COMTE DE

See also:

• HENRI

HENRI

See also:

• COMTE DE HENRI BOULAINVILLIERS (1658-1722)

BOULAINVILLIERS (1658-1722)  , French political writer, was born at St Saire in Normandy in 1658 . He was educated at the college of Juilly, and served in the army until 1697 . He wrote a number of historical works (published after his death), of which the most important were the following: Histoire de l'ancien gouvernement de la France (La Haye, 1727); Etat de la France, avec des memoires sur l'ancien gouvernement (London, 1727); Histoire de la pairie de France (London, 1753); Histoire des Arabes (1731) . His writings are characterized byan extravagant admiration of the feudal system . He was an aristocrat of the most pronounced type, attacking absolute monarchy on the one hand and popular government on the other . He was at great pains to prove the pretensions of his own family to ancient nobility, and maintained that the government should be entrusted solely to men of his class . He died in Paris on the 23rd of January 1722 .