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Jansenism



 
 
Jansenism was a branch of Catholic
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 thought which arose in the frame of the Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Roman Catholic Church revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648....
 and the aftermath of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
 (1545-1563). It emphasized original sin
Original sin

Original sin is, according to a doctrine in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. While the Old Testament and the New Testament, which frequently speak of the sinfulness of humans, do not contain the terms "original sin" or "ancestral sin", the doctrine expressed by these terms is claimed to be based on t...
, human depravity
Total depravity

Total depravity is a theology doctrine that derives from the Augustine of Hippo concepts of original sin. It is also advocated to various degrees by many Protestant confessions of faith and catechisms, including those of Lutheranism, and Methodism, Arminianism, and Calvinism....
, the necessity of divine grace
Divine grace

In theology, grace may be described as 'enabling power sufficient for progression'. In Christianity, grace divine is an "unmerited favour" of God, indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character expansion, and without God's grace, there are certain limitations, weaknesses, flaws, impurities, and faults mankind cannot...
, and predestination
Predestination

Predestination is a religion concept, which involves the relationship between God and His creation. The religious character of predestination distinguishes it from other ideas about determinism and free will....
. Originating in the writings of the Dutch
Dutch people

The Dutch are the people native to the Netherlands, a country in north-western Europe.Dutch people, or descendants of Dutch people, are also found in migrant communities world wide,See the Dutch #Dutch diaspora. and form a mentionable part of the population of Canada,Australia, South Africa and the United States....
 theologian
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
 Cornelius Otto Jansen, Jansenism formed a distinct movement within the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 from the 16th to 18th centuries, and found its most important stronghold in the Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
ian convent
Convent

A convent may refer to a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or it may refer to the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion....
 of Port-Royal, haven of many important theologians and writers (Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld

Antoine Arnauld, — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a France Roman Catholic theology, philosopher, and mathematician....
, Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole

Pierre Nicole was one of the most distinguished of the French Jansenists.Born in Chartres, he was the son of a provincial barrister. Sent to Paris in 1642 to study theology, he soon entered into relations with the Jansenist community at Port-Royal-des-Champs through his aunt, Marie des Anges Suireau, who was for a short time abbess of the...
, Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal , was a France mathematician, physicist, and religion philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant....
, Jean Racine
Jean Racine

Jean Racine was a France dramatist, one of the "big three" of 17th century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition....
, etc.).

The term itself was coined by its Jesuit opponents, who accused them of being close to Calvinists, as Jansenists self-identified as rigorous followers of Augustinism.






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Cornelius Jansen
Jansenism was a branch of Catholic
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 thought which arose in the frame of the Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Roman Catholic Church revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648....
 and the aftermath of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
 (1545-1563). It emphasized original sin
Original sin

Original sin is, according to a doctrine in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. While the Old Testament and the New Testament, which frequently speak of the sinfulness of humans, do not contain the terms "original sin" or "ancestral sin", the doctrine expressed by these terms is claimed to be based on t...
, human depravity
Total depravity

Total depravity is a theology doctrine that derives from the Augustine of Hippo concepts of original sin. It is also advocated to various degrees by many Protestant confessions of faith and catechisms, including those of Lutheranism, and Methodism, Arminianism, and Calvinism....
, the necessity of divine grace
Divine grace

In theology, grace may be described as 'enabling power sufficient for progression'. In Christianity, grace divine is an "unmerited favour" of God, indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character expansion, and without God's grace, there are certain limitations, weaknesses, flaws, impurities, and faults mankind cannot...
, and predestination
Predestination

Predestination is a religion concept, which involves the relationship between God and His creation. The religious character of predestination distinguishes it from other ideas about determinism and free will....
. Originating in the writings of the Dutch
Dutch people

The Dutch are the people native to the Netherlands, a country in north-western Europe.Dutch people, or descendants of Dutch people, are also found in migrant communities world wide,See the Dutch #Dutch diaspora. and form a mentionable part of the population of Canada,Australia, South Africa and the United States....
 theologian
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
 Cornelius Otto Jansen, Jansenism formed a distinct movement within the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 from the 16th to 18th centuries, and found its most important stronghold in the Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
ian convent
Convent

A convent may refer to a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or it may refer to the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion....
 of Port-Royal, haven of many important theologians and writers (Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld

Antoine Arnauld, — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a France Roman Catholic theology, philosopher, and mathematician....
, Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole

Pierre Nicole was one of the most distinguished of the French Jansenists.Born in Chartres, he was the son of a provincial barrister. Sent to Paris in 1642 to study theology, he soon entered into relations with the Jansenist community at Port-Royal-des-Champs through his aunt, Marie des Anges Suireau, who was for a short time abbess of the...
, Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal , was a France mathematician, physicist, and religion philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant....
, Jean Racine
Jean Racine

Jean Racine was a France dramatist, one of the "big three" of 17th century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition....
, etc.).

The term itself was coined by its Jesuit opponents, who accused them of being close to Calvinists, as Jansenists self-identified as rigorous followers of Augustinism. Several propositions supported by Jansenists, in particular concerning the relationship between human's free will
Free will

The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions. Addressing this question requires understanding the relationship between freedom and Causality, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic....
 and "efficacious grace", were condemned by the Pope
Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
, and the movement thus deemed heretical
Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
.

Origins


The origins of Jansenism lie in the friendship of Cornelius Jansen
Cornelius Jansen

Corneille Janssens, commonly known by the Latinized name Cornelius Jansen or Jansenius, was Roman Catholic Church bishop of Ypres and the father of the religious movement known as Jansenism....
 and Jean du Vergier de Hauranne
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne

Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abb? of Saint-Cyran was a France monk who introduced Jansenism into France.In the early 1600s, Jean du Vergier de Hauranne studied Christian theology at the Catholic University of Leuven....
, who met in the early 1600s when both were studying theology
Christian theology

Christian theology is discourse concerning Christianity faith. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rationality analysis and argument to understanding, explanation, test, critic#critique, defend or promote Christianity....
 at the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven, or Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. It was founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, and refounded in 1835 after the disruptions of the French Revolutionary Wars....
. As the wealthier of the two, du Vergier served as Jansen’s patron for a number of years, getting Jansen a job as a tutor in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 in 1606. Two years later, he got Jansen a position teaching at the episcopal (or "bishop's") college in du Vergier’s hometown of Bayonne
Bayonne

name= BayonneFile:Bayonne.jpgView of Grand Bayonne across the Adour|r?gion=Aquitaine|d?partement=Pyr?n?es-Atlantiques...
. The duo studied the Church Fathers
Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theology and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history....
 together, with a special focus on the thought of Augustine of Hippo, until both left Bayonne in 1617.

Du Vergier became the abbot
Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
 of Saint-Cyran and was thus generally known as the Abbé de Saint-Cyran for the rest of his life. Jansen returned to the Catholic University of Leuven, where he completed his doctorate in 1619 and was named professor for exegesis
Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text.Biblical exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of the Bible....
. Jansen and Saint-Cyran continued to correspond about Augustine, especially Augustine's teachings on grace
Divine grace

In theology, grace may be described as 'enabling power sufficient for progression'. In Christianity, grace divine is an "unmerited favour" of God, indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character expansion, and without God's grace, there are certain limitations, weaknesses, flaws, impurities, and faults mankind cannot...
. Upon the recommendation of King Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV , was List of Spanish monarchs between 1621 and 1665, Sovereignty of the Spanish Netherlands, and List of Portuguese monarchs until 1640....
, Jansen was consecrated as Bishop of Ypres in 1636.

Jansen died in the midst of an epidemic in 1638. On his deathbed, he committed a manuscript to his chaplain
Chaplain

A chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church , or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; Laity chaplains are also found in other settings such...
, ordering him to consult with Libert Fromondus, a theology professor at Leuven, and Henri Calenus, a canon
Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christianity clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule .Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergyhouse or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct or close of a cathedral and ordering his life according to the orders or rules of the church....
 at the metropolitan church, and to publish the manuscript if they agreed it should be published, adding "If, however, the Holy See
Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church....
 wishes any change, I am an obedient son, and I submit to that Church in which I have lived to my dying hour. This is my last wish."

This manuscript, published in 1640 under the title Augustinus, styled itself as expounding Augustine's system and formed the basis for the subsequent Jansenist Controversy. It consisted of three volumes:
  • Volume I described the history of Pelagianism
    Pelagianism

    Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius . It is the belief that original sin did not taint Instinct and that mortal will is still capable of choosing Goodness and value theory or evil without special Miracle....
     and Augustine's battle against it and against Semipelagianism
    Semipelagianism

    Semipelagianism is a Christian theological understanding about salvation; that is, the means by which humanity and God are restored to a right relationship....
    .
  • Volume II contained a discussion of the Fall of Man and original sin
    Original sin

    Original sin is, according to a doctrine in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. While the Old Testament and the New Testament, which frequently speak of the sinfulness of humans, do not contain the terms "original sin" or "ancestral sin", the doctrine expressed by these terms is claimed to be based on t...
    .
  • Volume III denounced a "modern tendency" (unnamed by Jansen but clearly identifiable as Molinism
    Molinism

    Not to be confused with the Quietism doctrine of Miguel de Molinos.Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will....
    ) as Semipelagian.


Jansenist theology

Even before the publication of Augustinus, Saint-Cyran had begun publicly preaching Jansenism. Jansen emphasised a particular reading of Augustine's idea of efficacious grace which stressed that only a certain portion of humanity were predestined
Predestination

Predestination is a religion concept, which involves the relationship between God and His creation. The religious character of predestination distinguishes it from other ideas about determinism and free will....
 to be saved. Jansen insisted that the love of God was fundamental, and that only contrition
Perfect contrition

Perfect contrition in Roman Catholic Church theology is a sorrow for sins which is motivated from the love of God. It contrasts with imperfect contrition, or attrition, a sorrow arising from a less pure motive, such as fear of Hell....
, and not simple attrition
Imperfect contrition

Imperfect contrition in Catholic theology is a desire not to sin for a reason other than love of God. Imperfect contrition is contrasted with perfect contrition....
, could save a person (and that, in turn, only an efficacious grace could tip that person toward God and such a contrition). This debate on the respective roles of contrition and attrition, which had not been settled by the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
 (1545-1563), was one of the motives of the imprisonment in May 1638 of Saint-Cyran, the first leader of Port-Royal, by order of Cardinal Richelieu. Saint-Cyran was not released until after Richelieu's death in 1642, and he died shortly thereafter, in 1643.

Jansen also insisted on justification by faith, although he did not contest the necessity of revering saints
Intercession of saints

Intercession of the saints is a Christianity doctrine common to the vast majority of the world's Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and a number of Reformed Christian communities....
, of confession
Confession

The confession of one's sins is a religious practice important to many faiths, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
, and of frequent Communion
Frequent Communion

Frequent Communion is the Roman Catholic practice of receiving the eucharist frequently, as opposed to the usual medieval practice of receiving it once or a few times a year....
. Jansen’s opponents (mainly Jesuits) condemned his teachings for their alleged similarities to Calvinism
Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
 (though, unlike Calvinism, Jansen rejected the doctrine of assurance
Assurance (theology)

Assurance is a Protestantism Christianity doctrine which states that the inner witness of the Holy Spirit allows the Justification disciple to know that they are saved....
 and taught that even the justified could lose their salvation). Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal , was a France mathematician, physicist, and religion philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant....
's Ecrits sur la Grâce, based on what Michel Serres
Michel Serres

Michel Serres is a France philosopher and author, celebrated for his unusual career.Born the son of a barge man, Serres entered the Ecole Navale in 1949 and the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure in 1952....
 has called his "anamorphotic
Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis or anamorphism may refer to any of the following:*Anamorphosis, in art, the representation of an object as seen, for instance, altered by reflection in a mirror...
 method," attempted to conciliate the contradictory positions of Molinists and Calvinists by stating that both were partially right: Molinists, who claimed God's choice concerning a person's sin and salvation was a posteriori and contingent, while Calvinists claimed that it was a priori and necessary. Pascal himself claimed that Molinists were correct concerning the state of humanity before the Fall, while Calvinists were correct regarding the state of humanity after the Fall.

The heresy of Jansenism, meaning here its denial of Catholic doctrine, is that it denies the role of free will in the acceptance and use of grace—that God's role in the infusion of grace is such that it cannot be resisted and does not require human assent. The Catholic teaching is that "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC 2002) that is the gift of grace can be resisted and requires human assent.

Controversy and papal condemnation, 1640-1653


Augustinus was widely read in theological circles in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
, and Holland
Holland

Holland is a name in common usage given to two regions in the western part of Netherlands. The name 'Holland' is also often mistakenly used to refer to the whole of The Netherlands....
 in 1640, and a new edition quickly appeared in Paris under the approbation of 10 professors at the Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne

The Coll?ge de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution....
.

However, on August 1, 1641, the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, and sometimes simply called the Holy Office is the oldest of the nine congregation of the Roman Curia....
 issued a decree condemning Augustinus and forbidding its reading. In 1642, Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was Pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last Pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions....
 followed up with a papal bull
Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
 entitled In eminenti, which condemned Augustinus on the grounds that (1) it was published in violation of the order that no works concerning grace should be published without the prior permission of the Holy See; and (2) the work repeated several errors of Baianism
Baianism

Baianism is a school of thought credited to the Roman Catholic theologian Michael Baius . It claims thorough Augustine of Hippo over the scholasticism which held sway over most Catholic theologians at the time....
 which had been condemned by Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the implementation of the Council of Trent, the Counterreformation and the standardisation of the liturgy....
's 1567 bull, Ex omnibus afflictionibus.

In 1634, Saint-Cyran had become the spiritual adviser of Port-Royal-des-Champs, a Cistercian convent in Magny-les-Hameaux
Magny-les-Hameaux

Magny-les-Hameaux is a Communes of France of the Yvelines Departments of France, in France.See also* Port-Royal-des-Champs...
. The Abbess
Abbess

An abbess is the female religious superior, or Mother Superior, of an abbey of nuns.In Roman Catholic and Anglican abbeys, the mode of election, position, rights, and authority of an abbess correspond generally with those of an abbot....
 of Port-Royal-des-Champs was Marie Angélique Arnauld
Marie Angelique Arnauld

Jacqueline-Marie-Ang?lique Arnauld or Arnault, called La M?re Ang?lique was abbess of Port Royal, a center of Jansenism.She was the third of the twenty children of the lawyer Antoine Arnauld , and one of six sisters of the philosopher Antoine Arnauld....
, who had become abbess in 1609 and reformed the discipline of the convent. In 1625, most of the nuns moved to Paris, forming the convent of Port-Royal de Paris, which from then on was commonly known simply as Port-Royal
Port-Royal Abbey, Paris

Port-Royal Abbey was an abbey in Paris. It was first built in 1626 to relieve pressure of numbers on the mother house at Port-Royal-des-Champs and was a stronghold of Jansenist....
, while the term Port-Royal-des-Champs was used for the convent in Magny-les-Hameaux. Saint-Cyran became good friends with Abbess Marie-Angélique and convinced her of the rightness of Jansen's opinions. The two Port Royal convents thus became major strongholds of Jansenism. Under Marie-Angélique, later with Saint-Cyran's support, Port-Royal-des-Champs developed a series of elementary schools, known as the "Little Schools of Port-Royal" (Les Petites-Écoles de Port-Royal); the most famous product of these schools was the playwright Jean Racine
Jean Racine

Jean Racine was a France dramatist, one of the "big three" of 17th century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition....
.

Antoine Arnauld
Through Abbess Marie-Angélique, Saint-Cyran had met her brother, Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld

Antoine Arnauld, — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a France Roman Catholic theology, philosopher, and mathematician....
, and brought him to accept Jansen's position in Augustinus. Following Saint-Cyran's death in 1643, Arnauld became the chief proponent of Jansenism. In 1643, he published a book De la fréquente Communion (On Frequent Communion
Frequent Communion

Frequent Communion is the Roman Catholic practice of receiving the eucharist frequently, as opposed to the usual medieval practice of receiving it once or a few times a year....
) which presented Jansen's ideas in a way more accessible to the public (e.g. it was published in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, whereas Augustinus was available only in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
). The book, as its title indicated, also focussed on a related topic in the dispute between Jesuits and Jansenists. The Jesuits encouraged Catholics, including those struggling with sin, to receive Holy Communion frequently, arguing that Christ instituted it as a means to holiness for sinners, and stating that the only requirement for receiving Communion (apart from baptism) was that the communicant be free of mortal sin at the time of reception. The Jansenists, in line with their deeply pessimistic theology, discouraged frequent Communion, arguing that a high degree of perfection, including purification from attachment to venial sin, was necessary before approaching the Sacrament.

The faculty of the Collège de Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne

The Coll?ge de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution....
 (the theological college of the University of Paris
University of Paris

The historic University of Paris first appeared in the 12th century. In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous university . The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon....
) formally accepted the bull In eminenti in 1644, and the Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of France archdioceses of the Roman Catholicism in France in France....
, , formally proscribed Augustinus; the work nevertheless continued to circulate.

The Jesuits attacked the Jansenists, claiming they were guilty of heresy similar to that of the Calvinists. In response, Arnauld wrote Théologie morale des Jésuites (Moral Theology of the Jesuits), which was the basis of most of the arguments later used by Pascal
Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal , was a France mathematician, physicist, and religion philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant....
 in his Provincial Letters denouncing the "relaxed morality" of Jesuitism
Jesuitism

Jesuitism is a particular approach to moral questions and problems, promoted by some Jesuits of the XVIIth century . The word seems to have been used for the first time in 1622....
. The Jesuit Nicolas Caussin
Nicolas Caussin

Nicolas Caussin was a France Jesuit, a theorist of the Passion . His treatise, The Holy Court Fourth Tome, was published in 1638. This work gives a Christianized account of what he calls the four principal passions: Love, Desire, Anger, and Envy, as well as many variants and sub-genres of these types....
, former spiritual director to Louis XIII, was charged by his order with writing a defense against Arnauld's book, titled Réponse au libelle intitulé La Théologie morale des Jésuites (1644). Other works published against Arnauld's Moral Theology of the Jesuits included the one written by the Jesuit polemist François Pinthereau (1605-1664), under the pseudonym of "the abbé de Boisic", titled Les Impostures et les ignorances du libelle intitulé: La Théologie Morale des Jésuites (), who was also the author of a critical history of Jansenism titled La Naissance du Jansénisme découverte à Monsieur le Chancelier (The Birth of Jansenism Revealed to the Chancellor, Leuven, 1654).

During the 1640s, Saint-Cyran's nephew, Martin de Barcos
Martin de Barcos

Martin de Barcos was a French theologian of the Jansenist School.He was born at Bayonne, a nephew of Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abbot of Saint-Cyran, who sent him to Belgium to be taught by Cornelius Jansen....
, who had studied theology under Jansen, wrote several works defending his uncle.

In 1649, the syndic
Syndic

Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers....
 of the Sorbonne, Nicolas Cornet
Nicolas Cornet

Nicolas Cornet was a French Catholic theologian....
, frustrated by the continued circulation of the Augustinus, drew up a list of five propositions from Augustinus and two propositions from De la fréquente Communion and asked the Sorbonne faculty to condemn the propositions. Before the faculty could do so, the Parlement de Paris intervened, forbidding the Sorbonne faculty to consider the propositions. The Sorbonne faculty then determined to forward the propositions to the , which met in 1650. In the assembly, 85 of the French bishops voted to refer the matter to Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X

Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle Girolamo Pamphilj as auditor of the Rot...
. Eleven of the bishops opposed this move, and asked the pope to appoint a commission similar to the Congregatio de Auxiliis
Congregatio de Auxiliis

The Congregatio de Auxiliis, Latin for 'Congregation on help ', was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle the theological controversy regarding divine grace which arose between the Dominican Order and the Jesuits towards the close of the sixteenth century....
 to resolve the situation. Innocent X agreed to the majority's request, but in an attempt to accommodate the view of the minority, appointed an advisory committee consisting of five cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior Ecclesiology official, usually a Bishop , of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope....
 and thirteen consultors to report on the situation. Over the next two years, this commission held 36 meetings, 10 of which Innocent X presided over in person.

The supporters of Jansenism on the commission drew up a table with three heads: the first listed the Calvinist position (which was condemned as heretical), the second listed the Pelagian/Semipelagian position (as taught by the Molinists), and the third listed the correct Augustinian position (according to the Jansenists).

Jansenism's supporters suffered a decisive defeat when Innocent X issued the bull Cum occasione on May 31, 1653. The bull condemned the following five propositions:
  1. that there are some commands of God which just men cannot keep, no matter how hard they wish and strive;
  2. that it is impossible for fallen man to resist sovereign grace
    Irresistible grace

    Irresistible Grace is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving Divine grace of God is effectually applied to those whom He has determined to save and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith in Jesus....
    ;
  3. that it is possible for human beings who lack free will
    Free will

    The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions. Addressing this question requires understanding the relationship between freedom and Causality, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic....
     to merit
    Merit (Catholicism)

    Merit , in general, is understood to be that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward from him in whose service the work is done....
    ;
  4. that the Semipelagians were correct to teach that prevenient grace
    Prevenient grace

    Prevenient grace is a Christian theology concept rooted in Augustine of Hippo and embraced primarily by Arminianism Christians who are influenced by the theology of John Wesley and who are part of the Methodism....
     was necessary for all interior acts, including for faith
    Faith

    Faith is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, characteristically without proof....
    , but were incorrect to teach that fallen man is free to accept or resist prevenient grace; and
  5. that it is Semipelagian to say that Christ died for all.


The Formulary Controversy


Background of the Formulary Controversy, 1654-1664


Antoine Arnauld accepted the bull Cum Occasione and agreed in condemning the five propositions mentioned by Cum Occasione. However, he argued that Augustinus did not argue in favour of the five propositions condemned by Cum Occasione. Rather, he argued that Jansen intended his statements in Augustinus in the same sense that Augustine of Hippo had offered his opinions - and since the pope would certainly not have wished to condemn Augustine's opinions, the pope had not condemned Jansen's actual opinions.

Replying to Arnauld, in 1654, 38 French bishops condemned Arnauld's position to the pope. Opponents of Jansenism in the church refused absolution
Absolution

Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the traditional Churches in the Sacrament of Reconciliation....
 to for his continued protection of the Jansenists. In response to this onslaught, Arnauld articulated a distinction as to how far the Church could bind the mind of a Catholic. He argued that there is a distinction between de jure and de facto - that a Catholic was obliged to accept the Church's opinion as to a matter of law (i.e. as to a matter of doctrine) but not as to a matter of fact. Arnauld argued that, while he agreed with the doctrine propounded in Cum Occasione, he was not bound to accept the pope's determination of fact as to what doctrines were contained in Jansen's work.

Blaise Pascal
In 1656, the theological faculty at the Sorbonne moved against Arnauld. This was the context in which Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal , was a France mathematician, physicist, and religion philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant....
 wrote his famous Provincial Letters
Lettres provinciales

The Lettres provinciales are a series of eighteen letters written by France philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte....
 in defence of Arnauld's position in the dispute at the Sorbonne. (However, unlike Arnauld, Pascal did not himself accept Cum occasione and believed that the condemned doctrines were orthodox. Nevertheless, he emphasised Arnauld's distinction about matters of doctrine vs. matters of fact.) The letters were also scathing in their critique of the casuistry
Casuistry

Casuistry is an applied ethics term referring to case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle or rule base reasoning....
 of the Jesuits, echoing Arnauld's Théologie morale des Jésuites.

However, Pascal was unable to convince the Sorbonne's theological faculty, and they voted 138-68 to expel Arnauld together with 60 other theologians from the Sorbonne. Later that year, the French Assembly of the Bishops voted to condemn Arnauld's distinction between the pope's ability to bind the mind of believers in matters of doctrine but not in matters of fact; they asked Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from April 7, 1655, until his death....
 to condemn Arnauld's proposition as heresy. The pope responded with the bull Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem (dated October 16, 1656) in which he stated "We declare and define that the five propositions have been drawn from the book of Jansenius entitled Augustinus, and that they have been condemned in the sense of the same Jansenius and we once more condemn them as such."

In 1657, relying on Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem, the French Assembly of the Clergy drew up a formulation of faith condemning Jansenism and declared that subscription to the formula was obligatory. Many Jansenists remained firmly committed to Arnauld's formula; although they would accept the conclusions of Cum Occasione, they would not agree that the propositions were contained in Jansen's Augustinus. In retaliation, the Archbishop of Paris, Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz
Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz

Jean Fran?ois Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz was a French churchman, writer of memoirs, and agitator in the Fronde.The Florentine Gondi bank had been introduced into France by Catherine de' Medici; Catherine offered J?rome de Gondi in 1573 the ch?teau that he made the nucleus of the Ch?teau de Saint-Cloud; his h?tel in the Faubourg Saint...
 suspended the convent of Port Royal from receiving the Sacraments. In 1660, the elementary schools run by Port-Royal-des-Champs were closed by bull, and in 1661, the monastery at Port-Royal-des-Champs was forbidden to accept new novices, which guaranteed the monastery would eventually die out.

The Formulary, 1664


Four bishops (Henri Arnauld
Henri Arnauld

File:Henri Arnauld, jansenist bishop of Angers.jpgHenri Arnauld was a French Catholic bishop.He was first destined for the Bar, but was taken to Rome by Cardinal Bentivoglio and during this absence, which lasted five years, the court granted him the Abbey of Saint-Nicholas....
, Bishop of Angers (brother of Antoine and Angélique Arnauld); Nicolas Choart de Buzenval, Bishop of Beauvais; François-Etienne Caulet
François-Etienne Caulet

Fran?ois-Etienne Caulet was a French bishop and Jansenist.After completing his studies at the Coll?ge de La Fl?che he laboured for some time under P?re de Condren, Superior of the French Oratory, and then joined Jean-Jacques Olier in founding the Vaugirard Seminary and the Company of Saint-Sulpice....
, Bishop of Pamiers; and Nicolas Pavillon
Nicolas Pavillon

Nicolas Pavillon was a French bishop of Alet and Jansenist. His attitude against Pope Alexander VII won him the admiration of Port-Royal. Alet became the Mecca of the Jansenists....
, Bishop of Alet) sided with Port-Royal, arguing that the French Assembly of the Clergy could not command French Catholics to subscribe to something which was not required by the pope. At the urging of several bishops, and at the personal insistence of King Louis XIV, Pope Alexander VII sent to France the apostolic constitution
Apostolic constitution

An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin language constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the R...
 Regiminis Apostolici (dated February 15, 1664) which required all French Catholics to subscribe to the following formulary
Formulary

The term formulary can refer to:*Formulary , ancient and medieval collections of models for official writings.*Formulary , List of prescription drugs covered by a particular drug benefit plan....
:

The Formulary Controversy, 1664-1669


This formulary formed the basis of the Formulary Controversy
Formulary controversy

The Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal's Lettres Provinciales, the condemnation by the Holy See of Casuistry, and the final dissolution of the Jansenist order ....
. Many Jansenists refused to sign the formulary; whilst some did sign, they made it known that they were agreeing only to the doctrine (questions de jure), not the allegations asserted by the bull (questions de facto, or of facts). The latter category included the four Jansenist-leaning bishops, who communicated the bull to their flocks along with messages which maintained the distinction between doctrine and fact. This angered both Louis XIV and Alexander VII, and the pope appointed a committee of nine French bishops to investigate the siutation.

Pope Clement Ix
However, before this committee acted, Alexander VII died on May 22, 1667. His successor, Pope Clement IX
Pope Clement IX

Pope Clement IX , born Giulio Rospigliosi, was Pope from 1667 to 1669....
, initially appeared to be willing to continue the move against the Jansenist-leaning bishops. However, in France, the Jansenists conducted a campaign arguing that allowing a papal commission of this sort would be ceding the traditional liberties of the Gallican Church
Gallican Church

The term Gallican Church usually refers to the Roman Catholic Church in France from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France to that of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution....
, thus playing on traditional French opposition to ultramontanism
Ultramontanism

Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. In particular, ultramontanism may consist in asserting the superiority of Papal authority over the authority of local temporal or spiritual hierarchies ....
. They convinced one member of the cabinet (Lyonne) and nineteen bishops of their position. As a result, these bishops wrote to Clement IX, arguing that the infallibility of the Church
Infallibility of the Church

The Infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit will not allow the Church to err in its belief or teaching under certain circumstances....
 applied only to matters of revelation
Revelation

Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication with the divinity....
, and not to matters of fact. They asserted that this was the position of Caesar Baronius
Caesar Baronius

Venerable Cesare Baronio was an Italy Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian.Baronio was born at Sora, Italy, and was educated at Veroli and Naples....
 and Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine

Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He participated in the Catholic Church's proceedings against Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei ....
. They also sent a letter to Louis XIV, arguing that great severity would result in political discord.

Under these circumstances, the papal nuncio to France recommended that Clement IX seek a peaceful accommodation with the Jansenists. Clement agreed, and appointed César d'Estrées
César d'Estrées

C?sar d'Estr?es was a French diplomat and Cardinal.He was the son of Marshal Fran?ois Annibal d'Estr?es, and brother of Marshal Jean II d'Estr?es....
, Bishop of Laon as mediator in the matter (he was to be assisted by two bishops who had signed the letter to the pope, Louis-Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Archbishop of Sens and Félix Vialart de Herse, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne). D'Estrées convinced the four bishops to sign the formulary (though it seems they may have believed that signing the formulary did not mean assent to the matters of fact it contained). The pope, initially happy that the four bishops had signed, became angry when he was informed that they had done so with reservations. Clement IX ordered his nuncio to conduct a new investigation' reporting back, the nuncio declared: "they have condemned and caused to be condemned the five propositions with all manner of sincerity, without any exception or restriction whatever, in every sense in which the Church has condemned them". However, he reported that the four bishops continued to be evasive as to whether they agreed with the pope as to the matter of fact. In response, Clement appointed a commission of twelve cardinals to further investigate the matter. This commission determined that the four bishops had signed the formulary in a less than entirely sincere manner, but nevertheless recommended that the matter should be dropped in order to forestall further divisions in the Church. The pope agreed and thus issued four briefs, declaring the four bishops' agreement to the formulary was acceptable, thus instituting the "Peace of Clement IX" (1669-1701).

The Case of Conscience and aftermath, 1701-1709


Although the Peace of Clement IX brought about a lull in the public theological controversy, a number of churchmen remained attracted to Jansenism. Three major groups may be identified:
  1. the duped Jansenists, who continued to profess the five propositions condemned in Cum Occasione
  2. the fins Jansénistes, who accepted the doctrine of Cum Occasione but who continued to deny the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact
  3. the quasi-Jansenists, who formally accepted both Cum occasione and the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact, but who nevertheless remained attracted to aspects of Jansenism, notably its stern morality, commitment to virtue, and its opposition to ultramontanism
    Ultramontanism

    Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. In particular, ultramontanism may consist in asserting the superiority of Papal authority over the authority of local temporal or spiritual hierarchies ....
     which was a hot political issue in France in the decades surrounding the 1682 Declaration of the Clergy of France
    Declaration of the Clergy of France

    Under the Declaration of the Clergy of France of 1682, the following privileges were claimed by Early Modern France in relation to the Holy See....
    .


The quasi-Jansenists served as protectors of the "duped Jansenists" and the fins Jansénistes.

The tensions generated by the continuing presence of these elements in the French church came to a head in the Case of Conscience of 1701. The case involved the question of whether or not absolution
Absolution

Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the traditional Churches in the Sacrament of Reconciliation....
 should be given to a cleric
Cleric

A cleric , clergyman , or churchman is a member of the clergy of a religion, especially one who is a priest, preacher, or other religious professional....
 who refused to affirm the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact (even though he did not preach against it but merely maintained a "respectful silence"). A provincial conference, consisting of forty theology professors from the Sorbonne, headed by Noël Alexandre
Noel Alexandre

No?l Alexandre, or Natalis Alexander was a French theology and ecclesiastical historian. In 1654, he joined the Dominican Order in his hometown....
, declared that the cleric should receive absolution.

The publication of this "Case of Conscience" provoked outrage amongst the anti-Jansenist elements in the Catholic Church. The decision was condemned by several French bishops; by Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles
Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles

Louis-Antoine de Noailles , second son of Anne, 1st duc de Noailles, was a France bishop and Cardinal .Noailles received his doctorate in theology from the Coll?ge de Sorbonne on 14 March 1676....
, Archbishop of Paris; by the theological faculties at Leuven, Douai
University of Douai

The University of Douai is a former university in Douai, France.The university opened in 1562 and closed in 1795.University of Lille was later established as its successor campus 27 km away....
, and eventually Paris; and, finally, in 1703, by Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI

Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death....
. The Sorbonne professors who had signed the Case of Conscience now backed away, and all of the signatories withdrew their signatures and the theologian who had championed the result of the Case of Conscience, Nicolas Petitpied, was expelled from the Sorbonne.

Louis XIV and his grandson, Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain

Philip V of Spain , born Philippe de France, fils de France and Counts and Dukes of Anjou, was king of Spain from 1700 to 1724 and 1724 to 1746, the first of the House of Bourbon dynasty in Spain....
, now asked the pope to issue a papal bull condemning the practice of maintaining a respectful silence as to the issue of the infallibility of the Church in matters of dogma.

The pope obliged, issuing the bull Vineam Domini Sabaoth, dated July 16, 1705. At the subsequent Assembly of the French Clergy
Assembly of the French clergy

The Assembly of the French Clergy was in its origins a representative meeting of the Clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy of the French Catholic Church by the kings of France....
, all those present (except P.-Jean-Fr. de Percin de Montgaillard, Bishop of Saint-Pons) voted to accept the bull and Louis XIV promulgated the bull as binding law in France.

Louis also sought the dissolution of Port-Royal-des-Champs, the stronghold of Jansenist thought, and this was achieved in 1708, when the pope issued a bull dissolving Port-Royal-des-Champs. The remaining nuns were forcibly removed in 1709 and dispersed among various other French convents and the buildings were razed in 1709. The Convent of Port-Royal
Port-Royal

Port-Royal-des-Champs was a Cistercian convent in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vall?e de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions....
 in Paris remained in existence until the time of the French Revolution
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
, when it was closed by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on July 12, 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government....
, part of the general Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution
Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution

The Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution is a conventional description of the results of a number of separate policies, conducted by various governments of France between the start of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Concordat of 1801, forming the basis of the later and less radical La?cit? movement....
.

The Case of Quesnel


Pasquier Quesnel
Pasquier Quesnel

Pasquier Quesnel was a France Jansenism theology.He was born in Paris, and, after graduating from the Coll?ge de Sorbonne with distinction in 1653, he joined the French Oratory in 1657....
 had been a member of the Parisian Oratory
Oratory of Saint Philip Neri

The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a Congregation of Roman Catholic Church priests and lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity....
 from 1657 to 1681, at which time he was expelled because of his Jansenism. He sought the protection of Pierre-Armand du Camboust de Coislin, Bishop of Orléans, who harboured Quesnel for four years, at which point Quesnel joined Antoine Arnauld in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
. In 1692, Quesnel published a book which he had been working on since 1668, Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament (Moral Reflections on the New Testament), a devotional guide to the New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
 which laid out the Jansenist position in strong terms. Following Arnauld's death in 1694, Quesnel was widely regarded as the leader of the Jansenists. In 1703, Quesnel was imprisoned by Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano

Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano was Archbishopric of Mechelen-Brussel in Belgium. He was appointed Archbishop on 12 July 1689. He had previously been the chief councillor for the Netherlands and Burgundy for the Habsburg monarchy....
, Archbishop of Mechelen, but escaped several months later and lived in Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the Capital of the Netherlands and List of cities in the Netherlands with over 100,000 people of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands of North Holland in the west of the country....
 for the remainder of his life.

The Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament did not initially arouse controversy; in fact, it was approved for publication by Felix Vialart, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne and recommended by Louis-Antoine de Noailles
Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles

Louis-Antoine de Noailles , second son of Anne, 1st duc de Noailles, was a France bishop and Cardinal .Noailles received his doctorate in theology from the Coll?ge de Sorbonne on 14 March 1676....
. Neither Vialart nor Noailles appears to have realised that the book had strongly Jansenist overtones, and had thought that they were simply approving a pious manual of devotion. However, in the years that followed, several bishops became aware of the book's Jansenist tendencies and issued condemnations: Ignace de Foresta, Bishop of Apt in 1703; Charles-Béningne Hervé, the Bishop of Gap in 1704; and in 1707 both the Bishop of Besançon and Edouard Bargedé, Bishop of Nevers. When the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, and sometimes simply called the Holy Office is the oldest of the nine congregation of the Roman Curia....
 drew the Réflexions morales to the attention of Clement XI, he issued the papal brief
Papal brief

The Papal Brief is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a Papal Bull....
 Universi dominici (1708), proscribing the book for "savouring of the Jansenist heresy."; as a result, in 1710, the Bishop of Luçon and the Bishop of La Rochelle forbade the reading of the book.

However, Louis-Antoine de Noailles, who was now the cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior Ecclesiology official, usually a Bishop , of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope....
 Archbishop of Paris was embarrassed and reluctant to condemn a book he had previously recommended, and thus hesitated. As a result, Louis XIV asked the pope to settle the matter. The result was the bull Unigenitus
Unigenitus

Unigenitus , an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713, opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France....
, dated September 8, 1713 which collected 101 propositions from the Réflexions morales and condemned them, "especially those contained in the famous propositions of Jansenius".

Clement Xi
Those Jansenists who accepted the Unigenitus became known as Acceptants.

Upon examining the 101 propositions condemned by Unigenitus, Noailles determined that as set out in the bull and apart from their context in the Réflexions morales, some of the propositions condemned by Unigenitus were in fact orthodox. He therefore refused to accept the bull and instead sought clarifications from the pope.

In the midst of this dispute, Louis XIV died in 1715, and the government of France was taken over by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

Philippe Charles d'Orl?ans, Duke of Orl?ans, , was a member of the royal family of France. At the death of his uncle, king Louis XIV of France, he was the regent during the minority of the five-year old new king Louis XV of France, from 1715 to 1723, an era known as R?gence....
, serving as regent
Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present or debilitated....
 for the 5-year-old Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France

Louis XV ruled as List of French monarchs and of List of Navarrese monarchs from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774. Coming to the throne at the age of five, Louis reigned until 15 February 1723, the date of his thirteenth birthday, with the aid of the R?gence, Philippe II, Duke of Orl?ans, his Cousin, thereafter taking formal p...
. Unlike Louis XIV, who had stood solidly behind Unigenitus, Orléans expressed ambivalence. With the change in political mood, three theological faculties which had previously voted to accept Unigenitus - Paris, Nantes
University of Nantes

The University of Nantes is a well-known France university, located in the city of Nantes. Currently, it is attended by approximately 32,000 students, of which the vast majority are French....
, and Reims
University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne

University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne is a French university, in the Academy of Reims. It was established in 1960It should not be confused with Reims University, one of the most important European universities of the middle ages, which was established in 1548 but shut down in 1793....
 - voted to rescind their acceptance.

In 1717, four French bishops went even further, and attempted to appeal the papal bull to a general council
Ecumenical council

An ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
; the bishops were joined by hundreds of French priests, monks and nuns, and were supported by the parlements. In 1718, Clement XI responded vigorously to this challenge to his authority by issuing the bull Pastoralis officii by which he excommunicated everyone who had called for an appeal to a general council. Far from disarming the French clergy, many of whom were now advocating conciliarism
Conciliarism

Conciliarism, or the conciliar movement, was a reform movement in the 14th and 15th century Roman Catholic Church which held that final authority in spiritual matters resided with the Roman Church as corporation of Christians, embodied by a Ecumenical council, not with the pope....
, the clergy who had appealed Unigenitus to a general council, now appealed Pastoralis officii to a general council as well. In total, one cardinal, 18 bishops, and 3,000 clergy of Frances supported an appeal to a general council. However, the majority in France (four cardinals, 100 bishops, 100,000 clergymen) stood by the pope. The schism carried on for some time, however, and it was not until 1728 that Noailles submitted to the pope.

Legacy


Unigenitus marks the official break of toleration of Jansenism within the Church in France , though quasi-Jansenists would occasionally stir in the following decades. By the mid-eighteenth century, Jansenism proper had totally lost its battle to be a viable theological position within Catholicism. However, certain ideas tinged with Jansenism remained in circulation for much longer; in particular, the Jansenist idea that Holy Communion should be received very infrequently and that reception required much more than freedom from mortal sin remained influential until finally condemned by Pope St. Pius X, who endorsed frequent communion, as long as the communicant was free of mortal sin, in the early 1900s.

On the other hand, Pascal's denunciation of Jesuit casuistry and its "relaxed morality" also led Innocent XI to condemn (in 1679) sixty-five propositions which were taken chiefly from the writings of the Jesuits Escobar
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza

Antonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spain churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order....
 and Suarez
Francisco Suárez

Francisco Su?rez was a Spain Jesuit Catholic priest, philosopher and theology, generally regarded as having been the greatest scholasticism after Thomas Aquinas....
. They were said to be propositiones laxorum moralistarum, and Innocent forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication.

Several Jansenist teachers also proposed a radical reform of the Latin liturgy.

Jansenism was also a factor in the formation of the independent Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands

The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands is the mother church related to the Old Catholic Churches. It is sometimes called Ancient Catholic Church, Church of Utrecht or Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order....
 from 1702 to 1723, and is said to continue to live on in some Ultrajectine
Ultrajectine

Ultrajectine defines the tradition of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands headquartered at the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It is used to describe the anti-Papal-Primacy and Jansenist tendency of that independent church and its sister churches, which were founded in later centuries ....
 traditions.

Bibliography (French)

  • Jean-Pierre Chantin, Le jansénisme, CERF.
  • Bernard Cottret, Monique Cottret et Marie-José Michel (éd.), Jansénisme et puritanisme, actes du colloque du 15 septembre 2001, tenu au Musée national des Granges de Port-Royal-des-Champs, préface de Jean Delumeau
    Jean Delumeau

    Jean Delumeau is a France historian specializing in the Catholic church history and author of several books regarding the subject. He held the Chair of the History of Religious Mentalities at the Coll?ge de France and is a member of the Acad?mie des inscriptions et belles-lettres....
    , Paris, Nolin 2002.
  • Monique Cottret, Jansénismes et Lumières. Pour un autre XVIIIè siècle, Albin Michel, Paris, 1998.
  • Louis Cognet, Le jansénisme, PUF, collection « Que sais-je ? », 1967.
  • Marie-José Michel, Jansénisme et Paris, Klincksieck, 2000.
  • Catherine Maire, De la cause de Dieu à la cause de la Nation. Le jansénisme au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, Gallimard, 1998.
  • René Taveneaux, Le Jansénisme en Lorraine, 1640-1789, J. Vrin, 1960.
  • René Taveneaux, Jansénisme et politique, A. Colin, 1965.
  • René Taveneaux, Jansénisme et prêt à intérêt, J. Vrin, 1977.
  • René Taveneaux, La Vie quotidienne des jansénistes aux xviie et xviiie siècles, Hachette, 1985.
  • Dale K. Van Kley, Les origines religieuses de la Révolution française 1560-1791, traduit de l'anglais par Alain Spiess, Paris, Éd. du Seuil, coll. « L'univers historique », 2002.
  • Léopold Willaert, Les origines du Jansénisme dans les Pays-Bas catholiques, Bruxelles, 1948.


Reviews

  • Monique Cottret, "Aux origines du républicanisme janséniste: le mythe de l'Eglise primitive et le primitivisme des Lumières", R.H.M.C. Paris, 1983, pp. 99-115.
  • Monique Cottret,"Voltaire au risque du jansénisme. Le Siècle de Louis XIV à l'épreuve du jansénisme", Voltaire et le Grand Siècle, sous la direction de Jean Dagen et Anna-Sophie Barrovecchio, Voltaire Foundation, Oxford, 2006, pp.387-397.
  • Jean-Louis Quantin, « Augustinisme, sexualité et direction de conscience : Port-Royal devant les tentations du duc de Luynes » in Revue d’histoire des religions, 2e trimestre 2003
  • Catherine Maire, "Les jansénistes et le millénarisme
    Millennialism

    This article covers all forms of Christian and non-Christian Millennialism. You may be looking for the specific articles on Christian Premillennialism, Amillennialism or Postmillenialism....
    . Du refus à la conversion", Revue Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales, n°1-2008 (published by the EHESS, ISBN978-2-7132-2177-4)


See also

  • Antoine Le Maistre
    Antoine Le Maistre

    Antoine Le Maistre was a French Jansenism lawyer, author and translator. His name has also been written Lemaistre and Le Ma?tre, and he sometimes used the pseudonym of Lamy....
  • Baianism
    Baianism

    Baianism is a school of thought credited to the Roman Catholic theologian Michael Baius . It claims thorough Augustine of Hippo over the scholasticism which held sway over most Catholic theologians at the time....
  • Dale K. Van Kley
    Dale K. Van Kley

    Dale K. Van Kley is an United States historian and professor of History at The Ohio State University.Van Kley is the author of numerous books and articles and has taught and conducted research throughout North America and Europe....
  • Formulary controversy
    Formulary controversy

    The Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal's Lettres Provinciales, the condemnation by the Holy See of Casuistry, and the final dissolution of the Jansenist order ....
  • Molinism
    Molinism

    Not to be confused with the Quietism doctrine of Miguel de Molinos.Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will....
  • fr:Convulsionnaires


External links

  • (1640) (in Latin)
  • (1656)
  • (the first volume of the Reflexions morales - only the reflections on Matthew are available here)
  • Primary texts and discussions relating to the theology and history of Jansenism: context of Augustine of Hippo, Jesuit Order, liturgy, universalism and Second Vatican Council
    Second Vatican Council

    The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965....
     This site is maintained by a very conservative movement that challenges much of what the modern Roman Catholic church teaches and appears to be sympathetic to some Jansenist ideas. A good way to understand Jansenism's continuing impact on religious thought.
  • Jansenius and Jansenism