Jean Lebeuf

Who was Jean Lebeuf?

Jean Lebeuf was a French historian.

He was born at Auxerre, where his father, a councillor in the parlement, was receveur des consignations. He began his studies in his native town, and continued them in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe. He soon became known as one of the most cultivated minds of his time. He made himself master of practically every branch of medieval learning, and had a thorough knowledge of the sources and the bibliography of his subject. His learning was not drawn from books only; he was also an archaeologist, and frequently went on expeditions in France, always on foot, in the course of which he examined the monuments of architecture and sculpture, as well as the libraries, and collected a number of notes and sketches. He was in correspondence with all the most learned men of the day. His correspondence with President Bouhier was published in 1885 by Ernest Petit; his other letters have been edited by the Société des sciences historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne. He also wrote numerous articles, and, after his election as a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, a number of Mémoires which appeared in the Recueil of this society. He died at Paris.