Jansenism

About: Jansenism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 189 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1397 citations. The topic is also known as: jansenisme & jansenists.

La Paix Clementine: Defaite et victoire du premier jansenisme francais sous le pontificat de Clement IX (1667-1669) (review)

Abstract: La Paix Clementine Defaite et victoire du premier jansenisme francais sous le pontificat de Clement IX (1667-1669) By PhOippe Dieudonne [Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium, 167] (Leuven: Leuven University Press, Uitgeverij Peeters 2003 Pp xxxix, 302 Paperback) The "Clementine Peace" was the name given at the time to the unexpected truce that put an end to the twenty-year dispute between Catholics about Jansenism The dispute was centered on five "propositions," first condemned by Urban VIII (1653) "on the occasion" of the publication of Cornelius Jansenius's Augustinus, that were declared extracted from that book by Alexander VII (1656) Along with Antoine Arnauld, the renowned Sorbonne theologian, the Jansenist party accepted the condemnation but denied the connection with the Augustinus This was the famed distinction between right and fact, a classical one in theology Claiming church authority to define "dogmatic facts," the French episcopate, soon followed by the Pope, imposed on all the clergy a formulary or oath acknowledging this connection (1665) However, in their diocesan publication oiRegiminis apostolici, the papal pronouncement, four French bishops allowed for the distinction of fact, thus voiding the document's objective As, at Louis XIV's request, Alexander VII had appointed an episcopal tribunal to judge the four bishops, nineteen of their colleagues offered their support It was to resolve this perilous situation that the new pope, Clement IX, was approached After secret negotiations, the "Peace of Church" was suddenly proclaimed (1668) A Arnauld was presented to the king by Nuncio Bargellini, and the Jansenists were no longer a dangerous party What had been negotiated and how? No explanation was given, but calculated leaks suggested a two-level agreement: officially the four bishops had given a "pure and simple" assent, but in a secret document they had nuanced it by maintaining the distinction Clement IX was said to have condoned this face-saving stratagem on the principle of "respectful" or "obsequious silence," that is, that he would not prosecute the dissenters against a promise that they would not express openly their objections The Jesuits, who had been kept out of the negotiation, cried foul, but as no formal rebuttal was ever issued, the interpretation was generally accepted and has been repeated by historians since For the first time, a precise and complete reconstruction of this mysterious episode is given in Philippe Dieudonne's work, begun as a doctoral dissertation (1996) Short of accessing the archives of the Holy Office, which were unavailable at that time, he has found documents that support a very different interpretation …

Un apunte sobre el pensamiento moderno: La Rochefoucauld, B. Mandeville y A. Smith

Abstract: Adam Smith is one of the main writers of the Scottish Enlightenment better known for his economic system than for his philosophical thought. Recent literature about this author has insisted upon the importance of studying his two main works, WN and TMS, as a whole. In this way, central issues of modern thought such as: social harmony, the role of passions and the need for ethics might be better understood. Influences from La Rochefoucauld and B. Mandeville can be found in Smith which connect with the Jansenist thought of the XVII century. With these considerations, it is shown that some writers of the Enlightenment were not as optimistic as it had been thought, Adam Smith being one of them.

The Papal Bull "Unigenitus" and the Forging of Enlightenment Catholicism, 1713-1764

Abstract: This article discusses the relationship between the papal Bull Unigenitus (1713) and the Catholic Enlightenment. The circumstances under which this controversial bull was received in the 18th century in Europe, and particularly in France, partially occasioned the construction of factions in many dynastic states—factions either pro-Unigenitus or pro-Augustinian (including but not limited to Jansenists). These factions, in turn, tailored their particular varieties of Catholic Enlightenment in the process of elaborating their respective positions concerning Unigenitus. This article synthesizes general trends in the present scholarship in order to underscore the importance of Unigenitus to the response of the Catholic Church to the Enlightenment. Because the fractures introduced into Catholic Europe by the bull were most acute during the early 18th century in France and the most formative and contentious factionalism is often presumed to have occurred before the suppression of the bull's most stalwart defenders—the Jesuits—between 1759 and 1773, this article focuses chiefly on the formative years of Catholic Enlightenment factionalism in the middle third of the 18th century before the suppression of the Jesuits.

The Biliotheque de la Societe de Port-Royal

Abstract: The present librarian of the Bibliotheque de la Societe de PortRoyal, Andre Gazier, is fond of describing a visit to his father, Augustin, the noted historian of Jansenism, by a canon of NotreDame. The canon asked to purchase books from this library in order to burn them! For some, Jansenism remained an emotional issue until well into the twentieth century. Augustin himself refused to allow Jesuits to use the library, and he vehemently discouraged scholars from studying the eighteenth-century convulsionaries of Saint-Medard, who, he believed, had embarrassed the "Disciples of Saint-Augustine." The Bibliotheque de la Societe de Port-Royal, sometimes referred to as the "library of Jansenism," is located on the third floor of a decrepit building at 169 rue Saint-Jacques in Paris. Operated by a private organization, the Societe de Port-Royal (which also owns the ruins of Port-Royal des Champs), the library contains unmatched holdings on Jansenism and on the religious history of seventeenthand eighteenth-century France. There is, unfortunately, no accurate way to determine the size of the library, but I would estimate perhaps sixty thousand volumes. One must bear in mind that this is not a library in the hands of trained librarians, and therefore it is deficient in both professional help and bibliographical aids. Much of the library is catalogued on hand-written fiches organized alphabetically by author and by subject. A fiche will direct the researcher to the appropriate room and book. Thus, one can easily locate books written by a particular seventeenthor eighteenth-century Jansenist. More difficulty occurs with the attempt to utilize either pamphlets or manuscripts. To take