Suffering Saints: Jansenists and Convulsionnaires in France, 1640-1799 in Bloomington, MN

This comprehensive survey of Jansenism and Convulsionism in France places the Jansenist movement in the context of French political, social, economic, religious, and intellectual developments in the 17th and 18th centuries. With biographical sketches of its key leaders and an analysis of their major writings, this work highlights both the movement’s internal conflicts and its struggles against church and state persecution. From letters, diaries, books, and speeches, author Brian Strayer explains such important Jansenist themes as suffering, saintliness, truth, conflict, passive resistance, and their gradual embracing of toleration. He provides fresh insights into asceticism, Gallicanism, Richerism, Conciliarism, Jesuitism, and Convulsionism in their historical contexts. With gentle wit, the author exposes the contradictions and paradoxes within the movement, shares human interest stories about the Port-Royal nuns, and shows how papal bulls poisoned the religious and political life in France from 1643 to 1713 and beyond.