Editing Richard Simon (priest) (section)

==Suppression of the ''Histoire critique''==
At the time of the printing of Simon's ''Histoire critique du Vieux Testament'',<ref>{{Cite book|last=Simon|first=Richard (1638-1712) Auteur du texte|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3112738|title=Histoire critique du Vieux Testament . Par le P. Simon prestre de l'Oratoire|date=1681|language=EN}}</ref> the work passed the censorship of the [[University of Paris]], and the Chancellor of the Oratory gave his ''[[imprimatur]]''. Simon hoped, through the influence of the Jesuit priest, [[François de la Chaise]], the king's confessor, and [[Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier]], to be allowed to dedicate the work to King [[Louis XIV of France]]; but the king was absent in [[Flanders]].

The freedom with which Simon expressed himself, especially when he declared that [[Moses]] could not be the author of much in the writings attributed to him, gained attention. The influence of [[Jacques-Benigne Bossuet]], at that time tutor to the [[Dauphin of France]], was invoked; the chancellor, [[Michael le Tellier]], lent his assistance. A decree of the [[Conseil du Roi|Royal Council]] was obtained, and, after a series of intrigues, the whole printing, consisting of 1,300 copies, was seized by the police and destroyed.