Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), French Roman Catholic clergyman and writer, one of the greatest French pulpit orators. He was born in Dijon on September 25, 1627. Educated at Jesuit schools and at the College of Navarre in Paris, he was ordained a priest in 1652. From 1670 to 1681 he was tutor to the grand dauphin, son of King Louis XIV and Marie Thérèse, for whom he wrote his great Discourse on Universal History (1681), one of the first attempts at a philosophical treatment of history. In it he argued that all history is impelled by Providence. In 1681 he became bishop of Meaux, holding that position until his death in Paris on April 12, 1704.

A peerless orator, Bossuet is best remembered for his remarkable Funeral Orations (1689), panegyrics on significant national figures. He took part in the quarrel between Louis XIV and Pope Innocent XI over the respective rights of king and pope in France. Favoring the king, Bossuet's opinions became the basis for subsequent claims of king and church in France for independence from the papacy. Bossuet also engaged in a famous dispute with the French prelate François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon over the mystical teachings of quietism; whereas Fénelon supported quietism, Bossuet considered it heresy. Bossuet won, causing Pope Innocent XII (reigned 1691-1700) to condemn Fénelon's writings.