Pierre Adolphe Ch�ruel (original) (raw)

Pierre Adolphe Ch�ruel (January 17, 1809 - May 1, 1891), French historian, was born at Rouen.

He was educated at the �cole Normale Sup�rieure, and became a fellow (agreg�) in 1830. His early studies were devoted to his native town. His Histoire de Rouen sous la domination anglaise au XVieme si�cle (1840) and Histoire de Rouen pendant l'�poque communale, 1550-1382 (Rouen, 1843-1844), are meritorious productions for a time when the archives were neither inventoried nor classified, and contain useful documents previously unpublished. His theses for the degree of doctor, De l'administration de Louis XIV d'apr�s les M�moires in�dits d'Olivier d'Ormesson and De Maria Sluarta et Henrico III (1849), led him to the study of general history. The former was expanded afterwards under the title Histoire de l'administration monarchique en France depuis l'av�nement de Philippe-Auguste Jusqu'� la Mort de Louis XIV (1855), and in 1855 he also published his Dictionnaire historique des institutions, moeurs et coutumes de la France, of which many editions have appeared.

These works may still be consulted for the 17th century, the period upon which Ch�ruel concentrated all his scientific activity. He edited successively the Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson (1860-1862), interesting for the history of the parlement of Paris during the minority of Louis XIV; Lettres du cardinal Mazarin pendant son minist�re (6 vols, 1870-1891), continued by the vicomte G d'Avenel; and M�moires du duc de Saint-Simon, published for the first time according to the original manuscripts (2 editions, 1856-1858 and 1878-1881).

To Saint-Simon also he devoted two critical studies, which are acute but not definitive: Saint-Simon consid�r� comme historien de Louis XIV (1865) and Notice sur la vie et sur les m�moires du duc de Saint-Simon (1876). The latter may be considered as an introduction to the famous M�moires. Among his later writings may be mentioned the Histoire de in France pendant la minorit� de Louis XIV (4 vols, 1880) and Histoire de la France sous le ministire de Mazarin (1882-1883). These two works are valuable for abundance of facts, precision of details, and clear and intelligent arrangement, but are characterized by a slightly frigid style. In their compilation Ch�ruel used a fair number of unpublished documents. To the student of the second half of the 17th century in France the works of Ch�ruel are a mine of information.

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