Jansenism

The question of grace in the post-Tridentine period

Jansenism originated from a theological school of thought within the framework of the Counter-Reformation, and appeared in the years following the Council of Trent, but drew from debates older than the council. Although Jansenism takes its name from Cornelius Jansen, it is attached to a long tradition of Augustinian thought.

Most of the debates contributing to Jansenism concern the relationship between divine grace (which God grants to man) and human freedom in the process of salvation. In the 5th century, the North African bishop Augustine of Hippo opposed the British monk Pelagius who maintained that man has, within himself, the strength to will the good and to practice virtue, and thus to carry out salvation; a position that reduces the importance of divine grace. Augustine rejected this and declared that God alone decides to whom he grants or withholds grace, which causes man to be saved. The good or evil actions of man (and thus, his will and his virtue) do not affect this process, since man's free will was lost as a result of the original sin of Adam. God acts upon man through efficacious grace, in such a way that he infallibly regenerates him, without destroying his will.^[6]: 8 Man thus receives an irresistible and dominant desire for the good, which is infused into him by the action of efficacious grace.

Medieval theology, dominated by Augustinian thought, left little room for human freedom on the subject of grace. Thomas Aquinas, however, attempted to organise a system of thought around Augustinianism in order to reconcile grace and human freedom. He both affirmed the action of the divine in each action of man, but also the freedom of man.^[6]: 8 The Scholastics of the 14th and 15th centuries moved away from Augustinianism towards a more optimistic view of human nature.^[6]: 8

The Reformation broke with Scholasticism,^[6]: 8 with Martin Luther and John Calvin both taking Augustine as a reference, but also representing radical views. For some Augustinians, it was only necessary to affirm the omnipotence of God against human freedom, as was over-exalted in Pelagianism, whereas Luther and Calvin saw grace (freely granted or withheld by God) as causing man to be saved. Man's free will was therefore totally denied.^[3]: 10

To counter the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church in 1547 reaffirmed in the sixth session of the Council of Trent the place of free will, without pronouncing on its relationship with grace.^[6]: 9 Afterwards, the Roman Catholic position was not entirely unified, with the Jesuit priest Diego Laynez defending a position that his detractors described as Pelagian.^[6]: 9 Indeed, the Jesuits restarted the debate, fearing that excessive Augustinianism would weaken the role of the Church in salvation and compromise the rejection of Protestantism.^[6]: 9 In the wake of Renaissance humanism, certain Roman Catholics had a less pessimistic vision of man and sought to establish his place in the process of salvation by relying on Thomistic theology, which appeared to be a reasonable compromise between grace and free will.^[6]: 108 It is in this context that Aquinas was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1567.

Nevertheless, theological conflict increased from 1567, and in Leuven, the theologian Michel de Bay (Baius) was condemned by Pope Pius V for his denial of the reality of free will. In response to Baius, the Spanish Jesuit Luis de Molina, then teaching at the University of Évora, defended the existence of 'sufficient' grace, which provides man with the means of salvation, but only enters into him by the assent of his free will. This thesis was violently opposed by the Augustinians, which resulted in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith banning any publications on the problem of grace in 1611.^[6]: 15

The controversy was then concentrated in Leuven, where the Augustinian (Old) University of Leuven opposed the Jesuits.^[6]: 11 In 1628, Cornelius Jansen, then a professor at the university, undertook the creation of a theological work aimed at resolving the problem of grace by synthesising Augustine's thought on the matter. This work, a manuscript of nearly 1,300 pages entitled Augustinus, was almost completed when Jansen died suddenly in an epidemic in 1638.^[6]: 31 On his deathbed, he committed a manuscript to his chaplain, ordering him to consult with Libert Froidmont, a theology professor at Leuven, and Henricus Calenus, canon at the metropolitan church, and to publish the manuscript if they agreed it should be published, adding_, "If, however, the Holy See 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."^[10] Jansen affirmed in Augustinus that since the Fall of man, the human will is capable only of evil without divine help. Only efficacious grace can make him live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh, that is to say, according to the will of God rather than the will of man. This grace is irresistible and not granted to all men. Here Jansen agreed with Calvin's theory of predestination. The manuscript was published in 1640, expounding Augustine's system and forming the basis for the subsequent Jansenist controversy. The book consisted of three volumes:

1. The first described the history of Pelagianism and Augustine's battle against it and against Semipelagianism;
2. The second discussed the fall of man and original sin;
3. The third denounced a 'modern tendency' (unnamed by Jansen but clearly identifiable as Molinism) as Semipelagian.

In the first decade of the 17th century, Jansen established a fruitful collaboration with one of his classmates at the University of Leuven, the Baianist Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, later the abbot of Saint-Cyran-en-Brenne. Vergier was Jansen's patron for several years, and got Jansen a position as a tutor in Paris in 1606, after they completed their theological studies. Two years later, he got Jansen a position teaching at the bishop's college in Vergier's hometown of Bayonne. The two studied the Church Fathers together in Bayonne, with a special focus on the thought of Augustine, until they both left Bayonne in 1617. The question of grace was not central to their works at that time.^[6]: 20 Jansen returned to the University of Leuven, where he completed his doctorate in 1619 and was named professor of exegesis. Jansen and Vergier continued to correspond about Augustine, especially concerning his teachings on grace. Upon the recommendation of King Philip IV of Spain, Jansen was consecrated as Bishop of Ypres in 1636. It was only after the publication of Augustinus in 1638 that Vergier became the chief proponent of Jansen's theses, initially more out of loyalty to his late friend than out of personal conviction.

A form of French Augustinianism—Vergier and the Arnauds

Until then, grace was not frequently debated among French Roman Catholics; the topic was overshadowed by the devastating French Wars of Religion. The Jesuits were also banished from the kingdom between 1595 and 1603, so the Augustinian doctrine had no real opponents.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the principal religious movement was the French school of spirituality, mainly represented by the Oratory of Jesus founded in 1611 by Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle, a close friend of Vergier. The movement sought to put into practice a certain form of Augustinianism without focusing on the quesiton of grace as the Jansenists would later do. Its emphasis was to bring souls to a state of humility before God through the adoration of Christ as Saviour.^[6]: 21 Although Bérulle interfered little in the debates on grace, the Oratory and the Jesuits still came into conflict, with Vergier taking part by publishing writings against the 'Molinists'.^[6]: 24 Moreover, Bérulle, after having been the ally of Cardinal Richelieu, became his enemy when he realised Richelieu was not so much seeking the victory of Roman Catholicism in Europe, but rather seeking "to construct a political synthesis which would ensure the universal supremacy of the French monarchy";^{[6]: 24–25} placing himself in alignment with the royal jurists. When Bérulle died in 1629, Richelieu transferred his hostility towards Vergier,^[6]: 25 mainly due to a theological debate regarding contrition (which had not been settled by the Council of Trent) that disinclined him to Vergier, making him, at least on this point, an ally of the Jesuits.

Vergier in his writings insisted on the necessity of a true 'inner conversion' (perfect contrition) for the salvation of a Christian; the only way, according to him, to be able to receive the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist. This process of inner conversion, called the practice of 'renewals', is necessarily long and, once the state of conversion has been reached, the penitent must make the graces he has received bear fruit, preferably by leading a life of retreat.^[6]: 26 This notion of an -inner conversion is related to the doctrine of contrition in the remission of sins, that is, it was considered necessary to express love for God in order receive the sacraments. In opposition to Vergier, Richelieu in his book Instruction du chrétien ('Instruction of the Christian', 1619), along with the Jesuits, supported the thesis of attrition (imperfect contrition) that is, for them, the "regret for sins based solely on the fear of hell" is sufficient for one to receive the sacraments.^[6]: 29 The idea that the Eucharist should be received very infrequently, and that reception required much more than freedom from mortal sin, remained influential until it was finally condemned in the early 20th century by Pope Pius X, who endorsed frequent communion, as long as the communicant was free of mortal sin.

In 1602, Marie Angélique Arnauld, member of the Arnaulds, a large family of the Parisian nobility, became abbess of Port-Royal-des-Champs, a Cistercian convent in Magny-les-Hameaux. There, she reformed discipline after a conversion experience in 1608. In 1625, most of the nuns moved to Paris, forming the convent of Port-Royal de Paris. In 1634, after coming into contact with the Arnaulds, Vergier became the spiritual advisor of Port-Royal-des-Champs, putting into practice his Augustinian vision of salvation, and also became a good friend of Angélique Arnauld;^[6]: 29 convincing her of the rightness of Jansen's opinions. In 1637, Antoine Le Maistre, nephew of Angélique Arnaud, retreated to Port-Royal in order to fully immerse himself in the demanding spiritual practices he learned from Vergier.^[6]: 28 He was thus the first of the Solitaires of Port-Royal, and his example would be followed by other pious men wishing to live in isolation.

The two convents became major strongholds of Jansenism. Under Angélique Arnauld, later with Vergier's support, Port-Royal-des-Champs developed a series of elementary schools, known as the Petites écoles de Port-Royal ('Little Schools of Port-Royal'); the most famous product of these schools was the playwright Jean Racine.^[11] Through Angélique Arnauld, Vergier had met her brother, Antoine Arnauld, became his protector and brought him to accept Jansen's position in Augustinus. Following Vergier's death in 1643, Antoine Arnauld, then a brilliant lawyer, priest and theologian at the Sorbonne (theological college of the University of Paris), became the chief proponent of Jansenism.

By allying with the Protestant princes against the Roman Catholic princes in the Thirty Years' War, Richelieu aroused the suspicion of the devout Jansenists, leading Vergier to openly condemn his foreign policy. For this reason he was imprisoned in the Bastille in May 1638.^[11] The debate on the role of contrition and attrition in salvation was also one of the motives of the imprisonment.^[12] Vergier was not released until after Richelieu's death in 1642, and he died shortly thereafter, in 1643.

From 1640, the Jesuits condemned Vergier's practice of renewals, which, according to them, risked discouraging the faithful and therefore distancing them from the sacraments.^[3]: 16 The Jesuits encouraged the faithful, whether or not they were struggling with sin, to receive the Eucharist 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. Antoine Arnauld responded to them in 1643 with De la fréquente communion ('Of frequent communion'),^[13] representing the deeply pessimistic theology of Jansenism, and discouraged frequent Communion, arguing that a high degree of perfection, including purification from attachment to venial sin, was necessary before approaching the sacrament. Arnaud presented Jansen's ideas in a more accessible way to the public (e.g., the work was written in the vernacular, whereas Augustinus was written in Latin). The work was approved by fifteen bishops and archbishops, as well as twenty-one theologians of the Sorbonne and was widely distributed except in Jesuit circles.^[14]: 21

In 1644, Antoine Arnauld published an Apologie pour Jansenius ('Apology for Jansenius'),^[15] then a Seconde apologie ('Second apology')^[16] in the following year, and finally an Apologie pour M. de Saint-Cyran ('Apology for Saint-Cyran [Vergier]').^[17] Arnauld also replied to Jesuit criticism with Théologie morale des Jésuites ('Moral Theology of the Jesuits').^[1] The Jesuits then designated Nicolas Caussin (former confessor of Louis XIII) to write Réponse au libelle intitulé La Théologie morale des Jésuites ('Response to the libel titled Moral Theology of the Jesuits') in 1644. Another Jesuit response was Les Impostures et les ignorances du libelle intitulé: La Théologie Morale des Jésuites ('The impostures and ignorance of the libel titled Moral Theology of the Jesuits') by François Pinthereau, under the pseudonym of "abbé de Boisic", also in 1644.^[18] Pinthereau also wrote a critical history of Jansenism, La Naissance du Jansénisme découverte à Monsieur le Chancelier ('The Birth of Jansenism Revealed to the Chancellor') in 1654. During the 1640s, Vergier's nephew, Martin de Barcos, who was once a theology student under Jansen, wrote several works defending his uncle.

Formulary controversy: 1664–1669

At the urging of several bishops, and at the personal insistence of King Louis XIV, Pope Alexander VII sent to France the apostolic constitution Regiminis Apostolici in 1664, which required, according to the Enchiridion symbolorum, "all ecclesiastical personnel and teachers" to subscribe to an included formulary, the Formula of Submission for the Jansenists.^{[25]: n. 2020}

The formula was the basis of the Formulary Controversy. Many Jansenists refused to sign it; while some did sign, they made it known that they were agreeing only to the doctrine (matters de jure), not the allegations asserted by the bull (matters de facto). The latter category included the four Jansenist-leaning bishops, who communicated the bull to their flocks along with messages that maintained the distinction between doctrine and fact. This angered both Louis XIV and Alexander VII, who commissioned nine French bishops to investigate the situation.

Alexander VII died in 1667 before the commission concluded its investigation and his successor, Pope Clement IX, initially appeared willing to continue the investigation of the nine Jansenist-leaning bishops. However, in France, Jansenists conducted a campaign arguing that allowing a papal commission of this sort would constitute a renouncement of the traditional liberties of the Gallican Church, thus playing on traditional French opposition to ultramontanism. They convinced one member of the cabinet (Lyonne) and nineteen bishops of their position. These bishops argued, in a letter to Clement IX, that the infallibility of the Church applied only to matters of revelation, and not to matters of fact. They asserted that this was the position of Caesar Baronius and Robert Bellarmine. They also argued in a letter to Louis XIV that allowing the investigation to continue would result in political discord.

Under these circumstances, the papal nuncio to France recommended that Clement IX accommodate the Jansenists. Clement agreed, and appointed César d'Estrées, Bishop of Laon, as a mediator in the matter. 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, assisted d'Estrées. D'Estrées convinced the four bishops, Arnauld, Choart de Buzenval, Caulet and Pavillon, to sign the Formula of Submission for the Jansenists (though it seems they may have believed that signing the formulary did not mean assent to the matters de facto that 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 de facto. In response, Clement IX appointed a commission of twelve cardinals to further investigate the matter.^[10] This commission determined that the four bishops had signed the formula in a less than entirely sincere manner, but recommended that the matter should be dropped to forestall further divisions in the Church. Foreign wars also pressured Louis XIV to avoid internal conflict. The pope agreed and thus issued four briefs, declaring the four bishops' agreement to the formula was acceptable, thus instituting the Paix clémentine ('Clementine Peace') which lasted from 1669 to 1679.^{[20]: 179–188}

Pasquier Quesnel and his Réflexions morales: 1692–1710

Quesnel was also a member of the Oratory of Jesus in Paris from 1657 until 1681, when he was expelled on account of his Jansenism. He sought the protection of Pierre du Cambout de Coislin, bishop of Orléans, who harbored Quesnel for four years, until Quesnel joined Antoine Arnauld in Brussels in 1689. In 1692, Quesnel published the Nouveau Testament en français avec des réflexions morales sur chaque verset ('New Testament in French with moral reflections on each verse'), a devotional guide to the New Testament that laid out the Jansenist position in strong terms. This work, consistently republished because of its success, was classically Augustinian. Quesnel remained measured on questions of grace, but on the other hand was fiercely Gallican in the vein of Edmond Richer. Indeed, Quesnel was seen as the functional successor of Antoine Arnauld upon his death in 1694, and therefore as the leader of the 'Jansenist party'.^{[20]: 234–235}

The Réflexions morales did not initially arouse controversy; not only was it recommended by Noailles but it was also approved for publication by Félix Vialart de Herse, bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne. Neither Vialart nor Noailles appeared to have realized that the book had strongly Jansenist overtones, and had thought that they were simply approving a pious manual of devotion.^{[citation needed]} However, in the years that followed, several bishops became aware of the book's Jansenist tendencies and issued condemnations: Joseph-Ignace de Foresta [fr], bishop of Apt, in 1703; Charles-Béningne Hervé, bishop of Gap, in 1704; and both François-Joseph de Grammont [fr], bishop of Besançon, and Édouard Bargedé [fr], bishop of Nevers, in 1707. When the Holy Office drew the Réflexions morales to the attention of Clement XI, he issued the papal brief Universi dominici (1708), proscribing the book for "savouring of the Jansenist heresy". As a result, in 1710, Jean-François de l'Escure de Valderil, bishop of Luçon, and Étienne de Champflour [fr], bishop of La Rochelle, forbade the reading of the book in their dioceses.^[10]

Case of Conscience: 1701–1709

The tensions generated by the continuing presence of these elements in the French Roman Catholic Church came to a head in the Case of Conscience of 1701, which was initiated by a priest from Clermont-Ferrand. The case involved the question of whether or not absolution should be given to a cleric who refused to affirm the infallibility of the Church in matters de facto (even if 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, declared that the cleric should receive absolution.

The publication of this 'Case of Conscience' provoked outrage among the anti-Jansenist elements in the Roman Catholic Church. The decision given by the scholars was condemned by several French bishops; by Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, archbishop of Paris; by the theological faculties at Leuven, Douai and eventually Paris; and, finally, in 1703, by Pope Clement XI. The scholars who had signed the Case of Conscience then backed away, all of the signatories withdrew their signatures and the theologian who had championed the result of the Case of Conscience, Nicolas Petitpied [fr], was expelled from the Sorbonne.

Louis XIV and his grandson, Philip V of Spain, then 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 de facto.

The pope obliged, issuing the apostolic constitution Vineam Domini Sabaoth, on 16 July 1705. At the subsequent Assembly of the French Clergy, all those present, except P.-Jean-Fr. de Percin de Montgaillard, bishop of Saint-Pons, voted to accept Vineam Domini Sabaoth and Louis XIV promulgated it as binding law in France.

Dissolution of Port-Royal and promulgation of Unigenitus: 1708–1713

Louis XIV 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 enacting this. 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 de Paris remained in existence until it was closed in the general dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution.

All these condemnations allowed Louis XIV to make arguments to definitively reduce the movement to a 'republican sect', that is to say, a sect opposed to the royal absolutist regime. Taking advantage of the War of the Spanish Succession, he had Quesnel imprisoned by Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano, archbishop of Mechelen in the Spanish Netherlands in 1703, and had all his papers seized, although he escaped and fled to Amsterdam, where he lived for the remainder of his life. This was followed by the arrest of the entire network of correspondents woven by Quesnel over fifteen years throughout France. The centres of the secret publication of Jansenist writings were discovered, forcing Jansenists to flee abroad, most often to the Spanish Netherlands or the Dutch Republic, passing through monasteries such as the abbey of Hautefontaine, on the border between Champagne and independent Lorraine.^{[3]: 30–31}

Louis XIV asked the pope for a final condemnation, specifically for the Réflexions morales of Quesnel. Clement XI sent a papal brief in 1708, but it was not received by the parlement of Paris. The Jesuit priest Michel Le Tellier, the king's confessor, tried to convince the bishops to ask for a formal condemnation of the work, but unsuccessfully. The king therefore asked the pope for a papal bull condemning the book. In response, Clement XI promulgated the bull Unigenitus Dei Filius on 8 September 1713. It was written with the contribution of Gregorio Selleri, a lector at the College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum,^[27] and later Master of the Sacred Palace, fostered the condemnation of Jansenism by condemning one hundred and one propositions from the Réflexions morales of Quesnel as heretical, and as identical with propositions already condemned in the writings of Jansen. These propositions as well as the work itself are seen as a summary of Jansenist doctrine.^{[20]: 237–238}

The phenomenon of the Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard

From 1731, the dramatic popularisation of Jansenism gave rise to the phenomenon of the convulsionnaires. Initially a series of miracles linked to the tomb of the Jansenist deacon François de Pâris in the Saint-Médard Cemetery in Paris, including religious ecstasy, the phenomenon transformed into an expression of opposition to papal and royal authority. The convulsions spread among the Parisian people including the bourgeoisie during the 1730s. The connection between the larger French Jansenist movement and the smaller, more radical convulsionnaire phenomenon is difficult to state with precision. Brian Strayer noted, in Suffering Saints, almost all convulsionnaires were Jansenists, but very few Jansenists embraced the convulsionnaire phenomenon.^[32]: 236 Nevertheless, the phenomenon persisted until the 19th century.^[33][34]

"The format of their seances changed perceptibly after 1732," according to Strayer. "Instead of emphasizing prayer, singing, and healing miracles, believers now participated in 'spiritual marriages' (which occasionally bore earthly children), encouraged violent convulsions [...] and indulged in the secours (erotic and violent forms of torture), all of which reveals how neurotic the movement was becoming." The movement descended into brutal cruelties that "clearly had sexual overtones" in their practices of penance and mortification of the flesh. In 1735, the parlements regained jurisdiction over the convulsionnaires, which changed into an underground movement of clandestine sects. The next year "an alleged plot" by convulsionnaire revolutionaries to overthrow the parlements and assassinate Louis XV was thwarted. The "Augustinian convulsionnaires" were then absconded from Paris to avoid police surveillance. This "further split the Jansenist movement."^{[32]: 257–265}

According to Strayer, by 1741 the leadership was "dead, exiled, or imprisoned," and the movement was divided. The police's role increased and the parlements' role decreased "in the social control of Jansenism" but cells continued engaging in seances, torture, and apocalyptic and treasonous rhetoric. Strayer related a case of torture documented in 1757 where a woman was "beat [...] with garden spades, iron chains, hammers, and brooms [...] jabbed [...] with swords, pelted [...] with stones, buried [...] alive, [...] crucified." In another case documented in 1757, a woman "was cut with a knife numerous times" causing gangrene. By 1755 there were fewer than eight hundred convulsionnaires in France. In 1762 the parlements criminalized some of their practices "as 'potentially dangerous' to human life."^{[32]: 266–269, 272} The last crucifixion was documented in 1788.^[32]: 282

The conjunction of Jansenism and parliamentarism

The parlements of the Ancien Régime, and in particular the parlement of Paris, had long been defenders of Gallicanism against Rome. Since the beginning of the Jansenist controversy, the parlements tended to sympathise with Jansenists, reluctant to register the papal bulls condemning the movement.

This happened upon the promulgation of the bull Unigenitus. The attorney-general Henri François d'Aguesseau considered the promulgation of the bull to be proof of the fallibility of the pope. He encouraged parliamentarians not to accept the bull and wait for a reaction from the bishops. It was necessary for Louis XIV to use letters patent to force registration of the bull. Despite this, the letters Pastoralis officii were not received in 1718, which alleviated the fears of the appelants in the short term.^{[3]: 40–41}In fact, a lit de justice was required for the bull to be registered as state law in 1730, so great was the parliamentary resistance.

René Taveneaux,^[35] in his Jansenism and Politics,^[36] underlines the importance of Jansenist recruitment among the parliamentarians of the 18th century. According to him, Jansenism had a 'bourgeois base' which dated back to the 17th century, with the Arnauld, Lemaistre, Pascal and other families, who were considered 'Nobles of the Robe'. Marie-José Michel also underlines the attraction of entire elite families to Port-Royal and Jansenism from the beginning of the movement, and speaks of a "proliferating Jansenisation of elites".^{[8]: 366–386}

Lucien Goldmann's thesis is that this was an expression of class spirit, which would have taken root during the Fronde along with a discontent regarding the centralising absolutist monarchy. Faced with the growing power of the royal commissioners to the detriment of the officials (of bourgeois recruitment), the latter would have practiced increasingly anti-establishment 'critical retreat from the world'.^[37] Taveneaux moderates this interpretation with a Marxist analysis of a 'meeting ground' between Jansenism and the bourgeoisie, arguing that the bourgeois noble was free under the Ancien Régime, detached from the seigneurial hierarchy, and that this individualistic situation, was, by some, easily associated with Jansenist morality, which preferred the development of the interior life in contrast to the splendour of Tridentine liturgy, and a demanding moral rigorism rather than the easily accessible sacraments characteristic of Jesuit theology. The essentially urban basis of Jansenism also allowed this 'meeting ground' between it and the parliamentary bourgeoisie.

The Jansenist cause and the parliamentary revolts of the 18th century

The parlements, especially that of Paris, were in constant rebellion against monarchical power during the 18th century. Jansenists and appelants therefore found the parliamentarians to be a close ally. Moreover, the weapon of the Jansenists to resist both the king and the pope was legal; the 'appeal as from an abuse', in order to protest an injustice and deny the pope's or a bishop's right to exercise their authority on a specific point. The appelants brought their demands before the parlement, an organ of justice in which the Jansenist magistrates would employ their rhetoric and legal arsenal to combine the Jansenist cause with a defence of the independence of the parlements, thus winning the support of parliamentarians who were Gallicans or resistant to royal power.^[38] However, "most often, Jansenist magistrates carefully avoided any reference to religious convictions, aware that a theological discourse would have been inadmissible in an assembly of judges."^[38]: 155 Jansenism was therefore readily confused with the incessant parliamentary struggles of the 18th century, while its theological nature faded. Numerically speaking, the presence of Jansenists was modest. For Paris, about a quarter of magistrates in the 1730s were Jansenists, including a group of lawyers influential enough to initiate two general strikes of their order in 1732 with the aim of bolstering the independence of the parlement.^{[3]: 43–44}

One of these influential lawyers was Louis Adrien Le Paige [fr]. Bailiff of the Tour du Temple, which bore the right of asylum and was therefore one of the most important hubs of the Jansenist network, taking advantage of the right to harbour numerous banned publications. The Temple also housed the famous 'Perrette box', which contained the Jansenists' financing fund; an object of curiosity and fantasy among anti-Jansenists. Another of these lawyers was Gabriel-Nicolas Maultrot, nicknamed the 'second-class lawyer' because of the many appelant priests he defended.

The most significant conflict involving the parliamentarians and Jansenism was the affair of the 'confession notes'. In 1746, the archbishop of Paris Christophe de Beaumont proposed that the faithful must be able to provide a proof of a 'confession note' signed by a priest who approved Unigenitus in order to receive extreme unction. The measure encountered major opposition, and many legal appeals were filed which were quashed by the king's council. In 1749, a large demonstration occurred after the burial of a Jansenist college principal who died without being granted confession. Among the four thousand people who comprised the procession, there were many parliamentarians.^{[39]: 60–61}

An important religious event of the second half of the 18th century was the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1764, which united Jansenism and the monarchy for a time. However, Jansenism joined the side of the magistrates in their revolt against the policies of Chancellor de Maupeou and his Triumvirate to destroy the parliamentary system. The most radical members of the revolt joined what was called the 'patriot party', the spearhead of pre-Revolutionary protest. The synthesis of their struggles and demands with the theses of Jean-Jacques Rousseau was to give substance to the ideological beginnings of the French Revolution.^[40]

The role of the Jansenists in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Among the early defenders of the French Revolution were personalities known for their Gallicanism, sympathy for Jansenism and more or less marked adherence to the theology of Edmond Richer. The role of the Jansenists in the Revolution was essentially a product of the ecclesiological character of late Jansenism, which was tinged with Gallicanism.

The role of Jansenising priests was noted from the beginning of the Revolution. Indeed, without the addition of a few priests to the Third Estate during the assembly of the Estates General of 1789, it would not have been able to declare itself a National Assembly on 17 June 1789. These priests were led by Abbot Henri Grégoire, whose attachment to Port-Royal and Jansenism was known. Grégoire shared with the Jansenists a figurist vision of history, which underlay his statement that the Revolution was part of the fulfilment of God's will. Around Grégoire and the priests favourable to the Revolution mainly Gallicans and other Jansenists from the parlements gathered together. Louis Adrien Le Paige was generally favourable to the Revolution. Likewise, Armand-Gaston Camus and Jean-Denis Lanjuinais, renowned parliamentarians, were heavily involved in Revolutionary events while remanining attached to the Jansenist cause. Lanjuinais was notably a member of the ecclesiastical committee which prepared the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The importance of Jansenists in the drafting of this constitution, so favourable to their demands on many points, meant that the Abbot Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès attacked those who "seem to have seen in the Revolution merely a superb opportunity to lift up the theological importance of Port-Royal and to establish the apotheosis of Jansenius over the tomb of his enemies".^[41] The Civil Constitution of the Clergy satisfied the Jansenists on many points; it put an end to practices that were widely criticised, for example the residence of bishops outside of their dioceses or non-canonical benefices. The Constitution reinstated diocesan synods, considerably reduced the influence of the pope and reproved formulas such as that of Alexander VII. Furthermore, it satisfied the wealthy fringe of the clergy by establishing election within the Gallican Church and by promoting cooperation between parish priests and prelates, rather than a relationship of subordination.^{[42]: 517–518}

For these Jansenists, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and all the ecclesiastical constitution that resulted from it were nothing other than the culmination of all the religious and parliamentary struggles of the 18th century. Dale K. Van Kley lists five points which brought together the interests of Gallican Jansenists and those of France in the early Revolution, and which Camus in particular developed.^{[42]: 521–522}

• The administration of ecclesiastical property fell to the hierarchy, but its ownership fell to the Church in France as a whole. By property and goods, not only material goods are meant but also 'spiritual keys', that is, the sacraments and anathemas.
• The Church was not only made up of its clerical hierarchy, but of all the Roman Catholic faithful. As France almost entirely consisted of Roman Catholics, it can be said that the National Assembly, which brought together all French people, was a representation of the Church. It could therefore declare that the property of the Church was the property of the nation, and so sell it to repay the national debt or pay priests and bishops.
• There was no usurpation of the Church, since the state only acted on the public, external and temporal aspects of the Church's mission, leaving the spiritual aspect untouched. Even when the National Assembly suppressed monastic orders, redrew the ecclesiastical map or abrogated the 1515 Concordat of Bologna, it denied that it affected the spiritual mission of the Church.
• The suppression of ecclesiastical governance were justified on the grounds that the sacrament of ordination is purely spiritual, and gives to the one who receives it the unlimited and illimitable power to preach and administer the sacraments. On the other hand, the actual exercise of this power was the responsibility of the Assembly since it was temporal. A priest who did not submit to the Assembly could therefore be denied a parish, for example.
• Camus further justified the constitution by claiming that the Early Church was a model of spiritual authority detached from the temporal, and therefore that the Constitutional Church was only returning to this state of purity. The Church could therefore free itself from the approval of the pope, who was not considered superior to other bishops.

The Jansenist and Gallican influence in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy explains why so many of the new constitutional bishops were classified as Jansenists or at least as Jansenist sympathisers.^[43] Thus, in addition to Abbé Grégoire, bishop of Blois and de facto head of the Constitutional Church, were Claude Debertier, Jean-Baptiste Pierre Saurine, Louis Charrier de La Roche and about fifteen others who, without necessarily being appelants, nevertheless identified themselves strongly with Jansenism and Richer.

Laypeople and clerics joined the Société de philosophie chrétienne ('Society of Christian philosophy'), which pursued religious studies during the Revolution^[44] in a strongly Jansenist spirit. In the final years of the Revolution, the Society published the Annales de la religion ('Annals of religion'), a Gallican and Jansenist journal, which published the first version of Abbé Grégoire's Ruines de Port-Royal des Champs en 1801 ('Ruins of Port-Royal-des-Champs in 1801'). Members of the Society frequently took residences for reflection at Port-Royal-des-Champs, and were in close contact with the Italian Jansenists Eustache Degola [fr] and Scipione de' Ricci.

There were, however, a significant number of Jansenists who completely rejected the Revolution. As for clergymen, the best known were Henri Jabineau [fr] and Dom Deforis [fr]. But others, like Abbots Mey, Dalléas and the Oratorian clergy of Lyon, were also very much in opposition to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. They were supported by canonists like Gabriel-Nicolas Maultrot, and by pious laypeople such as Nicolas Bergasse in Lyon or Louis Silvy [fr] in Paris. Some, like Augustin-Jean-Charles Clément [fr], a notable Jansenist, swore the oath of loyalty to the Constitution, but only with great hesitation.^[43]

Analysis of the Jansenist involvement in the Revolution

"Let the Constituent Assembly, once it has emerged from the stormy discussions that mark its beginning and the votes of its major state laws, address the civil constitution of the clergy; Jansenist inspiration will preside over the organisation of the new Church. Camus will triumph over Louis XIV; the ecclesiastical committee will avenge the ashes of Port-Royal, and the Jansenist legislators who spoke so much about returning to the organisation of the Early Church will in fact return it to martyrdom."^[45] (Abbé Sicard, The Old Clergy of France, 1893)

Jansenism is often cited, if not as one of the causes of the Revolution, at least as having shaped the state of mind necessary for its outbreak.^{[42]: 521–522} This accusation was first made by counter-revolutionaries, who saw the Jansenists as allies of Protestants and Freemasons; others supposedly responsible for the fall of the French monarchy. Even if the reasons for this accusation are erroneous, there was a strong link between Jansenism and the Revolution.

For the counter-revolutionaries and ultramontanists of the 19th century, Jansenism was accused of having prepared and accompanied the Revolution for the following reasons.^[46]

• Jansenism maintained a seditious spirit. Its revolts and resistance against popes and kings were a negative influence for the people, who could reproduce in politics the religious attitude of Jansenists.
• Jansenism discouraged the faithful. They preferred to distance themselves from religion rather than satisfy the demands of Jansenist priests. This accusation is based on the correlation between the geographical distribution of the appelants and constitutional priests during the Revolution and the zones of dechristianisation. However this correlation is difficult to interpret.
• Through its association with Gallicanism, Jansenism was a source of schism in France under the Revolution, between the constitutional clergy, favourable to a national church, and the 'refractory clergy' who followed the condemnation of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy by Pope Pius VI.
• Finally, Jansenism was often associated with republicanism, because it dissociated itself from court life, with the Solitaires giving an image of a 'Republic of Letters', and because leading figures during the Revolution, such as Abbé Grégoire, did not hide their attachment to Port-Royal.

Among 19th-century republicans, who were quite favourable to Port-Royal and Jansenism as movements which fought against absolute monarchy and royal authority, there were also defenders of the theory according to which the Jansenists were largely responsible for the outbreak of the Revolution. Thus Jules Michelet, Louis Blanc, Henri Martin and Charles-Louis Chassin argued for a partly Jansenist origin of the Revolution.

If it is possible to associate Jansenism and the Revolution outside the religious domain, it is because there was a tradition of protest among Jansenists and because socially, those who drove the Revolution (bourgeoisie of the legal and parliamentary worlds) were the same as those who embraced the appelant cause in the 18th century.

Some (mainly among the Jesuits) were convinced of the existence of a Jansenist plot aimed at overthrowing monarchical power.^[47] At the beginning of the 20th century, historians such as Louis Madelin and Albert Mathiez refuted this Jansenist conspiracy thesis and emphasised a conjunction of forces and demands as responsible for both the outbreak of the Revolution and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.^[43] The theory that the explanation of the Revolution must appeal to several causes, of which Jansenism is only one among others, is now the consenus among historians.

The Spanish Netherlands—Leuven

As noted by Jonathan Israel^{[48]: 649–653} Jansenism initially had strong support in the Spanish Netherlands, where Jansen himself had been active, supported by such major figures of the church hierarchy as Jacobus Boon, archbishop of Mechelen and Antonie Triest, bishop of Ghent. Though the Church in the Spanish Netherlands eventually took up the persecution of Jansenism, with Jansenist clergy being replaced by their opponents and the monument to Jansen in the Cathedral of Ypres being symbolically demolished in 1656. Nevertheless the Spanish authorities were less zealous in this persecution than the French.

The (Old) University of Leuven, which published Augustinus, remained Augustinian in orientation since the time of Jansen. The popes were less demanding to the university, undoubtedly because they did not have a close political relationship with it as they did with Louis XIV in France. In 1677, a Baianist faction from the theological faculty submitted 116 propositions of moral laxity for censure to Pope Innocent XI. They were textually drawn from the letter of accusation of the professors of Leuven, and thus the Roman authorities suppressed dissertations dealing with the question of the true origin of the propositions, which was regarded as ambiguous.^[49] Innocent XI selected 65 propositions from the submission and "limited himself to condemning the deviations of moral doctrine",^{[25]: p. 466} avoiding a revival of the controversy on grace.^[49] The 65 propositions were described as "at the very least scandalous and pernicious in practice", leading the Pope to censure them through a decree of the Inquisition in March 1679,^{[49][25]: nn. 2101–2167} yet "without naming the probabilism prevalent in Jesuit circles."^[50] The Holy Office previously censured 45 propositions of moral doctrine between two decrees dated to 24 September 1665, and 18 March 1666. According to Denzinger, the propositions submitted, by both the University of Leuven and the University of Paris, were "frequently taken out of context and sometimes expanded by elements that are not found in the original, so that most often one must speak of fictitious authors."

Until the 1690s, it was possible to sign Formula of Pope Alexander VII without specifying one's interpretation of it regarding matters de jure and de facto. Twice the archbishop of Mechelen, Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano, tried to toughen the signing conditions, but he lost a lawsuit against the university. It was not until 1710 that the absolute and unqualified signing of the Formula was made compulsory.

Unigenitus was accepted without question from 1715, but the letters Pastoralis officii of Pope Clement XI provoked fierce conflict between the archbishop of Mechelen and the university. After legal proceedings, episodes of refusal of the sacraments similar to what occurred in France in the 1740s and an exile of professors to the Dutch Republic, the university appeared to submit to the bull and its papal interpretation in 1730.^{[39]: 26–29}

The University of Leuven was, due to its alumni Baius and Jansen, the cradle of Jansenism and remained, during the 17th and 18th centuries until its suppression, the bastion^[51] and the hub^[52] of Jansenist Augustinian theology^[53] in Europe, with professors such as Jansen, Petrus Stockmans, Johannes van Neercassel, Josse Le Plat and especially the famous Zeger Bernhard van Espen and his students Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim or Charles Joseph Mathieu Lambrechts, professor of canon law, rector of the university in 1786, Freemason,^[54][55] and Minister of Justice in the French Directory under Napoleon. As Henri Francotte says, "Jansenism reigned supreme at the University of Leuven".^[56]

As late as 1818, Charles Lambrechts, former rector of the university, ex-senator and minister of Napoleon, recalled the 'vexations' of the Roman Catholic Church against his predecessor van Espen.

The encroachments of the Catholic clergy and their pretentions were so vexatious, that, in a time when their religion was dominant, no other remedy had been found for their abuse of power, other than the appeals in question. This is what prompted the famous van Espen to write, at the age of eighty, his treatise De recursu ad Principem, in order to put a barrier up against the ever-resurgent abuses of clerical jurisdictions; but this virtuous clergyman, who distributed to the poor all the income from the chair of canon law which he occupied at the University of Leuven, was soon obliged to resort to appeal for himself as from an abuse; still, this remedy could not entirely save him from persecution by intolerant priests. Burdened with years, glory and infirmities, he was forced to seek in Holland shelter from their vexations; he soon died in Amsterdam amid feelings of piety and resignation, after having spent his life defending the discipline and customs of the Early Church, of which he was the most zealous.^[57]

In the Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic was the place of exile for many French Jansenists. They gathered first in Amsterdam, then increasingly in Utrecht. Since the 16th century, this small town had been the seat of the Dutch Mission aimed at the conversion of the Dutch who had become largely Reformed. Jansenist refugees from France and the Spanish Netherlands were made welcome, increasing the Jansenist influence among Dutch Roman Catholics. As a result, the Dutch Mission gained a strong Jansenist element in both theology and morality.^[48]: 650 Politically, the Dutch Jansenists were more inclined than other Roman Catholics to reach accommodation with the Protestant authorities and sought to make themselves independent of papal control.^{[48]: 649, 652} Moreover, theologically the Jansenist doctrines were considered to be closer to the dominant Dutch Reformed Protestantism. Dutch Jansenism (sometimes called 'Quesnelism' after Pasquier Quesnel) was accused by its opponents of being 'crypto-Calvinism within the Church'.^[48]: 653 The controversy between Jansenists and anti-Jansenists (the latter naturally led by the Jesuits) increasingly tore up the Dutch Roman Catholic Church in the late 17th and early 18th century, with the authorities of the Dutch Republic actively involved on the one side and the papacy and kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and Poland on the other. Moreover, some Dutch Roman Catholics seeking greater independence from papal control were identified as being 'Jansenists', even if not necessarily adhering to the theological doctrines of Jansenism.^[48]: 1034

The opposition towards the Jesuits and Roman Catholic clergy in general in the Republic of the 1680s prompted a more 'national attitude' among Dutch Roman Catholics, who began to stray from papal authority and adjust to their environment within their local hierarchies.^[48]: 649 The minority status of Roman Catholicism paradoxically allowed greater freedom for the local churches, which elected its bishop and had him confirmed by the pope, even if he only bore the title of 'vicar apostolic' so as not to irritate the government. Relations between Utrecht and French Jansenism had developed early on, since vicar apostolic Johannes van Neercassel, friend of Antoine Arnauld and Pasquier Quesnel,^{[48]: 651–652} and in 1673 published an 'uncompromisingly Jansenist work', Amor Poenitens, which was frequently criticised by the Jesuits.^[48]: 652 His successor, Petrus Codde, who was influenced by Arnauld and Quesnel, and did much to promote Jansenism in the Dutch Mission including harbouring French Jansenist refugees, was suspended by Clement XI in 1702, despite his popularity with the local population.^[48]: 1034 He appointed a successor who was unpopular with the local Roman Catholics. In August 1702, the States of Holland forbade Dutch Roman Catholics from recognising a vicar general who was not approved by its representatives. This meant that Dutch Roman Catholics were split between submitting to the authority of the Pope at the expense of the States or vice versa.^[48]: 1035

In April 1723, tensions culminated when the 'refractory' clergy appointed Cornelius van Steenoven as 'Archbishop of Utrecht', who the majority of the Roman Catholic laity supported, in opposition to papal authority, thus establishing a formal schism between the ultramontane and Jansenist-leaning Roman Catholics.^[48]: 1036 The canons of Utrecht remained without a bishop for almost fifteen years, during which it was ministered mainly by exiled French Jansenists. French bishops also ordained Dutch priests to ensure the survival of this small church.^[48]: 1036

In 1724, Utrecht once again had bishops. It was the appelant Dominique Marie Varlet, coadjutor bishop of the diocese in partibus of Babylon, who settled in the Dutch Republic after fierce disputes with the Holy See. He agreed to successively ordain four bishops elected by the chapter of Utrecht. This is when the 'Little Church of Utrecht', now called the Old Catholic Church, was founded. With each new ordination of a bishop, the Church sent a request for canonical institution to the pope, who invariably condemned it as a schismatic body.^{[39]: 29–32} Throughout the 18th century, these two rival Catholic Churches were active in competition. The question of whether, and to what degree, this breakaway church was Jansenist was highly controversial; the Jesuits having a clear polemical interest in emphasising its identification as such.

The links between the Old Catholic Church and the French Jansenists are numerous and lasting. From a place of refuge in the 18th century, Utrecht has become a place of conservation of Jansenist history and traditions. There are numerous French Jansenist archives in Utrecht and Amersfoort (where the seminary was located). The funds from the Perrette box were regularly used to partially finance this church. The French Jansenists hoped, until the middle of the 19th century, to have priests ordained by Utrecht to found a church of the same kind in France, although this project never came to fruition.^{[3]: 52–54}

Italy

The influence of Jansenism in Italy can be explained with reference to the political fragmentation of the peninsula into numerous states that were traditionally hostile to the papacy. Relations with French Jansenists were established in the 17th century due to contacts established with religious orders, especially Benedictines and Dominicans. The Republic of Venice played an important role in the translation (into Latin or Italian) and dissemination of French Jansenist texts.^[3]: 55 However, Jansenist ideas only had an impact in northern Italy and did not pass south of Rome.

In the 18th century, it was the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in particular that were influenced by Jansenism. By its proximity to France, and the fact that it is partly French-speaking, Piedmont constituted an ideal refuge for Jansenists. Thus, Jacques Joseph Duguet [fr] took refuge for a time at Tamié Abbey, while others found refuge in Chambéry. Joining the opposition to Unigenitus, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy expelled the Jesuits and replaced them with exiled Port-Royalists. In 1761, the bishop of Asti encouraged the priests to take a stand in favour of the Church in Utrecht. The Jansenists in exile therefore had significant influence in this part of Italy.^{[3]: 54–55}

In the Italian territories under Habsburg Austrian domination, the situation was more complex. There, Jansenism encountered Josephinism, which guided Austrian policy at that time. Both systems worked to counter the influence of the pope and the Jesuits by applying the principle of the superiority of the state over religious affairs, which was characteristic of Gallicanism. Jansenism was therefore, in a sense, more moderate religiously but harsher politically, because it was mixed with the Gallican theology of Edmond Richer. In 1761, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria opened a seminary in Vienna in the Port-Royalist spirit, calling on professors from Leuven and Holland, and had as a confessor an influential Jansenist, the Abbot of Terme. He also established the Nouvelles ecclésiastiques in Vienna in 1784.^{[3]: 56–58}

In Lombardy, a territory administered directly by Vienna, the theologians Pietro Tamburini, professor of the seminary at Brescia then at the University of Pavia, and Giuseppe Zola propagated the theology of Richer which was deeply imbued with Jansenism. They published works on grace in the same spirit as the Port-Royalist theologians. Their works influenced many clergymen, such as Scipione de' Ricci, bishop of Pistoia and Prato. He was previously vicar general of Florence, where he helped Grand Duke Peter Leopold carry out his religious reforms. De' Ricci was also interested in the Convulsionnaires, and sought to transform his diocese according to his convictions.^[58] Thus he introduced into his diocese the Catechism of Montpellier, which was particularly appreciated by Jansenists, distributed to his priests the Réflexions morales of Pasquier Quesnel, and finally convened a synod in Pistoia in 1786 to have his Jansenist orientation approved, along with a radical reform of the Latin liturgy. The synod and De' Ricci were firmly disavowed by Rome and he was forced to resign in 1791, while his positions were condemned by the papal bull Auctorem fidei in 1794.^[59][60]

The Republic of Genoa was also affected by Jansenism, where Port-Royalist writings were widely distributed. A Genoese priest, Eustache Degola [fr], made contact with the French Jansenists at the end of the 18th century, and in particular with Henri Grégoire. At the time of the Concordat of 1801, he travelled with Grégoire throughout Europe and then settled between 1801 and 1810 at Port-Royal-des-Champs.^{[39]: 168–169} He also had a significant influence upon the Francophile Italian elites. Thus, he converted Countess Manzoni, raised in the Reformed faith, who was the mother of the great Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni, during one of her visits to Paris. The influence of Italian Jansenism upon the founding fathers of the Risorgimento is well-known, since Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, father of Italian unity, and Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian revolutionary, were immersed in the education of Jansenist priests.^[61]