Fleury, Claude

Fleury, Claude flörēˈ [key], 1640–1723?, French ecclesiastical historian, a Roman Catholic priest, confessor to Louis XV, and author of the learned and unbiased Histoire ecclésiastique. This great work, in 20 volumes, occupied him for 30 years. It was the first systematic history of the Church, its organization, doctrines, and rites.

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