Bossuet, Jacques Bénigné

(1627–1704)

   Bishop and Theologian.

   Bossuet was born in Dijon, France, and was educated in Paris. At a very early age, he was picked out as an outstanding speaker, and after ordination he served as Archdeacon to the Cathedral Chapter at Metz for seven years, before moving to Paris. In 1670 he was appointed tutor to the French Dauphin and in 1681 he was consecrated Bishop of Meaux. Bossuet is now mainly remembered for his extraordinary preaching gifts and for his support of moderate Gallicanism. In 1682 he drew up the Four Gallican Articles which affirmed the powers of the General Council over the Pope and denied that the Pope had power over the king in temporal and civil matters. He provided an important statement on the divine right of kings in his Politique tirée de l’Écriture Sainte. His philosophy of history was expounded in his Discours sur l’Histoire Universelle and he argued that divine providence was the key to historical causation. Towards the end of his life, he became more entrenched in his positions. He supported the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, thus ending the privileges of Protestants and he was largely responsible for the condemnation of François fénelon’s mystical spirituality. He engaged in a long correspondence with the philosopher Gottfried leibniz on the question of Christian unity and his Méditations sur l’Evangile and his Élévations sur les Mystères are generally considered to be spiritual classics.

   W.J. Sparrow Simpson, A Study of Bossuet (1937).