Roland Émile Mousnier (; Paris, September 7, 1907– February 8, 1993, Paris) was a French historian of the
early modern period in
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 ...
and of the comparative studies of different civilizations.
Life
Mousnier was born in Paris and received his education at the ''
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
''. Between 1932 and 1947, he worked as a school teacher in
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 ...
and
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 ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Mousnier was a member of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. In 1947, he was appointed as a professor at
Strasbourg University, before moving to the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
in 1955, where he remained until 1977. Keenly interested in
social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...
, Mousnier went to the United States to learn
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
and
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. In 1934, Mousnier married Jeanne Lecacheur.
Views
Mousnier was one of the few post-war French historians who was neither a member of the
Annales School, or a subscriber to
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
views of history. A right-wing
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, Mousnier had a famous feud with the Soviet Marxist historian
Boris Porchnev over whether peasant revolts in 17th-century France were a function of class struggle; he argued since the concept of class was largely unknown in that period, Porchnev was wrong to identify it as a driver. In Mousnier's view, social classes did not emerge as an important factor in French society until the 18th century, with the coming of a more market-oriented economy.
Mousnier's most notable claim to fame was his argument that early modern
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 ...
was a "society of orders". In Mousnier's view, people in the period from the 15th century to the 18th century regarded honor, status and social prestige as far more important than wealth. As such, society was split vertically via social ranks rather than being split horizontally via class. Mousnier made it his life work to study how the relationships between different orders operated through networks of patronage. Mousnier referred to these relationships as ''maître-fidèle'' relations between those in the socially superior and those in the socially inferior orders. In general, Mousnier focused on elites in French society.
In his view, differences within the same order were more important than those between classes. Within 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 ...
, there were rigid divisions between the ''
noblesse de robe
The concept of the Scottish Noblesse, a class of nobles of either peerage or non-peerage rank, was prominently advocated for by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney during his tenure as an officer of arms. Innes of Learney believed that Scottish armiger ...
'', or
Nobles of the robe {{short description, French aristocratic officeholders
Under the Ancien Régime of France, the Nobles of the Robe or Nobles of the Gown (french: noblesse de robe) were French aristocrats whose rank came from holding certain judicial or administrati ...
, whose rank derived from holding judicial or administrative posts and were often hard-working professionals, unlike the aristocratic ''Noblesse d'épée'' or
Nobles of the Sword
The Nobles of the Sword (french: noblesse d'épée) were the noblemen of the oldest class of nobility in France dating from the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, and arguably still in existence by descent. It was originally the knightly cl ...
.
One of his best known books, ''L'Assassinat d'Henri IV'', or 'The Assassination of Henry IV' examined the climate of opinion and social context in 1610 France, in which a Catholic fanatic named
François Ravaillac
François Ravaillac (; 1578 – 27 May 1610) was a French Catholic zealot who assassinated King Henry IV of France in 1610.
Biography Early life and education
Ravaillac was born in 1578 at Angoulême of an educated family: his grandfather Fr ...
assassinated King
Henry IV. Mousnier's conclusion was that there were numerous "potential Ravaillacs" in France who were looking for a chance to kill the King.
In 1964, he published the private papers of
Pierre Séguier
Pierre Séguier (; 28 May 1588 – 28 January 1672) was a French statesman, chancellor of France from 1635.
Biography Early years
Séguier was born in Paris to a prominent legal family originating in Quercy. His grandfather, Pierre Séguier (150 ...
, who was
Chancellor of France from 1635 to 1672. In 1969, he published ''Les Hiérarchies sociales '', or ''Social Hierarchies'', a study of the evolution of different civilizations such as
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
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 ...
; this was very critical of communist societies and those based on "technocratic orders".
Work
*''La vénalité des offices sous Henri IV et Louis XIII'', 1945 (2nd revised edition, 1971).
*''Les règlements du Conseil du Roi sous Louis XIII'', 1949.
*''Le XVIIIe siècle: l'époque des "Lumières" (1715-1815)'' (with Ernest Labrousse and Marc Bouloiseau), 1953 (2nd revised edition, 1955), .
*''Les XVIe et XVIIe siècles: la grande mutation intellectuelle de l'humanité: l'avènement de la science moderne et l'expansion de l'Europe'', 1953 (1993).
*''Les XVIe et XVIIe siècles: les progrès de la civilisation européenne et le déclin de l'orient (1492-1715)'', 1954.
*''Progrès scientifique et technique au XVIIIe siècle'', 1958.
*''L'assassinat d'Henri IV: 14 mai 1610'', 1964.
*''Lettres et mémoires adressées au chancelier Séguier (1633–1649)'', 1964.
*''Problèmes de stratification sociales : deux cahiers de la noblesse pour les États géneraux de 1649-1651'' (with J.-P. Labatut and Y. Durandà), 1965.
*''La participation des gouvernés à l'activité des gouvernants dans la France du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècles'', 1966. Social hierarchies: 1450 to the present
*''Fureurs paysannes: les paysans dans les révoltes du XVIIe siècle (France, Russie, Chine)'', 1967.
*''Les hiérarchies sociales de 1450 à nos jours'', 1969 (translated as: Social hierarchies: 1450 to the present, 1973).
*"French Institutions and Society, 1610-1661" from ''
The New Cambridge Modern History'', Volume 4: ''The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Year's War'' edited by J.P. Cooper, 1970.
*''La plume, la faucille et le marteau: institutions et société en France du Moyen âge à la Révolution'', 1970.
*''Les institutions de la France sous la monarchie absolue, 1598-1789'', 2 volumes, 1974–1980.
*''La famille, l'enfant et l'éducation en France et en Grande-Bretagne du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle'', 1975.
*''Recherches sur la stratification sociale à Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles'', 1976.
*''Paris, capitale au temps de Richelieu et de Mazarin'', 1978.
*''La monarchie absolue en Europe: du Ve siècle à nos jours'', 1982.
*"Les fidélités et les clientèles en France aux XVIe, XVIIe, et XVIIIe siècles", pages 35–46 from ''Histoire sociale'', Volume 15, 1982.
*''L'homme rouge, ou la vie du cardinal de Richelieu, 1582–1642'', 1992.
References
Sources
*''Hommage à Roland Mousnier: clientèles et fidélités en Europe à l'époque moderne'', edited by Yves Durand, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1981.
*
*
*Hayden, J. Michael "Models, Mousnier, and ''Qualité'': The Social Structure of Early Modern France", pages 375-398 from ''French History'', Volume 10, 1996.
External links
Obituary of Roland Mousnier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mousnier, Roland
1907 births
1993 deaths
French anti-communists
University of Strasbourg faculty
University of Paris faculty
20th-century French historians
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French male writers
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy