(Noel Alexander; 1639-1724) Historian and theologian, born Rouen; died in Paris, France. He was a Dominican and wrote a history of the by Old Testament, commentaries on the Epistles and Gospels, and a history of the first century of Christianity (24 volumes, 1677-86). He originated the writing of history by dividing it into studies of special epochs or institutions and events. When corrected by the Holy See for Gallicanism, he submitted. Later he favored Jansenism but retracted.