Pierre de Langle (6 March 1643, in
Evreux – 12 April 1724, in
Boulogne-Sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
) was a French bishop and
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 ...
theologian.
Life
At the request of his friend
Bossuet Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and theology, theologian. Re ...
, he was made tutor to
Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon (6 June 1678 – 1 December 1737), a Legitimacy (family law), legitimated prince of the blood royal, was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. At the age of five, he ...
. He was abbot of
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.[Louis XIV of France
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...]
rewarded him for his teaching duties by making him
bishop of Boulogne
The former French Catholic diocese of Boulogne existed from 1567 to the French Revolution. It was created after the diocese of Thérouanne was suppressed because of war damage to the see; effectively this was a renaming. It belonged to the Ar ...
, nominating him on 29 March 1698, with the bulls to that effect coming out on 15 September the same year.
De Langle did little of note until the publication of the papal bull ''
Unigenitus
''Unigenitus'' (named for its Latin opening words ''Unigenitus Dei Filius'', or "Only-begotten Son of God") is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713. It opened the final phase of the Janse ...
'', in response to which he published his 1717 ''Mandement''. This was an appeal but led to his disgrace at court and violence in his diocese, with the inhabitants of
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
rising in rebellion and those of
Quernes
Quernes (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France.region of France northwest of Béthune and west of Lille. The inhabitants are called the ''Quernois.''
The commune is part of the Communauté d'agglomération ...
beating de Langle with sticks and throwing stones when he visited them. He thus became part of the 'Appelant' movement alongside
Jean Soanen
Jean Soanen (1647–1740) was a French Oratorian and bishop of Senez. He was a convinced Jansenist.
In opposition to the papal bull '' Unigenitus'', he with Charles-Joachim Colbert, bishop of Montpellier, Pierre de la Broue who was bishop o ...
,
Pierre de La Broue
Pierre de La Broue (8 February 1644, Toulouse - 20 September 1720, Mirepoix, Ariège, Mirepoix was a French bishop. He was part of the 'Apellant' movement within Jansenism, which called for the summoning of a church council to discuss the anti-Ja ...
and
Charles-Joachim Colbert de Croissy, calling for a church council to discuss the bull. He and de Croissy opposed the 1720 compromise, causing the
Duke of Orleans
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...
to banish de Langle from his own diocese.
Sources
* Augustin Gazier, ''Histoire du mouvement janséniste depuis ses origines jusqu’à nos jours'', t. 1, Paris, Honoré Champion, 1924, p. 256.
* C. Landrin, ''Un prélat gallican, Pierre de Langle, évêque de Boulogne (1644-1724)'', Calais, Imprimerie J. Peumery, 1905
See also
Jean-Marie Henriau
Jean-Marie Henriau (c.1661, Paris – 25 January 1738) was a French cleric and opponent of Jansenism.
The son of a procureur to the parliament of Paris, he became conseiller-clerc to the parliament, then prior of Beaurain and canon and grand-vi ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langle, Pierre de
Bishops of Boulogne
1643 births
1724 deaths
17th-century French theologians
Jansenists
18th-century French Catholic theologians