Léon Ménard (12 September 1706 – 1 October 1767) was a French lawyer and historian.Gustave Bayle, Leo Menard, 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 Taras ...

. When he had completed his study of the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

under the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, he studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

and became counsellor at the Superior Court of Nîmes. From 1744 he was constantly in Paris busied with historical research. He was a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, 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