The Faculty of Humanities of Paris (in French: ''Faculté des Lettres de Paris''), commonly known as the ''Sorbonne'', was one of the four faculties of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, refounded in 1896, and an independent entity from 1808 to 1896, based in the Sorbonne building, in Paris. It was the heir to the Faculty of Arts of the old University of Paris, founded around 1200, and to the

College of Sorbonne The College of Sorbonne () was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1253 (confirmed in 1257) by Robert de Sorbon (1201–1274), after whom it was named. The Sorbonne was disestablished by decree of 5 April 1792, after th ...

, founded in 1270. It was set up by the imperial decree regarding the

University of France The University of France (; originally the ''Imperial University of France'') was a highly centralized educational state organization founded by Napoleon I in 1806 and given authority not only over the individual (previously independent) universiti ...

on 17 March 1808. It partly succeeded the Faculty of Arts of the former University of Paris (1150–1793). In 1896, it was joined to four other faculties in Paris to form the new University of Paris. It was dissolved in 1970, at the same time as the University of Paris.

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

and the

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (), also known as Paris 1 (or Paris I) and Panthéon-Sorbonne University (or, together with Sorbonne University and Sorbonne Nouvelle University, simply as the Sorbonne), is a Public university, public rese ...

are its main successors today.

History

The Faculty of Humanities was created by the decree of 17 March 1808 on the organisation of the Imperial University of France. Under the Bourbon Restoration, the faculty welcomed an average of 1,000 to 1,500 students a year, rising to 2,000 under the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

. But the number of teaching staff remained limited: between 1809 and 1878, only 51 professors taught at the Faculty of Humanities. In 1896, the

, also known as the ''New University of Paris'', was re-created as an umbrella organisation for the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Arts, the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Protestant Theology and the ''École Supérieure de Pharmacie de Paris''. The faculty was renamed the Faculty of Arts and Humanities until 1971. Following the loi Faure of 8 October 1970, it was divided into the universities Paris-I ( Panthéon-Sorbonne University), Paris-III ( Sorbonne Nouvelle University), Paris-IV (

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

), Paris-V ( Paris-Descartes University) and Paris-VII ( Paris-Diderot University) in 1970.

Teaching

Its first statutes were put in place by the university's council on 16 February 1810. Each professor taught two 90-minute lessons each week. The university year began in December and lasted eight months. The faculty ran nine courses: *ancient Greek literature *Latin prose or 'éloquence latine' *Latin poetry *French prose or 'éloquence française' *French poetry *philosophy *history of philosophy *ancient and modern history *ancient and modern geography

Deans

* Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard, philosopher * Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage (1815–1825), geographer * Victor Le Clerc (1832–1865), Latinist * Henri Patin (1865–1876), Latinist * Henri Wallon (1876–1881), historian * Auguste Himly (1881–1891), historian * Ernest Lavisse (1903–...), historian * Alfred Croiset (1845–1923), Hellenist * Ferdinand Brunot (1919–1928), * Henri Delacroix (1928–...), philosopher * André Aymard, historian * André Cholley, geographer * Georges Davy (...-1955), philosopher * Pierre Renouvin (1955–1958), historian * Marcel Durry, Latinist * Raymond Las Vergnas, scholar of the English language, final dean of the faculté (1968–1971), then first president of Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faculte, lettres, Paris University of Paris First French Empire 1808 establishments in France 1970 disestablishments in France Educational institutions established in 1808