Charles Victor Langlois

Born in Rouen on May 26, 1863, Charles-Victor Langlois became one of France’s best-known historians of the Middle Ages. He studied at the École des Chartes, trained as an archivist-paleographer, earned his doctorate in history in 1887, and later taught at Douai before joining the Sorbonne, where he lectured on paleography, bibliography, and medieval history.

Langlois built his reputation through bibliographic and historical studies of medieval France, and he was widely respected for his exacting, source-based approach. He is still remembered above all for Introduction aux études historiques, written with Charles Seignobos, a book that became a landmark statement of historical method.

He also served in major archival roles, including leadership at the French National Archives, and was elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Langlois died in Paris on June 25, 1929, leaving behind a reputation as a careful scholar who helped define what rigorous historical research should look like.