Claude Lancelot (c. 1615 – 1695) was a French

Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

. Lancelot was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He participated in the creation of the

Petites écoles de Port-Royal The Petites écoles de Port-Royal was the name given to a teaching system set up in 1637 by the intellectuals who gathered at Port-Royal-des-Champs in the middle of the 17th century at the height of the Jansenist controversy. They functioned from 1 ...

in May 1638 (then under the spiritual guidance of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Saint-Cyran). Lancelot was in charge of the education of the

duke of Chevreuse Duke of Chevreuse ( French ''Duc de Chevreuse'') was a French title of nobility, elevated from the barony of Chevreuse in 1545. History The duchy of Chevreuse was originally created for Jean de Brosse, Duc d'Étampes, it was transferred in 155 ...

and of the

princes of Conti Prince of Conti (French: ''prince de Conti'') was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the princely house of Princes of Condé, Bourbon-Condé. History The title derives its name from Conty, a small town in northern France, c. 35&nb ...

. From 1638 until 1660, Lancelot continued to be associated with the religious community around the Abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs. Lancelot authored ''Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la langue latine'' or ''New Method of Learning Latin'' (1644); ''Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la langue grecque'' or ''New Method of Learning Greek'' (1655); ''Jardin des racines grecques'' or ''Garden of Greek Roots'' (1657), first published under the name ''Racines Grecques de Port-Royal''; and, with

Antoine Arnauld Antoine Arnauld (; 6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, priest, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patr ...

, ''Grammaire générale et raisonnée'' or ''General and Rational Grammar'' (1660), otherwise known as the

Port-Royal Grammar The ''Port-Royal Grammar'' (originally ''Grammaire générale et raisonnée contenant les fondemens de l'art de parler, expliqués d'une manière claire et naturelle'', "General and Rational Grammar, containing the fundamentals of the art of speak ...

. In early 1660, Lancelot was forced to leave the Abbey, and was ultimately exiled to

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. Lancelot died near the Holy-Cross Abbey, in

Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km t ...

, in 1695.La Grammaire de Port Royal
Claude Lancelot & Antoine Arnauld, ''e-book downloadable (Epub)''

References

External links

* 1610s births 1695 deaths French Benedictines Jansenists Year of birth uncertain 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers {{france-linguist-stub