Noël Valois

Noël Valois (4 May 1855, Paris – 11 November 1915, Paris), was a French historian.

The grandson of sculptor Achille Valois, Valois studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. He then entered the École Nationale des Chartes in 1875, where he presented his thesis on William of Auvergne in 1879. He then joined the National Archives in 1881.

The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres awarded him with the prix Gobert for the publication of his work on the Council of State under Henry IV in 1889. On 28 October 1893, he resigned from his post at the Archives National to devote himself to his research. Specializing in the study of the Western Schism, historians realized thanks to him that the period of the papacy in the 14th century could be only studied by comparing the Avignon records with those of the Vatican.

Valois was elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres on 23 May 1902 in replacement of Jules Girard. He went on to chair the Académie and the Institut de France in 1913. He was a corresponding member of the academies of Bologna and Munich. Provided by Wikipedia