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Port-Royal

 
 
Paris & Ile de France Adventure Guide: Port-Royal-des-Champs
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Outside Paris: Haute Vallée de Chevreuse: History & Sightseeing: La Haute Vallée de Chevreuse: Port-Royal-des-Champs

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Just to the north of Chevreuse is the Abbaye de Port-Royal-des-Champs (01 30 43 74 93, D91, Magny-les-Hameaux), which played an important role in French religious and philosophical history as one of the major centers of Jansenism in the 17th century. The writer Jean Racine, cousin of the Duc de Luynes, studied Greek and Roman classics with the Solitaires of the abbey for four years, until Louis XIV, who was against the Jansenist teachings, had the small school closed in 1660, and the abbey completely razed in 1709. Visitors can stroll the 24 acres of peaceful abbey grounds, climb the 100 stairs (Cent Marches) up to the Granges Plateau, or pay respects at Racine’s original resting place (he was reburied in the Eglise St-Etienne-du-Mont, Paris). Open daily except Tuesday from 2 to 5pm, Sundays from 11am to noon and 2 to 5pm. Entrance €3, €2.30 for students, free for kids under 18.

Those who want to find out more about the controversial Jansenists can also visit the Musée National des Granges de Port-Royal (☎ 01 39 30 72 72) on the other side of the abbey’s grounds. The museum is inside the “Petites Ecoles” where the Solitaires used to teach their classes, and features religious paintings, ancient books and portraits of the leading Jansenists of the time, including Pascal, who spent much of his time at Port-Royal. Open March 15 to November 9, daily except Tuesday, 10:30am to 6:30pm. Open in winter (except December holidays) on weekends only, 10:30am to 6pm. Entrance €3, €2.30 for students, free for kids under 18. Visit to the gardens only, €1.

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Dictionary: Port-roy·al·ist
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Home > Library > Literature & Language > Webster 1913

n.

(Eccl. Hist.) One of the dwellers in the Cistercian convent of Port Royal des Champs, near Paris, when it was the home of the Jansenists in the 17th century, among them being Arnauld, Pascal, and other famous scholars. Cf. Jansenist.

Philosophy Dictionary: Port-Royal
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Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Philosophy Dictionary

The Cistercian foundation which was the home of the Jansenist sect in France. In 1662 Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole (1625-95), possibly with the help of Pascal, published La Logique, ou l'art de penser, often called The Port-Royal Logic, which they revised many times between then and 1685, and which eventually became a standard text-book for logic and critical thinking. It showed an impatience with traditional Aristotelian or scholastic logic, and sympathizes with modern movements of thought, in particular the methodology of ‘clear and distinct’ ideas of Descartes, and his geometric and rationalistic approach to the investigation of nature. As Jansenists, the members of Port-Royal believed in predestination, and the utter impossibility of words, prayers, or deeds altering one's pre-ordained fate of going to heaven or hell. Perhaps unsurprisingly the historian and critic C.-A. Sainte-Beuve (1804-69) lost his faith while writing the history of the monastery.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Port-Royal
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Port-Royal (Fr. pôr-rwäyäl'), former abbey of women, c.17 mi (27 km) W of Paris, founded in 1204. It was at first Benedictine, later Cistercian. In 1608 the abbess, Angélique Arnauld (see Arnauld, family), undertook a reform with the counsel of St. Francis de Sales. The nuns became renowned for piety, and their help was sought all over France for the reform of conventual discipline. In 1626 the abbey was moved to Paris because of the unsalubrious climate; the old buildings were now called Port-Royal-des-Champs [in the country], the new foundation Port-Royal-de-Paris. Under the influence of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the abbey soon became the prime center of Jansenism (see under Jansen, Cornelis). Port-Royal-des-Champs became a retreat for men, some of whom opened classes there for boys (1638). These, "the little schools," were successful from the start, and many celebrated Frenchmen were educated there. The pedagogy was novel in emphasizing knowledge as a means rather than an end, in using "natural" methods, and in distrusting corporal punishment. The textbooks became famous. The religious tone of the teaching did much to create the Jansenist and antipapal tendencies of 18th-century Roman Catholicism in France. Port-Royal fared as Jansenism did, and persecution became severe toward the end of the 17th cent. Port-Royal-des-Champs was suppressed by papal bull in 1704, and the buildings were razed in 1710. The nuns were expelled from Port-Royal-de-Paris.

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Paris & Ile de France Adventure Guide. Paris & Ile de France. Copyright © 2004 by Heather Stimmler-Hall. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dictionary. Webster 1913 Dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy  Read more
Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more