Dale K. Van Kley
Encyclopedia
Dale K. Van Kley is an American
historian
and professor of History at The Ohio State University
.
Van Kley is the author of numerous books and articles and has taught and conducted research throughout North America
and Europe
. He is best known for his prize-winning book The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791 (1996). While extensive and diverse, the bulk of his life's work has focused on the contributions that Augustinian theology made to the concepts of liberty that underlay the Enlightenment and finally informed the French Revolution. In April 2005, Shanti Singham of Williams College
presented a paper at the Ohio State University in support of Van Kley's side of a historiographical debate over the French Revolution
's religious origins argued primarily between himself and Catherine Maire.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and professor of History at The Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
.
Van Kley is the author of numerous books and articles and has taught and conducted research throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He is best known for his prize-winning book The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791 (1996). While extensive and diverse, the bulk of his life's work has focused on the contributions that Augustinian theology made to the concepts of liberty that underlay the Enlightenment and finally informed the French Revolution. In April 2005, Shanti Singham of Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
presented a paper at the Ohio State University in support of Van Kley's side of a historiographical debate over the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
's religious origins argued primarily between himself and Catherine Maire.
Selected articles
- "The Estates General as Ecumenical Council.” Journal of Modern History, 61 (March 1989): 1-52
- “Pure Politics in Absolute Space.” Journal of Modern History, 69 (December 1997): 754-84.
- "Christianity as Casualty and Chrysalis of Modernity: The Problem of Dechristianization in the French Revolution." The American Historical Review, 108 (4) (October 2003): 1081-1104.
Selected bibliography
- The French Idea of Freedom: The Old Regime and the French Declaration of Rights of 1789. Stanford University Press, 1994. (editor)
- The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.