Fleury, , Church historian and educator; b. at Paris, December 6, 1640; d. July 14, 1725. The son of a lawyer from Normandy, he received a thorough education at the renowned Jesuit College of Clermont, devoted himself subsequently to legal studies, and in 1658 was called to the bar at the very early age.—of eighteen. For nine years he applied himself earnestly to his calling and continued his studies in jurisprudence, but interested himself also in history, literature, and archaeology. Signally gifted, industrious, and of a gentle disposition, he soon won for himself the patronage of the great. He frequented the house of M. de Montmor and the salon of Guillaume de Lamoignon, first president of the Parlement of Paris, where he met the intellectual celebrities of France, Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Boileau, etc. Ms deeply religious spirit and his leaning towards a life of quiet retirement led him to form the resolution to abandon the law, to study theology, and to embrace the priestly calling. The date of his ordination is unknown, but it certainly took place before 1672, when, at Bossuet's suggestion, he was appointed tutor (sous-precepteur) to the Princes de Conti, whom Louis XIV wished to be educated with the Dauphin. During the succeeding period, he published his first important works. Later appeared two books, containing the fruits of his legal studies: "Histoire du droit franeais" (Paris, 1674) and "Institution au droit ecclesiastique" (Paris, 1677). The latter of these works was at first issued anonymously, but subsequently (1687) appeared under the author's name. In these writings Fleury shows himself to be an outspoken Gallican. That he was a pronounced follower of Bossuet in this regard appears also from his "Discours sur les libertes de l'Eglise gallicane", written in 1690. His position as teacher led him to the study of pedagogics, and as early as 1675 he wrote at Bossuet's suggestion his "Traite du choix et de la methode des etudes", which was published at Paris in 1686. For the instruction of his pupil and as a practical application of the principles expounded in his treatise, he wrote a series of three works: "Les mceurs des israelites" (Paris, 1681), "Les mceurs des chretiens" (1682), and the "Grand catechisme historique" (1683). Meanwhile he maintained his close relations with Bossuet, who was ever a zealous patron of the able and industrious teacher, and translated into Latin (1678) his "Exposition de la foi catholique".
Upon completing the education of the Princes de Conti, Fleury was (1680) appointed tutor to the Comte de Vermandois, the legitimized son of Louis XIV and Louise de La Valliere. On the death of the young count in 1684, Louis XIV, in token of his appreciation of Fleury's tutorial services, appointed him Abbot of Loc-Dieu in the Diocese of Rhodez, and Fleury devoted himself zealously to the duties of his pastoral charge. He preached frequently in the Diocese of Meaux, and accompanied the Abbe Fenelon on his missionary journeys in Saintonge and Poitou, after the abrogation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), both laboring diligently and with great success for the conversion of the Huguenots. At the same time Fleury continued his literary pursuits, and in 1685 he published a "Life of Marguerite d'Arbouze, Abbess and reformer of the Abbey of Val-de-Grace, and in 1688 the treatise entitled "Devoirs des maitres et des domestiques". Shortly afterwards he was recalled to the court, and in 1689, on Fenelon's recommendation, was appointed tutor (sous-precepteur) to the grandsons of Louis XIV, the young Dukes of Burgundy, of Anjou, and of Berry. He continued at this post for sixteen years, and lived at the brilliant court the same modest, retired life, devoted to his duties as teacher and to his studies. During this period his leisure hours were given mainly to the composition of his "Histoire ecclesiastique", the first volume of which appeared in 1691. In this great work, the principal literary fruit of the remaining years of his life, the author discloses once more his leanings toward Gallicanism.