Thou (Lat. Thuanus), JACQUES-AUGUSTE DE, the most famous historian of his time, was born at Paris in 1553. His father and grandfather had both been presidents of the parliament of Paris, so that he inherited connections which smoothed his own way to fame and place. After five years spent at the university of Paris he continued his studies at Orleans, and subsequently at Valence under the famous jurist Cujacius. At Valence, also, he formed a friendship, equally honourable to both, with the younger Scaliger. Returning to Paris, he witnessed the massacre of St Bartholomew (1572), of which, though a good Catholic, he afterwards spoke with the severest reprobation. A journey to Italy extended his knowledge and turned his mind still more decidedly to the writing of his great history, the plan of which he had already conceived. He had originally chosen the church as his profession, and actually became one of the canons of Notre Dame in Paris; but at the instance of his friends, though against his own wish, he eventually followed the law. His own merit and his family interest brought him rapid promotion; and at the age of thirty-five he obtained the reversion of the office of president of the parliament of Paris. During the wars of the League De Thou stood fast by Henry III., though he was fully aware of his shortcomings as a king, and took a prominent part in the intricate diplomacy of the time. He stood equally high in the opinion of Henry IV., under whom he acted as keeper of the Royal Library, a post which brought him into contact with the great scholars of the time, the elder Casaubon among others. In affairs of state his most distinguished services were rendered in connection with the Edict of Nantes (1598-99), for which his personal character and the esteem in which he was held by Huguenot and Catholic alike eminently fitted him. He died at Paris in 1617.
The great work of De Thou's life was his stupendous history of his own time (1543-1607), written in Latin, filling four closely-printed folios, and comprising 180 books. The appearance in 1604 of the first eighteen books brought its author a European reputation, and those that followed had equal success. His impartial treatment of heretics, however, did not find favour at Rome; and much to the chagrin of De Thou, who was at heart a pious son of the church, his history was placed on the index of prohibited books. During the 17th and 18th centuries De Thou was ranked with the greatest historians, and he was universally quoted as a master of political wisdom. In England Dr Johnson had serious thoughts of translating him; Pitt paid him a special tribute in the House of Commons; and the best edition of his history was published in London by Samuel Buckley at the expense of Dr Meade, and partly under the superintendence of the historian Carte. His commentaries on his own life and a quantity of Latin verses were De Thou's other contributions to literature.
The following are the chief editions of De Thou's History—11 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1609-14; 4 vols. fol., Frankfurt, 1625; French translation, 10 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1740; English edition by Samuel Buckley (7 vols. Lond. 1733). For an account of De Thou's life, see Collinson, Life of Thuanus (Lond. 1807; chiefly based on De Thou's own Memoirs); and Philarette Chasles, Discours sur la Vie et les Œuvres de J.-A. de Thou (Paris, 1824). And see Stirling-Maxwell, Miscellaneous Essays (1891).