French Protestant of humble origins, how it is intellectually Toulouse and Geneva. Back in France, it relates to scholarly circles of the capital gains in 1675 and the chair of philosophy at the Academy of Sedan. In 1681, after the closure of this by Louis XIV, who considers the French Reformed academies true centers of heresy, he takes refuge in Rotterdam, where he teaches history and philosophy. From this time you can devote to writing a work marked by criticism of superstition, skepticism and the defense of political and religious tolerance, while establishing a scientific network and important correspondence with the most notable intellectuals of his time. The theological-political upheaval shaking the end of the century events lead him to take a stand and openly polemical pamphlet that faces directly Jurieu Pierre, Minister of the Walloon Church and supporter of Bayle in Sedan and Rotterdam. Consequently, it is removed from all educational function. The bookseller Reinier Leers offers then a quarterly board to draft his Historical and Critical Dictionary (1696, 21702), monumental historical, biographical and philosophical huge sum of diffusion, in which the author displays critical thinking and pre-Enlightenment that will make it a fundamental reference throughout the eighteenth century.