Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges | Ancient Greece, Roman Religion, Archaeology

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Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Numa-Denis-Fustel-de-Coulanges/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Numa-Denis-Fustel-de-Coulanges">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/history-buff-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/153419-131-91ADC6E8/Ruins-statues-Karnak-Egypt.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div 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From 1860 to 1870 he was professor of history at the faculty of letters at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Strasbourg" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">University of Strasbourg</a>, where he had a brilliant career as a teacher. His subsequent appointments included a lectureship at the École Normale Supérieure in February 1870, a professorship at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Universities-of-Paris-I-XIII" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">University of Paris</a> faculty of letters in 1875, the chair of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="medieval" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval" data-type="MW">medieval</a> history at the Sorbonne in 1878, and the directorship of the École Normale in 1880.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Fustel’s historical thought had two main tenets: the importance of complete objectivity and the unreliability of secondary sources. By his teaching and example he thus established the modern idea of historical impartiality at a time when few people had any qualms about combining the careers of historian and politician. His insistence on the use of contemporary documents led to the very full use of the French national archives in the 19th century. Fustel, however, was no paleographer, and his fondness for manuscript sources was occasionally responsible for major errors of judgment.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/history-buff-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/153419-131-91ADC6E8/Ruins-statues-Karnak-Egypt.jpg" alt="Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">History Buff Quiz</div> </div> </a><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Apart from <em><span id="ref1105"></span>La Cité antique</em> (1864; “The Ancient City”), a study of the part played by religion in the political and social evolution of Greece and Rome, most of Fustel’s work was related to the study of the political institutions of Roman <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaul-ancient-region-Europe" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Gaul</a> and the Germanic invasions of the Roman empire.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":222845,"pageLength":261,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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