Papers by Elissa Cutter
Catholic Historical Review, 2019
In the context of the Jansenist controversy in seventeenth-century France, the nuns at the conven... more In the context of the Jansenist controversy in seventeenth-century France, the nuns at the convent of Port-Royal made an effort to record the history of the convent and its reform by the abbess, Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661). In this project, the nuns employed feminine and monastic genres of writing as a way to defend both the convent and its supporters. This article examines the autobiographical account of Mother Angélique through the lens of the genre of autohagiography, demonstrating how she used this genre in defense of the convent to write an apology for her former confessor, the Abbot of Saint-Cyran (1581–1643), and a theology of divine providence. In her use of this genre, Mother Angélique expressed her theological ideas in a manner permitted to women in the early modern era.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 2017
This article examines Angélique Arnauld's theology of reform in her reform of the convent of Port... more This article examines Angélique Arnauld's theology of reform in her reform of the convent of Port-Royal in relation to the Tridentine directives for monastic reform and the Cistercian tradition, two theological influences on Mother Angélique prior to the influence of the allegedly heretical movement known as Jansenism.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Studies in Spirituality, 2016
Following René Taveneaux and Robin Briggs, scholars have made general comparisons between Janseni... more Following René Taveneaux and Robin Briggs, scholars have made general comparisons between Jansenism and Puritanism, such as their Augustinian theology and spirituality of strict morality, but few have investigated specific similarities between the two movements. This article aims to fill this lacuna by examining parallels between the sacramental theology of the two movements, using the writings of Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) and Antoine Arnauld (1616–94). Edwards’s Humble Inquiry (1749), written during the communion controversy that led to his separation from his parish in Northampton, defended his change of position on who could receive communion. Arnauld’s On Frequent Communion (1643), written in response to controversy over the teachings of the Abbot of Saint-Cyran, defended practices limiting communion. Through a close analysis of these writings, this article argues for a fundamental similarity between the theologies of these two figures, in spite of the denominational differences separating their understandings of the sacraments. In particular, this article explores the similar emphases that both Edwards and Arnauld put on using the model of the early church as normative for communion practices and on having an appropriate interior disposition before receiving communion.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Logos, 2008
Published as Elissa McCormack
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Works in Progress by Elissa Cutter
This annotated translation for the Other Voice in Early Modern Europe series will include several... more This annotated translation for the Other Voice in Early Modern Europe series will include several of Mother Angélique's writings related to her reform of the convent of Port-Royal in the early seventeenth century. This includes her autobiographical account of her reform, her statement of reasons for leaving the Cistercian order, her letter to the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, defending the practices at Port-Royal, and her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, currently only available in manuscript.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Talks/Conference Presentations by Elissa Cutter
Conference on the History of Women Religious, 2022
The history of the French convent of Port-Royal demonstrates how aspects of internal diversity co... more The history of the French convent of Port-Royal demonstrates how aspects of internal diversity could have negative effects on the well-being of a convent. The challenge of diversity appears throughout Port-Royal’s history in the seventeenth century, beginning from Mother Angélique Arnauld’s implementation of reform and ending with its division into two separate convents, based on whether or not the nuns would sign the formulary condemning Jansen’s Augustinus. The effect of this was, in the end, the expulsion of the remaining nuns in 1709 and the final destruction of the convent in 1711 as part of King Louis XIV’s effort to stamp out Jansenism.
This paper proposes to return the roots of this conflict over diversity in Mother Angélique’s reform early in the seventeenth century. It will explore the ways in which she responded to internal issues of diversity that revealed themselves in response to her effort to implement reforms modeled on Cistercian charisms and Tridentine monastic directives. In it, I will put two sources in conversation: first, her autobiographical account of her reform, in which she recounts some of her early struggles in implementing reform, and, second, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, in which she instructed her sisters how to live according to the Rule. I argue that as sources for understanding Mother Angélique’s reform—and her theological understanding of it—these sources show intentional efforts to manage the diversity of opinions in the convent and maintain the unity of purpose around reform.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Annual Meeting of the Society for French Historical Studies, 2019
This paper examines the writings of the nuns of the convent of Port-Royal in the context of the J... more This paper examines the writings of the nuns of the convent of Port-Royal in the context of the Jansenist controversy and the way in which, although many of these texts were not published at the time, the nuns writings contributed to the polemics surrounding the question of Jansenism. Jansenism was an allegedly heretical movement that developed in seventeenth-century France—alleged because those so accused denied its existence. Accused Jansenists were characterized by an Augustinian theology of grace—such that their opponents accused them of calvinisme rebouilli—and moral rigorism, especially in sacramental practices.
Focusing on the writings of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661) about her reform of the convent of Port-Royal, this paper will demonstrate the way in which Angélique’s theology acted as an apologetic for her reform of the convent in spite of the accusations of Jansenism. The nuns used a particular theological view of history to express their apologetic and, in this way, contribute to the polemics around the controversy. For example, her autobiographical Relation uses a theology of God’s providence that allows her to assert his providential care for the convent in spite of the sufferings they experienced because of the controversy. By examining her relations about her reform, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, and her letter to Anne of Austria (1601–66) defending her reform, I argue for the importance of understanding the voices of the nuns, like that of Angélique, for understanding both the history of Jansenism in France and the overall development of Catholic theology.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 2018
This paper compares academic to non-academic theology in the context of seventeenth-century Franc... more This paper compares academic to non-academic theology in the context of seventeenth-century France and the Jansenist controversy. The controversy over Jansenism centered on two things: a family (the Arnaulds) and a convent (Port-Royal). This provides an interesting lens for the comparison of academic to non-academic theology because the family produced a theologian of the Sorbonne—Antoine “le Grand” Arnauld (1612–94)—and a group of well-educated women who wrote theology at the convent of Port-Royal. In this context, this paper compares academic to non-academic theology in two ways: first, the locations and conditions in which theology was produced and, second, the methods and contents of that theology. I argue, based on these comparisons, that academic theology benefits from a broader understanding of its nature, especially in ways in which it can be more inclusive of different voices, in which I am especially concerned about the voices of women.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Catholic Theological Society of America Convention, 2018
Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661) had a reputation as a reformer in early seventeenth-century ... more Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661) had a reputation as a reformer in early seventeenth-century France for her reform of the convent of Port-Royal, located just outside of Paris. This reputation ultimately connected her to Jansenism, an allegedly heretical movement based on an Augustinian theology of grace and rigorism in sacramental practices. However, the writings of Angélique demonstrate that her theology of grace differed from a strictly Augustinian view, in part due to her monastic context and the variety of influences on her spiritual life. Unfortunately, because Angélique wrote in monastic and traditionally feminine genres instead of systematic treatises on theology, scholars have yet to account for her theology in the study of early modern Catholicism.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Joint Spring Meeting of the American Society of Church History and the American Catholic Historical Association, 2017
Angélique Arnauld’s reputation in seventeenth-century France originated from her reform of the Ci... more Angélique Arnauld’s reputation in seventeenth-century France originated from her reform of the Cistercian convent of Port-Royal. Angélique’s role as a reformer brought her great renown in seventeenth-century France, to the point that she became known as the “Thérèse de Cîteaux,” an assertion that she did for the Cistercian nuns in France what Teresa of Avila had done for the Carmelites in Spain. It also, unfortunately, attracted controversy, such as through her failed effort at improving the conditions in the notoriously unreformed convent of Maubuisson and, significantly for the history of Jansenism, for her choice of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the Abbot of Saint-Cyran, as her confessor.
Scholars have recognized the significance of Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal in the history of Jansenism, either as the first stage of the coming controversy or as the pre-history of Jansenism that provided the foundation for the movement to flourish. Yet, her reform, when viewed in the context of Catholic orthodoxy at that time, shows that it had a clear foundation in the Council of Trent and the Cistercian tradition to which Port-Royal belonged. This article argues, therefore, that Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal should first and foremost be understood in relation to the Cistercian and Tridentine contexts, an often-neglected aspect of the history of the convent because the later influence of Jansenism overshadows these influences. Although her reform opened the convent to the influence of what later came to be known as Jansenism, many of the practices of convent life at Port-Royal originated from these sources prior to the influence of Jansenism. Ultimately, Port-Royal did not differ greatly from other reformed convents in this period and some of the austere practices later identified with Jansenism instead came from the Tridentine and Cistercian traditions.
By studying various writings by Angélique and other nuns at Port-Royal, including her autobiographical account of her reform, letters offering advice on how to reform other convents, and the Constitutions that the nuns drew up for the reformed convent, I will demonstrate how these reforms fulfill the requirements for implementing reform decreed by the Council of Trent and—in following the Tridentine directive to return to the original rules for religious life—reestablish Cistercian practices at the convent. I will show that in spite of the Pauline directives that limited the influence of nuns external to the convent, in implementing reforms of the Council of Trent, reformers in France assumed the necessity of the abbess taking charge of the reform. This study, therefore, does not only demonstrate the faithfulness of Angélique’s reform to Catholic orthodox positions (in contrast to the allegedly heretical teachings of Jansenism), but it also exemplifies the important role women had in implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent in France.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Catholic Historical Association Annual Meeting, 2017
This paper examines an instance of intra-Catholic polemics as part of the Jansenist controversy i... more This paper examines an instance of intra-Catholic polemics as part of the Jansenist controversy in seventeenth-century France. After the condemnation of five propositions allegedly drawn from Cornelius Jansen’s Augustinus in the papal bull Cum occasione (1653), the Jansenists were asked to sign a formulary agreeing both to the condemnation of those propositions and of their faithfulness to Jansen’s teaching. The male leaders of the movement had the freedom to leave France to escape signing the formulary, but the nuns of the convent of Port-Royal, being cloistered, became a target for anti-Jansenist efforts.
These anti-Jansenist polemics frequently took on gendered and -- what we would identify today as -- misogynistic tones. The nuns were accused of involving themselves in theological disputes and so meddling in areas beyond their understanding. Terms of derision, like théologienne [female theologian, used negatively] or moinesse [monkette] bolstered these accusations, as in, for example the 1660 Relation du pays de Jansenie. The significance of these attacks on the Port-Royal nuns derives from the way in which they created sympathy for the Port-Royal nuns among those who would not otherwise be considered Jansenists. This paper will examine these polemics against the Port-Royal nuns, arguing that the gendered nature of these polemics remains significant for the history of the Jansenist controversy in France because it focused attention on a convent of nuns, instead of the male theologians. Thus, this stage of the controversy in France ended with the destruction of the convent in 1711 by King Louis XIV.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Conference on the History of Women Religious, 2016
As the influence of Trent filtered into France in the early seventeenth century, the reform of co... more As the influence of Trent filtered into France in the early seventeenth century, the reform of convents became a priority. Barbara Diefendorf and others have illustrated the role women played in this reform movement. However, the role of the Port-Royal nuns remains a tricky area to navigate because of the history of Jansenist and anti-Jansenist writings. These nuns faced accusations of involving themselves in theological disputes and thus meddling in areas beyond their understanding. Terms of derision, like théologienne [female theologian] or moinesse [monkette] bolstered these accusations. Supporters of Jansenism, in contrast, claimed ignorance and passivity for the nuns to defend them from these accusations.
This paper studies the reform of the convent of Port-Royal under the leadership of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661). As part of the movement of convent-reform in France, Angélique’s work fits within Counter-Reformation Catholicism, but she also opened the convent to the influence of what later became known as Jansenism. I argue that Angélique, as reformer, moinesse, and théologienne, created an environment at Port-Royal under which Jansenism could flourish, but that her reform cannot be identified with Jansenism. I thus reclaim these terms of derision to show how the nuns did not remain passive in this movement. I study her descriptions of her reform, especially her autohagiographical Relation and her unpublished discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, to show in what ways her reform diverged from what we know as Jansenism, especially in how it remained faithful to Cistercian interpretations of the Rule.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 2015
This paper uses the example of Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), abbess of the French Cistercian con... more This paper uses the example of Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), abbess of the French Cistercian convent of Port-Royal, as a way to problematize methodological assumptions made about women’s agency in the past, especially in the early modern period. Scholars have argued for women’s subversiveness in their writing or teaching of theology in this period, due to the Pauline prohibitions against women teaching. However, women could act as agents and hold great authority without trying to subvert the patriarchal structures of the early modern Catholic Church. Angélique provides us with an example of this because she reformed her convent according to the directives of the Council of Trent while she had inconsistent access to male preachers and confessors. As abbess, her responsibility to choose the convent’s regular confessor also determined the direction of religious life there. Much of the implementation of reform derived thus from her agency working within patriarchal structures.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Saint Louis University Graduate Research Symposium, 2015
In the early modern era, the Catholic Church rarely recognized the theological acumen of women. T... more In the early modern era, the Catholic Church rarely recognized the theological acumen of women. The Church saw exceptions as just that--exceptions that women could not emulate. For example, Teresa of Avila, recognized in the twentieth century as a Doctor of the Church, owed her theological authority to mystical experiences of God, experiences that most women could not follow. In fact, most women whose theology we recognize today from this period owed their authority to mystical experiences. However, the example of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), reforming abbess of the French convent of Port-Royal, provides us with an example of a woman whose theology cannot be traced to mystical experiences of God.
In this paper, I examine the writings of Angélique to argue that we can recognize her as a theologian today, even using a definition of a theologian from the early modern era. The 1690 Dictionnaire universel defines a théologien as one “who knows theology, who teaches it, or who wrote it.” I begin from this definition, illustrating how although it can apply to women, Furetière did not recognize that possibility. Then, using Angélique’s writings, especially her autobiographical account and discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, I illustrate that she knew theology, taught theology, and wrote theology. Although Angélique was not considered a theologian at the time, she fit the definition and provides a better model for modem female theologians because her theological authority comes from herself, not from a mystical experience of God.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Catholic Historical Association Annual Meeting, 2015
This paper examines the autobiographical account written by Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), the ab... more This paper examines the autobiographical account written by Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), the abbess of the Cistercian convent of Port-Royal whose reform of the convent created the environment in which Jansenism could thrive. The account records her understanding of the history of her life at the convent of Port-Royal and her reform of the convent to follow the Rule of St. Benedict more faithfully. Using the genre of autohagiography to structure her account, she included not only a narrative of her reform from her perspective, but also an apology for her project of reform and a defense of the work of her former confessor, Jean Duvergier de Hauranne (1581-1643), known by his title as the Abbot of Saint-Cyran. The autohagiographical genre shows how she conformed her life, her reform, and the influence of the Abbot of Saint-Cyran to her understanding of Jansenist sanctity.
This paper will study her account as an apology for her work of reform and a defense of, in particular, the work of the Abbot of Saint-Cyran. This account, written in 1655, covers Angélique’s life from the time she entered Port-Royal as abbess at age ten, until when Cardinal Richelieu imprisoned the Abbot of Saint-Cyran at Vincennes. Although she wrote the account primarily for her religious sisters and her then confessor, Antoine Singlin (1607-1664), the text clearly reflects that Angélique knew her writing would reach a broader audience and as such can be considered part of the resistance to persecution coming out of Port-Royal. As part of this apology, she also illustrated throughout her text the main theological theme of the role of God’s providential care over the convent of Port-Royal. Her theology of God’s providence in the face of persecution provides the key to understanding Angélique’s unique form of resistance.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Conference on the History of Women Religious, 2013
The reforming abbess of the French Cistercian convent of Port-Royal, Mother Angélique Arnauld (15... more The reforming abbess of the French Cistercian convent of Port-Royal, Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661), is most often associated with the Jansenist controversy in France. After all, her initial reform of the convent in the early seventeenth-century and choice of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the Abbot of Saint-Cyran, as her confessor placed the convent at the center of the subsequent controversy. Prior to this controversy, however, Angélique was well known for her reform in the context of the implementation of the Counter-Reformation in France. In her reform efforts, Angélique cooperated with other abbesses in reforming their own convents. Her acclaim as a reformer also put her in contact with other major reformers of the period, like Jeanne de Chantal (1572-1641), co-founder of the Order of the Visitation, with whom she maintained a correspondence until Jeanne de Chantal’s death in 1641.
In 1599, Angélique Arnauld’s grandfather, Simon Marion, had her appointed as coadjutor to Jeanne de Boulehart, abbess of the convent of Port-Royal des Champs in the valley of Chevreuse, southwest of Paris. Marion obtained this appointment for his eight-year-old granddaughter by lying about her age and through his connections with the royal family and Edme de La Croix, the abbot of Cîteaux. She only fully assumed this role in 1602, but at the death of Jeanne de Boulehart several months later, ten-year-old Angélique became abbess. The young Angélique disliked religious life until an itinerant preacher’s exposition of the Incarnation and Christ’s humility inspired her. This led her to adopt a more rigorous religious life according to the original charisms of the Cistercian order, especially in following the Rule of Saint Benedict faithfully. Angélique’s reform included putting all property in common, regulating meals and the liturgy of the hours, enforcing simplicity of clothing, embracing poverty, accepting novices based on vocation instead of their ability to provide a dowry, and reestablishing the cloister.
In her work at implementing reform, Angélique Arnauld interacted with other famous Counter-Reformation figures of the period, including Francis de Sales who introduced Angélique to Jeanne de Chantal. This paper examines Angélique’s correspondence with Jeanne de Chantal to illustrate the spiritual cooperation between the Cistercian abbess and Visitation foundress. I establish Angélique as a central figure in Counter-Reformation France, using letters in which she instructed others on reform. Then, through a close examination of the correspondence between Angélique and Jeanne de Chantal, I illustrate the spiritual support and cooperation they offered each other in times of spiritual struggle. I argue that this is an example of spiritual direction that abbesses offered in the early modern period. In spite of Saint Paul’s prohibition of women teaching (cf. 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:11-12), early modern abbesses instructed others in spiritual matters not only within their own convents, but also through correspondence to other abbesses and even the laity who sought their advice.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Catholic Historical Association Annual Meeting, 2013
In 1599, Simon Marion placed his eight-year-old granddaughter, Jacqueline Arnauld, in the positio... more In 1599, Simon Marion placed his eight-year-old granddaughter, Jacqueline Arnauld, in the position of coadjutor to the abbess of the Cistercian convent of Port-Royal. Although Jacqueline, who took the religious name of Angélique, became abbess at age eleven, she did not take control of the convent until she was seventeen. Having been inspired by a preacher’s exposition about Christ’s humility, she began to reform the convent according to a strict interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. Angélique’s reforming efforts, in fact, led to her meeting the Abbot of Saint-Cyran, with whom she further reformed the sacramental practices of the convent. These practices especially included the infrequent use of confession and subsequent infrequent reception of the Eucharist, sacramental practices that became characteristic of Jansenist piety.
For a long time, scholars downplayed Angélique’s role in the implementation of Jansenist sacramental practices, some even going so far as to attribute the reform of the convent to Saint-Cyran, even though Angélique began her reform over ten years before she first met him and over twenty years before they began to work together at Port-Royal. In response to this prior work, this paper will examine the sacramental understanding of Angélique as expressed in the spiritual conferences she presented at Port-Royal in the 1650s. These conferences covered aspects of the lives of the nuns, such as how to live the Rule more faithfully, sacramental concerns, especially those connected to penance and Eucharistic devotion, and theological questions. This paper will examine the conferences in which Angélique taught the nuns about the sacrament of penance and describe her sacramentology and theological anthropology in relation to penitential sacramental practices. I argue, based on the evidence of Angélique’s theology in these conferences, that Angélique needs to be studied as a théologienne and teacher in her own right.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 2012
This session examines the way in which we study Christianity in the early modern period through f... more This session examines the way in which we study Christianity in the early modern period through four responses to Brad Gregory's *The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society* (Harvard University Press, 2012). In this work, Gregory ventures outside of his main field of early modern religious history to trace the effects of the Reformation on the modern world. The responses to Gregory's work will highlight some of the methodological questions raised in studying the early modern period, such as those connected to the splintering of Christianity and subsequent confessionalization process, the expansion of the known world and the resulting missionary activity, the changes in the lives of women, the intellectual effects of increased book production due to the printing press, and the shifts in the relationships between church and state.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Saint Louis University Graduate Research Symposium, 2012
The Cistercian convent of Port-Royal became the center of the Jansenist movement in seventeenth-c... more The Cistercian convent of Port-Royal became the center of the Jansenist movement in seventeenth-century France following its reform by Angélique Arnauld. Modern scholars recognize this centrality, and not without precedent, for Louis XIV destroyed the convent in 1709 as a culmination of his efforts to eliminate Jansenism from France. Unfortunately, although modern scholars recognize the initial importance of Port-Royal for Jansenism, they focus little attention on it after 1633 and rarely examine the writing of the nuns themselves.
This paper aims to remedy this situation by examining the writing of Angélique Arnauld in light of Joan Scott’s definition of a feminist, taken from a 1788 treatise by Olympe de Gouges, as “a woman who has only paradoxes to offer and not problems easy to resolve.” Returning to the etymological root of the word paradox (from the Greek paradoxos meaning contrary to expectation or opinion), this paper will illustrate how as abbess of Port-Royal, Angélique existed between the societal and ecclesiastical opinions of her time that relegated women to positions of obedience, and her role as an abbess which gave her great authority within the monastery. By examining Angélique’s autobiographical account of her reform and several of her letters, this paper will contrast the obedience she owed to her male confessor with the authority she had as reformer and spiritual director in and around the monastery.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Society of Church History Winter Meeting, 2012
In Jonathan Edwards’s correspondence with the Scottish minister John Erskine, Edwards acknowledge... more In Jonathan Edwards’s correspondence with the Scottish minister John Erskine, Edwards acknowledges receipt of De la fréquente communion by Antoine Arnauld, the seventeenth-century French Jansenist, but notes that he cannot read the text as he does not know French. In spite of the language difficulty, Erskine must have thought it profitable to send Edwards this text, perhaps due to some of the similarities of their writings on that topic. Comparisons between Jansenism and Puritanism, the theological heritage of Edwards, are pervasive in modern scholarship, but these are general comparisons of theme, without reference to specifics. It is perhaps these common themes that led the New England Puritans to follow the Jansenist controversy in the eighteenth century. Edwards himself read texts written by Jansenists, including the Port-Royal Logic and an English edition of Pascal’s Pensées. Although there is no direct link between Edwards and Arnauld on the topic of the Lord’s Supper, because Edwards has some links with Jansenism, it is profitable to examine the similarities in their thought. This paper will study some of these: limitation of communion, appeals to the early church, and God’s grace. I will argue here for a possible appropriation of Jansenist thought by Puritans.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Elissa Cutter
Works in Progress by Elissa Cutter
Talks/Conference Presentations by Elissa Cutter
This paper proposes to return the roots of this conflict over diversity in Mother Angélique’s reform early in the seventeenth century. It will explore the ways in which she responded to internal issues of diversity that revealed themselves in response to her effort to implement reforms modeled on Cistercian charisms and Tridentine monastic directives. In it, I will put two sources in conversation: first, her autobiographical account of her reform, in which she recounts some of her early struggles in implementing reform, and, second, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, in which she instructed her sisters how to live according to the Rule. I argue that as sources for understanding Mother Angélique’s reform—and her theological understanding of it—these sources show intentional efforts to manage the diversity of opinions in the convent and maintain the unity of purpose around reform.
Focusing on the writings of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661) about her reform of the convent of Port-Royal, this paper will demonstrate the way in which Angélique’s theology acted as an apologetic for her reform of the convent in spite of the accusations of Jansenism. The nuns used a particular theological view of history to express their apologetic and, in this way, contribute to the polemics around the controversy. For example, her autobiographical Relation uses a theology of God’s providence that allows her to assert his providential care for the convent in spite of the sufferings they experienced because of the controversy. By examining her relations about her reform, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, and her letter to Anne of Austria (1601–66) defending her reform, I argue for the importance of understanding the voices of the nuns, like that of Angélique, for understanding both the history of Jansenism in France and the overall development of Catholic theology.
Scholars have recognized the significance of Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal in the history of Jansenism, either as the first stage of the coming controversy or as the pre-history of Jansenism that provided the foundation for the movement to flourish. Yet, her reform, when viewed in the context of Catholic orthodoxy at that time, shows that it had a clear foundation in the Council of Trent and the Cistercian tradition to which Port-Royal belonged. This article argues, therefore, that Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal should first and foremost be understood in relation to the Cistercian and Tridentine contexts, an often-neglected aspect of the history of the convent because the later influence of Jansenism overshadows these influences. Although her reform opened the convent to the influence of what later came to be known as Jansenism, many of the practices of convent life at Port-Royal originated from these sources prior to the influence of Jansenism. Ultimately, Port-Royal did not differ greatly from other reformed convents in this period and some of the austere practices later identified with Jansenism instead came from the Tridentine and Cistercian traditions.
By studying various writings by Angélique and other nuns at Port-Royal, including her autobiographical account of her reform, letters offering advice on how to reform other convents, and the Constitutions that the nuns drew up for the reformed convent, I will demonstrate how these reforms fulfill the requirements for implementing reform decreed by the Council of Trent and—in following the Tridentine directive to return to the original rules for religious life—reestablish Cistercian practices at the convent. I will show that in spite of the Pauline directives that limited the influence of nuns external to the convent, in implementing reforms of the Council of Trent, reformers in France assumed the necessity of the abbess taking charge of the reform. This study, therefore, does not only demonstrate the faithfulness of Angélique’s reform to Catholic orthodox positions (in contrast to the allegedly heretical teachings of Jansenism), but it also exemplifies the important role women had in implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent in France.
These anti-Jansenist polemics frequently took on gendered and -- what we would identify today as -- misogynistic tones. The nuns were accused of involving themselves in theological disputes and so meddling in areas beyond their understanding. Terms of derision, like théologienne [female theologian, used negatively] or moinesse [monkette] bolstered these accusations, as in, for example the 1660 Relation du pays de Jansenie. The significance of these attacks on the Port-Royal nuns derives from the way in which they created sympathy for the Port-Royal nuns among those who would not otherwise be considered Jansenists. This paper will examine these polemics against the Port-Royal nuns, arguing that the gendered nature of these polemics remains significant for the history of the Jansenist controversy in France because it focused attention on a convent of nuns, instead of the male theologians. Thus, this stage of the controversy in France ended with the destruction of the convent in 1711 by King Louis XIV.
This paper studies the reform of the convent of Port-Royal under the leadership of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661). As part of the movement of convent-reform in France, Angélique’s work fits within Counter-Reformation Catholicism, but she also opened the convent to the influence of what later became known as Jansenism. I argue that Angélique, as reformer, moinesse, and théologienne, created an environment at Port-Royal under which Jansenism could flourish, but that her reform cannot be identified with Jansenism. I thus reclaim these terms of derision to show how the nuns did not remain passive in this movement. I study her descriptions of her reform, especially her autohagiographical Relation and her unpublished discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, to show in what ways her reform diverged from what we know as Jansenism, especially in how it remained faithful to Cistercian interpretations of the Rule.
In this paper, I examine the writings of Angélique to argue that we can recognize her as a theologian today, even using a definition of a theologian from the early modern era. The 1690 Dictionnaire universel defines a théologien as one “who knows theology, who teaches it, or who wrote it.” I begin from this definition, illustrating how although it can apply to women, Furetière did not recognize that possibility. Then, using Angélique’s writings, especially her autobiographical account and discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, I illustrate that she knew theology, taught theology, and wrote theology. Although Angélique was not considered a theologian at the time, she fit the definition and provides a better model for modem female theologians because her theological authority comes from herself, not from a mystical experience of God.
This paper will study her account as an apology for her work of reform and a defense of, in particular, the work of the Abbot of Saint-Cyran. This account, written in 1655, covers Angélique’s life from the time she entered Port-Royal as abbess at age ten, until when Cardinal Richelieu imprisoned the Abbot of Saint-Cyran at Vincennes. Although she wrote the account primarily for her religious sisters and her then confessor, Antoine Singlin (1607-1664), the text clearly reflects that Angélique knew her writing would reach a broader audience and as such can be considered part of the resistance to persecution coming out of Port-Royal. As part of this apology, she also illustrated throughout her text the main theological theme of the role of God’s providential care over the convent of Port-Royal. Her theology of God’s providence in the face of persecution provides the key to understanding Angélique’s unique form of resistance.
In 1599, Angélique Arnauld’s grandfather, Simon Marion, had her appointed as coadjutor to Jeanne de Boulehart, abbess of the convent of Port-Royal des Champs in the valley of Chevreuse, southwest of Paris. Marion obtained this appointment for his eight-year-old granddaughter by lying about her age and through his connections with the royal family and Edme de La Croix, the abbot of Cîteaux. She only fully assumed this role in 1602, but at the death of Jeanne de Boulehart several months later, ten-year-old Angélique became abbess. The young Angélique disliked religious life until an itinerant preacher’s exposition of the Incarnation and Christ’s humility inspired her. This led her to adopt a more rigorous religious life according to the original charisms of the Cistercian order, especially in following the Rule of Saint Benedict faithfully. Angélique’s reform included putting all property in common, regulating meals and the liturgy of the hours, enforcing simplicity of clothing, embracing poverty, accepting novices based on vocation instead of their ability to provide a dowry, and reestablishing the cloister.
In her work at implementing reform, Angélique Arnauld interacted with other famous Counter-Reformation figures of the period, including Francis de Sales who introduced Angélique to Jeanne de Chantal. This paper examines Angélique’s correspondence with Jeanne de Chantal to illustrate the spiritual cooperation between the Cistercian abbess and Visitation foundress. I establish Angélique as a central figure in Counter-Reformation France, using letters in which she instructed others on reform. Then, through a close examination of the correspondence between Angélique and Jeanne de Chantal, I illustrate the spiritual support and cooperation they offered each other in times of spiritual struggle. I argue that this is an example of spiritual direction that abbesses offered in the early modern period. In spite of Saint Paul’s prohibition of women teaching (cf. 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:11-12), early modern abbesses instructed others in spiritual matters not only within their own convents, but also through correspondence to other abbesses and even the laity who sought their advice.
For a long time, scholars downplayed Angélique’s role in the implementation of Jansenist sacramental practices, some even going so far as to attribute the reform of the convent to Saint-Cyran, even though Angélique began her reform over ten years before she first met him and over twenty years before they began to work together at Port-Royal. In response to this prior work, this paper will examine the sacramental understanding of Angélique as expressed in the spiritual conferences she presented at Port-Royal in the 1650s. These conferences covered aspects of the lives of the nuns, such as how to live the Rule more faithfully, sacramental concerns, especially those connected to penance and Eucharistic devotion, and theological questions. This paper will examine the conferences in which Angélique taught the nuns about the sacrament of penance and describe her sacramentology and theological anthropology in relation to penitential sacramental practices. I argue, based on the evidence of Angélique’s theology in these conferences, that Angélique needs to be studied as a théologienne and teacher in her own right.
This paper aims to remedy this situation by examining the writing of Angélique Arnauld in light of Joan Scott’s definition of a feminist, taken from a 1788 treatise by Olympe de Gouges, as “a woman who has only paradoxes to offer and not problems easy to resolve.” Returning to the etymological root of the word paradox (from the Greek paradoxos meaning contrary to expectation or opinion), this paper will illustrate how as abbess of Port-Royal, Angélique existed between the societal and ecclesiastical opinions of her time that relegated women to positions of obedience, and her role as an abbess which gave her great authority within the monastery. By examining Angélique’s autobiographical account of her reform and several of her letters, this paper will contrast the obedience she owed to her male confessor with the authority she had as reformer and spiritual director in and around the monastery.
This paper proposes to return the roots of this conflict over diversity in Mother Angélique’s reform early in the seventeenth century. It will explore the ways in which she responded to internal issues of diversity that revealed themselves in response to her effort to implement reforms modeled on Cistercian charisms and Tridentine monastic directives. In it, I will put two sources in conversation: first, her autobiographical account of her reform, in which she recounts some of her early struggles in implementing reform, and, second, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, in which she instructed her sisters how to live according to the Rule. I argue that as sources for understanding Mother Angélique’s reform—and her theological understanding of it—these sources show intentional efforts to manage the diversity of opinions in the convent and maintain the unity of purpose around reform.
Focusing on the writings of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661) about her reform of the convent of Port-Royal, this paper will demonstrate the way in which Angélique’s theology acted as an apologetic for her reform of the convent in spite of the accusations of Jansenism. The nuns used a particular theological view of history to express their apologetic and, in this way, contribute to the polemics around the controversy. For example, her autobiographical Relation uses a theology of God’s providence that allows her to assert his providential care for the convent in spite of the sufferings they experienced because of the controversy. By examining her relations about her reform, her discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, and her letter to Anne of Austria (1601–66) defending her reform, I argue for the importance of understanding the voices of the nuns, like that of Angélique, for understanding both the history of Jansenism in France and the overall development of Catholic theology.
Scholars have recognized the significance of Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal in the history of Jansenism, either as the first stage of the coming controversy or as the pre-history of Jansenism that provided the foundation for the movement to flourish. Yet, her reform, when viewed in the context of Catholic orthodoxy at that time, shows that it had a clear foundation in the Council of Trent and the Cistercian tradition to which Port-Royal belonged. This article argues, therefore, that Angélique’s reform of Port-Royal should first and foremost be understood in relation to the Cistercian and Tridentine contexts, an often-neglected aspect of the history of the convent because the later influence of Jansenism overshadows these influences. Although her reform opened the convent to the influence of what later came to be known as Jansenism, many of the practices of convent life at Port-Royal originated from these sources prior to the influence of Jansenism. Ultimately, Port-Royal did not differ greatly from other reformed convents in this period and some of the austere practices later identified with Jansenism instead came from the Tridentine and Cistercian traditions.
By studying various writings by Angélique and other nuns at Port-Royal, including her autobiographical account of her reform, letters offering advice on how to reform other convents, and the Constitutions that the nuns drew up for the reformed convent, I will demonstrate how these reforms fulfill the requirements for implementing reform decreed by the Council of Trent and—in following the Tridentine directive to return to the original rules for religious life—reestablish Cistercian practices at the convent. I will show that in spite of the Pauline directives that limited the influence of nuns external to the convent, in implementing reforms of the Council of Trent, reformers in France assumed the necessity of the abbess taking charge of the reform. This study, therefore, does not only demonstrate the faithfulness of Angélique’s reform to Catholic orthodox positions (in contrast to the allegedly heretical teachings of Jansenism), but it also exemplifies the important role women had in implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent in France.
These anti-Jansenist polemics frequently took on gendered and -- what we would identify today as -- misogynistic tones. The nuns were accused of involving themselves in theological disputes and so meddling in areas beyond their understanding. Terms of derision, like théologienne [female theologian, used negatively] or moinesse [monkette] bolstered these accusations, as in, for example the 1660 Relation du pays de Jansenie. The significance of these attacks on the Port-Royal nuns derives from the way in which they created sympathy for the Port-Royal nuns among those who would not otherwise be considered Jansenists. This paper will examine these polemics against the Port-Royal nuns, arguing that the gendered nature of these polemics remains significant for the history of the Jansenist controversy in France because it focused attention on a convent of nuns, instead of the male theologians. Thus, this stage of the controversy in France ended with the destruction of the convent in 1711 by King Louis XIV.
This paper studies the reform of the convent of Port-Royal under the leadership of Mother Angélique Arnauld (1591-1661). As part of the movement of convent-reform in France, Angélique’s work fits within Counter-Reformation Catholicism, but she also opened the convent to the influence of what later became known as Jansenism. I argue that Angélique, as reformer, moinesse, and théologienne, created an environment at Port-Royal under which Jansenism could flourish, but that her reform cannot be identified with Jansenism. I thus reclaim these terms of derision to show how the nuns did not remain passive in this movement. I study her descriptions of her reform, especially her autohagiographical Relation and her unpublished discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, to show in what ways her reform diverged from what we know as Jansenism, especially in how it remained faithful to Cistercian interpretations of the Rule.
In this paper, I examine the writings of Angélique to argue that we can recognize her as a theologian today, even using a definition of a theologian from the early modern era. The 1690 Dictionnaire universel defines a théologien as one “who knows theology, who teaches it, or who wrote it.” I begin from this definition, illustrating how although it can apply to women, Furetière did not recognize that possibility. Then, using Angélique’s writings, especially her autobiographical account and discourses on the Rule of Saint Benedict, I illustrate that she knew theology, taught theology, and wrote theology. Although Angélique was not considered a theologian at the time, she fit the definition and provides a better model for modem female theologians because her theological authority comes from herself, not from a mystical experience of God.
This paper will study her account as an apology for her work of reform and a defense of, in particular, the work of the Abbot of Saint-Cyran. This account, written in 1655, covers Angélique’s life from the time she entered Port-Royal as abbess at age ten, until when Cardinal Richelieu imprisoned the Abbot of Saint-Cyran at Vincennes. Although she wrote the account primarily for her religious sisters and her then confessor, Antoine Singlin (1607-1664), the text clearly reflects that Angélique knew her writing would reach a broader audience and as such can be considered part of the resistance to persecution coming out of Port-Royal. As part of this apology, she also illustrated throughout her text the main theological theme of the role of God’s providential care over the convent of Port-Royal. Her theology of God’s providence in the face of persecution provides the key to understanding Angélique’s unique form of resistance.
In 1599, Angélique Arnauld’s grandfather, Simon Marion, had her appointed as coadjutor to Jeanne de Boulehart, abbess of the convent of Port-Royal des Champs in the valley of Chevreuse, southwest of Paris. Marion obtained this appointment for his eight-year-old granddaughter by lying about her age and through his connections with the royal family and Edme de La Croix, the abbot of Cîteaux. She only fully assumed this role in 1602, but at the death of Jeanne de Boulehart several months later, ten-year-old Angélique became abbess. The young Angélique disliked religious life until an itinerant preacher’s exposition of the Incarnation and Christ’s humility inspired her. This led her to adopt a more rigorous religious life according to the original charisms of the Cistercian order, especially in following the Rule of Saint Benedict faithfully. Angélique’s reform included putting all property in common, regulating meals and the liturgy of the hours, enforcing simplicity of clothing, embracing poverty, accepting novices based on vocation instead of their ability to provide a dowry, and reestablishing the cloister.
In her work at implementing reform, Angélique Arnauld interacted with other famous Counter-Reformation figures of the period, including Francis de Sales who introduced Angélique to Jeanne de Chantal. This paper examines Angélique’s correspondence with Jeanne de Chantal to illustrate the spiritual cooperation between the Cistercian abbess and Visitation foundress. I establish Angélique as a central figure in Counter-Reformation France, using letters in which she instructed others on reform. Then, through a close examination of the correspondence between Angélique and Jeanne de Chantal, I illustrate the spiritual support and cooperation they offered each other in times of spiritual struggle. I argue that this is an example of spiritual direction that abbesses offered in the early modern period. In spite of Saint Paul’s prohibition of women teaching (cf. 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:11-12), early modern abbesses instructed others in spiritual matters not only within their own convents, but also through correspondence to other abbesses and even the laity who sought their advice.
For a long time, scholars downplayed Angélique’s role in the implementation of Jansenist sacramental practices, some even going so far as to attribute the reform of the convent to Saint-Cyran, even though Angélique began her reform over ten years before she first met him and over twenty years before they began to work together at Port-Royal. In response to this prior work, this paper will examine the sacramental understanding of Angélique as expressed in the spiritual conferences she presented at Port-Royal in the 1650s. These conferences covered aspects of the lives of the nuns, such as how to live the Rule more faithfully, sacramental concerns, especially those connected to penance and Eucharistic devotion, and theological questions. This paper will examine the conferences in which Angélique taught the nuns about the sacrament of penance and describe her sacramentology and theological anthropology in relation to penitential sacramental practices. I argue, based on the evidence of Angélique’s theology in these conferences, that Angélique needs to be studied as a théologienne and teacher in her own right.
This paper aims to remedy this situation by examining the writing of Angélique Arnauld in light of Joan Scott’s definition of a feminist, taken from a 1788 treatise by Olympe de Gouges, as “a woman who has only paradoxes to offer and not problems easy to resolve.” Returning to the etymological root of the word paradox (from the Greek paradoxos meaning contrary to expectation or opinion), this paper will illustrate how as abbess of Port-Royal, Angélique existed between the societal and ecclesiastical opinions of her time that relegated women to positions of obedience, and her role as an abbess which gave her great authority within the monastery. By examining Angélique’s autobiographical account of her reform and several of her letters, this paper will contrast the obedience she owed to her male confessor with the authority she had as reformer and spiritual director in and around the monastery.