Charles Victor Langlois

Born in Rouen in 1863 and later active in Paris, Charles-Victor Langlois was a French historian, archivist, and paleographer who specialized in the Middle Ages. He studied at the École des Chartes, earned his doctorate in 1887, and went on to teach at the Sorbonne, where he lectured on paleography, bibliography, and medieval history.

Langlois became especially influential through both his research and his teaching. He is closely associated with the study of medieval France, and he was also known for helping define rigorous historical method for modern scholars. With Charles Seignobos, he wrote Introduction aux études historiques, a book that became a landmark guide to how historians work with sources and evidence.

He later served as director of the French National Archives, reflecting the close link in his career between scholarship and archival practice. Langlois died in Paris in 1929, but he remains an important figure for readers interested in medieval history and in the craft of history itself.