Jansen

Name: Cornelius Otto Jansen

Achievements: Jansenism (religious belief)

Born: October 28, 1585; Leerdam, Holland

Died: May 6, 1638; Ypres, Flanders, Belgium (Aged 53)

Field & Discipline: Religion; Reformer

Language: Dutch

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: None

Children: None

Education: University of Louvain

Major Work:

"The Augustine of Cornelius Jansen” (1640)

Life & Times:

At the age of seventeen, Jansen went to Louvain in the Spanish Netherlands to study theology. He was taught the doctrine of Michael Baius, inspired by St Augustine, which stated that because of Adam's original sin all men turn naturally towards evil, and that only the predestined elect will receive the grace of Christ and be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

In 1604, Jansen went to Paris where he became friends with Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, a fellow student from Louvain.  At the Sorbonne in Paris they disliked the prevailing Scholasticism, with its emphasis on debate and abstruse texts. Jansen and Duvergier believed that the scholars had made learning into a barrier between God and ordinary people with whom Jesus Christ had an affinity. They saw the scholarly elite as full of pride and believed that God should be worshipped more humbly.

In 1611, Jansen joined Duvergier in Bayonne and the following year was appointed director of the Bishops’ college in the city. He remained in this job until 1614 and for the next three years he and Duvergier studied the works of the early Church Fathers. In 1617 Jansen went back to Louvain as director of the College of Sainte-Pulcherie for Dutch students.

He arrived during a raging argument between the followers of Baius and the Jesuits. Baius had been condemned by Pope Pius V in 1567, although he remained at Louvain until his death in 1589, and was still seen as a dangerous radical by the Jesuits.  Jansen

began reading the works of Augustine (who had inspired Baius), and he concentrated on those writings in which Augustine criticised the doctrine of Pelagius.

Pelagius did not believe that all were naturally attracted to evil by Adam's original sin. He maintained that people have free will and can choose to do good or evil. He further held that the grace of God is available to all who do good and acknowledge God.

Jansen then formulated his own doctrine and began writing the "Augustine".  According to Jansen, each individual's fate is predetermined:  divine grace is given to the elect and they will enter the Kingdom of Heaven;  the rest of mankind will be damned. No amount of do-gooding could win salvation for those predestined to be damned. Augustine in fact had at times accepted the idea of free will in man but when refuting Pelagius he had used a more hardline argument. (Jansen appears not to have remembered Augustine's earlier acceptance of free will). 

In 1635 Jansen was appointed rector of Louvain University.  His other writings include several commentaries on the Bible and a treatise entitled "Discourse on the Reformation of the Inner Man". Religious reformers and humanist educators,  such as the Protestant [views opposed by] Komensky*,  who believed that individuals could find salvation on earth were advocating a more democratic church and an acceptance of individual free will.

Jansen wrote against these views in a number of anti-Protestant pamphlets,  and published one entitled "Mars Gallicus" in which he attacked [attacked] Richlieu*, the first minister in France, for giving subsidies to the Dutch Protestants in the Netherlands who were rebelling against Spain. It was said to be at the request of the king of Spain that Jansen was appointed bishop of Ypres in 1636. In 1638 Jansen died of the plague.

His "Augustine" was published in 1640 at Louvain. It had not been authorized by the Vatican and in 1642 was placed on the list of forbidden texts by Pope Urban VIII. Subsequent popes condemned five of his propositions and French bishops were obliged to make all priests, nuns and monks in their dioceses sign an agreement with the papal condemnation.  Duvergier had taught Jansen's doctrine to the nuns at the abbey of Port-Royal which then became a focus of Jesuit oppression.

Many prominent people were drawn into this conflict. The [a supporter was] Duchesse de Longueville* was a supporter of Jansen, and [a supporter was] Blaise Pascal* became involved in the controversy which continued into the next century when Port-Royal was finally destroyed on the orders of Louis XIV in 1710.

Almost twenty years after that, the religious authorities were still acting against men like [a follower was] L'Epee* who refused to sign a condemnation of Jansenism.

An extreme Jansenist sect existed in Italy at the end of the eighteenth century and a Jansenist church established in Holland was still surviving at the end of the twentieth century.

Extra Connections: [a follower was] Arnaud* was one of his strongest followers.

[a sympathizer was] La Rochefoucauld* was a sympathizer, as was [a follower was] Perier*

He influenced[influenced] De la Mettrie*

His followers were persecuted by [followers persecuted by] Mazarin*

Assessment: Jansen was a devout if radical reforming priest.

Oneliner:  Cornelius Jansen,  founder of a Catholic reform group

Bibliography:

• Encyclopedia Britannica.