Ulysse Chevalier (24 February 1841 – 27 October 1923) was a French

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

and

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 ...

. Born in

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a subprefecture of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its centre. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,933. Rambouillet lies ...

, he published many works on the history of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

, e.g. the

cartularies A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of the church and the town of

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

(1868), of the abbey of Saint André le-Bas at

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.diocese of Vienne (1889), of the abbey of Saint Chaifre at Le Monestier (1884), the inventories and several collections of archives of the dauphins of Viennais, and a ''Bibliothèque liturgique'' in six volumes (1893–1897), the third and fourth volumes of which constitute the ''Repertorium hymnologicum'', containing more than 20,000 articles. Chevalier's principal work is the ''Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen âge''. The first part, ''Bio-bibliographie'' (1875–1886), contains the names of all the historical personages alive between the years 1 and 1500 who are mentioned in printed books, together with precise references. The second part, ''Topo-bibliographie'' (1894–1903), contains not only the names of places mentioned in books on the history of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, but, in a general way, everything not included in the ''Bio-bibliographie''. The ''Répertoire'' as a whole is a mass of useful information, and is one of the most important bibliographical monuments ever devoted to the study of medieval history. Though a Catholic priest and professor of history at the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

university of

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 ...

, the Abbé (afterwards Canon) Chevalier maintained an independent critical attitude even on religious questions. In the controversy on the authenticity of the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...

(''sudario''), he worked by tracing back the history of the cloth, which was undoubtedly used as a shroud, but he argued was not produced before the 14th century and was probably no older (''Le Saint Suaire de Lirey-Chambéry, Turin et les défenseurs de son authenticité''). In 2006 French historian

Emmanuel Poulle Emmanuel Poulle (8 June 1928 – 1 August 2011) was a French archivist and historian, specialist in the history of science and the medieval period and was a member of the Institut de France. Honours He was an officier of the Légion d'honneur ...

wrote in a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

journal that Ulysse Chevalier showed in this case

intellectual dishonesty Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterised by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways: * One's personal beliefs or politics do not interfere with the pursuit of truth ...

. According to Poulle, Chevalier deliberately did not correctly mention the Papal bulls of

antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

issued in 1390. In fact Clement VII never opted for the forgery thesis.

, « Le linceul de Turin victime d'Ulysse Chevalier », ''Revue d'histoire de l'Eglise de France'', 2006, vol. 92, n° 229, p. 343-35

/ref> In ''Notre Dame de Lorette. Étude critique sur l’authenticité de la Santa Casa'' (1906), he built his analysis on false documents, produced in the 19th century, to argue that the miraculous translation of the Santa Casa (the Holy House) was a legend.

References

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chevalier, Ulysse 1841 births 1923 deaths People from Rambouillet 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French bibliographers Researchers of the Shroud of Turin French male writers