Roland Mousnier

Mousnier, Roland 

Born Sept. 7, 1907, in Paris. French historian.

A professor at the Sorbonne since 1955, Mousnier has been director of the Center for the Study of Modern European Civilization since 1958 and was chairman of the French National Committee of Historians from 1971 to 1975. His principal works are devoted to the history of France during the 16th to 18th centuries and deal mainly with agrarian relations and social structure. Mousnier interprets those topics in an anti-Marxist spirit. The problem of French absolutism, portrayed as a force transcending class and expressing genuine national interests, occupies a significant place in Mousnier’s work.

WORKS

La Vénalité des offices sous Henri IV et Louis XIII, 2nd ed. Paris, 1971.
Le XVIII Siècle: Revolution intellectuelle, technique, et politique (1715–1815), 2nd ed. Paris, 1955.
Le XVI et XVII Siécles: Les Progrès de la civilisation européene et le déclin de l’Orient (1492–1715). 5th ed. Paris, 1967.
L’Art de la dissertation historique. Paris, 1960.
Le XVIII Siècle: L’époque des “Lumiéres” (1725–1815). Paris, 1963. (Together with E. Labrousse.)
L’Assassinat d’Henri IV14 mai 1610. Paris, 1964.
Tureurs paysannes: Les Paysans dans les révoltes du XVII siècle (France, Russie, Chine). Paris, 1967.