Ursin Durand (20 May 1682, Tours – 31 August 1771, Paris) was a French Benedictine of the Maurist Congregation, and historian. He took vows in the monastery of Marmoutier at the age of nineteen and devoted himself especially to the study of diplomatics. In April, 1709, he joined his confrère Edmond Martène, who was making a literary tour through France with the purpose of collecting material for a new edition of a Gallia Christiana. After searching the archives of more than eight hundred abbeys and one hundred cathedral churches, they returned in 1713 to the monastery of St-Germain-des-Prés, laden with all kinds of historical documents, many of which were included in Gallia Christiana, while the others were published in a separate work, entitled Thesaurus novus anecdotorum (5 vols. folio,