Antoine Varillas was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, best known for his history of heresy

Heresy

Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

.

Life

He was born in Guéret

Guéret

Guéret is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:A light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and a little farming not far from the town centre...

 and made a troubled way as a man of letters in Paris. He worked as a historian for Gaston, Duke of Orléans

Gaston, Duke of Orléans

Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...

. Then through an introductions from Pierre Dupuy he was able to have library access, leading to work on manuscripts for Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...

. Colbert, however, was dissatisfied with his work and replaced him. Varillas enjoyed support from Pierre Huet but became a marginal figure.

Works

His writings attracted a great deal of interest amongst his contemporaries; serious if partisan criticisms of the historical method of his earlier work led to his losing his reputation as a scholar. They included:

• Histoire de l'heresie de Viclef, Iean Hus, et Jerome de Prague: avec celle des guerres de Bohéme qui en ont esté les suites;
• Histoire de Louis Onze; and
• Histoire des révolutions arrivées dans l'Europe.