BOULAINVILLIERS, HENRY, COMTE DE (1658-1722), French political writer, was born at St. Saire, Normandy, on Oct. I I 1658, and died in Paris on Jan. 23 17 22. He served in the army until 1697. His most important works, which only appeared after his death, were : Histoire de l'ancien gouvernement de la France (La Haye, 1727) ; Etat de la France, avec des memoires sur l'ancien gouvernement (London, 1727) ; Histoire de la pairie de France, et du parlement de Paris (London, 1753) ; Histoire des Arabes (1731). Boulainvilliers was an aristocrat of the most pronounced type, attacking absolute monarchy on the one hand and popular government on the other. The feudal system was, in his opinion, the ideal form of human government. His books had considerable influence, for they were quoted by the friends of authority, and, eventually, with still more effect by the revolu tionaries ; for instance, the theory that the nobility owed their position to their conquest of the Gauls proved to be two-edged.