Arnauld

enUK

Arnauld

(ärnō`), French family involved in Jansenism (see under Jansen, CornelisJansen, Cornelis
, 1585–1638, Dutch Roman Catholic theologian. He studied at the Univ. of Louvain and became imbued with the idea of reforming Christian life along the lines of a return to St. Augustine.
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). The name is also spelled Arnaut or Arnault. The leader was a nun, Marie Angélique de Sainte Madeleine, 1591–1661, abbess from early youth of Port-RoyalPort-Royal
, former abbey of women, c.17 mi (27 km) W of Paris, founded in 1204. It was at first Benedictine, later Cistercian. In 1608 the abbess, Angélique Arnauld (see Arnauld, family), undertook a reform with the counsel of St. Francis de Sales.
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, a Cistercian house near Paris. Under the influence of St. Francis de Sales she reformed her abbey. She was interested in Jansenism by Duvergier de HauranneDuvergier de Hauranne, Jean
, 1581–1643, French theologian. He is often called the Abbé de Saint-Cyran from an abbacy he held in commendam (i.e., received the revenues from but did not actually administer).
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, and her introduction of the ideas into Port-Royal was an important step in forwarding the movement.

Her younger brother, Antoine Arnauld, 1612–94, was a leading Jansenist controversialist. He was a priest and a member of the Sorbonne. His best-known work was an attack on the Jesuits, De la fréquente communion (1643). He also wrote against CalvinismCalvinism,
term used in several different senses. It may indicate the teachings expressed by John Calvin himself; it may be extended to include all that developed from his doctrine and practice in Protestant countries in social, political, and ethical, as well as theological,
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 and the freethinkers. In 1656 he was expelled from the Sorbonne and the faculty of theology. He lived for some years at Port-Royal-des-Champs, where he collaborated on the Port-Royal textbooks. He withdrew to Belgium in 1679. The chief controversy of his later years was with Malebranche on the theology of grace.

His elder brother, Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, 1588–1674, was a translator of religious writings and a religious poet of originality. He lived for many years in retirement at Port-Royal-des-Champs.

Bibliography

See biography of Marie Angélique de Sainte Madeleine by M. L. Trouncer (1957).