Title: The travails of conscience
First published: 1998
Description: The Arnauld family rose to prominence at the end of the sixteenth century by attaching themselves to the king. Their power and influence depended upon absolute loyalty and obedience to the sovereign whose own power they sought to enhance. Dictates of conscience, however, brought all that to an end and put them in conflict with both king and pope.

The dramatic appeal of this book is underscored by a tumultuous period of French history which coincides with and punctuates the Arnauld family's struggle with the world. We see how this extraordinary family reacted to momentous political and religious developments, as well as the ways in which individual members, by means of their own convictions, helped shape the history of their time.
Subjects: Biography, Christianity, Despotism, Fronde, Genealogy, History, Jansenists, Political activity, Port-Royal des Champs (Abbey), Religion and politics, Religious aspects, Religious aspects of Despotism, France, history, France, genealogy, Royalists
Places: France, Royalists
People: Arnold family
Time periods: Wars of the Huguenots, 1562-1598
LC classification: DC33.3 .S44 1998