Pierre Chaunu

Pierre Chaunu (French pronunciation:

Chaunu died at Caen on 22 October 2009, aged 86.

Works

The central thesis of several of his works, including "La Peste blanche", is that the contemporary West is committing suicide because of demographic decline and low birth rate; hence the subtitle, "How can the suicide of the West be avoided?" In evoking the word "plague", the historian very explicitly recalled the terrible epidemic that decimated the European population in the fourteenth century. He equally echoed the study of Latin America that made his reputation: South America experienced a steep drop in population at the arrival of the Spanish. From 80 million, the population went to 10 million in the span of half a century. (This claim has provoked very significant controversy; see e.g., Henige,^[9] who argues that the population at the relevant dates is essentially unknowable.) Thus, according to Chaunu, the demographic index became a prime indicator to understand the rise and fall of civilizations. The historian maintained that population growth could reverse itself rapidly, to the point of resulting in the phenomena of near-disappearance of some peoples. ^{[citation needed]}

Influence

Chaunu had an important impact on historiography, whether with regard to

• Histoire de l'Amérique latine, Paris, PUF, "Que sais-je?", 1949. Réédition en 2009.
• Séville et l'Atlantique (1504–1650), Paris, SEVPEN, 12 volumes, 1955–1960. (Prix de Loubat, 1962).^[12]
• Les Philippines et le Pacifique des Ibériques, Paris, SEVPEN, 2 volumes, 1960–1966.
• L'Amérique et les Amériques de la préhistoire à nos jours, Paris, Armand Colin, 1964.
• La Civilisation de l'Europe classique, Paris, Arthaud, 1966.
• L'Expansion européenne du XIII^e et XV^e siècles, Paris, PUF, 1969. (English translation European expansion in the later Middle Ages, Amsterdam, North Holland Publishing.)
• Conquête et exploitation des nouveaux mondes, Paris, PUF, 1969.
• La Civilisation de l'Europe des Lumières, Paris, Arthaud, 1971.
• L'Espagne de Charles Quint, Paris, SEDES, 2 volumes, 1973.
• Démographie historique et système de civilisation, Rome, EFR, 1974.
• Histoire, science sociale, Paris, SEDES, 1974.
• Le Temps des Réformes, Paris, Fayard, 1975.
• De l'histoire à la prospective, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1975.
• Les Amériques, XVI^e et XVIII^e siècles, Paris, Armand Colin, 1976.
• La peste blanche (with Georges Suffert), Paris, Gallimard, 1976.
• Séville et l'Amérique aux XVI^e et XVII^e siècles, Paris, Flammarion, 1977.
• La Mort à Paris (XVI^e et XVII^e siècles, Paris, Fayard, 1978.
• Histoire quantitative, histoire sérielle, Paris, Armand Colin, 1978.
• Le sursis, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1978
• La France ridée, Paris, Pluriel, 1979
• Un futur sans avenir, Histoire et population, Calmann-Lévy,1979
• Histoire et imagination. La transition, Paris, PUF, 1980.
• Église, culture et société. Réforme et Contre-Réforme (1517–1620), Paris, SEDES, 1980.
• Histoire et décadence, Paris, Perrin, 1981. (Grand Prix Goubert, 1982)
• La France, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1982.
• Pour l'histoire, Paris, Perrin, 1984.
• L'Aventure de la Réforme. Le monde de Jean Calvin, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 1986. (English translation, The Reformation, Gloucester, Sutton.)
• Apologie par l'histoire, Paris, Œil, 1988.
• Le Grand Déclassement, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1989.
• Reflets et miroir de l'histoire, Economica, Paris, 1990
• Histoire économique et sociale de la France. Tome 1, 1450-1660, (with Ernest Labrousse) PUF, "Quadrige", 1993.
• Colomb ou la logique de l'imprévisible, Paris, F. Bourin, 1993.
• Baptême de Clovis, baptême de la France, (in collaboration), Paris, Balland, 1996.
• Le Basculement religieux de Paris au XVIII^e siècle, (in collaboration), Paris, Fayard, 1998.
• Charles Quint, (with Michèle Escamilla), Paris, Fayard, 2000.
• La femme et Dieu, (with Jacques Renard), Paris, Fayard, 2001
• Essai de prospective démographique, (with Huguette Chaunu and Jacques Renard), Paris, Fayard, 2003
• Des curés aux entrepreneurs: la Vendée au XX^e siècle, Centre Vendéen de Recherches Historiques, 2004.
• Le livre noir de la Révolution française, Cerf, 2008

Article

• La philosophie et l'histoire, (with
  PUF
  , 1998.

Endnotes