BOSSUET, JACQUES-BÉNIGNE (1627–1704)

BOSSUET, JACQUES-BÉNIGNE (1627–1704), French cleric, preacher, political philosopher, theologian, and writer. Bossuet's father was a magistrate in the parlements of Burgundy and Metz. Born and raised in Dijon, France, Bossuet began his classical studies at the Jesuit College of Godrans in Dijon and completed his education at the College of Navarre in Paris, where St. Vincent de Paul served as his mentor, influencing his education and early career. Once Bossuet completed his doctorate and was ordained in 1652, he became a canon in the diocese of Metz.

Although he remained in Metz, Bossuet traveled to Paris often and came to the attention of the royal family. As a result of his growing reputation as an eloquent preacher, he was invited to give the Lenten sermons for the royal family in 1662. In subsequent years, his fame as an orator spread and he provided moving funeral sermons for many members of the royal family including Henrietta Marie, queen of England (in 1669), her daughter Henrietta Anne of England (1670), Maria Theresa, queen of France and King Louis XIV's wife (1683), and the Princess Palatine, Anne de Gonzague (1685). He also gave the funeral sermons for other prominent figures such as Chancellor Michel Le Tellier (1685) and the Great Condé (1686). These sermons were eventually published under the title Funeral Orations and remain an important literary legacy.

In 1669 Bossuet became the bishop of Condom, but he resigned soon after his consecration in 1670, when Louis XIV named him tutor to his eldest son, the dauphin. As a result of his duties as the primary educator for the heir to the throne, he eventually published a book on world history, Discourse on Universal History (1681), one among many texts he wrote for his student, and was elected to the French Academy. When the marriage of his young charge ended his duties as tutor in 1681, Bossuet became bishop of Meaux. He took an active part as the primary ecclesiastical supervisor for the region, making visits to local parishes and bringing recalcitrant communities, such as the Benedictine Abbey at Jouarre, fully under his authority. He remained in this position until his death.

Bossuet was a great defender of the unity of the Catholic Church and throughout his life worked to this end, both in his dealings with internal Catholic controversies and in his relations with Protestants and Protestant communities. While at his first post in Metz, he sought to convert Protestants using debates, sermons, and writings such as Refutation of the Catechism of Paul Ferry, which came out of his debates with Ferry, a local Protestant minister. He also reportedly played a role in the conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism of the celebrated war hero, the duke of Turenne.

From 1679 until 1694, Bossuet corresponded with the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716). Their epistolary debates were part of his effort to reunify Christendom. Leibniz, a Lutheran and under the patronage of the electors of Hanover, also hoped to see an end to infighting among Christian groups and a reunion of all churches, Protestant and Catholic alike. Their exchanges explored possible terms of a reunion between Protestant and Catholic factions, but arrived at no concrete resolutions because Bossuet rejected all compromises that entailed altering existing Catholic doctrine.

Bossuet was also an important mediator between King Louis XIV and papal authority. He defended papal authority and doctrinal unity, but, at the same time, played a major part in the emergence of Gallicanism, policies that allowed the French king more control over some aspects of church institutions in France and increased independence from Rome, especially in regard to secular issues. In the early 1680s Bossuet served as an important negotiator for Louis XIV and Pope Innocent XI when the king sought control over vacant dioceses and their revenues. In the Assembly of Clergy that met in 1682 to discuss the issue, Bossuet gave the opening sermon and also helped to draft the treatise of the four articles published by the assembly as their final ruling on the issue. The four articles contributed to Gallicanism by declaring the king's control over vacant sees and rejecting the pope's authority over secular issues.

The last decades of Bossuet's life, the late 1680s and 1690s, were dominated by the controversy over Quietism, a mystical and spiritual movement led by a French noblewoman, Madame Guyon. At the urging of King Louis XIV, a panel of French theologians that included Bossuet examined Madame Guyon's teachings and found them incompatible with orthodox Catholic doctrine and practice; they officially condemned her methods and writings in 1695. Bossuet's very public feud with fellow French cleric and theologian, François Fénelon (1651–1715), archbishop of Cambrai, followed on the heels of the initial Quietism controversy. Bossuet denounced Fénelon's writings that lauded some aspects of Quietism, such as the notion of "pure love." A papal brief issued in 1699 censured Fénelon's work and finally resolved their bitter public debate, which had been waged in books and pamphlets.

Today, Bossuet is best known for his work, Politics Drawn from the Holy Scripture (1709). In this treatise on political philosophy, he articulated the theory of divine-right kingship associated with King Louis XIV's reign, using passages from the Bible to support the theory of an absolute monarch and arguing that the king's political power came directly from God and was, therefore, sacred and indivisible. Under divine-right theory, Bossuet maintained that it was not only unlawful but also a sin to rebel against the king. At the same time, he urged the king to fulfill his duty to protect and care for his subjects in keeping with his godly charge.

BOSSUET, JACQUES-BÉNIGNE (1627–1704)

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