Editing Jansenism (section)

== Definition ==
"A historical enigma" according to certain historians,<ref name="Chantin-1996">{{Cite book |last=Chantin |first=Jean-Pierre |title=Le Jansénisme. Entre hérésie imaginaire et résistance catholique |date=1996 |publisher=Cerf |location=Paris |pages= |language=fr |trans-title=Jansenism. Between imaginary heresy and Catholic resistance.}}</ref> "an adaptation to changing circumstances" according to others,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taveneaux |first=René |title=La Vie quotidienne des jansénistes aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles |date=1985 |publisher=Hachette |pages= |language=fr |trans-title=The daily life of Jansenists in the 17th and 18th centuries}}</ref> Jansenism had an evolution parallel to that of the Roman Catholic Church until the 19th century, without any incontestable unity to be found in it.

[[File:Cornelius Jansen by Evêque d'Ypres (1585-1638).png|left|thumb|[[Cornelius Jansen]] (1585–1638), professor and {{lang|la|rector magnificus}} of the [[Old University of Louvain|Old University of Leuven]], as well as namesake of Jansenism]]

The term 'Jansenism' was rejected by those called 'Jansenists', who throughout history consistently proclaimed their unity with the Roman Catholic Church. Abbot Victor Carrière, precursor of contemporary studies of Jansenism, says the following.<blockquote>There is perhaps no question more complicated than that of Jansenism. From the beginning, many of those who were rightly considered to be its legitimate representatives asserted that it does not exist [...]. Moreover, in order to escape the condemnations of the Church, to disarm certain attackers and win new adherents, it has, depending on the circumstances, attenuated or even modified its fundamental theses. Thus, despite the countless works devoted to it, the history of Jansenism in its entirety still remains to be written today, since the spirit of polemic has prevailed for two centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carrière |first=Abbé Victor |title=Introduction aux études d'histoire ecclésiastique locale, tome 3 |date=1936 |location=Paris |publication-date=1936 |pages=513 |language=fr |trans-title=Introduction to local ecclesiastical history studies, vol. 3}}</ref></blockquote>Jansenism was first of all a defence of [[Augustinian theology]] in a debate initiated by the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the [[Council of Trent]],<ref name="Cognet-1967">{{Cite book |last=Cognet |first=Louis |title=Le Jansénisme |date=1967 |publisher=PUF |isbn=978-2-13-038900-2 |pages= |language=fr |trans-title=Jansenism}}</ref>{{Rp|page=10}} then a concrete implementation of this Augustinianism. The struggle against [[ultramontanism]] and [[papal authority]] gave it a [[Gallicanism|Gallican]] character, which became an essential component of the movement. In the absolutist France of the 17th and 18th centuries, the fear of a transition from religious opposition to a general opposition justified monarchical repression of Jansenism, and consequently, transformed the movement by giving it a political aspect marked by resistance to power and a defence of the [[Parlement|''parlements'']]. In the 18th century, a diversity of 'Jansenisms' became more evident. In France, the participation of secular society in the movement revealed a popular and miraculous component involving [[figurism]] and the phenomenon of the [[Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard|''convulsionnaires'']]. In northern Italy, the influence of the [[Austrian Enlightenment]] brought Jansenism closer to modernity. However in the 19th century, Jansenism was primarily a defence of the past and a struggle against modern developments in the Roman Catholic Church.

Augustin Gazier, historian of Jansenism and convinced Port-Royalist, attempts a minimal definition of the movement, removing the particularities to attribute a few common traits to all Jansenists: the subjection of one's whole life to a demanding form of [[Christianity]], which gave a particular view of dogmatic [[theology]], religious history and the Christian world. They harshly criticised developments in the church, but at the same time maintained an unshakeable loyalty to it.<ref name="Gazier-1924"/>{{Rp|location=chapter 29}}

Taking a broader view, the estimation of Marie-José Michel is that the Jansenists occupied an empty space between the ultramontane project of [Rome and the construction of [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] absolutism.<blockquote>French Jansenism is a creation of ''[[Ancien régime|Ancien Régime]]'' society [...]. Developed from an Augustinian background very firmly anchored in France, it unfolds in parallel with the two great projects of French absolutism and the Catholic reformation [the Counter-Reformation]. Its development by part of the French religious and secular elites gives it an immediate audience never reached by the other two systems. It is thus rooted in French mentalities, and it truly survived as long as its two enemies, that is to say until the French Revolution for one, and until the First Vatican Council for the other.<ref name="Michel-2000">{{Cite book |last=Michel |first=Marie-José |title=Jansénisme et Paris; 1640 - 1730 |date=2000 |publisher=Klincksieck |publication-date=2000 |pages= |language=fr |trans-title=Jansenism and Paris: 1640-1730}}</ref>{{Rp|page=453}}</blockquote>Therefore Jansenism cannot be wholly encapsulated as a fixed theological doctrine defended by easily identifiable supporters claiming a system of thought, but rather, it represented the variable and diverse developments of part of French and European Roman Catholicism in the early modern period.

The [[Heresy in Christianity|heresy]] of 'Jansenism', as stated by subsequent [[Catholic theology|Roman Catholic doctrine]], lies in the denial of the role of [[Free will in theology#Christianity|free will]] in the acceptance and use of [[Grace (Christianity)|grace]]. Jansenism asserts that God's role in the infusion of grace cannot be resisted and does not require human assent. The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' states the Roman Catholic position that "God's free initiative demands man's free response",<ref>{{cite book |author=Catholic Church |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385508193 |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church |publisher=Doubleday |year=2003 |isbn=0-385-50819-0 |at=n. 2002 |url-access=registration}}</ref> that is, humans are said to freely assent or refuse God's gift of grace.