Of his twenty children several grew up to fight the Jesuits on more
important matters. Five gave themselves up wholly to the church. HENRI
ARNAULD (1597-1692), the second son, became bishop of Angers in 1649,
and represented Jansenism on the episcopal Bench for as long as
forty-three years. The youngest son, ANTOINE (1612-1694), was the most
famous of Jansenist theologians (see below). The second daughter,
ANGELIQUE (1591-1661), was abbess and reformer of Port Royal; here she
was presently joined by her sister AGNES (1593-1671) and two younger
sisters, both of whom died early.
Only two of Antoine's children married--ROBERT ARNAULD D'ANDILLY
(1588-1674), the eldest son, and CATHERINE LEMAISTRE (1590-1651), the
eldest daughter. But both of these ended their lives under the shadow of
the abbey. Andilly's five daughters all took the veil there; the second,
ANGELIQUE DE ST JEAN ARNAULD D'ANDILLY (1624-1684) rose to be abbess,
was a writer of no mean repute, and one of the most remarkable figures
of the second generation of Jansenism. One of Andilly's sons became a
hermit at Port Royal; the eldest, ANTOINE (1615-1699), was first a
soldier, afterwards a priest. As the Abbe Arnauld, he survives as author
of some interesting _Memoirs_ of his time. The second son, SIMON ARNAULD
DE POMPONNE (1616-1699), early entered public life. After holding
various embassies, he rose to be foreign secretary to Louis XIV., and
was created marquis de Pomponne. Lastly Madame Lemaistre and two of her
sons became identified with Port Royal. On her husband's death she took
the veil there. Her eldest son, ANTOINE LEMAISTRE (1608-1658), became
the first of the _solitaires_, or hermits of Port Royal. There he was
joined by his younger brother, ISAAC LEMAISTRE DE SACI (1613-1684), who
presently took holy orders, and became confessor to the hermits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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