Claude Courtépée (23 January 1721 – 11 April 1781) was a French priest, teacher and historian. He is known for his comprehensive geographical and historical study of the Province of Burgundy based on his personal observations and deep research, which is still used as a work of reference.

Life

Claude Courtépée was born in

Saulieu Saulieu () is a rural Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Its 2,413 inhabitants (in 2017) call themselves Sédélociens. Capital of the Morvan ...

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

, on 23 January 1721, the son of a tanner. He studied at the Collège de Saulieu, where he was an excellent pupil. He went on to study law and earned a bachelor's decree at the Faculty of Dijon, then entered the seminary and was ordained a priest. He became a priest in the Diocese of

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

. He was principal of the Collège de Saulieu, then parish priest of Grésigny, Côte-d'Or. He then became sub-principal and class prefect at the Collège des Godrans in

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

around 1764. He had an affable character and much zeal for the education of youth. Courtépée had great interest in the history of the province of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, to which he devoted all his available time, including researches in libraries and travels around the province. His ''Description générale et particulière du duché de Bourgogne précédée de l'abrégé historique de cette province'' (Dijon, 1774–85) was a highly esteemed work that was reprinted in 1846–48. Courtépée wrote an abridged version of this work. His writings are generally reliable and are still used as a source. The first volume of his ''Description générale et particulière'' appeared in 1774, and the next five appeared in the six years that followed. He also undertook correction of the portable geographical dictionary, ''Le Vosgien'', and provided some notes to the ''

Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

''. Courtépée provided more than 1,000 geographical articles to the ''Dictionnaire de Vosgien''. He travelled throughout Burgundy, through the hills of Charollais, the plains of

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

and the mountains of

Morvan The Morvan (; historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or esc ...

. He went from village to village noting all the features in his book and consulting documents and educated people about each place. He wrote five accounts of his travels. His account of a journey in 1759 to

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, Dole, Seurre and Citeaux was published by the Academy of

. His account of a trip to

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

in 1759 is a manuscript of the Dijon library. He wrote ''Remarks of a curious Traveler on the abbeys of Fontenay, Ogny, Val-des-Choux, etc.'' in 1760. His accounts of two Voyages in the province of Burgundy in 1776 and 1777 were published by the Eduenne Society. Courtépée had not completed his history when he died in Dijon on 11 April 1781. The 7th volume of his ''Description générale et particulière'' was prepared by a friend, and is less complete than the others.

Publications

Publications by Claude Courtépée included: * * * * *

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtepee, Claude 1721 births 1781 deaths People from Saulieu French abbots 18th-century French historians Contributors to the Supplement of the Encyclopédie (1776–1780)