François Catrou
François Catrou was born in Paris on the 28th of December 1659, the son of a man who served as secretary to Louis XIV himself. That connection to the court of the Sun King did not define the younger Catrou's path. At eighteen he turned away from the world his father navigated and entered the Society of Jesus. What followed was a life spent writing, preaching, and translating on a scale that few scholars of any era have matched. How does a Jesuit priest produce a twenty-one-volume history of Rome, a history of the Mughal empire, a controversial study of religious fanaticism, and a translation of Virgil that Edward Gibbon kept at his side during his early studies? The answer lies in a discipline that allowed Catrou to pursue historical research even while running a major journal. His story raises questions about what drives a scholar to such prolific output, and what it means when a massive work is both praised and savaged in the same breath.
At the completion of his Jesuit studies in 1690, Catrou launched his career as a preacher. For ten years he continued in that role with what his contemporaries described as remarkable success. His talents for preaching had been noticed during the regular period of Jesuit probation, before he had ever addressed a public audience. In 1701 he founded the Journal de Trévoux, one of the significant intellectual periodicals of early eighteenth-century France. He remained an active member of its staff for twelve years. Running a journal of that kind was itself a full-time occupation, yet Catrou found time alongside those duties to pursue the historical research that would become the foundation of his lasting reputation.
The Histoire generale de l'empire du Mogul appeared in 1705, drawing its material chiefly from the memoirs of Niccolao Manucci, a Venetian traveller who had spent decades moving through the courts and camps of the Mughal world. Catrou shaped that firsthand testimony into a narrative history that proved durable enough to travel across languages and decades. Domenico Occhi translated it into Italian under the title Istoria generale del Imperio del Mogul, published in Venice in 1751. An English version appeared in London in 1826, and then again in 1907, meaning the book found new readers across more than two centuries. The reliance on Manucci gave the work an eyewitness texture that no purely archival history could supply.
Catrou's Histoire du fanatisme dans la religion protestante was not a neutral survey. It dealt principally with the Anabaptists and the Quakers, and it attracted the kind of sharp attention that controversial religious history always draws. The book's editors eventually settled on what they considered the best edition, a text published in two duodecimo volumes in Paris in 1740, three years after Catrou had died. That posthumous publication suggests the work retained value even after its author was gone, and that the debates it entered had not quieted.
Twenty-one quarto volumes. That is the scale of Catrou's Roman History, published between 1725 and 1737, the year of his death. The geographical and critical notes that accompany the text came from P. Rouillé, a fellow Jesuit, and the collaboration gave the work a dual character: narrative from Catrou, scholarly apparatus from Rouillé. A second edition appeared in 1737. Fra Zannino Marsecco translated the French into Italian in Venice between 1730 and 1737, overlapping with the French publication itself. The English translation by R. Bundy ran in London from 1728 to 1737, also in six folio volumes, carrying the full title The Roman History with Notes, done into English from the Original French of the Rev. Fathers Catrou and Rouillé. French critics at the time praised the deep research and solid reasoning while finding fault with the pompous style. The English reception was harsher still. Yet British historian Nathaniel Hooke drew on the text of Catrou and drew even more freely on the notes of Rouillé when writing his own Roman History.
Catrou's translation of Virgil came with critical and historical notes and a life of the poet that showed, according to those who studied it, a thorough acquaintance with both the poem and the man behind it. The translation itself was described as free at all times, and not infrequently inaccurate. That tension between interpretive boldness and literal faithfulness did not stop it from finding a devoted reader. Edward Gibbon, the historian whose own work would later reshape how the English-speaking world understood Rome, kept Catrou's Virgil close during his early studies. In his autobiography Gibbon described his practice of consulting the most learned and ingenious commentators. He listed them by name: Torrentius and Dacier on Horace, Catrou and Servius on Virgil. To appear on a list alongside those names, in Gibbon's own words, is a particular kind of testimony to Catrou's reach.
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Common questions
Who was François Catrou and what did he do?
François Catrou (1659-1737) was a French historian, translator, and Jesuit priest born in Paris. He founded the Journal de Trévoux in 1701, authored a history of the Mughal empire, a controversial history of Protestant fanaticism, and a twenty-one-volume Roman History, and produced a translation of Virgil.
What was the Journal de Trévoux founded by François Catrou?
The Journal de Trévoux was a periodical founded by Catrou in 1701. He remained an active member of its staff for twelve years.
What is François Catrou's Histoire generale de l'empire du Mogul about?
Catrou's Histoire generale de l'empire du Mogul, published in 1705, is a history of the Mughal empire drawn chiefly from the memoirs of Venetian traveller Niccolao Manucci. It was later translated into Italian and into English, with English editions appearing in London in 1826 and again in 1907.
How many volumes is Catrou's Roman History?
Catrou's Roman History was published in twenty-one quarto volumes between 1725 and 1737. The geographical and critical notes were written by P. Rouillé, S.J., and an English translation by R. Bundy appeared in London between 1728 and 1737 in six folio volumes.
Did Edward Gibbon read Catrou's translation of Virgil?
Yes. Edward Gibbon kept Catrou's Virgil as a constant companion during his early studies. In his autobiography Gibbon named Catrou alongside Servius as his preferred commentators on Virgil.
What was the critical reception of Catrou's Roman History?
French critics praised the Roman History for its deep research and solid reasoning but censured its pompous style. The work's appearance in English translation provoked even harsher attacks, though British historian Nathaniel Hooke drew freely from both Catrou's text and Rouillé's notes when writing his own Roman History.