Bossuet's Discourse on Universal History

Bossuet. Hyacinthe Rigaud.1698. Uffizi Gallery

Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (1627 – 1704) was a French bishop and theologian, famous for his sermons and other addresses. He has long been considered one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist. In 1670 he was appointed tutor to the nine-year-old Dauphin, the eldest child and heir of Louis XIV. In 1679, he published his celebrated Discours sur l'histoire universelle ("Discourse on Universal History").

I first encountered Bossuet many years ago when I learned that his work was the subject of a dissertation by my learned cousin, a religious who was an accomplished theologian and Latin scholar.



Public domain.


I thought no more about this until discovering his Discours yesterday. I have a long cherished ambition or fantasy of writing my own History of the World to serve as an antidote for the disparate miasmas of confusion and distortion currently written and taught as 'history'. As I have almost run out of time for such an overweening project, you may imagine my excitement in chancing upon Bossuet's Discours.

Link to Internet Archive

I shall accordingly, and without more ado, begin a series of posts introducing Bossuet's History to a modern, English-speaking readership.


In this task, I shall reproduce his work in French, accompanied by an English translation based upon that of Mr Elphinston, published in London,  in 1757.