Ernest Ruth d’Ans «Patriarche des Jansénistes» (1653–1728). Une biographie (review)

There are only two contenders for the dubious title of “Patriarch of the Jansenists”: Antoine “the Great” Arnauld (1612–94) and Pasquier Quesnel (1634–1719). Both men spent the later years of their lives in the Netherlands, and one of their regular companions was Ernest Ruth d’Ans. “Ernest,” as the author calls him, must have been facetious when he applied this title to himself (p. 489), simply meaning that he represented an old and dying tradition that should be continued by younger generations. Born in the French-speaking Episcopal principality of Liège, educated at Louvain, and formed at Port-Royal, Ruth d’Ans was one of the many characters who make the study of the Jansenist movement both very fascinating and complicated. His claim to fame was his association with major figures of the movement: Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, the great historian; Sebastién du Cambout de Pontchateau, Port-Royal agent in Rome; Arnauld, whom he rejoined in Brussels in 1687; and Quesnel, his competitor in Arnauld’s heritage. Because of these connections he was involved in many of the endeavors of the Jansenist international network— more as a go-between, sometimes a meddler, than a leader—but his influence cannot be dismissed. He also pursued a rather laborious ecclesiastical career as adviser to bishops and chaplain to princesses, eventually obtaining a canonry of Ste-Gudule in Brussels, deanery of Tournai, as well as a surprising Roman doctorate in divinity.

This doctoral dissertation in history, defended at the University of Louvain in 2000, offers an exhaustive reconstruction of the life of a complex individual and his participation in the political and religious history of his region. Many of the details will be of interest only to historians of Belgian Catholicism in a period when European wars and diplomacy were exerting influence on the religious life of a country that passed from Spanish to French and then Austrian control. In this instance Ruth d’Ans’s struggle to receive protection from the succeeding dynasties is in itself very illuminating. The research also illustrates important elements of Jansenist history—in particular, the network’s exchanges and activities that so infuriated King Louis XIV; its efforts to create a body of theological references, the Grand Recueil, that would set forth their position on disputed issues; and the Grande affaire, that is, the schismatic establishment of episcopal hierarchy in the United Provinces. Many materials are presented here that define and nuance these important issues. Finally, one finds a powerful illustration of the damaging war that opposed Jansenists and anti-Jansenists; as Lucien Ceyssens often exposed, in the Netherlands more than in any other country, the Catholic renewal was harmed by a polarization that in a certain sense seems to have continued to the present day.

This is very valuable research, therefore, impressive in its comprehensiveness (more than 100 pages of sources) that might have gained a larger readership had it been condensed in a more accessible way.