Feminism, absolutism, and Jansenism : Louis XIV and the Port-Royal nuns / Daniella Kostroun.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kostroun, Daniella J., 1970- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715--Political and social views.

Port-Royal des Champs (Abbey)--History--17th century.

Cistercian nuns--France--History--17th century.

Jansenists--France--History--17th century.

Patriarchy--France--History--17th century.

Feminism--France--History--17th century.

Despotism--France--History--17th century.

Religious absolutism--France--History--17th century.

France--Politics and government--1643-1715.

France--Religion--17th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 273 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Feminism, Absolutism, & Jansenism

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Feminism, Absolutism, and Jansenism chronicles seventy years of Jansenist conflict and its complex intersection with power struggles between gallican bishops, Parlementaires, the Crown and the Pope. Daniella Kostroun focuses on the nuns of Port-Royal-des-Champs, whose community was disbanded by Louis XIV in 1709 as a threat to the state. Paradoxically, it was the nuns' adherence to their strict religious rule and the ideal of pious, innocent and politically disinterested behavior that allowed them to challenge absolutism effectively. Adopting methods from cultural studies, feminism and the Cambridge School of political thought, Kostroun examines how these nuns placed gender at the heart of the Jansenist challenge to the patriarchal and religious foundations of absolutism; they responded to royal persecution with a feminist defense of women's spiritual and rational equality and of the autonomy of the individual subject, thereby offering a bold challenge to the patriarchal and religious foundations of absolutism.

Contents:

Jansenism as a "woman problem"

Controversy and reform at Port Royal

Jansenism's political turn, 1652-1661

The limits to obedience, 1661-1664

A feminist response to absolutism, 1664-1669

The unsettled peace, 1669-1679

A royal victory, 1679-1709.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-03605-X

1-107-21983-3

1-283-12716-4

9786613127167

1-139-04151-7

0-511-97645-3

1-139-03837-0

1-139-04228-9

1-139-04491-5

1-139-04074-X

OCLC:

729166462