page_title: Jansenism
section_title: Controversy and papal condemnation: 1640–1653
hierarchical_section_title: Jansenism / Controversy and papal condemnation: 1640–1653
caption_attribution_description: English: Angélique Arnauld, abbess of Port-Royal-des-Champs
context_page_description: Jansenism was a theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen, who died in 1638. It was first popularized by Jansen's friend Abbot Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, of Saint-Cyran-en-Brenne Abbey, and, after du Vergier's death in 1643, was led by Antoine Arnauld. Through the 17th and into the 18th centuries, Jansenism was a distinct movement away from the Catholic Church. The theological centre of the movement was the convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs Abbey, which was a haven for writers including du Vergier, Arnauld, Pierre Nicole, Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine.
  Jansenism was opposed by many in the Catholic hierarchy, especially the Jesuits. Although the Jansenists identified themselves only as rigorous followers of Augustine of Hippo's teachings, Jesuits coined the term Jansenism to identify them as having Calvinist affinities.
context_section_description: Augustinus was widely read in theological circles in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in 1640, and a new edition quickly appeared in Paris under the approbation of ten professors at the College of Sorbonne (the theological college of the University of Paris).
  However, on August 1, 1642, the Holy Office issued a decree condemning Augustinus and forbidding its reading. In 1642, Pope Urban VIII followed up with a papal bull entitled In eminenti, which condemned Augustinus because 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 renewed the censures by Pope Pius V, in Ex omnibus afflictionibus in 1567, and Pope Gregory XIII, of several propositions of Baianism which were repeated in Augustinus.
  In 1602, Marie Angélique Arnauld 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, which from then on was commonly known simply as Port-Royal. In 1634, Duvergier had become the spiritual adviser of Port-Royal-des-Champs and good friend of Angélique Arnauld; he convinced her of the rightness of Jansen's opinions. The two convents thus became major strongholds of Jansenism. Under Angélique Arnauld, later with Duvergier'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.
  Through Angélique Arnauld, Duvergier had met her brother, Antoine Arnauld, and brought him to accept Jansen's position in Augustinus. Following Duvergier's death in 1643, Antoine Arnauld became the chief proponent of Jansenism. That same year he published De la fréquente Communion (On Frequent Communion) which presented Jansen's ideas in a way more accessible to the public (e.g., it was written in the vernacular, whereas Augustinus was written in Latin). The book focused on a related topic in the dispute between Jesuits and Jansenists. The Jesuits encouraged Roman 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 College of Sorbonne formally accepted the papal bull In eminenti in 1644, and Cardinal Jean François Paul de Gondi, archbishop of Paris, formally proscribed Augustinus; the work nevertheless continued to circulate.
  The Jesuits then attacked the Jansenists, charging them with heresy similar to Calvinism.
  Arnauld answered with Théologie morale des Jésuites ("Moral Theology of the Jesuits").
  The Jesuits then designated Nicolas Caussin (former confessor to 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. 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, Duvergier's nephew, Martin de Barcos, who was once a theology student under Jansen, wrote several works defending Duvergier.
  In 1649, Nicolas Cornet, syndic of the Sorbonne, frustrated by the continued circulation of Augustinus, d
caption: La mère – Marie Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661), abbess of Port-Royal-des-Champs.
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