Victor Hugo is considered one of the most significant authors in European literature. He is regarded as a co-founder of French Romanticism and created two of the most famous historical novels with The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). In his narratives, he often addressed the criticism of the prevailing conditions in France. For instance, he wrote in Les Misérables: "A society that allows misery, a religion that allows hell, a humanity that allows war, seems to me to be an inferior society, religion, and humanity." As a political author and activist, Hugo also gained considerable support, although his position changed significantly over the years: Initially, he supported royalist groups, but later he drew attention with socially engaged and left-liberal ideas, and in 1851, he was even exiled due to his criticism of Napoleon III.