Henri de Boulainvilliers
Encyclopedia
Henri de Boulainvilliers (October 21, 1658, Saint-Saire
, Normandy
– January 23, 1722, Paris
) was a French
writer and historian. Educated at the college of Juilly
, he served in the army until 1697. He translated into French Spinoza
's Ethics
and wrote an analysis of his Theologico-Political Treatise, identifying Spinoza's conatus
with the right of conquest
and the "right of the strongest" of which he made large use in what has been considered as one of the first "theory of races," although it was very distinct from 19th century "scientific racism
". The name is often rendered as de Boulainvilliers though he himself insisted on the autograph de Boulainviller. (R.Simon, s.d.)
The comte
de Boulainviller traced his nobel lineage back to its offshoot from a branch of the House of Croÿ
: Jean de Croÿ, sire de Clery et de Boulainviller, who died in the Battle of Poitiers (1356)
. At the time of his birth however, the family was impoverished. His wife, Marie-Anne Hurault des Marais, died at childbirth leaving him to care for four children. The eldest son was killed in the 1709 Battle of Malplaquet
, and his other son died the same year.
. Exact science
s, 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 till 1675 when it was banned by Royal arrest. 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 de Boulainviller: 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.
, avec une préface sur les principes de l'art chimique".
By 1715-1720, when he prepared his "Traité d'astronomie physique" using the cartesian method , he was well equipped to write on the nature of gravity and the movement of planets from 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 )
Still he retained his curiosity for astrology
for which he was famous in Court gossip.
) 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 Crécy
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 archive
s 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.
For example, the Mémoires au Régent, the Préface critique pour servir d'avant propos au journal de Saint-Louis (Louis IX of France
), the Essay sur la noblesse de France, l'Etat de la France and the Mémoires Historiques were to be important works of reference in the 18th century, and well used if not always acknowledged, as a close study of Voltaire
and Montesquieu
could reveal. Other historical studies such as those collected in "Abrégé d'histoire universelle" on Ancient History, History of Exodus, History of Greece, Ancient Italy and Oriental People, prepared for his introduction of comparative religious studies; a famous example of which is his "Vie de Mohamet" -recently brought to the attention by a new facsimile
edition of the 1731 English translation. ("The Life of Muhammad" Gorgias Press 2002)
Whilst de Boulainvilliers played a central role in the Enlightenment
and Modern eras, his works along with most other influential non-marxist writers have been attacked in post-Bolshevik Revolution times by Marxists as inherently false for incorporating features of race, nationalism
, and ethnicity. Marxist writers have also faulted Boulinvilliers because aside from promoting the importance of race, nationality, and ethnicity in the hierarchy of power, he did so as a means of proving the correctness of aristocratic class control. For instance, the facts of this background were explained by Michel Foucault
in his 1975-1976 lectures at the Collège de France
: "Society must be defended." Foucault credits Boulainvilliers with being one of the inventors of the "discourse of race struggle
," a "historical and political discourse" which Foucault opposed to the "juridical and philosophical discourse of sovereignty
."
Indeed, Boulainvilliers' writings are characterized by an extravagant admiration of the feudal
system and bitter opposition to absolute monarchy
, which he deemed a decadence
that had started with the Crusades
and the Direct Capetians
, whom had allowed the original aristocracy to be diluted through miscegenation
with the Third Estate. Boulainvilliers was thus an aristocrat of the most pronounced type, attacking absolute monarchy on the one hand and popular government on the other. He was at great pains to prove the pretensions of his own family to ancient nobility, and maintained that the government should be entrusted solely to men of his class.
According to him, the nation
was divided on one hand into the aristocracy
, whom he called the Français
, who were the descendants of the Franks
, a Nordic race, and dominated France by right of conquest
; and on the other hand into the Third Estate, who were considered to be an almagation of the indigenous Gaul people and their previous Roman overlords. Opposing himself to the alliance of the throne with the people, he considered that the earlier Gallo-Roman population had been subordinated by the Franks through conquest and inheritance on one side and replacement of the Roman elite through treaty and agreement on the other.
As such the Third Estate had no legitimate role in government, and that the aristocracy constituted not only a separate class, and not only the sole legitimate class by virtue of history, but a distinct and superior "race". True Frankish policy demanded unconditional acceptance of the rights of aristocracy to rule over their feudal domains and to participate in the councils of the nation. The Absolutist rule of Louis XIV
had undermined these traditions by concentrating power in the state and encouraging the rise of meritocrats from the lower classes to serve the monarchical state. Such people had been granted the status of nobles (the noblesse de robe) but could not lay proper claim to it because they were not of true Frankish ancestry. Although, Boulainvilliers thus opposed the Nordic race to the Latin race, his concept of "race" predated and did not specify anything to do with the biologized concept used by 19th century's "scientific racism
".
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.
" was not published until 1907 by Colonna d'Istria from an unsigned manuscript at Lyon.
De Boulainviller's study of Spinoza, as captured in the collected treatises published by Renée 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 Métaphysique 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 système de Benoit Spinosa et sa defense contre les objections de M. Régis he voiced the defense of Spinoza against his cartesian critic Pierre-Sylvain Régis
. The comte de Boulainviller 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
.
in : Extrait du livre du ministre Pierre Jurieu
touchant les dogmes des mystiques et particulièrement contre Messieurs de Cambray et de Méaux. 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 de Boulainviller, 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.
Matthieu Marais
, Nicolas Fréret
and the acid gossip Duc de Saint-Simon alike testified to his easy gift of friendship.
Saint-Saire
Saint-Saire is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in north-western France.-Geography:A village of farming and associated light industry situated by the banks of the Béthune River in the Pays de Bray, some southeast of Dieppe at the junction of the D7, D19 and...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
– January 23, 1722, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) 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...
writer and historian. Educated at the college of Juilly
College of Juilly
The College of Juilly The College of Juilly The College of Juilly (French: Collège de Juilly is a Catholic private teaching establishment located on the commune of Juilly, in Seine-et-Marne (France)...
, he served in the army until 1697. He translated into French Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
's Ethics
Ethics (book)
Ethics is a philosophical book written by Benedict de Spinoza. It was written in Latin. Although it was published posthumously in 1677, it is his most famous work, and is considered his magnum opus....
and wrote an analysis of his Theologico-Political Treatise, identifying Spinoza's conatus
Conatus
Conatus is a term used in early philosophies of psychology and metaphysics to refer to an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself. This "thing" may be mind, matter or a combination of both...
with the right of conquest
Right of conquest
The right of conquest is the right of a conqueror to territory taken by force of arms. It was traditionally a principle of international law which has in modern times gradually given way until its proscription after the Second World War when the crime of war of aggression was first codified in the...
and the "right of the strongest" of which he made large use in what has been considered as one of the first "theory of races," although it was very distinct from 19th century "scientific racism
Scientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
". The name is often rendered as de Boulainvilliers though he himself insisted on the autograph de Boulainviller. (R.Simon, s.d.)
The comte
Comte
Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
de Boulainviller traced his nobel lineage back to its offshoot from a branch of the House of Croÿ
House of Croÿ
The House of Croÿ is an international family of European mediatized nobility which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Imperial Princes in 1594...
: Jean de Croÿ, sire de Clery et de Boulainviller, who died in the Battle of Poitiers (1356)
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....
. At the time of his birth however, the family was impoverished. His wife, Marie-Anne Hurault des Marais, died at childbirth leaving him to care for four children. The eldest son was killed in the 1709 Battle of Malplaquet
Battle of Malplaquet
The Battle of Malplaquet, fought on 11 September 1709, was one of the main battles of the War of the Spanish Succession, which opposed the Bourbons of France and Spain against an alliance whose major members were the Habsburg Monarchy, Great Britain, the United Provinces and the Kingdom of...
, and his other son died the same year.
Education
In 1669 Henry de Boulainvilliers went to study at the Collège de Juilly, one of the most famous schools of the Congregation of the Oratory of Philip NeriPhilip Neri
Saint Philip Romolo Neri , also known as Apostle of Rome, was an Italian priest, noted for founding a society of secular priests called the "Congregation of the Oratory".-Early life:...
. Exact science
Exact science
An exact science is any field of science capable of accurate quantitative expression or precise predictions and rigorous methods of testing hypotheses, especially reproducible experiments involving quantifiable predictions and measurements...
s, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
were taught there. The philosopher Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche ; was a French Oratorian and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world...
being one of the great educators at the Oratory, cartesianism
Cartesianism
Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes—from his name—Rene Des-Cartes. It may refer to:*Cartesian anxiety*Cartesian circle*Cartesian dualism...
was allowed reference in the classroom from 1662 till 1675 when it was banned by Royal arrest. In 1673 Henry studied rhetoric with his teacher Richard Simon
Richard Simon
Richard Simon was a French Oratorian, influential advanced biblical critic, orientalist, and controversialist.-Early years:...
, who was excluded from the Oratory (1678) because of his critical Bible studies.
The education at Juilly had great impact on de Boulainviller: a special accent on critical history had been introduced into the Oratory by Caesar Baronius
Caesar Baronius
Cesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian...
and Richard Simon
Richard Simon
Richard Simon was a French Oratorian, influential advanced biblical critic, orientalist, and controversialist.-Early years:...
, and through the science classes he became familiar with the works of Jean Baptist van Helmont, Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
and Edme Mariotte
Edme Mariotte
Edme Mariotte was a French physicist and priest.- Biography :Edme Mariotte was the youngest son of Simon Mariotte, administrator at the district Til-Châtel , and Catherine Denisot . His parents lived in Til-Châtel and had 4 other children: Jean, Denise, Claude, and Catharine...
.
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
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects which were spoken and written between 1150 and 1500...
that author used as a critical means to an accessible reading of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and which so fluently worded his rich independence of mind.
Physics
In 1683 de Boulainviller wrote " l'Idée d'un Système Géneral de la Nature" based on his understanding of van Helmont and Boyle, followed by "Archidoxes de ParacelsusParacelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
, avec une préface sur les principes de l'art chimique".
By 1715-1720, when he prepared his "Traité d'astronomie physique" using the cartesian method , he was well equipped to write on the nature of gravity and the movement of planets from sources such as Jean-Baptiste du Hamel
Jean-Baptiste du Hamel
Jean-Baptiste Du Hamel, Duhamel or du Hamel was a notable French cleric and natural philosopher of the late seventeenth century, and the first secretary of the Academie Royale des Sciences...
and Huygens.
He described his method as experimental philosophy and closely preceded the Dutch experimentalists led by Anthony Leeuwenhoek ( Nieuwentijt, Boerhave
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
, Volder )
Still he retained his curiosity for astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
for which he was famous in Court gossip.
Critical history
In a "Lettre à 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 (numismaticsNumismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
) 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 Crécy
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
during the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, 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
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
in developing fact, he contrasted Thomas Rymer
Thomas Rymer
Thomas Rymer , English historiographer royal, was the younger son of Ralph Rymer, lord of the manor of Brafferton in Yorkshire, described by Clarendon as possessed of a good estate, who was executed for his share in the Presbyterian rising of 1663.-Early life and education:Thomas Rymer was born at...
's way of access to the London archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s 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.
For example, the Mémoires au Régent, the Préface critique pour servir d'avant propos au journal de Saint-Louis (Louis IX of France
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
), the Essay sur la noblesse de France, l'Etat de la France and the Mémoires Historiques were to be important works of reference in the 18th century, and well used if not always acknowledged, as a close study of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Montesquieu
Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...
could reveal. Other historical studies such as those collected in "Abrégé d'histoire universelle" on Ancient History, History of Exodus, History of Greece, Ancient Italy and Oriental People, prepared for his introduction of comparative religious studies; a famous example of which is his "Vie de Mohamet" -recently brought to the attention by a new facsimile
Facsimile
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
edition of the 1731 English translation. ("The Life of Muhammad" Gorgias Press 2002)
Whilst de Boulainvilliers played a central role in the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
and Modern eras, his works along with most other influential non-marxist writers have been attacked in post-Bolshevik Revolution times by Marxists as inherently false for incorporating features of race, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, and ethnicity. Marxist writers have also faulted Boulinvilliers because aside from promoting the importance of race, nationality, and ethnicity in the hierarchy of power, he did so as a means of proving the correctness of aristocratic class control. For instance, the facts of this background were explained by Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
in his 1975-1976 lectures at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
: "Society must be defended." Foucault credits Boulainvilliers with being one of the inventors of the "discourse of race struggle
Philosophy of history
The term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...
," a "historical and political discourse" which Foucault opposed to the "juridical and philosophical discourse of sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
."
Indeed, Boulainvilliers' writings are characterized by an extravagant admiration of the feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
system and bitter opposition to absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, which he deemed a decadence
Decadence
Decadence can refer to a personal trait, or to the state of a society . Used to describe a person's lifestyle. Concise Oxford Dictionary: "a luxurious self-indulgence"...
that had started with the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
and the Direct Capetians
House of Capet
The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers of France, the dynasty...
, whom had allowed the original aristocracy to be diluted through miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
with the Third Estate. Boulainvilliers was thus an aristocrat of the most pronounced type, attacking absolute monarchy on the one hand and popular government on the other. He was at great pains to prove the pretensions of his own family to ancient nobility, and maintained that the government should be entrusted solely to men of his class.
According to him, the nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
was divided on one hand into the aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, whom he called the Français
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, who were the descendants of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, a Nordic race, and dominated France by right of conquest
Right of conquest
The right of conquest is the right of a conqueror to territory taken by force of arms. It was traditionally a principle of international law which has in modern times gradually given way until its proscription after the Second World War when the crime of war of aggression was first codified in the...
; and on the other hand into the Third Estate, who were considered to be an almagation of the indigenous Gaul people and their previous Roman overlords. Opposing himself to the alliance of the throne with the people, he considered that the earlier Gallo-Roman population had been subordinated by the Franks through conquest and inheritance on one side and replacement of the Roman elite through treaty and agreement on the other.
As such the Third Estate had no legitimate role in government, and that the aristocracy constituted not only a separate class, and not only the sole legitimate class by virtue of history, but a distinct and superior "race". True Frankish policy demanded unconditional acceptance of the rights of aristocracy to rule over their feudal domains and to participate in the councils of the nation. The Absolutist rule of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
had undermined these traditions by concentrating power in the state and encouraging the rise of meritocrats from the lower classes to serve the monarchical state. Such people had been granted the status of nobles (the noblesse de robe) but could not lay proper claim to it because they were not of true Frankish ancestry. Although, Boulainvilliers thus opposed the Nordic race to the Latin race, his concept of "race" predated and did not specify anything to do with the biologized concept used by 19th century's "scientific racism
Scientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
".
Philosophy
Parallel to his historical studies ran an untiring interest in philosophy which he wrote down in Considérations abrégées des operations de l'entendement sur les idées on the model borrowed from the famous Port-Royal LogicPort-Royal Logic
Port-Royal Logic, or Logique de Port-Royal, is the common name of La logique, ou l'art de penser, an important textbook on logic first published anonymously in 1662 by Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole, two prominent members of the Jansenist movement, centered around Port-Royal. Blaise Pascal...
by Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
: psychology of the mind, logic, and method; to which he added ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
. His influences, apart from the Schola of his early education, were Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, priest, scientist, astronomer, and mathematician. With a church position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris, where he was a leader of a group of free-thinking intellectuals. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the...
, Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
, Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche ; was a French Oratorian and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world...
, Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
and Spinoza.
Spinoza
De Boulainviller's translation of Spinoza's " EthicsEthics (book)
Ethics is a philosophical book written by Benedict de Spinoza. It was written in Latin. Although it was published posthumously in 1677, it is his most famous work, and is considered his magnum opus....
" was not published until 1907 by Colonna d'Istria from an unsigned manuscript at Lyon.
De Boulainviller's study of Spinoza, as captured in the collected treatises published by Renée 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 Métaphysique 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 système de Benoit Spinosa et sa defense contre les objections de M. Régis he voiced the defense of Spinoza against his cartesian critic Pierre-Sylvain Régis
Pierre-Sylvain Régis
Pierre Sylvain Régis was a French Cartesian philosopher and a prominent critic of Spinoza. Although a philosopher, he was nominated to the French Academy of Sciences in 1699. -References:...
. The comte de Boulainviller 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
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
(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
Matthieu Marais
Matthieu Marais was a French jurist and writer. Legal advocate at the Parlement of Paris, he was one of the luminaries of the bar during his times. Friend of Pierre Bayle and Henry de Boulainviller, he collaborated on the Dictionnaire Historique, and wrote the articles "Henri III", "Henri, duc de...
he shared a friendship with another great student of Spinoza, Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....
.
Post Scriptum
Less well known but as important in his time was the similar treatment he gave to the mysticism of MolinosMiguel de Molinos
Miguel de Molinos , Spanish divine, the chief apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism, was born about 1628 near Muniesa ....
in : Extrait du livre du ministre Pierre Jurieu
Pierre Jurieu
Pierre Jurieu was a French Protestant leader.-Life:He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his grandfather, Pierre Du Moulin, and under Leblanc de Beaulieu...
touchant les dogmes des mystiques et particulièrement contre Messieurs de Cambray et de Méaux. 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
Quietism (Christian philosophy)
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
.
Such are the traits that can make one regret the criticism — amply justified in retrospect — that de Boulainviller, elsewhere, brought over himself by his brutal stance on feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
; traits for which he equally deserves to be known to a larger circle of students.
Matthieu Marais
Matthieu Marais
Matthieu Marais was a French jurist and writer. Legal advocate at the Parlement of Paris, he was one of the luminaries of the bar during his times. Friend of Pierre Bayle and Henry de Boulainviller, he collaborated on the Dictionnaire Historique, and wrote the articles "Henri III", "Henri, duc de...
, Nicolas Fréret
Nicolas Fréret
Nicolas Fréret was a French scholar.-Life:He was born at Paris on 15 February 1688. His father was procureur to the parlement of Paris, and destined him to the profession of the law. His first tutors were the historian Charles Rollin and Father Desmolets...
and the acid gossip Duc de Saint-Simon alike testified to his easy gift of friendship.
See also
- Philosophy of historyPhilosophy of historyThe term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...