Rollin, Charles
Rollin, Charles
Born in Paris, 1661; died there, 1741. The son of a cutler, intended to follow his father’s trade, he was remarkable for the piety with which he served Mass and which secured for him a collegiate scholarship. He studied theology and received the tonsure, but not Holy Orders. He was assistant professor, and then professor of rhetoric at the Collège de Plessis; of Latin eloquence at the Collège Royal (1688), and at the age of thirty-three was appointed rector of the university. In 1696 he became principal of the Collège de Beauvais, from which post he was dismissed in 1722 because of his opposition to the Bull “Unigenitus”. He was a member of the Academy of Inscriptions from 1701. His works were written during his retirement. He was nearly sixty when he began the “Traité des Etudes”, sixty-seven when he undertook his “Histoire Ancienne”, seventy-seven when he became engaged on his “Histoire Romaine”, which death prevented him from finishing. The “Traité des Etudes” (in 12°, 1726-31) explains the method of teaching and studying belles-lettres; it contains ideas which seem hackneyed, but which then were fairly new, e.g. the necessity of studying national history and of making use of school-books written in the vernacular. The “Histoire Ancienne” (1730-38) consists of twelve volumes in 12°. The “Histoire Romaine”, of which he was able to finish only five volumes out of the nine composing the work, displays facility, interest, enthusiasm, but lack of a critical spirit. Rollin was a talented writer, though according to his own statement he was sixty years old when he decided to write in French. He was upright and serene, a pious and sincere Christian, whom it is deplorable to find concerned in the ridiculous scenes at the cemetery of St. Médard near the tomb of the deacon Paris. Without the annoyances due to his Jansenism, his pure conscience, sweet gaiety, vigorous health, and the esteem he enjoyed should have made him one of the most fortunate men of his times.
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TROGNON, Eloge (Paris, 1818); GUENEAU DE MUSSY, Traite des Etudes de Rollin (Paris, 1805); SAINTE-BEUVE, Causeries du lundi, VI (Paris, 1851-62).
GEORGES BERTRIN Transcribed by Joseph E. O’Connor
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIIICopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Rollin, Charles
a French historian, who formerly enjoyed, if he did not merit, an extensive popularity, was the son of a cutler, and was born in Paris, Jan. 30, 1661. He studied at the College du Plessis, where, in 1683, he became assistant to the professor of rhetoric, and four years later obtained the chair for himself. In 1688 he was called to the chair of eloquence at the College Royal de France, and for some ten years he discharged the duties of his office with remarkable zeal and success. In 1694 he was chosen rector of the University of Paris, a dignity which he held for two years, and signalized his brief tenure of office by many useful reforms, both in regard to discipline and study, and by his warm defense of the privileges of the university. His efforts to revive the study of Greek, then falling back into neglect, were particularly creditable to him, although his career as rector constitutes perhaps his best claim to the regard of posterity, and has certainly left a more permanent impression than his writings, for its influence is perceptible even to the present day. In 1699 he was appointed coadjutor to the principal of the College of Beauvais; but was removed from this situation in 1712 through the machinations of the Jesuits, for Rollin was a strenuous Jansenist. For the next three years he devoted himself exclusively to learned study, the fruit of which was his edition of Quintilian (Paris, 1715, 2 vols.). In 1720 he was re-elected rector of the university, and in the same year published his Traite des Etudes, which M.Villemain has pronounced a monument of good sense and taste, and which is justly regarded as his best literary performance, for his Histoire Ancienne (ibid. 1730-38, 12 vols.), though long prodigiously popular, and translated into several languages (the English among others), is feeble in its philosophy, jejune in its criticism, and often inaccurate in its narrative. Nevertheless, to multitudes both in this country and in France it has formed the introduction to the study of ancient history. Frederick the Great, then the prince royal of Prussia, among otler princely notabilities, wrote to compliment the author, and opened up a correspondence with him. In 1738 Rollin published his Histoire Romaine (ibid. 9 vols.), a much inferior work, now almost forgotten. He died Sept. 14, 1741.