Reimagining World History II

Abstract This chapter turns to Charles de Villers’ Essay on the Reformation of Luther (1804), which urged French readers to adopt the values he associated with Protestantism. Villers argued that Catholicism had a deleterious effect on European culture, politics, and society. In essence, Villers adapted the Enlightened narrative by excluding much of Catholic Europe from the history of Enlightened progress. As such it reflects the same pressures as August Ludwig Schlözer’s work discussed in the previous chapter. The chapter also engages with the difficult problem of the place of race in Villers’ thought. Villers has been posited as a key figure in the development and spread of German racial theories since the 1930s. By contrast, Villers’ defenders have argued that his commitment to transforming French culture precludes any racial component. This chapter carefully examines a range of sources, including archival documents that have not been previously explored. It argues that Villers’ views on race were more complicated than has generally been appreciated. Recent claims that Villers was an advocate of Meiners’ hierarchical views are shown to be unsupported. Racial argumentation appears to have played no significant role in his core ideas. Villers’ comments on the subject are vague, however, and he appears to have nevertheless accepted some sort of racial bifurcation. He may also have played a role in popularizing anti-French tropes. The result is an account that is more complicated and ambiguous, but which better reflects the place of race in the Enlightenment.