French Literature Reviews - 2026
Angélique Arnauld, Complete Works, Vol. 1, No. 3: Letters (edited by J. Lesaulnier, F. Pouge-Bellais, and A.-C. Volongo)
History, Politics and Society
Angélique Arnauld
Complete Works. Tome I - volume III, Letters
edited by Jean Lesaulnier, Françoise Pouge-Bellais, and Anne-Claire Volongo
Paris, Classiques Garnier, coll. Univers Port-Royal, 2020
EAN : 9782406103189
2849 p. — €56.00
Through 1,800 letters, 500 of which are published here for the first time, emerges the figure of Angélique Arnauld (1591–1661), the reforming abbess of Port-Royal. Strong-willed and demanding, Angélique Arnauld nevertheless expresses her painful powerlessness in the face of royal sanctions against those who came to be known as the Jansenists.
This third volume of the Complete Works brings together 1,800 letters by Angélique Arnauld, offering an intimate and expansive view of seventeenth-century religious reform. As the formidable abbess of Port-Royal, Arnauld played a central role in the spiritual and intellectual currents of her time, bridging monastic administration and fierce theological controversy. Published by Classiques Garnier in the Univers Port-Royal collection, this scholarly edition makes a wealth of primary material widely accessible for the first time, illuminating the daily realities and high-stakes politics of early modern French Catholicism.
Among these documents, 500 letters appear in print for the first time, shedding new light on the intense pressures faced by Port-Royal during royal sanctions against the Jansenists. Arnauld's correspondence captures both her resolute leadership and her profound vulnerability when confronting ecclesiastical and political authority. This comprehensive resource is exceptionally valuable for historians of religion, literary scholars of the Grand Siècle, and anyone interested in women's writing, spiritual autobiography, and the turbulent history of seventeenth-century French dissent.