BOSSUET, Jacques-Bénigne (1627–1704), French preacher and Bp. of Meaux. The fifth son of a judge in the Parlement of Dijon, he was educated first at the Jesuit school at Dijon, later at Metz (whither his father had removed), and at the age of 13 appointed to a canonry in Metz cathedral. In 1642 he went to Paris, where he entered the Collège de Navarre to train for the priesthood. His oratorical gifts attracted notice through a sermon with which as a boy of 16 he entertained a salon at the Hôtel de Rambouillet. In 1649 he was ordained deacon and, after preparation under St Vincent de Paul, priest at Metz in 1652. After seven years at Metz, spent in study, controversy with the Protestants, and preaching, in 1659 he moved to Paris. Here his fame rapidly grew and he was a frequent preacher before the court. He was mainly responsible for the conversion of Marshal Turenne from Protestantism in 1668. In 1669 he was appointed  Bp. of Condom in Gascony and in the same year delivered the first of his great ‘Funeral Orations’ (on Henrietta Maria), which revealed to the full his powers as a pulpit orator.

    For the next 11 years he was tutor to the Dauphin (1670–1681). During this period he published his Exposition de la doctrine catholique sur les matières de controverse (1671), and also wrote (in the first place for his pupil’s instruction) his Traité de la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même (pub. 1722) and his Discours sur l’histoire universelle (1681). The latter was a compelling presentation of the Christian view of Divine overruling in history.

    On the completion of his duties as preceptor he was translated to the see of Meaux (1681), and now came to take an increasingly prominent part in French ecclesiastical affairs. At the Assemblée générale du Clergé of 1682 he was mainly instrumental in securing the support of the French clergy for the moderate Gallicanism of the Four Gallican Articles which he himself drew up. In his zeal for the Catholic faith he approved of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and also directed many publications against the Protestants, among which his Histoire des variations des Églises protestantes (2 vols., 1688) was the most notable.

    At the same time Bossuet hoped that Christian reunion might be furthered by peaceful methods, and to this end conducted a long correspondence (1683–1700) with G. W. Leibniz. His Méditations sur l’Evangile (pub. 1731) and his Élévations sur les mystères (pub. 1727), written in the concluding decade of his life, rank as classics of French devotional literature. In his last years the case of Mme Guyon led him into a bitter controversy on mysticism with F. Fénelon, and Bossuet was mainly responsible for his condemnation in 1699. His views were embodied in his Relation sur le quiétisme (1698). He was also a vigorous opponent of R. Simon’s theories of the Bible, notably in his Défense de la tradition et des saints pères (pub. 1763).

By common consent Bossuet is among the greatest preachers of all time. Not only did he possess the outward gifts which belong to the successful orator (an impressive presence, a pleasing voice, ease of manner, fitness of phrase); he also combined with them precision of thought, complete grasp of the subject and, above all, a strong hold on dogmatic truth; and to the dry light of argument he added the fire of passion. The fact that he was at his best on a large canvas made the funeral oration a form specially suited to his talents. The three on Henrietta Maria (1669), Henriette Anne d’Angleterre (1670), and the Prince de Condé (1687) will remain classics. But his real greatness as a preacher rests on the distinction he showed on less formal occasions.

Complete Works, ed. F. Lachat (31 vols., Paris, 1862–6). Œuvres oratoires, ed. J. Lebarq, rev. by C. Urbain and E. Levesque (7 vols., Paris, 1914–26). Correspondence, ed. C. Urbain and E. Levesque (15 vols., Paris, 1909–12). Modern Eng. tr. of Bossuet’s Politique tirée des propres paroles de l’Écriture Sainte (1709), with introd. by P. Riley (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, 1990). Lives by A. Rébelliau (‘Les Grands Écrivains français’, 1900), W. J. Sparrow Simpson (London, 1937), J. Calvet (Paris, 1941), and J. Meyer (ibid., 1993). R. Schmittlein, L’Aspect politique du différend Bossuet-Fénelon (Bade, 1954); L. Cognet, Crépuscule des mystiques: Bossuet. Fénelon (Tournai [1958]); J. Truchet, La Prédication de Bossuet (2 vols., 1960); id., Bossuet panégyriste (1962); id., Politique de Bossuet (1966); T. Goyet, L’Humanisme de Bossuet (2 Vols. in 1 [1965]); J. Lebrun, Bossuet (‘Les écrivains devant Dieu’ [1970]); id., La spiritualité de Bossuet [1972]. F. Cabrol, OSB, ‘Bossuet, ses relations avec l’Angleterre’, RHE 27 (1931), pp. 525–71. A. Largent in DTC 2 (1905), cols. 1049–89; E. Levesque in DHGE 9 (1937), cols. 1339–91.

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