He graduated from the École Nationale des Chartes in 1950 with a thesis titled La demeure parisienne sous Henri IV et Louis XIII.
In addition to his research, he was a senior lecturer at the École pratique des hautes études with a particular focus on the French Wars of Religion.
He joined the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1992 and served as its president in 2001, succeeding Philippe Contamine and preceding Jean Richard.
In 2010, Babelon, alongside Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, worked on the reburial of Henry IV of France at the Tombs in Saint-Denis [fr].
[2] However, the ensuing controversy [fr] and the upcoming presidential election delayed the event, and the project was eventually abandoned by François Hollande.