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Du Vergier de Hauranne, Jean (1581-1643)
Se Cornelius Jansen fu l'ideatore del pensiero
giansenista, certamente Jean Du Vergier de
Hauranne ne fu il principale diffusore.
Nato a Bayonne nel 1581 da una famiglia
benestante, D. studiò ad Agen, alla scuola dei
gesuiti, e poi s'iscrisse alla facoltà di teologia
all'università di Lovanio, in Belgio, dove conobbe
e diventò amico di Cornelius Jansen. Dopo la
laurea e l'ordinazione a prete, D. si stabilì a Parigi,
dove la sua profonda cultura fu apprezzata e
impiegata per dirimere complesse e delicate
questioni politiche, poste anche dalla stessa
famiglia reale francese.
A Parigi si stabilì anche Jansen per studiare greco
antico: nel 1606 i due amici si trasferirono presso
la casa natale di D. a Bayonne, dove egli diventò
canonico della locale cattedrale, mentre, nel
frattempo, Jansen divenne insegnante nel collegio
annesso alla cattedrale. Per circa 12 anni D. e
Jansen studiarono approfonditamente gli scritti
dei Padri della Chiesa, e in particolare di
Sant'Agostino (354-430).
Nel 1617 Jansen ritornò a Lovanio per occuparsi
del collegio di Santa Pulcheria, mentre D. divenne
il segretario particolare del vescovo di Poitiers, dal quale, nel 1620, ricevette il titolo di abate di
Saint-Cyran in commendam (la commenda consisteva nei proventi di un'abbazia dati ad un
ecclesiastico assegnatario senza che questi avesse l'obbligo di risiedervi). Nello stesso periodo, D.
conobbe il giovane e sconosciuto vescovo di Lucon, ma che sarebbe poi diventato l'arcinoto
cardinale Armand Jean Richelieu (1585-1642) e suo futuro avversario.
In seguito D. lasciò Poitiers per recarsi a Parigi, dove diventò un amico intimo della famiglia
Arnauld e dove, assieme al ritrovato Jansen, iniziò a propagandare le loro idee. Per fare ciò, i due
scrissero due importanti testi: Jansen il ben noto Augustinus, pubblicato solo nel 1640 dopo la
morte dell'autore, mentre D. scrisse (sembra insieme ad un suo nipote) il Petrus Aurelius de
hierarchia ecclesiastica, pubblicato nel 1633, ed accusato immediatamente di calvinismo da parte
dei gesuiti.
Nel 1633 D. fu nominato confessore del convento cistercense di Port-Royal, del quale egli aveva
già portato nel 1623 verso posizioni gianseniste l'ex badessa Jacqueline Arnauld, (nome da
religiosa: Madre Marie Angélique). Il convento sarebbe poi diventato il baluardo del giansenismo e,
durante il suo mandato, D. si occupò, come padre spirituale, dei "solitari" (studiosi o filosofi
contemplativi che vivevano presso il convento).
Purtroppo lo zelo dimostrato nelle sue prediche a favore della santità dell'officio sacerdotale gli
attirarono l'odio e l'invidia di molti preti, i quali se ne lamentarono con Richelieu. Il potente
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cardinale dapprima cercò di ammansire l'irruente confessore di Port-Royal con un'offerta di un
vescovato, ma in seguito, nel 1638, con l'accusa di disturbare la quiete ecclesiastica, lo fece
arrestare e rinchiudere nelle segrete del castello di Vincennes, dal quale egli poté uscire solo dopo la
morte di Richelieu nel dicembre 1642.
La dura prigionia, tuttavia, aveva minato il suo fisico e D. morì per un colpo apoplettico l'11 ottobre
1643.
Cfr.: Eresie.it - Dizionario del pensiero cristiano alternativo:
http://www.eresie.it/it/DuVergier.htm
Du Vergier (Or DU VERGER), JEAN; also called SAINT-CYRAN from an abbey he held in
commendam).
One of the authors of Jansenism, b. at Bayonne, France, 1581; d. in Paris, 1643. After studying the
humanities in his native place, and philosophy at the Sorbonne, he went to Louvain, not to the
university but to the Jesuit college, where he graduated, 1604, with a brilliant thesis admired by
Justus Lipsius. His acquaintance with the future theologian of the Jansenist sect, Cornelius Jansen
(Jansenius), a young disciple of the Baianist Jacques Janson, probably began at Louvain. In 1605
the two were in Paris, attending together the lessons of the Gallican, Edmond Richer, and studying
Christian antiquity with a view to restoring it to its place of honour, usurped, as they claimed, by
Scholasticism. These studies of patristic and especially Augustinian literature were pursued with
incredible energy for wellnigh twelve years, at Paris, till 1611, and then at Campiprat (Cantipré),
the home of Hauranne, under the protection of Bertrand d'Eschaux, Bishop of Bayonne, who made
Duvergier canon of his cathedral, and Jansen principal of a newly-founded college. Owing, no
doubt, to the translation of d'Eschaux from Bayonne to Tours, the two friends left Bayonne in 1617,
Jansen returning to Louvain and Duvergier going to Poitiers where Bishop de la Rocheposay, a
disciple of Scaliger and an enthusiastic humanist, received him as a friend, appointed him to a
canonry and the priory of Bonneville, and later, 1620, resigned in his behalf the Abbey of SaintCyran-en-Brenne. The new commendatory prelate resided little in his abbey. In 1622 he returned
definitively to Paris, the metropolis affording him better opportunities to further his plans. During
the years 1617-1635 an assiduous correspondence was kept up between Duvergier and Jansen, of
which there remain only "Lettres de Jansénius à Duvergerde Hauranne", seized at the time of SaintCyran's incarceration. These letters, wherein conventional ciphers are frequently used, constantly
mention the affaire principale, projet, cabale, that is, first and foremost, the composition of the
"Augustinus" by Jansen, Saint-Cyran employing himself to enlist patrons for the so-called
Augustinian system (see JANSENISM ).
For greater security the two innovators occasionally met to discuss the progress of their joint work.
One of these meetings probably gave rise to the much-debated Projet de Bourg-Fontaine. In his
"Relation juridique de ce qui s'est passé à Poitiers touchant la nouvelle doctrine des Jansénistes"
(Poitiers, 1654), Filleau stated on the authority of one of the conspirators then repentant, that six
persons had secretly met in 1621 at the chartreuse of Bourg-Fontaine, near Paris, for the purpose of
overthrowing Christianity and establishing deism in its stead. The names of the conspirators, only
initialled by Filleau, were given in full by Bayle (Dict., s.v. "Arnauld"); that of Saint-Cyran heads
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the list. The Jansenists always protested against this story. Arnauld called it a "diabolical
invention", and Pascal ridiculed it in his "Seizième lettre à un provincial". The Jesuit Father
Souvage's argument in his "Réalité du projet de Bourg-Fontaine démontrée par l'exécution" (Paris,
1755) was refuted by D. Clémencet in "La verité et l'innocence victorieuses de la calomnie ou huit
lettres sur le projet de Bourg-Fountaine" (Paris, 1758). Although Clémencet's book was burned by
order of the Parliament of Paris, still it never was answered. Guizot's remark that "the adepts of
Jansenism passed insensibly from the tenets of Saint-Cyran and Montgeron to atheism and the
worship of reason" (Civilisation en Europe, Lec. xii) may apply to some of the later Jansenists, but
the charge of rationalism is obviously untenable when brought against the Jansenists of the first
generation. Stripped of unsupported details and deductions, Filleau's narrative and Sauvage's
arguments show, what is borne out by the letters of Jansenius and other documents of the time, a
covert yet definite purpose, as early as 1621, to deeply modify the dogmas, moral practices, and
constitution of the Church, St. Augustine being made responsible for such changes.
As noticed above, Duvergier's share was to win high influence in favour of the religious revolution.
While at Poitiers he had met Richelieu, de Condren, and Arnauld d'Andilly. At Paris he sought out
such men as Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Mission; Olier, founder of SaintSulpice; Bérulle, superior of the French Oratory; Tarisse, superior of Saint-Nicholas, and many
more. It cannot be denied that these men were at first attracted by Saint-Cyran's affected asceticism,
but when they understood his true aim they recoiled from him. The terse expression applied in the
Roman Breviary to St. Vincent de Paul, Sensit simul et exhorruit (he shuddered on hearing), could
be said of them all, with the exception of Bérulle and Arnauld d'Andilly. Bérulle never shared the
errors of Duvergier and Jansen, but, being indebted to these two for the establishment of the French
Oratory in the Netherlands, he failed to detect their real purpose and gave them a hold on his order
which they never released. Owing to his Gallicanism and strong prejudices against the Jesuits,
Arnauld d'Andilly fell an easy prey to Saint-Cyran's wiles and declamations, and even brought with
him the whole Arnauld family, along with the Bernardine nuns of Port-Royal. Adroitly and
persistently Saint-Cyran pushed his way into this celebrated monastery, till, in 1636, he became its
sole director. Not only were his innovations and rigorism eagerly accepted by the nuns, but PortRoyal became the centre of Jansenism, drawing a host of ecclesiastics, lawyers, writers, etc., all
vying with one another to place themselves under the "spiritual domination" of the Abbé de SaintCyran. His incredible success and nefarious work are well described by M. Sépet (in Rev. des quest.
hist., xlv, 534): "Taking advantage of the moral enthusiasm aroused by the religious awakening, an
ardent and sombre sectarian, Saint-Cyran undertook to win souls over for the proud doctrine of
absolute predestination to either salvation or damnation, also to an excessive rigorism to which the
initiated easily accommodated themselves, while simple-hearted folk like Pascal risked life and
reason in its practice."
Saint-Cyran was at the summit of his influence when an order of Richelieu sent him (1638) to the
donjon of Vincennes. His incarceration has been variously explained both by friends and enemies.
Richelieu gave the true reason when he said: "Saint-Cyran is more dangerous than six armies. … If
Luther and Calvin had been arrested when they began to dogmatize, much trouble would have been
spared the nations." (See Marandé, "Inconvénients d'etat procédant du Jansénisme", Paris, 1653.)
Jansenist writers unduly insist on the rigour of Saint-Cyran's captivity. As a matter of fact, he was
given liberty enough to receive his friends, to read the first printed copy of "Augustinus", to
collaborate with Antoine* Arnauld on the "Fréquente Communion", published in 1643, to write his
"Théologie familière" and the voluminous "Lettres chrétiennes et spirituelles", and even to make
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new recruits. In 1643, after Richelieu's death, Saint-Cyran recovered his liberty and returned in
triumph to Port-Royal. The triumph, however, was clouded by the announcement that the
"Augustinus" had been condemned at Rome. When the author heard of the condemnation he angrily
protested that "Rome was going too far and ought to be taught a lesson"; a stroke of apoplexy,
however, carried him off before he could execute his threat. Pierre de Pons, parish priest of SaintJacques du Haut-Pas, in a note quoted by Rapin (Hist. du Jans., p. 305), testified that Saint-Cyran
died while being anointed, but had asked for neither absolution nor Viaticum, notwithstanding a
certificate to the contrary, delivered by Mulsey, when importuned and bribed by the Jansenists.
Saint-Cyran was a prolific writer. His manuscripts, seized at the time of his arrest, formed no less
than thirty-two thick folios. Amid the numerous writings ascribed to him by the "Dictionnaire des
livres Jansénistes" (Antwerp, 1755), it is difficult to distinguish his genuine works, for he generally
wrote anonymously, or under a false name, or in collaboration with others. Apart from two
frivolous pamphlets written by Duvergier in his youth, "Question royale" (Paris, 1609), an apology
for suicide under certain circumstances, and "Apologie pour … de la Rocheposay" (Poitiers, 1615),
a thesis intended to show that bishops have a right to use arms, his principal works are: (1) "Somme
des fautes … du P. Garasse" (Paris, 1626), with several additional pamphlets in support of it; the
book itself was a vile attack on the Jesuits on occasion of a somewhat incautious book written by
one of them, the heroic Father Garasse; (2) "Petrus Aurelius de hierarchiâ ecclesiasticâ" (Paris,
1631), written in collaboration with Duvergier's nephew, Barcos, and others. This book purports to
be a defence of Richard Smith, vicar Apostolic in England, against the alleged machinations of the
English Jesuits; in fact it aims at winning over to the Jansenist error the Catholic hierarchy whose
prerogatives it exaggerates to the detriment of the Roman See. The scientific portion of it is taken
from the "De republicâ christianâ" (1617) of the apostate Marc’ Antonio de Dominis; the rest
consists mainly of abuse of the Jesuits. By a singular inconsistency, Saint-Cyran bases the episcopal
power not so much on the Sacrament of Orders as on the interior spirit. The Evêque intérieur,
remarks Sainte-Beuve, is simply the Directeur, a name and office much coveted by Saint-Cyran.
The clergy of France, taken by surprise, paid the expenses of the book but later ordered SainteMarthe's eulogy of Duvergier expunged from the "Gallia Christiana". (3) "Chapelet secret du très
Saint-Sacrement" (Paris, 1632), a series of Quietist remarks on the attributes of Christ. This booklet,
having become a kind of storm-centre, was prudently repudiated by Saint-Cyran who nevertheless
wrote several tracts in its defence. (4) "Théologie familière" (Paris, 1642), a series of theologicodevotional tracts, the Jansenists' catechism, teeming with errors on nearly every subject, condemned
by the Holy Office, 23 April, 1654. (5) "Lettres chrétiennes et spirituelles" (Paris, 1645); another
series (Paris, 1744). Bossuet calls them dry and overwrought (spiritualité sèche et alambiquée).
With the "Théologie familière" they exhibit a fair specimen of Saint-Cyran's galimatias and obscure
asceticism. Saint-Cyran's writings were collected in his "Œuvres" (Lyons, 1679).
Sources
Besides a mass of unreliable Jansenist memoirs, e.g. by LANCELOT (Utrecht, 1738), DU
FOSSÉ (Utrecht, 1739), ARNAULD D'ANDILLY (Utrecht, 1751), etc., see Lettres de C. Jansénius
á J. DuVerger de Hauranne, ed. GERBERON (Cologne, 1703); Saint-Cyran in Diction. des
Jansénistes, ed. MIGNE (Paris, 1847); RAPIN Hist. du Jansénisme (Paris, 1865); IDEM, Mémoires
(Paris, 1865); SAINTE?BEUVE, Port-Royal (Paris, 1871), corrected by FUZET, Les Jansénistes et
leur dernier historien Sainte- Beuve (Paris, 1876); JUNGMANN, De Jansenismo in Dissert. selectæ
in hist. eccl. (Bruges, 1886), VI, 217; DALGAIRNS, Introduction to Devotion oto the Sacred Heart
BIBLIOTECA UNIVERSITARIA DI GENOVA – PERCORSI TEMATICI
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(London, 1853); KROLL, Causes of the Jansenist Heresy in Am. Cath. Quart. Rev., 1885;
MATHIEU, Jansénius et Saint?Cyran in Pages d'histoire: Renaissance et Réforme (Paris, 1905);
MAYNARD, Vie de Saint Vincent de Paul; FAILLON, Vie de M. Olier. For a lengthy bibliography
see BRUNIETIÈRE, Hist. de la litt. française (Paris, 1899).
About this page
APA citation. Sollier, J. (1909). Duvergier de Hauranne. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York:
Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved October 8, 2010 from New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05218a.htm
MLA citation. Sollier, Joseph. "Duvergier de Hauranne." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New
York:
Robert
Appleton
Company,
1909.
8
Oct.
2010
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05218a.htm
Jean Du Vergier de Hauranne, abbé de Saint-Cyran
Né à Bayonne, en 1581. Mort à Paris, le 11 octobre 1643. Théologien français
Après avoir commencé ses études de théologie en Sorbonne, il se rend à Louvain en 1600, où il
devient l’élève de Juste Lipse. De retour à Paris vers 1604, il se lie étroitement avec un de ses
condisciples, nommé Jansenius. Ils se rendent ensemble à Bayonne en 1611, dans une terre de
Madame de Hauranne, et y mènent une vie très retirée, se livrant pendant cinq ans à l’étude de Saint
Augustin. Du Vergier devint chanoine de la cathédrale de Bayonne, et Jansenius principal d’un
collège. En 1617, le premier est rappelé à Poitiers, et le second retourne à l'Université de Louvain,
où il obtient une chaire d'Ecriture sainte. Les deux amis correspondent dès lors par courrier. En
1620, Du Vergier est nommé par l’évêque de Tours, de la Rochepozay, abbé du monastère de SaintCyran. C’est sous cette dénomination qu’il sera désormais connu. En 1622, il se lie d'amitié avec
Arnauld d’Andilly et l’année suivante se fixe à Paris. A l'occasion d'un voyage à Péronne, il discute
longuement avec Jansenius sur l’ouvrage que celui-ci médite et qui sera publié sous le nom
d’Augustinus. C’est vers 1623 que l’Abbé de Saint-Cyran entre en relation avec la Mère MarieAngélique Arnauld, abbesse de Port-Royal des Champs, mais il ne prendra la direction de cette
abbaye qu’en 1634, appelé par l'évêque de Langres Mgr Zamet. En 1636, Singlin le rejoint pour
l'aider dans son ministère et Richelieu lui offre, outre plusieurs riches abbayes, les évêchés de
Bayonne et de Clermont, qu'il refuse. Mais le même Richelieu, inquiet de ses écrits dans lesquels il
combat les ultramontains, dit de lui qu'il est "plus dangereux que six armées", et le 14 mai 1638,
Saint-Cyran est arrêté à deux heures du matin et conduit au donjon de Vincennes. Il n'en sortira
qu’après la mort du ministre, le 6 février 1643. C'est au cours de ces années d'emprisonnement qu'il
rédige les Lettres chrétiennes, ayant chargé Antoine Arnauld de le remplacer à Port-Royal. Il meurt
quelques mois plus tard, le 11 octobre 1643.
Saint-Cyran est l'auteur d'une Somme contre Garasse (1626), dans laquelle il attaque la Compagnie
de Jésus, et de Petrus Aurelius (1632), où il combat les ultramontains. Ses Lettres chrétiennes et
spirituelles ont été imprimées en 1645 dans une édition expurgée, le texte authentique
n'apparaissant qu'en 1745 à Utrecht. Il a aussi écrit une Théologie familière avec divers autres petits
traités de dévotion (1642).
Cfr.: La Dévotion au Sacré-Coeur - Biographies – Hagiographies, Port-Royal et le Jansénisme,
http://www.spiritualite-chretienne.com/s_coeur/biogra_h.html
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A “Saint-Cyran”, direttore spirituale del convento cistercense riformato di Port-Royal, si deve
l’adozione di una teologia penitenziale estremamente rigorosa contraddistinta dalla pratica del
“differimento dell’eucarestia”, tale che non vi si potesse accedere finché non si fosse realizzato un
completo rinnovamento interiore, una “conversione”. Tale impostazione era chiaramente in pieno
contrasto con quella gesuitica che, invece, spronava alla pratica della “frequente comunione” con
cadenze sempre più incalzanti. Questa differenza portava, come è ovvio, ad accuse reciproche: per i
giansenisti i gesuiti erano dei “lassisti”, mentre per i gesuiti i preti giansenisti non esercitavano il
loro ministero in quanto, come infatti talvolta avvenne, arrivavano a non celebrare messe per un
malinteso senso di umiltà e, nel contempo, i loro fedeli non accedevano alla comunione in
osservanza dei consigli da loro somministrati.