Dom Vaissète
| Joseph Vaissète | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1685 Gaillac, Albi, France |
| Died | 10 April 1756 Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Monk, scholar |
| Known for | Histoire générale de Languedoc (General history of Languedoc) |
Dom Joseph Vaissète (or Vaissette) (1685 – 1756) was a scholarly French Benedictine monk who wrote a history of Languedoc and a geography of the world as it was known in his day. Vaissette's Histoire générale de Languedoc is still considered a work of great erudition and value by modern historians. The Geography had its faults from lack of technology, but was the most detailed and accurate of its day. Some names for the volume differ from modern usage. Because of this, he gives the name La Côte des Dents ("Coast of Teeth") to what is now the Côte d'Ivoire ("Ivory Coast").
Vaissète was born at Gaillac in the diocese of Albi in April of 1685. His father was the procurer general of Albi. After attending school in his hometown, Vaissète moved to Toulouse for further his studies. He became a doctor of theology and a doctor of civil and canon law. Vaissète wanted to enter orders immediately, but at his father's request, acted as his father's substitute as procureur general for several years. In 1711, Vaissète retired from the world and took up the monastic and scholarly life.
At the age of 26, on July 11, 1711 he entered the Benedictine order in the Monastery of La Daurade, in Toulouse. Shortly after, he received the news of his father's death. In 1713, Vaissète's superiors called him to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris because of his taste for history. In 1715, he was charged with co-authoring a history of Languedoc with Dom Claude de Vic. [The two authors were able to use the prior work of Dom Gabriel Marcland and Dom Pierre Auzieres, two learned and capable scholars who had separately worked in the province for several years, combing the libraries for material and making considerable progress in organizing the material had not been able to continue due to their advanced age or other jobs.] The first volume of the Histoire générale de Languedoc appeared in folio in 1730. Dom de Vic died in 1734, leaving Dom Vaissette in sole charge of the great work, which he successfully executed. The work was published in four more volumes, the fifth appearing in 1745. Dom Vaissette published a four-volume universal geography in 1855.
The character of Dom Vaissète combined simplicity and candour with spirit and erudition. He died at Saint-Germain-des-Prés on April 10, 1756. His co-worker Dom Bourotte was charged with finishing Vaissète's work on the history. Dom Vaissette was buried in the Sainte Vierge chapel with his fellow monk Dom Sensaric, who died on the same day.
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