  Du Bos was born in Beauvais on 14 December 1670. Little is known of his family or childhood. He was educated in Paris, where he received a Master of Arts in 1688 and a Bachelor of Theology in 1692. Although later in life he was a titular abbé and canon, he seems to have had little interest in the ecclesiastical life. He was more interested in politics and in the life of a man of letters and he soon moved in leading intellectual circles. His friends included Nicolas Boileau-Déspreaux, an important poet and literary critic, Charles Perrault, another major poet, and Pierre Bayle, the famous philosopher. He was a friend of Jean Jacques Rousseau though, as was often the case with Rousseau’s friendships, the friendship did not endure. Du Bos was particularly closely associated with Bayle, who had an important impact on Du Bos’s thought. Du Bos traveled extensively in Europe in his capacity as a diplomat and in order to meet the leading intellectuals of the day. Lombard 1913 remains the standard account of his life.