Jules Michelet

Jules Michelet (; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) Michelet was influenced by Giambattista Vico, particularly by his emphasis on the role of ordinary people and their customs in shaping historical narratives, which contrasted with the traditional focus on political and military elites. Michelet also drew inspiration from Vico's concept of the —the cyclical nature of history—in which societies rise and fall in a recurring pattern.

In , Michelet coined the term <nowiki></nowiki>Renaissance<nowiki></nowiki> (French for "rebirth") to describe a cultural movement in Europe that marked a clear departure from the Middle Ages. Although the term was initially used by the Italian art historian Giorgio Vasari in 1550 to describe the revival of classical art beginning with Giotto, Michelet was the first historian to apply the French equivalent systematically to a broader historical era. His use of the term "Renaissance<nowiki></nowiki> established the modern interpretation of this period as a time of renewed humanism, artistic flourishing, and intellectual transformation in "post-medieval" Europe.

Historian François Furet described Michelet's The History of the French Revolution as "the cornerstone of revolutionary historiography" and "a literary monument."

Early life and education

Michelet’s father was a master printer, and Michelet often assisted him in his work. He was later offered a position at the imperial printing office but chose instead to study at the Lycée Charlemagne, a prestigious secondary school in Paris. He passed the university examination in 1821 and was soon appointed to a professorship of history at the Collège Rollin. Among Michelet's notable patrons were Abel-François Villemain and Victor Cousin, who supported his early academic career.

Since childhood, he is said to have embraced republicanism and a distinctive form of romantic free thought. He was an active political thinker, a man of letters, and a committed historian. His first published works were school textbooks. Soon afterwards, he began his magnum opus, the , which would take 30 years to complete. He also published numerous other books, such as the , the , the , and somewhat later, the .These books also explored broader cultural and literary themes within French society. Notably, Vincent van Gogh referenced La Femme in his drawing Sorrow, inscribing it with the quote: “Comment se fait-il qu’il y ait sur la terre une femme seule?” (“How can there be on earth a woman alone?”).

In 1862, Michelet published La Sorcière (Satanism and Witchcraft), a book that developed from a historical topic and reflected some of his more unconventional views. In 1973, the work was adapted into an animated art film, Belladonna of Sadness, directed by Eiichi Yamamoto and produced by Mushi Production.

Although Michelet continued to write in a similar style, his later works received less critical attention. For instance, La Bible de l’humanité (1864), a historical overview of world religions, did not achieve the same level of readership in the 20th century as his earlier publications.

The writing and publication of these works, along with the completion of Histoire de France, occupied Michelet throughout both decades of the Second Empire. During this time, he lived partly in France and partly in Italy, frequently spending winters on the French Riviera, particularly in Hyères.thumb|upright|[[Vincent van Gogh inscribed his drawing, Sorrow, with a quote from "": "", which translates to How can there be on earth a woman alone?]]

thumb|Photograph of Jules Michelet, late in his career

In 1867, Michelet completed his magnum opus, the , comprising 19 volumes. The first of these deals with early French history up to the death of Charlemagne; the second with the flourishing time of feudal France; the third with the thirteenth century; the fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes with the Hundred Years' War; the seventh and eighth with the establishment of the royal power under Charles VII and Louis XI. The 16th and 17th centuries have four volumes apiece, much of which is very distantly connected with French history proper, especially in the two volumes entitled and . The last three volumes carry on the history of the eighteenth century to the outbreak of the Revolution.

Themes

Michelet had several themes running throughout his works, which included the following three categories: maleficent, beneficent, and paired. Within each of the three themes, there are subsets of ideas occurring throughout Michelet's various works. One of these themes was the idea of paired themes; for example, in many of his works, he writes on grace and justice, grace being the woman or feminine, and justice being more of a masculine idea. Michelet often used union and unity in his discussions about history, both human and natural.

In terms of the maleficent themes, there were subcategories: themes of the dry, which included concepts such as the machine, the Jesuits, scribes, the electric, irony (Goethe), the Scholastics, public safety, and fatalism (Hobbes, Molinos, Spinoza, Hegel). Themes of the empty and the turgid included the Middle Ages, imitation, tedium, the novel, narcotics, Alexander, and plethoric (engorged blood). Michelet also touches on themes of the indeterminate such as the Honnêtes-Hommes, Condé, Chantilly Sade, gambling, phantasmagoria, Italian comedy, white blood, and sealed blood.

Martial dualism is a prominent theme for him. He wrote, "With the world began a war which will end only with the world: war of man against nature, spirit against matter, liberty against fatality. History is nothing other than the record of this interminable struggle." Intellectual historian David Nirenberg describes this as a "Manichaean dualism." His framing of history as a struggle between Christian spirit and liberty against Jewish matter, fatality, and tyranny, is seen by Nirenberg as an example of anti-Judaism as a constituent conceptual tool in western thought.

During his career, Michelet wrote a pamphlet on the condition on France’s popular masses in relation to the growth of machinery, arguing that the latter had brought about positive developments in addition to negative consequences. As noted by one observer, “While well aware that machines enslaved and demeaned their serfs, he noticed nevertheless that machine products improved the general condition of the laboring poor, among whom peasants and artisans were still much more numerous than industrial workers.” Machines, according to Michelet, had made it financially possible for whole classes to obtain household items they had never possessed before such as curtains, body linen, bed and table linen. As Michelet argued, “Once upon a time, every women wore a single blue or black gown that she kept ten years without washing, for fear that it would fall to shreds. Today, her husband, poor working man, for one day’s wages, covers her with a garment of flowers.”

Academic reception

Michelet was perhaps the first historian to devote himself to anything resembling a picturesque history of the Middle Ages and his account is still one of the most vivid that exists. He spent extensive time researching printed authorities and manuscripts for his Histoire de France, however, his many personal biases (both political and religious) reduced the book's objectivity.

Political life

The fall of Napoleon in 1870 amid France's defeat by Prussia, followed by the rise and fall of the Paris Commune the next year, once more stimulated Michelet to activity. While he wrote letters and pamphlets during the struggle, upon its conclusion he became determined to add a 19th volume (French: XIXe siècle) to his Histoires which covered the Napoleonic Wars. He did not, however, live to carry it further than the Battle of Waterloo, and his health was beginning to fail: he opened the 19th volume with the words "" ("age hurries me").

The new republic was not altogether a restoration for Michelet; his professorship at the Collège de France, of which he always contended he had been unjustly deprived, was not given back to him.

Marriages

As a young man, Michelet married Pauline Rousseau in 1824. The couple had two children, Adèle and Charles, in 1824 and 1829, respectively. His first wife died of tuberculosis in 1839 at the age of 48. She collaborated with Michelet in his labors albeit without formal credit, introduced him to natural history, inspired him on themes, and was preparing a new work, La nature, at the time of his death in 1874. She lived until 1899.

Death and burials

Upon his death from a heart attack at Hyères on 9 February 1874, Michelet was interred there. At his widow's request, a Paris court granted permission for his body to be exhumed on 13 May 1876 so he could be buried in Paris.

On 16 May, his coffin arrived for reburial at Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Michelet's monument was built there, designed by architect Jean-Louis Pascal, was erected in 1893 through public subscription.

Bequest of literary rights

Michelet bequeathed Athénaïs literary rights to his books and papers before he died, acknowledging the significant role she had in what he published during his later years. After winning a court challenge to this bequest, Athénaïs retained the papers and publishing rights.

Selected works

Histoire de la révolution française, (1847–1853, 7 vols.). English translation: The History of the French Revolution (Charles Cocks, trans., 1847), online
Histoire romaine, (1831, 2 vols.). English translation: History of the Roman Republic (William Hazlitt, trans., 1847), online
Histoire de France, (1833–1867, 19 vols.). English translation: The History of France (W. K. Kelly, trans., vol. 1–2 only), vol. 1, vol. 2 online.
On History: Introduction to World History (1831); Opening Address at the Faculty of Letters (1834); Preface to History of France (1869). Trans. Flora Kimmich, Lionel Gossman and Edward K. Kaplan. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2013, online
Œuvres complètes (Complete works, 1971–, vols. 1–9, 16–18, 20–21 published), edited by Paul Viallaneix

Jules Michelet

Early life and education

Themes

Academic reception

Political life

Marriages

Death and burials

Bequest of literary rights

Selected works

See also

References

Further reading

External links