Etienne Baluze

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French scholar and historian, b. atTulle, 24 December, 1630; d. inParis, 28 July, 1718. Hiseducation was commenced at theJesuitcollege of his native town, where he distinguished himself by his intelligence, his constant devotion to study, and his prodigious memory. Obtaining a scholarship on the recommendation of his professors, he completed his classical courses at the College of St. Martial, which had been founded atToulouse, in the fourteenth century, byPope Innocent VI for twenty Limousin students. Resolved to devote himself to the study of literature and history, Baluze set to work with greatzeal, perseverance, and success. Critical and painstaking in the investigation of facts, he undertook to study the origins of the French nation, its customs,laws and institutions, using for this purpose only genuine documents and original records instead of fanciful legends and fabulous stories, thus introducing a scientific spirit into historical research, philology, andchronology.

At the age of twenty-two he wrote a remarkable work of historical criticism. AJesuit, Father Frizon, had just published a book, "Gallia purpurata", containing the lives of theFrenchcardinals, which met with great success until Baluze gave out (1652) his "Anti-Frizonius" in which he pointed out and corrected manyerrors made by Father Frizon. In 1654, Pierre de Marca,Archbishop ofToulouse, one of the greatest French scholars in the seventeenth century, appointed Baluze his secretary. Upon the death of his patron, in June, 1662, Baluze published the "Marca Hispanica", a remarkable historical and geographical description ofCatalonia. This work made him known toColbert, who appointed him his librarian, a position he held for thirty years, many years, that is, afterColbert's death. The excellent collection ofmanuscripts and books which was found in the latter'slibrary was the fruit of his care and advice. His own collection was also very important; it comprised about 1100 printed books, 957manuscripts, more than 500 charters, and seven cases full of various documents. Baluze is to be ranked among those benefactors of literature who have employed their time andknowledge in collecting form all sources ancientmanuscripts, valuable books, and state papers. He annotated them with valuable comments, being very well acquainted with profane andecclesiastical history as well as with canon law, both ancient and modern.

The number of works Baluze published is considerable; we shall mention the most important among them: (1) "Marii Mercatoris opera" (1684), collated withmanuscripts and enriched with notes illustrative of the history of theMiddle Ages. (2) "Regum Francorum capitularia" (1677). This collection contains several capitularies never published before. Baluze corrected them with great accuracy and in his preface gave an account of the original documents and of the authority of the several collections of the capitularies. (3) "Epistolae Innocentii Papae III" (1682); not a complete collection, as Baluze was refused the use of the letters preserved in the Vatican. (4) "Conciliorum nova collectio" (1683), containing such pieces as are wanting in Labbe's collection. (5) "Les vies des papes d'Avignon" (1693), in which he gave a preference toAvignon overRome as the seat of the Popes. (6) "Miscellanea" (1680), of which Mansi published a new edition in 1761. (7) "Historia Tutelensis" (1717), or the history ofTulle. This was Baluze's favourite work. He wrote it out oflove for his native place, "ne in nostrâ patriâ peregrini atque hospites esse videamur". It embraces a period of eight centuries, from the founding of the city (900), to the episcopate of Daniel de Saint-Aulaire (1702). The history ofTulle is divided into three books, the first dealing with the counts, the second with theabbots, and the third with thebishops.

In 1670, Baluze was appointed professor of canon law at the Collège de France, of which he became director in 1707, with a pension awarded by the king. But he soon felt the uncertainty of courtly favours. Having attached himself toCardinal de Bouillon, who had engaged him to write the history of hisfamily, he became involved in thecardinal's disgrace. Baluze was accused of having used spurious papers in his patron's interest. Consequently he received alettre de cachet ordering him to retire to Lyons. Being expelled from theuniversity and deprived of his personal fortune, he wandered fromRouen toBlois, fromBlois toTours, and later toOrléans, where he lived until 1713. After the peace ofUtrecht, thefamily ofCardinal de Bouillon recovered the favour of the king, and Baluze was recalled, but never again employed as a professor or as a Director of the Collège de France. He lived far fromParis and was engaged in publishingSt. Cyprian's works at the time of his death. Baluze, together with Luc d'Achéry,Mabillon, Sainte-Marthe,Ducange, Montfaucon, and others, gathered an immense quantity of rich materials which the historians of the nineteenth century, such as Sismondi, Guizot, Augustin and Amédée Thierry, Michelet, Henri Martin, Fustel de Coulanges, were to use with the greatest skill.

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