Apology in the Form of Autohagiography: Angélique Arnauld's Defense of Her Reform of Port-Royal

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 Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661). In this project, the nuns employed feminine and monastic genres of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Catholic historical review 2019-03, Vol.105 (2), p.275-303
Main Author:	Cutter, Elissa
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	1624-1684 17th century Abbesses Analysis Apologetics Apologetics (Christian) Apologies Arnauld d'Andilly, Angélique de Saint Jean Arnauld, Angelique Biography Church renewal Confessions (Literature) Convents Criticism and interpretation Divine providence France Genre Hagiography History Jansenism Jansenists Monasticism and religious orders Nuns Port-Royal des Champs (Abbey) Providence and government of God Religion Religious reform Theology
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Summary:	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 Angelique 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 Angelique 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 Angelique expressed her theological ideas in a manner permitted to women in the early modern era.
ISSN:	0008-8080 1534-0708 1534-0708