French language and literary scholar and one of the great authorities on the Medieval French and Provençal languages, also noted for his literary histories and critical editions of many medieval works.

Attached to the manuscript department of the Bibliothèque National, Paris, from 1863, Meyer became professor of southern European languages and literatures at the Collège de France (1876) as well as director of the École des Chartes (school of paleography) in 1882. His initial studies related to Old Provençal literature, but he subsequently explored many areas of Romance literature. Among his works are Les Derniers Troubadours de la Provence (1872; “The Last Troubadours of Provence”) and La Chanson de la croisade contre les Albigeois, 3 vol. (1875–79; “Song of the Crusade Against the Albigensians”). His critical editions include Histoire, 3 vol. (1882–1902; “History”), of Guillaume le Maréchal.