Charles Rollin (January 30, 1661 in Paris - December 14, 1741 in Paris) was a French historian and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, whose popularity in his time combined with becoming forgotten by later generations makes him an epithet, applied to historians such as Jean Charles Leonard de Sismondi.

Life

Rollin was the son of a cutler, and at the age of 22 was made a master in the

Collège du Plessis , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. In 1694 he was rector of the University of Paris, rendering great service among other things by reviving the study of Greek. He held that post for two years instead of one, and in 1699 was appointed principal of the Collège de Beauvais. Rollin held Jansenist principles, and even went so far as to defend the miracles supposed to be worked at the tomb of

François de Paris François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

, commonly known as Deacon Paris. Unfortunately his religious opinions deprived him of his appointments and disqualified him for the rectorship, to which in 1719 he had been re-elected. It is said that the same reason prevented his election to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, though he was a member of the Academie des Inscriptions. Shortly before his death he protested publicly against the acceptance of the bull '' Unigenitus''.

Works

Rollin's literary work dates chiefly from the later years of his life, when he had been forbidden to teach. His once famous ''Ancient History'' (french: Histoire Ancienne, 12 vols., Paris, 1730–38) and the less generally read ''Roman History''. (', only five of nine volumes finished by the time of his death) were avowed compilations, uncritical and somewhat inaccurate. But they instructed and interested, generation after generation. A more original and really important work was his ''Treatise on Education'' (', Paris, 1726–31), which contains a summary of what was even then a reformed and innovative system of education, discarding the medieval traditions that had lingered in France, emphasizing the study of national history after dropping Latin for vernacular in textbooks. Rollin himself didn't begin writing in French until age 60.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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. vi. *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rollin, Charles 1661 births 1741 deaths University of Paris faculty Rectors of the University of Paris Writers from Paris French educators 18th-century French historians 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers Collège de France faculty