Thou, Jacques Auguste de

Thou, Jacques Auguste de zhäk ôgüstˈ də to͞o [key], 1553–1617, French historian and magistrate. As a member of the Parlement of Paris, Thou rendered outstanding service to Henry IV. The first volumes of his great History of His Own Times (1604–8, in Latin), covering the Wars of Religion of the 16th cent., aroused Roman Catholic opposition because of his strictures against the Catholic League and his Gallican leanings. The complete work was published at Geneva in 1620 (tr., 2 vol., 1724–34). His son, François Auguste de Thou, 1607–42, played a minor role in the conspiracy of his friend Cinq Mars, but was executed for failing to reveal it to the authorities.

See study of J. A. de Thou's works by S. Kinser (1966).

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