BAYLE, bêl, PIERRE: French Protestant; b.
at Carla (11 m. w. of Pamiers), department of Ariège, Nov. 18, 1647; d. at Rotterdam Dec. 28,
1706. He was the son of a Calvinist clergyman,
and, in 1666, began his studies at the Protestant
Academy at Puylaurens, whence he went to the
University of Toulouse in 1669. Not satisfied
with the objections of the Reformed against the
dogma of a divinely appointed judge in matters of
faith, he became a Roman Catholic. He spent
eighteen months at the Jesuits' College in Toulouse,
and then returned to Protestantism and went to
Geneva (1670), where, living as a tutor in private
families, he studied theology as well as the Cartesian philosophy. His friendship with Jacques
Basnage and Minutoli began there. Later he accompanied pupils to Rouen and in 1675 to Paris. Then
he spent several years as a lecturer on philosophy
at Sédan; when that academy was closed by order
of the king (1681), he accepted an appointment
as lecturer on philosophy at the "École illustre" of Rotterdam. In this refuge of liberty, Bayle
wrote most of his works. The revocation of the Edict
of Nantes raised his indignation, and several of the
best Protestant works called forth by that disgraceful
piece of policy proceeded from the pen of Bayle.
The conclusion at which he arrives by his close
reasoning is: that matters of belief should be
outside the sphere of the State as such--a dangerous principle for Catholicism, and the book was
at once put on the Index. Even among Protestants Bayle had adversaries. Jurieu, his jealous
and violent opponent at Rotterdam, considered
toleration equal to indifference, and reproached
Bayle with dangerous skepticism, which made his
position very difficult. He tried for an appointment in Berlin. But the realization of this wish
was prevented by the death of the great Elector
Frederick William. Jurieu continued his attacks
and even went so far as to represent Bayle as the
head of a party working into the hands of Louis
XIV by aiming at a split between the princes allied
against France. William III gave credence to this
and influenced the magistrate of Rotterdam to
remove Bayle from his position (1693). From
that time he lived for his literary work, chiefly
bearing on philosophy and the history of literature.
His Dictionnaire historique et critique [(2 vols. in
three parts Rotterdam, 1697; 2d ed., 3 vols., 1702;
11th ed., 16 vols., Paris, 1820-24; Eng. transl., 5
vols., London, 1734-38)] was mast favorably received by all the learned men of Europe, though
it brought on him a revival of the reproach of
skepticism, of want of respect for the Holy Scriptures, even of Manicheism. Called to justify himself
before a commission appointed by the presbytery
of Rotterdam, he was treated with great moderation, and consented to change some of the offensive articles, which appeared in their new form in the second edition of his
Dictionnaire. Accusations
against him came up again from time to time,
and he tried to refute them in minor philosophical
works. Besides the Dictionnaire his works include:
Lettres à M. L. D. A. C., docteur en Sorbonne, où il
est prouvé que les comètes ne sont point le présage
d'aucun malheur (Cologne, 1682); Critique générale
de l'Histoire du Calvinisme de M. Maimbourg
(Amsterdam, 1682); Recueil de quelques pièces concernant la philosophie de M. Descartes
(Amsterdam, 1684); Nouvelles de la République des lettres
(1684-1687); Ce que c'est que la France toute catholique sous le règne de Louis-le-Grand
(St. Omer, 1685); Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de J. C.: "Contrains-les d'entrer"
(Amsterdam,1686); Résponse de l'auteur des Nouvelles de la République des lettres
en faveur du P. Malebranche sur les plaisirs des sens ( Rotterdam, 1686); Avis important aux réfu
giés sur leur Prochain retour en France (Amsterdam,
1690; 1709); Lettres choisies avec des remarques (Rotterdam, 1714);
Nouvelles lettres (The Hague, 1739). G. BONET-MAURY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: B. de la Monnoye (pseudonym for Du Revest), Histoire du Mr. Bayle et ses ouvrages, Amsterdam, 1716; P. des Maizeaux, Vie de P. Bayle, The Hague, 1730, reprinted from the 3d ed. of the Dictionnaire, Amsterdam,1730, reproduced in the Eng. transl. of the "Dictionary," ut sup.; E. and É. Haag, La France protestante, ii, 60-63, 9 vols., Paris, 1846-59; L. Feuerbach, P. Bayle, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Philosophie und der Menschheit, Leipsic, 1848; J. P. Damiron, Mémoire sur Bayle et ses doctrines, Paris, 1850; C. A. St. Beuve, in Lundis, vol. ix, ib. 1852; F. Bouillier, Histoire de la philosophie cartésienne, ii, 476, ib. 1854; C. Lenient, Étude sur Bayle, ib. 1855; É. Jeanmaire, Essai sur la critique religieuse de Bayle, Strasburg, 1862; Voltaire, Siècle ae Louis XIV, chap. 36; A. Deschamps, La Genèse du scepticisme érudit chez Bayle, Brussels, 1879; J. Denis, Bayle et Jurieu, Caen, 1886; P. Janet, Histoire de la science politique dans ses rapports avec la morale, Paris, 1887.