Also during this same period the single greatest influence of his adult life was to make its entrance. While in the King's court, Fenelon met Jeanne Guyon. She, in turn, was to introduce Fenelon to a deeper relationship to Jesus Christ. It is to the everlasting credit of this powerful and influential man that he humbled himself before this obscure woman and received from her the guidance that he did. Secular historians have never forgiven Guyon for being the one flaw in Fenelon's life, causing him to be denied a cardinal's cap and a place in French history alongside the very greatest of her sons.
Events begin to move quickly now.
Fenelon is caring for the grandson of the king, the honors of the world and the admiration of France are upon him. In 1693 he is chosen to become a member of the French academy. The next year, in appreciation for what Fenelon had done for his grandson, Louis XIV gave Fenelon the position of Abbey of Saint Valery. One year later, in 1695, the Pope elevated Fenelon to the auspicious position of Archbishop of an area in France called Cambrai. But in exactly those same years, Bossuet made himself the enemy of Jeanne Guyon.