Bossuet, and: L’Écriture de l’histoire chez Bossuet. Actes de la journée d’étude organisée par l’association «Les Amis de Bossuet» (Paris, 19 novembre 2005) (review)

Following the major conferences organized for the tercentenary of Jacques-Benigne Bossuet’s death (1704) [ante, XCIV, 152–54], a series of public lectures at the Sorbonne proposed a synthesis of current scholarship concerning the influential orator, educator, bishop, and writer. Different specialists delivered the lectures, but they all shared the same concern for clarity and accuracy, and the book that collects them has kept this objective. In the first chapter, Jean-Louis Quantin gives a chronological exposition of Bossuet’s career that considers the judgments of earlier authors on his personality, often to nuance and correct them. The subsequent chapters consider his “religion”—that is, his conception of Catholicism. It is very much exemplifies his time: “Bossuet est le Catholicisme classique” (p. 55), and his commitment to the cause of religious unity. Chapter 3, “Bossuet et les Protestants,” is a fine exposition and analysis of the prelate’s complex attitude that disclaim the “black legend” associating him with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; nevertheless, in his attitude toward the “New Catholics” of his diocese, Bossuet was far from the irenicism he showed in earlier times, “il a trop fait l’évêque” (p. 65).

The second part, “Bossuet historien,” is treated by Béatrice Guion, a specialist in the field, in three chapters: Bossuet’s influence as educator, “Précepteur du Dauphin” (chapter 4), especially in his influential Discours sur l’Histoire universelle (chapter 5), followed by a very illuminating study of his conception of history (chapter 6, “Bossuet historien”).

The recent research of Gérard Ferreyrolles, a specialist on Pascal, on seventeenth-century historians is evident in “Société, Autorité, Monarchie,” his presentation on the political thought of Bossuet. His “Bossuet politique” manifests an impressive scholarship combined with a particular ability to explain complex issues. Like his colleagues, he finds in Bossuet’s Augustinian heritage the key to a vision of society that surprisingly brings him close to Pascal’s Pensées (p. 160).The ninth chapter on monarchy is probably the most significant, as it corrects the perception of the bishop as a defender of the divine right of kings. Following Mesnard, Ferreyrolles shows that Bossuet’s political theology is more nuanced, simply placing his reflection in the context of “the most common, the most ancient, the most natural” perspective that presents the king as the father of his people (p. 187).

For many, Bossuet’s reputation rests on his achievements as an orator. After conceding that this is probably not the most significant of Bossuet’s contributions—he was never considered a “professional preacher” akin to Jean-Baptiste Massillon or Louis Bourdaloue, S. J.—Emmanuel Bury shows how he placed himself in a strong tradition that followed the Augustinian model, but was renewed and adapted by St. Francis de Sales (chapter 10, “Un prédicateur de la Contre-Réforme”). The last two chapters, considering his sermons and occasional preaching (“Panégyriques et oraisons funèbres”), explain that, because of Bossuet’s style and masterly art, it is this aspect of his life that is celebrated over all others.

This is a very valuable work, therefore, that fully satisfies the goals of the contributors to produce a short but serious presentation of Bossuet’s life and work that takes into account the “new context”: a better perspective on the influence of Augustine in the seventeenth century and a renewed appreciation of the art of Christian rhetoric during that time. A precise bibliography...