JANSENISM - Cardinal de NOAILLES (Louis-Antoine, 1651-1729, - Lot 471

JANSENISM - Cardinal de NOAILLES (Louis-Antoine, 1651-1729, Archbishop of Paris, his conciliatory attitude towards the Jansenists led to his dismissal from the Court by Louis XIV) / Superb letter partly autograph (the end) and signed by him, 3 p petit in-4, Paris, April 1, 1720, to Monseigneur Bernard d'Abbadie d'Arboucave, bishop of Dax, in order to rally him to appease the Jansenists by signing a concordat (a kind of equivocal submission which was not to publish the famous Unigenitus Bull, but to publish an explanation of it): "M. l'Abbé Pastel docteur de Sorbonne vous porte Monsieur, par ordre de S.A.R. (n.b.: le Régent) les actes qui doivent servir à conclure la paix de l'Eglise. I won't go into all the reasons why this peace is so necessary, but I know you've always wanted it, and you'll know from the deeds themselves that we've obtained the conditions we've always asked for. Mr Pastel, whose merit and reputation I have no doubt you know, will give you a detailed account, so I won't say anything about it here. All that remains to consolidate peace is a good declaration from the King, which will calm all disturbances. This is what HRH has promised us, and what we have a right to expect from the zeal she has shown for the success of a work so important for the Church, and so necessary for the tranquility of the State. I have no doubt that once you have seen the deeds, you will make the same judgment as we have all made, Messieurs les Evêques de Laon, de Chalons, d'Auxerre et de Bayonne, who have been in Paris, we have all judged that it is a great service to the Church to sign the agreement under such conditions. Your approval will be of great weight with the public, and will confirm us more and more in the good opinion of what has been done here" - In an autograph subscription, Cardinal de Noailles urges his correspondent to listen to Abbé Pastel, who shows him the falseness of what the Capuchins are spreading in his city (n.b.: Monseigneur d'Abbadie was not convinced and published the reply to this letteraccompanied by a "Mémoire sur les doutes que je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de former au sujet de ce qui m'a été communiqué par M; l'Abbé Pastel docteur en Sorbonne"- In November 1720, Cardinal de Noailles published his "Explanation of the Bull", signed by 85 bishops, except Monseigneur d'Abbadie, which did nothing to appease Pope Clement XI's insistence on full acceptance (it was only in 1728 that Monseigneur d'Abbadie agreed to publish the Bull).