Henri de Boulainvilliers
(
French:
[d?
bul??vilje]
; 21 October 1658,
Saint-Saire
,
Normandy
? 23 January 1722,
Paris
) was a French nobleman, writer and historian. He was educated at the
College of Juilly
; he served in the army until 1697.
Primarily remembered as an early modern historian of
France
, Boulainvilliers also published an early French translation of
Spinoza's
Ethics
and wrote on topics as diverse as astrology, physics, philosophy and theology. His theory that French nobility is of Germanic origins while the
Third Estate
is of Celtic Origin inspired
Arthur de Gobineau
.
[2]
The
Comte
de Boulainvilliers traced his lineage to the
House of Croy
, to Jean de Croy, sire de Clery et de Boulainviller, who died in the
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
. At the time of his birth, however, the family's fortune had declined significantly. Much of Boulainvilliers' historical work and political life centered on the decline of the
nobility
.
Education
[
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]
In 1669, Henri de Boulainvilliers went to study at the College de Juilly, one of the most famous schools of the
Congregation of the Oratory
of
Philip Neri
.
Exact sciences
,
history
and
geography
were taught there.
The philosopher
Malebranche
being one of the great educators at the Oratory,
cartesianism
was allowed reference in the classroom from 1662 until 1675 when it was banned by Royal decree.
In 1673, Henry studied rhetoric with his teacher
Richard Simon
, who was excluded from the Oratory (1678) because of his critical Bible studies.
The education at Juilly had great impact on Boulainvilliers: a special accent on critical history had been introduced into the Oratory by
Caesar Baronius
and
Richard Simon
, and through the science classes he became familiar with the works of
Jean Baptist van Helmont
,
Robert Boyle
and
Edme Mariotte
.
Since he had also received private lessons in the German language, it is not inconceivable that he was able to read van Helmont in
Middle Dutch
that author used as a critical means to an accessible reading of
medicine
in the
Low Countries
, and which so fluently worded his rich independence of mind.
Physics
[
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]
In 1683 Boulainvilliers wrote
l'Idee d'un Systeme General de la Nature
, based on his reading of
Jan Baptist van Helmont
and
Robert Boyle
, followed by
Archidoxes de
Paracelsus
, avec une preface sur les principes de l'art chimique
.
By 1715-1720, he wrote his
Traite d'astronomie physique
using the Cartesian method, commenting on the nature of gravity and the movement of planets and drawing on sources such as
Jean-Baptiste du Hamel
and
Huygens
.
He described his method as experimental philosophy and closely preceded the Dutch experimentalists led by
Anthony Leeuwenhoek
(Nieuwentijt,
Boerhave
, Volder)
He retained affection for
astrology
, for which he was famous in Court gossip.
Critical history
[
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]
In a
Lettre a Mlle Cousinot sur l'histoire de France et le choix des historiens
, he explained why the writing of history was to be more than the "amateur" collection of dates and anecdotes related to old coins (
numismatics
) and stones: The knowledge of history pertained to a distinct moral character of society. Related causes of past events, such as the 1346
Battle of Crecy
during the
Hundred Years' War
, could be instructive on related measures in the present ? how to do things better or worse. Sometimes we want to know not only what a historical figure has done, but by what right he might have done so differently.
He stressed in his writings the corruption absolutism played in the fall of France when he contrasts the role English and French historians were able to investigate history. For instance, when stressing the importance of
sources
in developing fact, he contrasted
Thomas Rymer
's way of access to the London
archives
to that of his own where he had to bribe the keepers of the French archives. For his neutral reasoning, his works were cited by subsequent writers whose works would prove influential in the development of Western political thought and historical research.
Philosophy
[
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]
Parallel to his historical studies ran an untiring interest in philosophy which he wrote down in
Considerations abregees des operations de l'entendement sur les idees
on the model borrowed from the famous
Port-Royal Logic
by
Antoine Arnauld
: psychology of the mind, logic, and method; to which he added
ontology
. His influences, apart from the
Schola
of his early education, were
Gassendi
,
Descartes
,
Malebranche
,
Locke
and Spinoza.
Spinoza
[
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]
Boulainvilliers's translation of Spinoza's
Ethics
was not published until 1907 by Colonna d'Istria from an unsigned manuscript at Lyon.
Boulainvilliers's study of Spinoza, as captured in the collected treatises published by Renee Simon (1973), shows an exceptional development from a basic criticism to an enlightened understanding marked by the incredibly generous way in which he let his opponent use his own voice.
In the
Essay de Metaphysique dans les principes de B...de Sp...
he translated Spinoza's "geometrical method" into an accessible French, closely following its original meaning without incisive criticism.
In the
Exposition du systeme de Benoit Spinosa et sa defense contre les objections de M. Regis
he voiced the defense of Spinoza against his cartesian critic
Pierre-Sylvain Regis
. The comte Boulainvilliers was no blind follower of Descartes; he knew how to make use of his method, but he could equally well criticise him on metaphysical points.
This unusual way of writing philosophy led to the gossip that he was a Spinozist and therefore an
atheist
. Yet in his persistent criticism of Spinoza's
monism
(through the concept of the "unity of substance"), in writings inaccessible to the multitude, his independent judgement remained unspoilt. After his death his name was frequently used to circulate anti-religious treatises, leading to still more confusion about his intellectual identity.
With
Matthieu Marais
he shared a friendship with another great student of Spinoza,
Pierre Bayle
.
Molinos
[
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]
Less well known but as important in his time was the similar treatment he gave to the mysticism of
Molinos
in
Extrait du livre du ministre
Pierre Jurieu
touchant les dogmes des mystiques et particulierement contre Messieurs de Cambray et de Meaux.
By the time the reader finished his lecture he had a complete survey of the works of Molinos, thus recapitulating the famous disagreements over
Quietism
.
Such are the traits that can make one regret the criticism ? amply justified in retrospect ? that Boulainvilliers, elsewhere, brought over himself by his brutal stance on
feudalism
; traits for which he equally deserves to be known to a larger circle of students.
Bibliography
[
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]
Boulainvilliers wrote a number of historical works (published after his death), of which the most important were the following:
- Histoire de l'ancien gouvernement de la France
(La Haye, 1727)
- Etat de la France, avec des memoires sur l'ancien gouvernement
(London, 1727)
- Histoire de la pairie de France
(London, 1753)
- Histoire des Arabes avec la Vie de Mahomet
(1731). Translation (s.d. 18th century) reprinted (2001) as
The Life of Mohammad: Or The Life of Mahomet
, Henri de Boulainvilliers. Kessinger Publishing's Rare Reprints
ISBN
0-7661-9102-8
- Essai sur la noblesse de France, contenans une dissertation sur son origine & abaissement. Avec des notes historiques, Critiques et Politiques ; Un projet de Dissertation sur les premiers Francais & leurs Colonies ; et un Supplement aux notes par forme de Dictionnaire pour la Noblesse.
Amsterdam,
Rouen
, 1732.
- Analyse du
Traite Theologi-politique
de
Spinosa
, par le comte de Boulainvilliers. Londres, 1767.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Arendt, Haannah.
The Origins Of Totalitarianism
. Harvest Books. pp. 163?165.
References
[
edit
]
-
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Boulainvilliers, Henri
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 318.
- Doumic, Rene (1913).
"Henri, Count of Boulainvilliers"
. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Jonathan Irvine Israel (2001). "ch. 30".
Radical enlightenment: philosophy and the making of modernity: 1650-1750
. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 565?574.
ISBN
0198206089
.
- Renee Simon: "Henry de Boulainviller, Historien, Politique, Philosophe, Astrologue (1658-1722)" Paris: Boivin & Cie, Editeurs, Rue Palatine, s.d.
- Renee Simon: "Henry de Boulainviller: Œuvres Philosophiques" International Archives of the History of Ideas 58. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973
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