Louis Moréri (March 25, 1643 - July 10, 1680) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
encyclopaedist.
His encyclopaedia,
Le grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane (
The Great Historical Dictionary, or Anthology of Sacred and Secular History) was first published in
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
in 1674. The encyclopaedia focused particularly on historical and biographical articles.
Louis Moréri (March 25, 1643 - July 10, 1680) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
encyclopaedist.
His encyclopaedia,
Le grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane (
The Great Historical Dictionary, or Anthology of Sacred and Secular History) was first published in
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
in 1674. The encyclopaedia focused particularly on historical and biographical articles. Moréri dedicated his encyclopaedia to Gaillard de Longjumeau, the Bishop of Apt, to whom he had been appointed chaplain. Moréri's one-volume-edition 1674 was modified by others after his death, any other time it was published, and was translated into English, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish. A total of at least 20 different editions were published between 1674 (one volume) and 1759 (10 volumes).
BayleBayle can refer to:*A position in medieval France similar to that of a bailiff*François Bayle, a French composer of acousmatic music*George A. Bayle Jr., first to market peanut butter*Jean-Michel Bayle, a French motorcycle racer*Pierre Bayle, a philosopher...
, who intended to make up the deficiencies of Moréri's dictionary, said of him:
- I share the opinion of Horace on those who lead the way. The first compilers of dictionaries made many errors, but they deserve a glory of which their successors ought never to deprive them. Moréri has given himself a great deal of trouble, has been useful to everybody, and has sufficient information to many.
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Born in Bargemont,
diocese of FréjusThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. In 1957 it was renamed as the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.A suffragan of the Archbishopric of Aix, it comprised the whole département of Var...
, Moréri studied humanities in
DraguignanDraguignan is a French city, in the Var département, of which it is a sous-préfecture, self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" and "Porte du Verdon". At the 1999 census the population was 32,829 inhabitants. The commune's land area is 53.75 km² . The city is only from St...
and later rhetoric at the Jesuit College of
Aix-en-ProvenceAix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city in southern France, some north of Marseille...
. He then studied theology and became an ordained a priest in Lyon. He died in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
His grandfather Joseph Chatranet, a native of Dijon, had settled in Provence under Charles IX and taken the name of the village of Moréri, the seigniory of which he had acquired through marriage. During his stay in Lyon, he published several works, among them
Pratique de la perfection chretienne et religieuse (1667), a translation from the Spanish of Alphonso Rodriguez's work.
In 1675 he accompanied that prelate to Paris where he became acquainted with
PomponneSimon Arnauld de Pomponne, Seigneur and then Marquis of Pomponne was a French diplomat and minister.-Early life:...
, who gave him employment in his offices. After the downfall of that minister in 1679, he returned to his studies, but overwork had undermined his constitution and he died of
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
in 1680.
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