Charles-Maurice Le Tellier (1642 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

– 1710 in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

) was a French

Archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ...

. The son of

Michel Le Tellier Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Barbezieux, seigneur de Chaville et de Viroflay (19 April 1603 – 30 October 1685) was a French statesman. Biography Le Tellier was born in Paris to a Parisian magistrate, Michel III Le Tellier, and his wife, Clau ...

and brother of

François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois (18 January 1641 – 16 July 1691) was the French Secretary of State for War during a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Together with his father, Michel le Tellier Michel Le Tellier, ...

, both ministers of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, he studied for the Church, won a

doctorate of theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and was ordained priest in 1666. Provided, even before his ordination, with several royal abbeys, he rapidly rose to the coadjutorship of

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

, then to that of

and became titular of that see at the age of twenty-nine. His administration was marked by zeal and success along the lines of popular education, training of clerics, parochial organization, restoration of ecclesiastical discipline and extirpation of Protestantism from the Sedan district. The importance of his see together with the royal favour brought him to the front in the affairs of the Church in France. As secretary of the '' Petite Assemblée'' of 1681, he reported for the king and against the pope on all disputed points: the extension of the royal claim called ''régale'', the forcible placing of a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbess over the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

nuns of

Charonne The Charonne quarter is an area of the 20th arrondissement of Paris named after a former municipality in the area, which was merged into the city of Paris in 1860 by Napoleon III and split between Charonne quarter (south part), the Père-Lachais ...

, and the expulsion of the canonically elected vicars capitular of

Pamiers Pamiers (; oc, Pàmias ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although it ...

. The famous Gallican Assembly of 1682 was convened at his suggestion. Elected president with Harlay, he caused the bishops to endorse the royal policy of encroachment on church affairs, and even memorialized the pope with a view to make him accept the ''régale''. His comparative moderation in the matter of the four Gallican propositions was due to

Bossuet Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), French bishop and theologian, uncle of Louis * Louis Bossuet Louis Bossuet (22 February 1663 – 15 January 1742) was a French parle ...

, who remarked that "the glory of the ''régale'' would only be obscured by those odious propositions." As president of the Assembly (1700) which undertook to deal with

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by t ...

and

Laxism In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow an authoritative opinion regarding whether an act may be performed moral ...

already judged by the pope, Le Tellier was lenient with the Jansenists and severe with theologians of repute. The same holds true of the various controversies in which he took part: the '' Nouveau Testament de Mons'', the theory of philosophical sin and

Molinism Molinism, named after 16th-century Spanish Jesuit priest and Roman Catholic theologian Luis de Molina, is the thesis that God has middle knowledge. It seeks to reconcile the apparent tension of divine providence and human free will. Prominent c ...

. Le Tellier is remembered as a successful administrator, an orator of some merit, a promoter of letters, a protector of Saint

John Baptist de la Salle Jean-Baptiste de La Salle () (; 30 April 1651 – 7 April 1719) was a French priest, educational reformer, and founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He is a saint of the Catholic Church and the patron saint for t ...

Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabil ...

, Ruinart, etc., and a bosom friend of Bossuet, whom he consecrated, and visited on his deathbed, and whom he induced to write the "Oraison funèbre de Michel Le Tellier." His manuscripts, in sixty volumes, are at the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, and his library of 50,000 volumes at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Le Tellier was also a manuscript collector (e.g.

Minuscule 10 Minuscule 10 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 372 ( Soden), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on 275 parchment leaves (), dated palaeographically to the 13th century. It has complex contents with full marginalia. Desc ...

, 11, 13, 284, and 467).

References

* Abbé Joseph Gillet, ''Charles-Maurice Le Tellier'', with an exhaustive bibliography (Paris, 1881), p. xii and passim * Charles Sainte-Beuve, ''Port-Royal'' (ed. 1900), index. *

Luc-Normand Tellier Luc-Normand Tellier (born October 10, 1944) is a Professor Emeritus in spatial economics of the University of Quebec at Montreal. Education and teaching After teaching for two years (1964–1966) at the Collège Saint-André of Kigali, Rwanda, ...

, ''Face aux Colbert : les Le Tellier, Vauban, Turgot ... et l'avènement du libéralisme'', Presses de l'Université du Québec, 1987, 816 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Tellier, Charles-Maurice 1642 births 1710 deaths University of Paris alumni Clergy from Turin Archbishops of Reims Peers of France Charles Maurice 17th-century peers of France 18th-century peers of France