Pierre Dupuy (scholar) facts for kids

Pierre Dupuy.

Pierre Dupuy (born November 27, 1582 – died December 14, 1651) was a famous French scholar. He was also known as Puteanus. Pierre was the son of Claude Dupuy, who was a scholar and loved collecting books.

Life and Work of Pierre Dupuy

Pierre Dupuy was born in Agen, a town in France.

Working with Historical Documents

In 1615, a very important person named Mathieu Molé asked Pierre to do a big job. Molé was the head of the parlement of Paris. A parlement was like a high court in France back then.

Pierre's job was to make a list of all the important historical papers kept in a place called the Trésor des chartes. This was like a national archive where old royal documents were stored. This huge task took him eleven years to finish!

Pierre's detailed list of these documents is still respected today. Copies of his work can be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale (France's national library) and in archives in Paris and London.

Publishing Books and Keeping Libraries

Pierre Dupuy also worked with his brother, Jacques, and their friend Nicolas Rigault. Together, they helped publish a history book written by Jacques Auguste de Thou.

Later, Pierre and Jacques bought the job of "keeper of the king's library" from Rigault. This meant they were in charge of the king's huge collection of books. They also created a detailed list of all the books in that library.

Important Writings

While working with all these old documents, Pierre Dupuy found and copied many papers that had never been published before. These papers gave him ideas for his own important books. Some of his famous works include:

• Traité des droits et des libertés de l'Église gallicane, avec les preuves (1639) – This book was about the rights and freedoms of the French Church.
• Histoire de l'ordre militaire des Templiers (1654) – This was a history of the Knights Templar, a famous medieval military group.
• Histoire générale du schisme qui a été dans l'Église depuis 1378 jusqu'à 1428 (1654) – This book covered a major split in the Christian Church during the Middle Ages.
• Histoire du différend entre le page Boniface VIII et le roi Philippe le Bel (1655) – This book looked at a disagreement between a Pope and a French King.

These books were very important for understanding how the church and the government worked together in the Middle Ages. Pierre wrote them from a viewpoint called Gallicanism. This idea supported the rights of the French king in matters of the state, even when they involved the church. Because his ideas were strong, some of his books were not published until after he died.

Pierre Dupuy also wrote about how kings ruled and when they became old enough to rule on their own. His notes and papers are still kept in the National Library of France.

Pierre Dupuy passed away in Paris.