Johannes von Müller

In July 1771 he undertook a sketch of Swiss history for a publisher of Halle, but his theological studies and the preparation of a Latin dissertation on the Bellum cimbricum (publ.

Early in 1774, on the advice of his friend Charles Victor de Bonstetten, he gave up this post and became tutor in the Tronchin family at Geneva.

However, in 1775 he also resigned this position, and passed his time with various friends, such as Francis Kinloch from South Carolina, in Geneva and Vaud; all that while engaged in carrying his historical scheme into effect.

[1] In 1778–1779 Müller delivered a set of lectures on universal history (revised between 1782 and 1784), which were published as Vierundzwanzig Bücher allgemeiner Geschichte in 1811, and often republished.

He stayed at Kassel until 1783, publishing in 1782 his Reisen der Päpste, a book wherein certain leanings towards Romanism are visible, as well as his distrust of emperor Joseph II's hegemonic politics.

In order to improve his financial position, he accepted early in 1786 the post of librarian to Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal, the prince-elector and of archbishop of Mainz, who bestowed many important offices upon him and obtained his elevation to nobility from the emperor Leopold II.

[2] In 1806 he became strongly inclined towards Napoleon, by whom he was received in audience after the Battle of Jena (November 1806), and from whom he accepted (end of 1807) the office of secretary of state for the Kingdom of Westphalia, exchanging this position early in 1808 for the posts of privy councillor and general director of public instruction.

The Swiss History was re-issued at Leipzig and Zurich, in 15 volumes (1824–1853), with continuations by Robert Glutz-Blotzheim (to 1517), J. J. Hottinger (to 1531), Louis Vulliemin (to 1712), and Charles Monnard (to 1815).

Important minor works are Essais historiques, published in French under the auspices of Frederick the Great (Berlin, 1780); Reisen der Päpste (new ed., Aix-la-Chapelle, 1831; French translation, 1859), written against the anti-papal reforms of Joseph II (although he was a Protestant); and Vierundzwanzig Bücher allgemeiner Geschichten, lectures delivered in Switzerland (3 volumes, Tübingen, 1811; often republished).