Arcisse de Caumont

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Arcisse de Caumont

Arcisse de Caumont (born August 20, 1801 in Bayeux , † April 16, 1873 in Caen ) was a French geologist , archaeologist , art historian and historian (regional history, architectural history , genealogy ) from Normandy . He is considered the "father of Norman archeology" and a pioneer of medieval art history in France and beyond.

Life

Caumont came from a respected Norman family, went to school in Falaise and Bayeux, and took an early interest in science. He then studied in Caen law with the degree in 1824, where he also heard lectures on history and art history (including with Charles de Gerville (1769-1853) and Abbé Gervais de la Rue (1751-1835)) and began to deal with ecclesiastical Medieval and Gallo-Roman architecture , about which he published much. In 1824 he founded the Société des Antiquaires de Normandie with Gerville, the Abbé Gervais and Auguste Le Prévost , whose secretary he later became, and in 1823 he was one of the founders of the Société Linnéenne de Normandie. In 1834 he founded the Société Française d'archéologie after meeting the English archaeologist Thomas Rickman , whose Monumental bulletin became an important journal for medieval art history. He also founded the Association Normande with the magazine L'Annuaire des cinq départements de l'ancienne Normandie and the Société pour la Conservation des Monuments. Caumont organized scientific congresses on archeology. In 1870 he withdrew due to illness. After his death, most of the societies he founded disintegrated or were fundamentally restructured.

With his teacher Charles de Gerville, he popularized the use of the term Romanesque in France. His main work as an architectural historian is the six-volume Cours d'antiquités monumentales , which arose from his lectures in Caen. His publications and activities stimulated monument protection in France and beyond in the 19th century, and he himself saved many monuments from destruction through his activities in the Société Française d'archéologie.

He was a corresponding member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres .

As a philanthropist, he donated a botanical garden and a school to Bayeux.

Fonts (selection)

  • Mémoire géologique: sur quelques terrains de la Normandie occidentale. Caen, Chalopin Fils, 1825.
  • Essai on the topographie géognostique du département du Calvados. Caen, Chalopin, 1828.
  • Mémoires de la Société linnéenne de Normandie, Paris, Lance, 1829.
  • Cours d'antiquités monumentales professé à Caen, en 1830, (Part 1: Antiquités celtiques, Part 2 and 3: Antiquités gallo-romaines; Part 4: Architecture religieuse; Part 5: Architecture militaire; Part 6: État de la peinture, de la calligraphie, de l'orfèvrerie et autres arts à l'époque du Moyen Âge), Caen: Lange, 6 volumes, 1830–1841.
  • Histoire sommaire de l'architecture religieuse, civile et militaire au Moyen Âge. Caen, Lance, 1836.
  • Histoire de l'architecture religieuse au Moyen Âge. Caen, Derache, 1841.
  • Verbal report: fait à la société Française pour la conservation des monuments dans la séance administrative du 7 déc. 1844, sur quelques antiquités du midi de la France. Caen, [sn], 1845.
  • Statistique monumentale du Calvados. Caen, Le Blanc-Hardel, 1846–1867.
  • Statistiques routières de la Basse-Normandie. Caen, Derache, 1855.
  • Abécédaire héraldique, ou Notions générales sur le blason. Caen, A. Hardel, 1861.
  • Inauguration d'un monument à Dives en mémoire du départ de l'armée de Guillaume-le-Bâtard pour la conquête de l'Angleterre in 1066. Caen, A. Hardel, 1861.
  • Bulletin monumental ou collection de memoires et de renseignements sur la statistique monumentale de la France, 1865.
  • Archeology des écoles primaires. Caen, Le Blanc-Hardel, 1868.
  • Le Mur de Laudunum. Caen, [sn], 1868.
  • Abécédaire ou rudiment d'archéologie. Caen, F. Le Blanc-Hardel, 1869.
  • Le Beurre d'Isigny à Monaco. Caen, F. Le Blanc-Hardel, 1869.
  • La Vallée de la Dives: statistical ripuaire. Caen, Res Universis, 1853, reprinted 1992.

literature

  • Vincent Juhe (ed.): Arcisse de Caumont (1801–1873), érudit normand et fondateur de l'archéologie française (= Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie, Volume 40). Caen 2004.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Caumont, Arcisse de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French geologist, archaeologist, art historian and historian
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Bayeux
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1873
Place of death Caen