Denis Godefroy

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Denis Godefroy (born August 24, 1615 in Paris , † June 4, 1681 in Lille ) was a French historian , archivist and editor of numerous works on the history of France .

Life

Godefroy was the eldest son of Théodore Godefroy and a grandson of the lawyer Denis Godefroy ( Dionysius Gothofredus ). To distinguish between his grandfather (Denis I) and his own son (Denis III), he is conventionally counted as Denis II.

Introduced to the study of French history by his father, he received it from Louis XIII in 1640 . the entitlement to the position of a royal historiographer ( historiographe du Roi ) associated with a grant . Louis XIV increased his salary considerably and appointed him in 1668 after the capture of Lille as overseer of the local archives of the Flanders Chamber of Accounts . 1678 he was temporarily transferred to Gent seconded to archive the records and documents in the file in the castle of Ghent. After completing this work he returned to Lille, where he died in 1681.

From his marriage to Geneviève Desjardins he had seven children, including Denis III Godefroy (1653-1719), lawyer, member of parliament and overseer of the Paris Chamber of Accounts, and Jean Godefroy (1660-1732), who accompanied his father to Lille, him in Office as overseer of the local accounting chamber and reworked some of its works.

Works

Godefroy reissued several works by his father Théodore, such as the Histoire de Charles VI by Jean Juvénal des Ursins , the Histoire de Charles VIII by Guillaume de Jaligny and the Ceremonial des François , a collection of sources on the ceremonial of the French court. Two planned serial volumes of this latter work were not made when its edition received strong criticism. Another notable philological achievement that followed on from his father's preparatory work was his edition of Philippe de Commynes' memoirs based on several manuscripts and older prints . He also edited a collection of sources on the history of Charles VII and a revision of Jean le Feron's Histoire des Connectables, which is important for the history and heraldry of the French nobility . On behalf of Chancellor Pierre Séguier , he also wrote a work Mémoires et instructions pour servir dans les négotiations et affaires concernant les droits du Roi , which was later sometimes ascribed to Séguier himself.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Godefroy, Denis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French historiographer
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1615
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1681
Place of death Lille