Jean Alexandre Buchon (21 May 1791 – 29 August 1849) was a French scholar born at
Menetou-Salon
Menetou-Salon is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Inhabitants of the area are known as ''Monestrosaloniens''.
Geography
The commune is located 16 kilometres North of Bourges on the RD11.
Direction ...
(Cher).
Buchon was an ardent
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and took an active part in party struggles under the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
, while throwing himself into the historical regeneration then taking place.
During 1822 and the succeeding years he travelled about Europe in search of materials for his ''Collection des chroniques nationales françaises écrites en langue vulgaire, du XIe au XVIe siècle'' (4 vols, 1824–1829).
After the
revolution of 1830 he founded the ''Pantheon littéraire'', in which he published a ''Choix d'ouvrages mystiques'' (1843), a ''Choix de monuments primitifs de l'église chrêtienne'' (1837), a ''Choix des historiens grecs'' (1837), a collection of ''Chroniques trangres relatives aux expeditions françaises pendant le XIII siècle'' (1840), and, most important of all, a ''Choix de chroniques et mémoires sur l'histoire de France'' (1836–1841).
His travels in southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and in the East had put him upon the track of the medieval French settlements in those regions, and to this subject he devoted several important works:
*''Recherches et matriaux pour servir d'une histoire de la domination française dans les provinces de membres de l'empire grec'' (1840)
*''Nouvelles recherches historiques sur la principaute française de More et ses hautes baronnies'' (2 vols, 1843–1844)
*''Histoire des conquètes et de l'établissement des Français dans les états de l'ancienne Grèce sous es Villehardouin'' (1846, unfinished)
None of his publications can be described as thoroughly scholarly but they have been of great service to history, and those concerning the East have an especial value of original research.
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1791 births
1849 deaths
19th-century French historians
French male non-fiction writers
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