Charles du Cange

Charles du Cange (1610-1688), French scholar, born on December 18, 1610, in Amiens, and educated in law. Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange later devoted himself to philology, history, and linguistics. Among his works are Histoire de l'empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs français (1657, History of the Empire of Constantinople at the Time of the French Emperors) and two pioneering glossaries, Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis (1678, Dictionary of Medieval and Late Latin) and Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae Graecitatis (1688, Dictionary of Medieval and Late Greek). The glossaries, showing the historical development of medieval Latin and Greek, were accepted as standard texts for two centuries and his work is seen as the forerunner of modern historical linguistics. Du Cange died on October 23, 1688, in Paris.