Joseph–François Michaud (19 June 1767 – 30 September 1839) was a French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

Biography

Michaud was born at either

La Biolle La Biolle (; frp, La Byôla) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Savoie department The following is a list of the 273 communes of the Savoie department o ...

Albens Albens (; frp, Arbin) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Entrelacs.Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...

(then a part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

and a possession of the

King of Sardinia The following is a list of rulers of Sardinia, in particular, of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica from 1323 and then of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1479 to 1861. Early history Owing to the absence of written sources, little ...

). He was educated at

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...

, and afterwards engaged in literary work at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, where the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

first aroused the strong dislike of revolutionary principles which manifested itself throughout the rest of his life. In 1791 he went to

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 ...

, where, at great risk to his own safety, he took part in editing several royalist journals. One of those was the ''Gazette universelle'' that he founded together with Pascal Boyer and Antoine Marie Cerisier. It was very successful until it was suppressed in August 1792 and its editors had to flee to escape arrest.Favre, R., ''Antoine Cerisier (1749-1828)'' in ''Dictionnaire des Journalistes (1600-1789)'', page 15

/ref> In 1796 he became editor of ''

La Quotidienne ''La Quotidienne'' was a French Royalist newspaper. History It was set up in 1790 by M. de Coutouly. It ceased publication in the face of events in 1792, before returning to print in July 1794 under the title ''Le Tableau de Paris'', returning to ...

'', for which he was arrested after the 13th of Vendémiaire; he evaded his captors, but was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' by the military council. Having resumed the editorship of his newspaper on the establishment of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

, he was again proscribed on the 18th of Fructidor, but after two years returned to Paris, when the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

had superseded the Directory. Viaggio in Grecia ed a Smirne 2

His

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

sympathies led to a brief imprisonment in 1800, and on his release he temporarily abandoned journalism, and began to write and edit books. In 1806, with his brother

Louis Gabriel Michaud Louis-Gabriel Michaud (19 January 1773, Castle Richemont – 8 March 1858) was a French writer, historian, printer, and bookseller. He was notable as the compiler of ''Biographie Universelle'' (1811–). Life He became a lieutenant on 15 July ...

and two colleagues, he published ''Biographie moderne ou dictionnaire des hommes qui se sont fait un nom en Europe, depuis 1789'', the earliest work of its kind. In 1811 published the first volume of his ''Histoire des Croisades'' (History of the Crusades) and also the first volume of his ''Biographie Universelle''. In 1813 he was elected

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

, taking up the vacancy left by the death of Jean-François Cailhava de L'Estandoux. In 1814 he resumed the editorship of ''La Quotidienne''. His brochure ''Histoire des quinze semaines ou le dernier règne de Bonaparte'' (1815) met with extraordinary success, passing through twenty-seven editions within a very short time. His political services were now rewarded with the cross of an officer in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

and the modest post of king's reader, of which last he was deprived in 1827 for having opposed Peyronnet's "Loi d'Amour" against the freedom of the Press. In 1830-1831 he travelled in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

for the purpose of collecting additional materials for the ''Histoire des Croisades''; his correspondence with a fellow explorer,

Jean Joseph François Poujoulat Jean Joseph François Poujoulat (28 January 1808, Montferrand-la-Fare – 5 January 1880, Paris), was a French historian and journalist. Poujoulat was co-author with Joseph François Michaud of the ''Bibliothèque des Croisades'', and travele ...

, consisting practically of discussions and elucidations of various points in that work, was afterwards published (', 7 vols., 1833–1835). Like the ''Histoire'', it is more interesting than exact. The ''Bibliothèque des croisades'', in four volumes more, contained the "Pièces justificatives" of the ''Histoire''. Michaud died at

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...

, where his home had been since 1832.

Works

Gustave dore crusades death of baldwin I

Michaud's ''Histoire des croisades'' was published in its final form in six volumes in 1840 under the editorship of his friend

.Michaud, J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.). (1841)
Histoire des croisades
6. éd. Paris. This was translated to ''The History of the Crusades'' (1852)Michaud, J. Fr., Robson, W. (1881)
The history of the crusades
New ed. London. by British author William Robson (1785–1863), with a biographical notice on Michaud by American essayist

Hamilton W. Mabie Hamilton Wright Mabie, A.M., L.H.D., LL.D. (December 13, 1846 – December 31, 1916) was an American essayist, editor, critic, and lecturer. Biography Hamilton Wright Mabie was born at Cold Spring, New York on December 13, 1846. He was the young ...

. Michaud, along with Poujoulat, also edited ''Nouvelle collection des mémoires pour servir de l'histoire de France'' (32 vols., 1836–1844). See

Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

, ''Causeries du lundi'', vol. vii. In 1875, the famous illustrator

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engraving ...

produced 100 pictures for a 2 volume medium folio edition of the ''Histoire'' which was published by Hachette and Company. A detailed discussion and critique of the ''Histoire des croisades'' was done by British historian of the Crusades

Christopher Tyerman Christopher Tyerman (born 22 May 1953) is an academic historian focusing on the Crusades. In 2015, he was appointed Professor of History of the Crusades at the University of Oxford. Life and career He graduated from New College, Oxford, with a f ...

in his T''he Debate on the Crusades, 1099–2010'' (2011).

Notes

References

Joseph Michaud
in ''The New American Encyclopaedia'', 1865. * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michaud, Joseph Francois 1767 births 1839 deaths Burials at Passy Cemetery 19th-century French historians People from Savoie Members of the Académie Française Historians of the Crusades Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration