Feminism, Absolutism, and Jansenism - Louis XIV and the Port-Royal Nuns

"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"--Provided by publisher.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. Jansenism as a 'woman problem'; 2. Controversy and reform at Port Royal; 3. Jansenism's political turn, 1652-61; 4. The limits to obedience, 1661-4; 5. A feminist response to absolutism, 1664-9; 6. The unsettled peace, 1669-79; 7. A royal victory, 1679-1709; Conclusion.

About the author

Daniella Kostroun is currently Assistant Professor of History at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She is the co-editor (with Lisa Vollendorf) of Women, Religion, and the Atlantic World, 1600–1800 and the author of 'A Formula for Disobedience: Jansenism, Gender and the Feminist Paradox', which appeared in the Journal of Modern History and won the 2004 Chester Penn Higby Prize from the Modern European History section of the American Historical Association.

Product details

• Authors: Daniella Kostroun
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.02.2014
• EAN: 9781107674905
• ISBN: 978-1-107-67490-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, France, European History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, HISTORY / Europe / France, RELIGION / Christianity / General, RELIGION / Monasticism, HISTORY / Women, RELIGION / Sexuality & Gender Studies, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Christianity, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, Gender studies: women, Gender studies: women and girls, C 1600 To C 1700, C 1700 To C 1800, Religious communities and monasticism, Christian communities & monasticism