Historian, b. at Reims, 1692; d. at Paris, 1785. In 1713, with his brothers, Champeaux and Lévesque de Pouilly, he began to compile a dictionary of universal knowledge, a kind of encyclopedia, which comprised twelve large manuscript folios, and afforded Burigny ample material for his subsequent works. In 1718, at The Hague, he worked with Saint-Hyacinthe on "L'Europe savante", in twelve volumes, of which he contributed at least one-half. On his return to Paris, he devoted his time to historical research and published several works which stamped him as a conscientious scholar. Burigny, although sharing the ideas of the philosophers of his time, was by no means an extremist. He was a modest, peace-loving man, whose only ambition was to be a scholar, and his works show a great amount of learning; some, for instance his lives of Grotius and Erasmus, give very interesting data not elsewhere found. Among his works are: "Traité de l'autorité du pape" (Paris, 1782) which reduces papal authority to a primacy of honour, "Théologie païenne" (Paris, 1754); "Histoire généralede Sicile" (The Hague, 1745); "Histoire des róvolutions de l'empire de Constantinople" (The Hague, 1750); "Traité de Porphyre touchant l'abstinence de la chair, avec la vie de Plotin" (tr. from Greek; Paris, 1740); "Viede Bossuet" (Paris, 1761); "Vie du cardinal Duperron" (Paris, 1768).
Dacier, Eloge de Burigny (Paris, 1786); Walckenaer, Recueil de notices historiques (Paris, 1850); Constantin, in Dict. de theol. cath., II, 1264-65.
APA citation. (1908). Jean Lévesque de Burigny. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03079a.htm
MLA citation. "Jean Lévesque de Burigny." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03079a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by William D. Neville.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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