Rancé, Armand Jean le Bouthillier de

Rancé, Armand Jean le Bouthillier de

(ärmäN` zhäN lə bo͞otēyā` də räNsā`), 1626–1700, French religious reformer, founder of the TrappistsTrappists,
popular name for an order of Roman Catholic monks, officially (since 1892) the Reformed Cistercians or Cistercians of the Stricter Observance. They perpetuate the reform begun at La Trappe, Orne dept., France, by Armand de Rancé (c.1660).
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. He was of a noble family, was well educated, and lived at court as a worldly priest. In 1664 he retired to the Cistercian abbey at LaTrappe, where he was already abbot in commendam (i.e., he received its revenues, but performed no duties). There, as regular abbot, he established a discipline stricter than the primitive Benedictine rule. In a few years LaTrappe was famous, and its reform spread; out of the movement came the Trappists.