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JACQUES AUGUSTE DE [THUANUS] THOU (15...

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 883 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JACQUES AUGUSTE DE [THUANUS] See also:

THOU (1553-1617)  , See also:French historian, was the See also:grandson of Augustin de See also:Thou, See also:president of the See also:parlement of See also:Paris (d . 1544), younger son of Christophe de Thou, " first president " of the same parlement, who began to collect a number of books and notes for a See also:history of See also:France which he was never to write (d . 1582), and See also:nephew of See also:Nicolas de Thou, who was See also:bishop of See also:Chartres (1573-1598) . In these See also:family surroundings he imbibed a love of letters, a See also:firm and orthodox, though enlightened and tolerant piety, and an See also:attachment to the traditional See also:power of the See also:Crown . At the See also:age of seventeen he began his studies in See also:law, first at See also:Orleans, later at See also:Bourges, where he made the acquaintance of See also:Hotman, and finally at See also:Valence, where he had See also:Cujas for his See also:master and See also:Scaliger as a friend . He was at first intended for the See also:Church; he received the See also:minor orders, and on the See also:appointment of his See also:uncle Nicolas to the episcopate succeeded him as a See also:canon of Notre-See also:Dame . But his tastes led him in a different direction; not content with a knowledge of books, he wished to know the See also:world and men . During a See also:period of ten years he seized every opportunity for profitable travel . In 1573 he accompanied See also:Paul de See also:Foix on an See also:embassy, which enabled him to visit most of the See also:Italian courts; he formed a friendship with See also:Arnaud d'Ossat (afterwards bishop of See also:Rennes and See also:Bayeux and See also:cardinal, d . 1604), who was secretary to the See also:ambassador . In the following See also:year he formed See also:part of the brilliant cortege which brought See also:King See also:Henry III. back to France, after his See also:flight from his See also:Polish king-dom . He also visited several parts of France, and at See also:Bordeaux met See also:Montaigne .

On the See also:

death, however, of his See also:elder See also:brother See also:jean (See also:April 5, 1579), who was mafire See also:des requetes to the parlement, hi's relations prevailed on him to leave the Church, and he entered the parlement and married (1588) . In the same year he was appointed See also:cos-See also:miller d'etat . He served faithfully both the effeminate, bigoted and cruel Henry III. and Henry IV., a sceptic and given to love-intrigues, because they were both the representatives of legitimate authority . He succeeded his uncle Augustin as president a See also:mortier (1595); and used his new authority in the interests of religious See also:peace, negotiating, on the one See also:hand, the See also:Edict of See also:Nantes with the Protestants, while in the name of the principals of the Gallican Church he opposed the recognition of the See also:Council of See also:Trent . This attitude exposed him to the animosity of the See also:League party and of the See also:Holy See, and to their persecution when the first edition of his history appeared . This history was the See also:work of his whole See also:life . In a See also:letter of the 31st of See also:March 1611 addressed to the president See also:Jeannin, he himself describes his See also:long labours in preparation of it . His materials for See also:writing it were See also:drawn from his See also:rich library, which he established in the See also:Rue des Poitevins in the year 1587, with the two See also:brothers, See also:Pierre and Jacques See also:Dupuy, as librarians . His See also:object was to produce a purely scientific and unbiassed work, and for this See also:reason he wrote it in Latin, giving it as See also:title Historia sui See also:tern poris . The first 18 books, embracing the period from 1545-1560, appeared in 1604 (1 vol. See also:folio), and the work was at once attacked by those whom the author himself calls See also:les envieux et les factieux . The second part, dealing with the first See also:wars of See also:religion (1560-1572), was put on the See also:Index librarum prohlbitorum the ramparts of the See also:town dating from the 13th See also:century and flanked by huge towers are still to be seen, and a See also:bridge of the same period crosses the Thouet . The manufacture of See also:furniture and wooden shoes, and the preparation of veterinary See also:medicine and See also:lime, are carried on .

See also:

Wine, livestock and agricultural produce are the See also:chief articles of See also:trade . See also:Thouars, which probably existed in the Gallo-See also:Roman period, became in the 9th century the seat of powerful viscounts, who in later times were zealous supporters of the See also:English . In 1372 the latter were expelled from the town by See also:Bertrand du Guesclin . In 1563 See also:Charles IX. created See also:Louis III., the See also:head of the family of La Tremoille, See also:duke of Thouars . In 1793 the Vendeans took the town by See also:assault .

End of Article: JACQUES AUGUSTE DE [THUANUS] THOU (1553-1617)
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