View source for Histoire de l'Inquisition en France

{{Short description|1829 book by Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon}}
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'''''Histoire de l'Inquisition en France''''' is a book about [[witch trials in the early modern period]] published in 1829 by [[Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon]] (1786–1864), supposedly on the basis of his unprecedented access to [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] archives in [[Toulouse]], granted by one Bishop {{ill|Antoine Pascal Hyacinthe Sermet|fr}}. It is now regarded as a [[forgery]]. 

The dramatic and blood curdling accounts of ''Histoire'' were incorporated as a primary source into many other volumes, notably [[Joseph Hansen (historian)|Joseph Hansen]]'s (1862–1943) German {{Lang|de|Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Mittelalter}} ("Sources and investigations regarding the history of the witch craze and the witch hunts in the Middle Ages"), which in turn became the source for many other works. Ultimately, Lamothe-Langon's work became the sole or principal [[primary source]] for a substantial part of twentieth century popular and historical beliefs about the [[Inquisition]], [[witchcraft]], torture, and [[jurisprudence]] in the [[Middle Ages]]. 

In the early 1970s, the historians [[Norman Cohn]] and [[Richard Kieckhefer]] independently discovered that the ''Histoire'' was a fabrication; Lamothe-Langon's archive did not exist, he did not have the [[paleography|paleographic]] skills to read books of that age, several major events he described could not have occurred, and his book was full of anachronisms.

Prior to fabricating the ''Histoire'', Lamothe-Langon had been an author of [[gothic horror]] novels. Subsequently, he went on to forge several autobiographies of [[History of France|French historical]] figures.

== References ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130423191921/http://draeconin.com/database/witchhunt.htm Recent Developments in the Study of The Great European Witch Hunt]

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[[Category:1829 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:19th-century history books]]
[[Category:Literary forgeries]]
[[Category:Inquisition]]
[[Category:History books about witchcraft]]


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