...de Sp...'' he translated Spinoza's "geometrical method" into an accessible French, closely following its original meaning without incisive criticism.
In the ''Exposition du système de Benoit Spinosa et sa defense contre les objections de M. Régis'' he voiced the defense of Spinoza against his cartesian critic
Pierre-Sylvain Régis
Pierre Sylvain Régis (1632–1707) was a French Cartesianism, Cartesian philosopher and a prominent critic of Spinoza. Known as a philosopher, he was nominated to the French Academy of Sciences in 1699.''Science and social status: the members of ...
. The comte Boulainvilliers was no blind follower of Descartes; he knew how to make use of his method, but he could equally well criticise him on metaphysical points.
This unusual way of writing philosophy led to the gossip that he was a Spinozist and therefore an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. Yet in his persistent criticism of Spinoza's
monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
(through the concept of the "unity of substance"), in writings inaccessible to the multitude, his independent judgement remained unspoilt. After his death his name was frequently used to circulate anti-religious treatises, leading to still more confusion about his intellectual identity.
With
Matthieu Marais
Mathieu Marais (bapt. 11 October 1665, Paris-21 June 1737, Paris) was a French jurist and lawyer at the Parlement of Paris. He is later known by the edition of his ''Journal and Memoirs'' by Mathurin de Lescures.
Life
Mathieu Marais was born in P ...
he shared a friendship with another great student of Spinoza,
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Historica ...
.
Molinos
Less well known but as important in his time was the similar treatment he gave to the mysticism of
Molinos in ''Extrait du livre du ministre
Pierre Jurieu
Pierre Jurieu (24 December 1637 – 11 January 1713) was a French Protestant leader.
Life
He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his gra ...
touchant les dogmes des mystiques et particulièrement contre Messieurs de Cambray et de Méaux.'' By the time the reader finished his lecture he had a complete survey of the works of Molinos, thus recapitulating the famous disagreements over
Quietism.
Such are the traits that can make one regret the criticism — amply justified in retrospect — that Boulainvilliers, elsewhere, brought over himself by his brutal stance on
feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
; traits for which he equally deserves to be known to a larger circle of students.
Bibliography
Boulainvilliers wrote a number of historical works (published after his death), of which the most important were the following:
*''Histoire de l'ancien gouvernement de la France'' (La Haye, 1727)
*''Etat de la France, avec des memoires sur l'ancien gouvernement'' (London, 1727)
*''Histoire de la pairie de France'' (London, 1753)
*''Histoire des Arabes avec la Vie de Mahomet'' (1731). Translation (s.d. 18th century) reprinted (2001) as ''The Life of Mohammad: Or The Life of Mahomet'', Henri de Boulainvilliers. Kessinger Publishing's Rare Reprints
*''Essai sur la noblesse de France, contenans une dissertation sur son origine & abaissement. Avec des notes historiques, Critiques et Politiques ; Un projet de Dissertation sur les premiers Français & leurs Colonies ; et un Supplément aux notes par forme de Dictionnaire pour la Noblesse.'' Amsterdam,
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
, 1732.
*''Analyse du ''Traité Théologi-politique'' de
Spinosa'', par le comte de Boulainvilliers. Londres, 1767.
See also
*
Philosophy of history
Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire.
In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*Renée Simon: "Henry de Boulainviller, Historien, Politique, Philosophe, Astrologue (1658-1722)" Paris: Boivin & Cie, Editeurs, Rue Palatine, s.d.
*Renée Simon: "Henry de Boulainviller: Œuvres Philosophiques" International Archives of the History of Ideas 58. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulainvilliers
1658 births
1722 deaths
People from Seine-Maritime
18th-century French historians
French political writers
Counts of France
French male non-fiction writers