Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (8 September 1621 – 11 December 1686), known as le Grand Condé ( French for 'the Great Condé'), was a French military commander. A tactician and strategist, he is regarded as one of France's greatest generals, particularly celebrated for his triumphs in the Thirty Years' War and his campaigns during the Franco-Dutch War .
86-515: Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), French bishop and theologian, uncle of Louis Louis Bossuet (1663–1742), French parliamentarian, nephew of Jacques-Bénigne See also [ edit ] Bossut , surname Musée Bossuet , art and history museum located in Meaux, France [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
172-534: A Christian philosopher on the throne. That is what made him so stalwart a champion of authority in all its forms: " le roi, Jesus-Christ et l'Eglise, Dieu en ces trois noms " ("the king, Jesus Christ, and the Church, God in His three names"), he says in a characteristic letter. The object of his books was to provide authority with a rational basis. Bossuet's worship of authority by no means killed his confidence in reason- what it did
258-511: A brilliant circle of literary men, including Molière , Racine , Boileau , La Fontaine , Nicole , Bourdaloue , and Bossuet . About this time, convoluted negotiations between the Poles were carried on with a view to the royal elections in Poland , at first by Condé's son, Henri Jules de Bourbon , and afterwards by Condé himself. These were finally closed later in 1674 by the veto of King Louis XIV and
344-593: A bust of Bossuet alongside such giants of oratory as Demosthenes , Cicero , and Chrysostom. A character in Les Misérables , being from Meaux and an orator, is nicknamed Bossuet by his friends. Louis, Grand Cond%C3%A9 A member of a senior cadet branch of the House of Bourbon , Condé demonstrated exceptional military prowess from a young age and distinguished himself during the Thirty Years' War, in particular at
430-453: A dispute about extempore preaching, the 16-year-old Bossuet was called on to deliver an impromptu sermon at 11 pm. Vincent Voiture famously quipped: "I never heard anybody preach so early nor so late". Bossuet became a Master of Arts in 1643. He sustained his first thesis ( tentativa ) in theology on 25 January 1648, in the presence of the Prince de Condé . Later in 1648, he was ordained
516-570: A dramatic escape from the same prison two years earlier. Turenne and his brother, the Duke of Bouillon , were among those who had escaped arrest; they now demanded the prisoners' freedom, leading to a short-lived alliance between the Fronde des nobles and the Fronde des parlements. Shortly after their release in February 1651, the diverging interests of the two rebellious parties led to a shift of alliances, with
602-701: A future King of France . Among the books written by Bossuet during this period are three classics. First came the Traité de la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même ("Treatise on the Knowledge of God and of Oneself") (1677), then the Discours sur l'histoire universelle (" Discourse on Universal History ") (1679, published 1682), and lastly the Politique tirée de l'Écriture Sainte ("Politics Drawn from Holy Scripture") (1679, published 1709). The three books fit into each other. The Traité
688-580: A priest of the Paris Oratory and the father of biblical criticism in France. He accused St Augustine , Bossuet's own special master, of having corrupted the primitive doctrine of grace. Bossuet set to work on a Defense de la tradition , but Simon calmly went on to raise issues graver still. Under a veil of politely ironic circumlocutions, such as did not deceive the Bishop of Meaux, he claimed his right to interpret
774-519: A result, he received the honorific title of "Counselor and Preacher to the King". In 1657, St. Vincent de Paul convinced Bossuet to move to Paris and give himself entirely to preaching . (He did not entirely sever his connections with the cathedral of Metz, though: he continued to hold his benefice, and in 1664, when his widowed father was ordained as a priest and became a canon of the Metz cathedral chapter, Bossuet
860-416: A separation between the interest of the prince and the interest of the state." As far as the duties of royalty, the primary goal is the preservation of the state. Bossuet describes three ways that this can be achieved: by maintaining a good constitution, making good use of the state's resources, and protecting the state from the dangers and difficulties that threaten it. In books nine and ten, Bossuet outlines
946-402: A splendour comparable only with ancient Rome. Why not, then, strain every nerve to hold innovation at bay and prolong that splendour for all time? Bossuet's own Discours sur l'histoire universelle might have furnished an answer, for there the fall of many empires is detailed; but then the Discours was composed with a single purpose in mind. To Bossuet, the establishment of Christianity was
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#17330862794061032-530: A subdeacon by Sébastien Zamet , Bishop of Langres . His ordination as a deacon came in 1649, after which he began to preach his first sermons. He sustained his second thesis ( sorbonica ) on 9 November 1650. Then, in preparation for the priesthood , he spent the next two years in retirement under the spiritual direction of Saint Vincent de Paul at Saint Lazare in Paris. In January 1652, Bossuet returned to public life, being named Archdeacon of Sarrebourg . He
1118-469: A view to reunion, but negotiations broke down precisely at this point. Leibniz thought his countrymen might accept individual Roman doctrines, but he flatly refused to guarantee that they would necessarily believe tomorrow what they believe today. We prefer, he said, a church eternally variable and forever moving forwards. Next, Protestant writers began to accumulate some alleged proofs of Rome's own variations; and here, they were backed up by Richard Simon ,
1204-453: Is His will that every great change should have its roots in the ages that went before it. Bossuet, accordingly, made a heroic attempt to grapple with origins and causes, and in this way, his book deserves its place as one of the first of philosophic histories. With the period of the Dauphin's formal education ending in 1681, Bossuet was appointed Bishop of Meaux by the King on 2 May 1681, which
1290-458: Is a general sketch of the nature of God and the nature of man. The Discours is a history of God's dealings with humanity in the past. The Politique is a code of rights and duties drawn up in the light thrown by those dealings. Bossuet's conclusions are only drawn from Holy Scripture because he wished to gain the highest possible sanction for the institutions of his country and to hallow the France of Louis XIV by proving its astonishing likeness to
1376-463: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Jacques-B%C3%A9nigne Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet ( French: [bɔsɥɛ] ; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French bishop and theologian . Renowned for his sermons , addresses and literary works, he is regarded as a brilliant orator and literary stylist of the French language . A native of Dijon , Bossuet
1462-549: The Battle of Rocroi against Spain in 1643. He became a powerful and influential figure in France, which made him a threat to Anne of Austria , regent for the young Louis XIV , and her prime minister Mazarin . During the Fronde revolt, Condé initially supported the crown but was later imprisoned on Mazarin's orders. After his release, he launched an open rebellion and fought the royal forces until his defeat by Turenne , after which he defected to Spain. He commanded Spanish forces during
1548-460: The Battle of Seneffe , against William III of Orange . This battle, fought on 11 August, was one of the hardest of the century, and Condé, who displayed the reckless bravery of his youth, had three horses killed under him. His last campaign was that of 1675 on the Rhine, where the army had been deprived of its general by the death of Turenne; and where, by his careful and methodical strategy, he repelled
1634-654: The Battle of the Dunes in June 1658 led to the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Bending his knee to the rising Sun King , Condé was pardoned and restored to his previous titles, but his power as an independent prince was broken. Condé became a loyal supporter of Louis XIV , living quietly at the Château de Chantilly , an estate inherited from his uncle, Henri II de Montmorency . Here he assembled
1720-571: The Bible like any other book. Bossuet denounced him again and again; Simon told his friends he would wait until the old fellow was no more. Another Oratorian proved more dangerous still. Simon had endangered miracles by applying to them lay rules of evidence, but Malebranche abrogated miracles altogether. It was blasphemous, he argued, to suppose that the Author of nature would violate the law He had Himself established. Bossuet might scribble nova, mira, falsa in
1806-475: The Edict of Nantes stopped far short of approving dragonnades within his Diocese of Meaux, but now his patience was waning. A dissertation by one Father Caffaro, an obscure Italian monk, became his excuse for writing certain, violent Maximes sur la comédie (1694), wherein he made an attack on the memory of Molière , dead more than twenty years. Three years later, he was battling with Bishop François Fénelon over
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#17330862794061892-712: The Fronde rebellion, Condé was recalled to Court by Anne of Austria . He quickly subdued the Parlement of Paris , and the Parliamentary Fronde ended with the March 1649 Peace of Rueil . The resulting uncertain balance of power between crown and nobility inspired Condé to himself rebel, starting the far more serious Fronde des nobles . In January 1650, he was arrested, along with Conti and Longueville; imprisoned at Vincennes , and when asked if he needed reading material, he allegedly replied 'The Memoirs of M de Beaufort,' who had made
1978-622: The Jansenist controversy. For the time being, however, Cornet and Arnaud were still on good terms. In 1643, Arnaud introduced Bossuet to the Hôtel de Rambouillet , a great centre of aristocratic culture and the original home of the Précieuses . Bossuet was already showing signs of the oratorical brilliance which served him so well throughout his life. On one celebrated occasion at the Hôtel de Rambouillet, during
2064-470: The Maximes des Saints on 12 March 1699. Pope Innocent XII selected 23 specific passages for condemnation. Bossuet triumphed in the controversy and Fénelon submitted to Rome's determination of the matter. Until he was over 70 years, Bossuet enjoyed good health, but in 1702 he developed chronic kidney stones . Two years later he was a hopeless invalid, and on 12 April 1704 he died quietly. His funeral oration
2150-627: The Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 but soon received military commands again. Condé conquered the Franche-Comté during the War of Devolution and led the French armies in the Franco-Dutch War together with Turenne. His last campaign was in 1675, taking command after Turenne had been killed, repelling an invasion of an imperial army. Conde is regarded as an excellent tactician, a fine strategist, and one of
2236-442: The surname Bossuet . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bossuet&oldid=874962721 " Categories : Surnames French-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
2322-609: The Articles, and Mme Guyon submitted to the judgment. Bossuet now composed Instructions sur les états d'oraison , a work that explained the Articles d'Issy in greater depth. Fénelon refused to endorse this treatise, however, and instead composed his own explanation as to the meaning of the Articles d'Issy , his Explication des Maximes des Saints . He explained his view that the goal of human life should be to have love of God as its perfect object, with neither fear of punishment nor desire for
2408-677: The Catalan revolt known as the Reapers' War . By 1648, this had become an increasingly bitter, multi-sided conflict between the Spanish, the Catalan nobility supported by France, and the Catalan peasantry. As Mazarin had intended, Condé could achieve little; however, a Spanish revival in the Low Countries led to his recall and victory at Lens in August 1648. When the aristocracy took up arms against new taxes in
2494-499: The Franco-Dutch War, his personal life was marred by his unhappy marriage and estrangement from his wife, Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé , a niece of Richelieu . Condé died in 1686 at the age of 65. His descendants include the present-day pretenders to the thrones of France and Italy, and the kings of Spain and Belgium. Born in Paris as the son of Henri II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency , he
2580-708: The French army to an unexpected and decisive victory over the Spanish, established him as a great general and popular hero in France. Together with the Marshal de Turenne he led the French to a favorable peace in the Thirty Years' War . During the Fronde , he was courted by both sides, initially supporting Mazarin; he later became a leader of the princely opposition. After the defeat of the Fronde, he entered Spanish service and led their armies against France, notably at Arras , Valenciennes , and Dunkirk . He returned to France only after
2666-625: The Huguenots to the Catholic Church. In 1668, he converted Turenne ; in 1670, he published an Exposition de la foi catholique ("Exposition of the Catholic Faith"), so moderate in tone that adversaries were driven to accuse him of having fraudulently watered down the Catholic dogmas to suit Protestant taste. Finally, in 1688, his great Histoire des variations des Églises protestantes ("History of
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2752-535: The Israel of Solomon. Then, too, the veil of Holy Scripture enabled him to speak out more boldly than court etiquette would have otherwise allowed, to remind the son of Louis XIV that kings have duties as well as rights. The Grand Dauphin had often forgotten these duties, but his son, the Petit Dauphin , would bear them in mind. The tutor's imagination looked forward to a time when France would blossom into Utopia , with
2838-499: The Paris horizon in 1669, though Fénelon and La Bruyère , two much sounder critics, refused to follow their example. Bossuet possessed the full equipment of the orator: voice, language, flexibility, and strength. He never needed to strain for effect; his genius struck out at a single blow the thought, the feeling, and the word. What he said of Martin Luther applied peculiarly to himself: he could fling his fury into theses and thus unite
2924-487: The Pope declared it null and void, he set to work on a gigantic Defensio Cleri Gallicani , only published after his death. Throughout this controversy, unlike the court bishops, Bossuet constantly resided in his diocese and took an active interest in its administration. The Gallican storm a little abated, he turned back to a project very near his heart. Ever since the early days at Metz , he had been busy with schemes for uniting
3010-460: The Royal Academy at Paris. At seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governed Burgundy . His father betrothed him to Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé , niece of Cardinal Richelieu , before he joined the army in 1640. Despite being in love with Marthe du Vigean, daughter of the king's gentleman of the bedchamber , François Poussard, he was compelled by his father to marry his fiancée , who
3096-602: The Variations of the Protestant Churches"), perhaps the most brilliant of all his works, appeared. Few writers could have made the Justification controversy interesting or even intelligible. His argument is simple enough. Without rules, an organized society cannot hold together, and rules require an authorized interpreter. The Protestant churches had thrown over this interpreter; and Bossuet had small trouble in showing that,
3182-537: The age of sixty-five and was buried at Vallery , the traditional resting place of the Princes of Condé. Bourdaloue attended him at his death-bed, and Bossuet pronounced his elegy . Although his youthful marriage to Claire Clémence de Maillé had brought him a dowry of 600,000 livres and many lands, Condé's lifelong resentment of his forced marriage to a social inferior persisted. In his last letter to Louis, he asked that his estranged wife never be released from her exile to
3268-459: The assistance of Turenne , who was hard pressed, and took command of the whole army. The Battle of Freiburg was desperately fought, but after Rocroi, numerous fortresses opened their gates to the Duke. Enghien spent the next winter, as every winter during the war, amid the gaieties of Paris. The summer campaign of 1645 opened with the defeat of Turenne by Franz von Mercy at Mergentheim , but this
3354-517: The countryside. She survived until 1694. Louis married Claire Clémence de Maillé , daughter of Urbain de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé and Nicole du Plessis de Richelieu, at the Palais Royal in Paris, in February 1641, in the presence of King Louis XIII of France , Anne of Austria , and Gaston of France . Their children were: That he was capable of waging a methodical war of positions may be assumed from his campaigns against Turenne and Montecucculi,
3440-537: The court of King Louis XIV at Versailles . He was appointed tutor to the Dauphin in 1670 and elected to the Académie Française a year later. In 1681, he was appointed Bishop of Meaux , a position he held until his death. Bossuet was a strong advocate of political absolutism and the divine right of kings . Later in his life, he was also involved in the controversies over Gallicanism and Quietism , and supported
3526-536: The court, in 1669 Bossuet was gazetted bishop of Condom in Gascony without being obliged to reside there. He was consecrated bishop on 21 September 1670, but he resigned the see when he was elected to the Académie française in 1671. On 18 September 1670 he was appointed tutor to the nine-year-old Dauphin , eldest child of Louis XIV . The choice was scarcely fortunate. Bossuet unbent as far as he could, but his genius
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3612-702: The crown and Parlements against Condé's party of the high nobility. The royal forces under Turenne defeated Condé at the Battle of the Faubourg St Antoine in July 1652, ending the Fronde as a serious military threat. Condé only escaped when the Duchess of Montpensier persuaded the Parisians to open the gates; in September, he and a few loyalists defected to Spain. Despite victory over Turenne at Valenciennes in 1656, defeat at
3698-478: The decisive victory. After a campaign of uninterrupted success, Enghien returned to Paris in triumph, and tried to forget his enforced and hateful marriage with a series of affairs (after Richelieu's death in 1642, he would unsuccessfully seek annulment of his marriage in hopes of marrying Mlle du Vigean, until she joined the order of the Carmelites in 1647). In 1644 he was sent with reinforcements into Germany to
3784-534: The dignity of a priest, Bossuet refused to descend to the usual devices for arousing popular interest. The narrative element in Bossuet's sermons grew shorter with each year. He never drew satirical pictures like his great rival Louis Bourdaloue . He would not write out his discourses in full, much less learn them off by heart: of the two hundred printed in his works, all but a fraction are rough drafts. Ladies such as Mme de Sévigné forsook him when Bourdaloue dawned on
3870-458: The dry light of argument with the fire and heat of passion. These qualities reached their highest point in the Oraisons funèbres ( Funeral Orations ). Bossuet was always best when at work on a large canvas; besides, here no conscientious scruples intervened to prevent him from giving much time and thought to the artistic side of his subject. The Oraison , as its name betokened, stood midway between
3956-556: The election of John Sobieski . The Prince's retirement, which was only broken by the Polish question and by his personal intercession on behalf of Fouquet in 1664, ended in 1668. During the 1666 to 1667 War of Devolution , Condé proposed to the Marquis de Louvois , the Minister of War, a plan for seizing Franche-Comté , the execution of which was entrusted to him and successfully carried out. He
4042-472: The fifth of these Avertissements (1690), he denied the thesis of the explicit or implicit contract between the prince and his subjects, which Jurieu supported, and formulated the famous sentence: "To condemn this state [= slavery], it would not only be condemn the law of nations, where servitude is admitted, as it appears by all the laws; but that would be to condemn the Holy Spirit, who commands slaves, through
4128-479: The final phase of the Franco-Spanish War . Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, Condé was pardoned by Louis XIV and returned to France. He became a loyal supporter of the king, living a quiet life at the Château de Chantilly and associating with literary figures such as Molière and Racine . Despite his renewed contributions to France's military success in the War of Devolution against Spain and
4214-481: The greatest generals opposing him. But it was in his eagerness for battle, his quick decision in action, and the stern will which sent his regiments to face the heaviest losses, that Condé earned the right to be compared to the great generals of his time. Upon the Grand Condé ’s death, Louis XIV pronounced that he had lost "the greatest man in my kingdom." In 1643 his success at the Battle of Rocroi , in which he led
4300-548: The immediate representatives of God. Thus all revolt, whether civil or religious, is a direct defiance of the Almighty. Oliver Cromwell becomes a moral monster, and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes was the greatest achievement of the second Constantine. The France of his youth had known the misery of divided counsels and civil war; the France of his adulthood, brought together under an absolute sovereign, had suddenly burgeoned into
4386-1017: The invasion of the Imperial army of Raimondo Montecuccoli . After this campaign, prematurely worn out by toils and excesses, and tortured by gout , Condé returned to the Château de Chantilly, where he spent his last eleven years in quiet retirement. At the end of his life, Condé sought the companionship of Bourdaloue , Pierre Nicole , and Bossuet , and devoted himself to religious exercises. In 1685, his only surviving grandson, Louis de Bourbon , married Louise Françoise , eldest surviving daughter of Louis and his mistress Madame de Montespan . In mid-1686, Louise Françoise, later known as 'Madame la Duchesse', contracted smallpox while at Fontainebleau ; Condé helped nurse her back to health, and prevented Louis from seeing her for his own safety. Although Louise Françoise survived, Condé became ill, allegedly from worry over her health. He died at Fontainebleau on 11 November 1686 at
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#17330862794064472-410: The king is sacred. In the third book, Bossuet asserts that "God establishes kings as his ministers, and reigns through them over the people." He also states that "the prince must be obeyed on principle, as a matter of religion and of conscience." While he declares the absolute authority of rulers, he emphasizes the fact that kings must use their power only for the public good and that the king is not above
4558-622: The king's revocation of the Edict of Nantes , which abolished the rights of the Huguenot Protestant minority. Bossuet died in 1704 at the age of 76. The works of Bossuet best known to English speakers are three great orations delivered at the funerals of Queen Henrietta Maria , widow of Charles I of England (1669), of her daughter Henriette, Duchess of Orléans (1670), and of the outstanding military commander le Grand Condé (1687). He published his Discours sur l'histoire universelle ( Discourse on Universal History ) in 1681. Bossuet
4644-402: The law "for if he sins, he destroys the laws by his example." In books six and seven, Bossuet describes the duties of the subjects to the prince and the special duties of royalty. For Bossuet, the prince was synonymous with the state, which is why, according to him, the subjects of the prince owe the prince the same duties that they owe their country. He also states that "only public enemies make
4730-492: The lives of saints or saintly contemporaries as examples. He preached, for example, on St. Francis de Sales as well as funeral orations on Queen Henrietta Maria of France and Henrietta Anne of England . Bossuet's funeral orations in particular had lasting importance and were translated early into many languages, including English. Such was their power that even Voltaire , normally so antagonistic toward clergy, praised his oratorical excellence. An edition of Bossuet's sermons
4816-561: The longer they lived, the more they varied on increasingly important points. The Protestant Minister Pierre Jurieu having responded to the Histoire des variations , Bossuet published the Avertissements aux protestants sur les lettres du ministre Jurieu contre l'Histoire des variations ( Warnings to Protestants on the letters of Minister Jurieu against the History of Variations , 1689–1691). In
4902-449: The love of God. Fénelon, 24 years his junior, was an old pupil who had suddenly become a rival; like Bossuet, Fénelon was a bishop who served as a royal tutor. The controversy concerned their different reactions to the opinions of Jeanne Guyon : her ideas were similar to the Quietism of Molinos , which was condemned by Pope Innocent XI in 1687. When Mme de Maintenon began questioning
4988-457: The margins of his book and urge Fénelon to attack them; Malebranche politely met his threats by saying that to be refuted by such a pen would do him too much honor. These repeated checks soured Bossuet's temper. In his earlier controversies, he had borne himself with great magnanimity , and the Huguenot ministers he refuted had found him a kindly advocate at court. His approval of the revocation of
5074-481: The mouth of St. Paul, to remain in their state, and does not oblige their masters to free them. Flaubert , in his Sottisier , noted that in the 19th century, Catholic theology had varied to the point of expressing ideas on slavery diametrically opposed to those of Bossuet. For the moment, the Protestants were pulverized; but before long, they began to ask whether variation was necessarily so great an evil. Between 1691 and 1701, Bossuet corresponded with Leibniz with
5160-509: The one point of real importance in the whole history of the world. He totally ignores the history of Islam and Asia ; on Greece and Rome , he only touched insofar as they formed part of the Praeparatio Evangelica . Yet his Discours is far more than a theological pamphlet. While Pascal might refer to the rise and fall of empires to Providence or chance or a little grain of sand in the English lord protectors' veins, Bossuet held fast to his principle that God works through secondary causes. It
5246-404: The orthodoxy of Mme Guyon's opinions, an ecclesiastical commission of three members, including Bossuet, was appointed to report on the matter. The commission issued 34 articles known as the Articles d' Issy , which condemned Mme Guyon's ideas very briefly and provided a short treatise on the orthodox, Catholic conception of prayer. Fénelon, who had been attracted to Mme Guyon's ideas, signed off on
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#17330862794065332-430: The rest of his time at Metz he frequently engaged in religious controversies with Protestants (and, less regularly, with Jews ). Reconciling the Protestants with the Catholic Church became his dream, and for this purpose, he began to train himself carefully for the pulpit, an all-important centre of influence in a land where political assemblies were unknown and novels and newspapers scarcely born. His youthful imagination
5418-413: The reward of eternal life having anything to do with this pure love of God. King Louis XIV reproached Bossuet for failing to warn him that his grandsons' tutor had such unorthodox opinions and instructed Bossuet and other bishops to respond to the Maximes des Saints . Bossuet and Fénelon thus spent the years 1697–1699 battling each other in pamphlets and letters until the Inquisition finally condemned
5504-442: The sermon proper and what would nowadays be called a biographical sketch. At least that was what Bossuet made it; for on this field, he stood not merely first, but alone. 137 of Bossuet's sermons preached in the period from 1659 to 1669 are extant, and it is estimated that he preached more than a hundred more that have since been lost. Apart from state occasions, Bossuet seldom appeared in a Paris pulpit after 1669. A favourite of
5590-405: The true wealth of a kingdom is its men and says that it is important to improve the people's lot and that there would be no more poor. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) calls Bossuet the greatest pulpit orator of all time, ranking him even ahead of Augustine and Chrysostom . The exterior of Harvard 's Sanders Theater includes busts of the eight greatest orators of all time – they include
5676-399: The various resources of royalty (arms, wealth, and counsel) and how they should be used. In regards to arms, Bossuet explains that there are just and unjust grounds for war. Unjust causes include ambitious conquest, pillage, and jealousy. As far as wealth is concerned, he then lays out the types of expenditures that a king has and the various sources of wealth for the kingdom. He emphasizes that
5762-522: The young Louis XIV , and her prime minister, Mazarin . Condé's vast domains included Burgundy and Berry , while the Prince de Conti , his brother, held Champagne , and his brother-in-law, Longueville , controlled Normandy . In 1641, Louis XIII had granted him Clermont-en-Argonne , ceded to France by the Duchy of Lorraine ; in 1648, this was converted to an appanage , effectively making it independent of royal authority. To remove Condé from Paris, Mazarin arranged for him to lead anti-Habsburg forces in
5848-413: The young Bossuet a canonry in the cathedral of Metz when the boy was just 13 years old. In 1642, Bossuet enrolled in the Collège de Navarre in Paris to finish his classical studies and to begin the study of philosophy and theology. His mentor there was the college's president, Nicolas Cornet , the theologian whose denunciation of Antoine Arnauld at the Sorbonne in 1649 was a major episode in
5934-423: Was ordained a priest on 18 March 1652. A few weeks later, he defended his brilliant doctoral work and became a Doctor of Divinity . He spent the next seven years at Metz, where he now had the office of archdeacon. He was plunged at once into the thick of controversy; nearly half of Metz was Protestant , and Bossuet's first appearance in print was a refutation of the Huguenot pastor Paul Ferry (1655). During
6020-415: Was approved by Pope Innocent XI on 17 November. But before he could take possession of his see, he was drawn into a violent quarrel between Louis XIV and Pope Innocent XI . Here he found himself in a quandary: to support the Pope meant supporting the Jesuits, and he hated their supposed casuistry and dévotion aisée almost as much as Pascal ; to oppose the Pope was to play into the hands of Louis XIV, who
6106-430: Was born at Dijon . He came from a family of prosperous Burgundian lawyers – on both his paternal and maternal sides, his ancestors had held legal posts for at least a century. He was the fifth son born to Beneigne Bossuet, a judge of the parlement (a provincial high court) at Dijon, and Marguerite Mouchet. His parents decided on a career in the Church for their fifth son, so he was tonsured at age eight. The boy
6192-490: Was by no means fitted to enter into the feelings of a child; and the dauphin was a choleric, ungainly, sullen boy. Probably no one was happier than the tutor when his charge turned sixteen and was married off to a Bavarian princess . Still, Bossuet's nine years at court were by no means wasted. Bossuet's tutorial functions involved composing all the necessary books of instruction, including not just handwriting samples, but also manuals of philosophy, history, and religion fit for
6278-528: Was eager to subject the Church to the will of the State. Therefore, Bossuet attempted to steer a middle course. In 1682, before the general Assembly of the French Clergy , he preached a great sermon on the unity of the Church and made it a magnificent plea for compromise. As Louis XIV insisted on his clergy making an anti-papal declaration , Bossuet got leave to draw it up and made it as moderate as he could, and when
6364-488: Was edited by Abbé Lebarq in 6 vols. (Paris, 1890, 1896), as the Œuvres oratoires de Bossuet . His complete works were edited by Lachat in 31 vols. (Paris, 1862–1864). When Bossuet was chosen to be the tutor of the Dauphin, oldest child of Louis XIV, he wrote several works for the edification of his pupil, one of which was Politics Derived from the Words of Holy Scripture , a discourse on the principles of royal absolutism. The work
6450-478: Was educated at a Jesuit school before enrolling in the College of Navarre in Paris, where he studied philosophy and theology. In 1652, he was ordained a priest and became a Doctor of Divinity . He spent the next seven years at Metz , where he honed his skills in oratory and politics, before returning to Paris and establishing his reputation as a great preacher. By the early 1660s, Bossuet was preaching regularly before
6536-489: Was given by Charles de la Rue , SJ. He was buried at Meaux Cathedral . Bossuet is widely considered to be one of the most influential homilists of all time. He is one of the preachers, along with John Tillotson and Louis Bourdaloue , who began the transition from Baroque to Neoclassical preaching. He preached with a simple eloquence that eschewed the grandiose extravagances of earlier preaching. He focused on ethical rather than doctrinal messages, often drawing from
6622-450: Was immediately endowed with the title of Duke of Enghien . His father was a first cousin-once-removed of Henry IV , the King of France, and his mother was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal families. His father saw to it that he received a thorough education, studying history , law , and mathematics during six years at the Jesuits ' school at Bourges . After that, he entered
6708-430: Was make him doubt the honesty of those who reasoned otherwise than himself. The whole chain of argument seemed to him so clear and simple. Philosophy proves that God exists and that He shapes and governs the course of human affairs. History shows that this governance is, for the most part, indirect, exercised through certain venerable corporations, as well civil and ecclesiastical, all of which demand implicit obedience as
6794-666: Was named chapter's dean .) Bossuet quickly gained a reputation as a great preacher, and by 1660, he was preaching regularly before the court in the Chapel Royal . In 1662, he preached his famous sermon "On the Duties of Kings" to Louis XIV at the Louvre . In Paris, the congregations had no mercy on purely clerical logic or clerical taste; if a preacher wished to catch their ear, he had to manage to address them in terms they would agree to consider sensible and well-bred. Having very stern ideas of
6880-698: Was now completely re-established in the favour of King Louis XIV, and with Turenne, was appointed the principal French commander in the celebrated campaign of 1672 against the Dutch. At the forcing of the Rhine passage at the Battle of Tolhuis (12 June), he received a severe wound, after which he commanded in Alsace against the Imperials. In 1673, he was again engaged in the Low Countries, and in 1674, he fought his last great battle,
6966-549: Was present with the Cardinal during the plot of Cinq Mars and afterwards fought in the Siege of Perpignan (1642) . In 1643, Enghien was appointed to command against the Spanish in northern France. He was opposed by Francisco de Melo , and the tercios of the Spanish army who were held to be the toughest soldiers in Europe. At the Battle of Rocroi , Enghien himself conceived and directed
7052-455: Was published posthumously in 1709. The work consists of several books which are divided into articles and propositions which lay out the nature, characteristics, duties, and resources of royalty. To justify his propositions, Bossuet quotes liberally from the Bible and various psalms. Throughout his essay, Bossuet emphasizes the fact that royal authority comes directly from God and that the person of
7138-709: Was retrieved in the victory of Nördlingen , in which Mercy was killed, and Enghien himself received several serious wounds. The capture of Philippsburg was the most important of his other achievements during this campaign. In 1646 Enghien served under Gaston, Duke of Orléans in Flanders , and when, after the capture of Mardyck , Orléans returned to Paris, Enghien, left in command, captured Dunkirk (11 October). When he succeeded in 1646 as 'Prince of Condé,' his combination of military ability, noble status, and enormous wealth inspired considerable apprehension in Anne of Austria , regent for
7224-564: Was sent to school at the Collège des Godrans, a classical school run by the Jesuits of Dijon. When his father was appointed to the parlement at Metz , Bossuet was left in Dijon under the care of his uncle Claude Bossuet d'Aiseray, a renowned scholar. At the Collège des Godrans, he gained a reputation for hard work: fellow students nicknamed him Bos suetus aratro , an "ox accustomed to the plough". His father's influence at Metz allowed him to obtain for
7310-456: Was thirteen. Although she bore her husband three children, Enghien later claimed she committed adultery with different men in order to justify locking her away at Châteauroux , but the charge was widely disbelieved. Saint-Simon , while admitting that she was homely and dull, praised her virtue, piety, and gentleness in the face of relentless abuse. Enghien took part with distinction in the siege of Arras . He also won Richelieu's favor when he
7396-582: Was unbridled, and his ideas ran easily into a kind of paradoxical subtlety, redolent of divinity faculties. Nevertheless, his time at Metz was an important time for developing his pulpit oratory and for allowing him to continue his study of Scripture and the Church Fathers . He also gained political experience through his participation in the local Assembly of the Three Orders. In 1657, in Metz, Bossuet preached before Anne of Austria , mother of Louis XIV. As
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