Marie Angélique Arnauld

Jacqueline -Marie- Angélique Arnauld or Arnault (also called La Mère Angélique, born September 8, 1591 in Paris; † August 6, 1661 in Port- Royal des Champs ) was abbess of Port -Royal, a stronghold of Jansenism.

Life

She was the third of twenty children of the lawyer Antoine Arnauld and one of the six sisters of the philosopher Antoine Arnauld. When she was growing up in the Cistercians in Port- Royal, she was selected with eight years of Abbess Jeanne de Boule hard as successor. A few months before her 12th birthday Angélique was even Abbess of Port-Royal on 5 July 1602. Thereafter, she was better known as La Mère Angélique.

Shortly after she was abbess, Mother Angélique began to reform their convent. She was also instrumental in the reform other convents. In 1635 it came under the influence of Jean de Duvergier Hauranne, Abbot of Saint- Cyran, a key figure in the Jansenism. During the controversy over the confessions during the 17th century and the religious persecution of Port -Royal in the years 1648 to 1652, she was forced to sign a condemnation of the five cornerstones of Jansenism. Her niece Angélique de Saint -Jean as well as her nephew Antoine Le Maistre persuaded Angélique to write an autobiography, which primarily dealt with the history of the persecution of the Jansenists and the opposition to it.