Jules Michelet (French: [ʒyl miʃlɛ]; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) was a French historian and writer, best known for his multi-volume work Histoire de France (History of France), which chronicles the history of France from its earliest origins to the French Revolution. Michelet was influenced by Giambattista Vico, particularly by his emphasis on the role of ordinary people and their customs in shaping historical narratives, which contrasted with the traditional focus on political and military elites. Michelet also drew inspiration from Vico's concept of the corsi e ricorsi—the cyclical nature of history—in which societies rise and fall in a recurring pattern.
In Histoire de France, Michelet coined the term ''Renaissance'' (French for "rebirth") to describe a cultural movement in Europe that marked a clear departure from the Middle Ages. Although the term was initially used by the Italian art historian Giorgio Vasari in 1550 to describe the revival of classical art beginning with Giotto, Michelet was the first historian to apply the French equivalent systematically to a broader historical era. His use of the term "Renaissance'' established the modern interpretation of this period as a time of renewed humanism, artistic flourishing, and intellectual transformation in "post-medieval" Europe.
Historian François Furet described Michelet's The History of the French Revolution as "the cornerstone of revolutionary historiography" and "a literary monument."
Michelet’s father was a master printer, and Michelet often assisted him in his work. He was later offered a position at the imperial printing office but chose instead to study at the Lycée Charlemagne, a prestigious secondary school in Paris. He passed the university examination in 1821 and was soon appointed to a professorship of history at the Collège Rollin.
In 1824, Michelet married Pauline Rousseau. The couple had their first child, Adèle, the same year. Among Michelet's notable patrons were Abel-François Villemain and Victor Cousin, who supported his early academic career.
Since childhood, he is said to have embraced republicanism and a distinctive form of romantic free thought. He was an active political thinker, a man of letters, and a committed historian. His first published works were school textbooks.
Between 1825 and 1827, he produced a series of drafts, chronological tables, and preparatory materials relating to modern history. In 1827, he published Précis d’histoire moderne, an influential overview of contemporary history. That same year, he was appointed as a maître de conférences at the École normale supérieure. He followed this with Introduction à l'histoire universelle in 1831.
The events of the July Revolution of 1830 put Michelet in a better position for his research. He secured a position at the Record Office and served as deputy professor under historian François Guizot in the literary faculty of the University of France. Soon afterwards, he began his magnum opus, the Histoire de France, which would take 30 years to complete. He also published numerous other books, such as the Œuvres choisies de Vico, the Mémoires de Luther écrits par lui-même, the Origines du droit français, and somewhat later, the le Procès des Templiers.
In 1838, Michelet's studies reinforced his natural aversion to the principles of authority and ecclesiasticism. During the revival of Jesuit activity in France, he was appointed to the chair of history at the Collège de France. Assisted by his friend Edgar Quinet, he began a polemic against the religious order and the principles that it represented.
He published Histoire Romaine in 1839, the same year his first wife died. The results of his lectures appeared in the volumes Du prêtre, de la femme et de la famille and Le peuple. These books do not display the dramatic style (partly borrowed from Lamennais) that characterizes Michelet's later works. However, they contain many of his core beliefs—a mixture of sentimentalism, communism, and anti-sacerdotalism.
Michelet, along with many others, propagated the principles that led to the outbreaks of 1848. When the revolution broke out, instead of attempting to enter active political life, he devoted himself to his literary work. Besides continuing the Histoire de France, he also wrote Histoire de la Révolution française during the years between the downfall of Louis Philippe and the final establishment of Napoleon III.
In 1849, at 51, he married his second wife, the 23-year-old Athénaïs Michelet (née Mialaret). She was a natural history writer and memoirist and had republican sympathies. She had been a teacher in Saint Petersburg before their extensive correspondence led to marriage. They entered into a shared literary life and she would assist him significantly in his endeavors. He openly acknowledged this, although she was never given credit in his works.
After Napoleon III’s rise to power in 1852, Jules Michelet lost his position at the Record Office due to his refusal to swear loyalty to the new emperor. This event further aligned him with republican ideals,a perspective likely influenced by his marriage to Athénaïs, who also supported republicanism. While Michelet’s primary focus remained on his major work, Histoire de France, he also produced additional writings during this period. Some of these were expanded versions of specific episodes from Histoire, presented as commentaries or companion volumes. One such example is Les Femmes de la Révolution (1854), which examined the role of women in the French Revolution, covering the period from 1780 to 1794.
During this period, Michelet began a series of books on natural history, starting with L’Oiseau (1856). These works reflected his pantheistic worldview rather than a strictly scientific approach and were partly inspired by his wife, Athénaïs. The series continued with L'Insecte (1858), La Mer (1861), and La Montagne (1868). In La Montagne, Michelet adopted a more lyrical style than his typical historical narratives, employing a staccato technique with short, fragmented sentences to build emotional tension.
Two other works from this period, L’Amour (1859) and La Femme (1860), represent another thematic direction in Michelet’s writing. These books generated debate for their detailed exploration of personal relationships and the evolving role of women in society. These books also explored broader cultural and literary themes within French society. Notably, Vincent van Gogh referenced La Femme in his drawing Sorrow, inscribing it with the quote: “Comment se fait-il qu’il y ait sur la terre une femme seule?” (“How can there be on earth a woman alone?”).
In 1862, Michelet published La Sorcière (Satanism and Witchcraft), a book that developed from a historical topic and reflected some of his more unconventional views. In 1973, the work was adapted into an animated art film, Belladonna of Sadness, directed by Eiichi Yamamoto and produced by Mushi Production.
Although Michelet continued to write in a similar style, his later works received less critical attention. For instance, La Bible de l’humanité (1864), a historical overview of world religions, did not achieve the same level of readership in the 20th century as his earlier publications.
The writing and publication of these works, along with the completion of Histoire de France, occupied Michelet throughout both decades of the Second Empire. During this time, he lived partly in France and partly in Italy, frequently spending winters on the French Riviera, particularly in Hyères.