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NumaDenisFusteldeCoulangesWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
NumaDenisFusteldeCoulanges
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
NumaDenisFusteldeCoulanges(French:[kul
]18March183012September1889)wasaFrench
historian.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Works
2.1 WorksinEnglishtranslation
3 Seealso
4 References
5 Furtherreading
6 Externallinks
Biography
NumaDenisFusteldeCoulanges
BorninParis,ofBretondescent,afterstudyingatthecoleNormaleSuprieurehewassenttotheFrench
SchoolatAthensin1853,hedirectedsomeexcavationsinChios,andwroteanhistoricalaccountoftheisland.
Afterhisreturnhefilledvariouseducationaloffices,andtookhisdoctoratewithtwotheses,QuidVestaecultusininstitutisveterumprivatispublicisque
valueritandPolybe,oulaGrceconquiseparlesRomains(1858).Intheseworkshisdistinctivequalitieswerealreadyrevealed.Hisminuteknowledge
ofthelanguageoftheGreekandRomaninstitutions,coupledwithhislowestimateoftheconclusionsofcontemporaryscholars,ledhimtogodirectly
totheoriginaltexts,whichhereadwithoutpoliticalorreligiousbias.When,however,hehadsucceededinextractingfromthesourcesageneralidea
thatseemedtohimclearandsimple,heattachedhimselftoitasiftothetruthitself.
From1860to1870hewasprofessorofhistoryatthefacultyoflettersatStrasbourg,wherehehadabrilliantcareerasateacher,butneveryieldedtothe
influenceexercisedbytheGermanuniversitiesinthefieldofclassicalandGermanicantiquities.
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ItwasatStrasbourgthathepublishedhisremarkablevolumeLaCitantique(1864),inwhichheshowedforciblythepartplayedbyreligioninthe
politicalandsocialevolutionofGreeceandRome.Thebookwassoconsistentthroughout,sofullofingeniousideas,andwritteninsostrikingastyle,
thatitranksasoneofthemasterpiecesoftheFrenchlanguageinthe19thcentury.BythisliterarymeritFustelsetlittlestore,butheclungtenaciouslyto
histheories.Whenherevisedthebookin1875,hismodificationswereveryslight,anditisconceivablethat,hadherecastit,asheoftenexpressedthe
desiretodointhelastyearsofhislife,hewouldnothaveabandonedanypartofhisfundamentalthesis.
FusteldeCoulangeswasappointedtoalectureshipatthecoleNormaleSuprieureinFebruary1870,toaprofessorshipattheParisfacultyoflettersin
1875,andtothechairofmedievalhistorycreatedforhimattheSorbonnein1878,heappliedhimselftothestudyofthepoliticalinstitutionsofancient
France.TheinvasionofFrancebytheGermanarmiesduringtheFrancoPrussianWarattractedhisattentiontotheGermanicinvasionsundertheRoman
Empire.PursuingthetheoryofJBDubos,butalsotransformingit,hemaintainedthatthoseinvasionswerenotmarkedbytheviolentanddestructive
characterusuallyattributedtothemthatthepenetrationoftheGermanbarbariansintoGaulwasaslowprocessthattheGermanssubmittedtothe
imperialadministrationthatthepoliticalinstitutionsoftheMerovingianshadtheiroriginsintheRomanlawsatleastasmuchas,ifnotmorethan,in
Germanusagesand,consequently,thattherewasnoconquestofGaulbytheGermans.
ThisthesishesustainedinhisHistoiredesinstitutionspolitiquesdel'ancienneFrance,thefirstvolumeofwhichappearedin1874.Itwastheauthor's
originalintentiontocompletethisworkinfourvolumes,butasthefirstvolumewaskeenlyattackedinGermanyaswellasinFrance,Fustelwasforced
inselfdefencetorecastthebookentirely.Hereexaminedallthetextsandwroteanumberofdissertations,whichweredominatedbyhisgeneralidea
andcharacterizedbyatotaldisregardfortheresultsofsuchhistoricaldisciplinesasdiplomatic.Fromthiscrucibleissuedanentirelynewwork,lesswell
arrangedthantheoriginal,butrichinfactsandcriticalcomments.Thefirstvolumewasexpandedintothreevolumes,LaGauleromaine(1891),
L'Invasiongermaniqueetlafindel'empire(1891)andLaMonarchiefranque(1888),followedbythreeothervolumes,L'Alleuetledomainerural
pendantl'poquemrovingienne(1889),LesOriginesdusystmefodal:lebnficeetlepatronat...(1890)andLesTransformationsdelaroyaut
pendantl'poquecarolingienne(1892).
Thus,insixvolumes,hehadcarriedtheworknofartherthantheCarolingianperiod.Thedissertationsnotembodiedinhisworkwerecollectedby
himselfand(afterhisdeath)byhispupil,CamilleJullian,andpublishedasvolumesofmiscellanies:Recherchessurquelquesproblmesd'Histoire
(1885),dealingwiththeRomancolonate,thelandsysteminNormandytheGermanicmark,andthejudiciaryorganizationinthekingdomofthe
FranksNouvellesrecherchessurquelquesproblmesd'histoire(1891)andQuestionshistoriques(1893),whichcontainshispaperonChiosandhis
thesisonPolybius.
Hislifewasdevotedalmostentirelytohisteachingandhisbooks.In1875hewaselectedmemberoftheAcadmiedesSciencesMoralesetPolitiques,
andin1880reluctantlyacceptedthepostofdirectorofthecoleNormale.WithoutinterveningpersonallyinFrenchpolitics,hetookakeeninterestin
thequestionsofadministrationandsocialreorganizationarisingfromthefalloftheimperialistrgimeandthedisastersofthewar.
Hewishedtheinstitutionsofthepresenttoapproximatemorecloselytothoseofthepast,anddevisedforthenewFrenchconstitutionabodyofreforms
whichreflectedtheopinionshehadformeduponthedemocracyatRomeandinancientFrance.Buttheseweredreamswhichdidnotholdhimlong,
andhewouldhavebeenscandalizedhadheknownthathisnamewassubsequentlyusedastheemblemofapoliticalandreligiousparty.Hediedat
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Massy(thencalledSeineetOise)in1889.
ThroughouthishistoricalcareeratthecoleNormaleandtheSorbonneandinhislecturesdeliveredtotheempressEugniehissoleaimwasto
ascertainthetruth,andinthedefenceoftruthhispolemicsagainstwhatheimaginedtobetheblindnessandinsincerityofhiscriticssometimesassumed
acharacterofharshnessandinjustice.But,inFranceatleast,thesecriticswerethefirsttorenderjusticetohislearning,histalentsandhis
disinterestedness.
Works
QuidVestCultusinInstitutisVeterumPrivatisPublicisqueValuerit?,T.Jeunet,1858.
PolybeoulaGrceConquiseparlesRomains,(http://books.google.com.br/books?vid=OCLC23635919&id=JL4PPHjLh5oC&pg=RA2PA1&lpg
=RA2PA1&dq=Fustel+de+Coulanges&hl=fr&redir_esc=y)T.Jeunet,1858.
LaCitAntique,(http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112105238804)Durand,1864.
HistoiredesInstitutionsPolitiquesdel'AncienneFrance:
LaGauleRomaine.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61701q)
L'InvasionGermaniqueetlaFindel'Empire.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k617022)
LaMonarchieFranque.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61703d)
L'AlleuetleDomaineRuralpendantl'poqueMrovingienne.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61704r)
LesOriginesduSystmeFodal.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k617053)
LesTransformationsdelaRoyautpendantl'poqueCarolingienne.(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61706f)
RecherchessurQuelquesProblmesd'Histoire,(https://archive.org/stream/recherchessurque00fustuoft#page/n7/mode/2up)Paris,Hachette,1885.
NouvellesRecherchessurQuelquesProblmesd'Histoire,Hachette,1891.
QuestionsHistoriques,(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k202425r.r=.langPT)Hachette,1893.
QuestionsContemporaines,(https://archive.org/stream/questionscontemp00fust#page/n9/mode/2up)Hachette,1917[1stPub.1916].
Leonsl'ImpratricesurlesOriginesdelaCivilisationFranaise,Hachette,1930.
WorksinEnglishtranslation
TheAncientCity:AStudyontheReligion,LawsandInstitutionsofGreeceandRome,(https://archive.org/stream/cu31924100532054#page/n5/mo
de/2up)Lee&Shepard,1877.
TheOriginofPropertyinLand,(https://archive.org/stream/originofpropert00fust#page/n1/mode/2up)Sonnenschein,1891.
Seealso
QuiaEmptores
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References
Thisarticleincorporatestextfromapublicationnowinthepublicdomain:Chisholm,Hugh,ed.(1911)."articlenameneeded".Encyclopdia
Britannica(11thed.).CambridgeUniversityPress.
Furtherreading
DiVanna,Isabel.WritingHistoryintheThirdRepublic,CambridgeScholarsPublishing,2010.excerptandtextsearch(http://www.amazon.com/
WritingHistoryRepublicIsabelNoronhaDivanna/dp/1443819344/)
Fisher,H.A.L."FusteldeCoulanges,"(https://archive.org/stream/englishhistorica05londuoft#page/n5/mode/2up)TheEnglishHistoricalReview,
Vol.V,1890.
Herrick,Jane.TheHistoricalthoughtofFusteldeCoulanges,CatholicUniversityofAmerica,1954.
Momigliano,Arnaldo."LaCitAntiquedeFusteldeCoulanges."InProblmesd'HistoriographieAncienneetModerne,Gallimard,1983.
Hartog,Franois.LeXIXmeSicleetl'Histoire.LeCasFusteldeCoulanges,PressesUniversitairesdeFrance,1988.
Externallinks
WorksbyFusteldeCoulanges(http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Fustel+de+Coulanges)atProject
WikimediaCommonshas
Gutenberg
mediarelatedtoNuma
WorksbyoraboutNumaDenisFusteldeCoulanges(https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subjec
DenisFusteldeCoulanges.
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2%29%20OR%20%28%2218301889%22%20AND%20Coulanges%29%29%20AND%20%28mediatype:software%29)atInternetArchive
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Categories: 1830births 1889deaths WritersfromParis UniversityofStrasbourgfaculty UniversityofParisfaculty
coleNormaleSuprieurealumni coleNormaleSuprieurefaculty MembersoftheAcadmiedessciencesmoralesetpolitiques
Frenchhistorians Frenchmedievalists Historiansofantiquity Frenchmalewriters 19thcenturyFrenchhistorians
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