Dictionnaire Historique et Critique

The Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (French pronunciation: [diksjɔnɛʁ istɔʁik e kʁitik]; in English, the Historical and Critical Dictionary) was a French biographical dictionary written by Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), a Huguenot philosopher who lived and published in Rotterdam, in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, after fleeing his native France due to religious persecution. In 1689, Bayle began making notes on errors and omissions in Louis Moreri's Grand Dictionaire historique (1674),^[1] a previous encyclopedia, and these notes ultimately developed into his own Dictionnaire.

Bayle used the dictionary to provide evidence of the irrationality of Christianity, to promote his views about religious tolerance, and his anti-authoritarian views on the topic of faith. The dictionary influenced the thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment, in particular Denis Diderot and the other Encyclopédistes.