Nicolas Pavillon (1597 at

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

– 1677 at

Alet The Alet is a river in southwestern France. The river is a right tributary of the Salat. The total length is from its source in the Ariège department in the Pyrenees to where it empties into the Salat, near Seix. The Alet is part of the Garon ...

) was a French

bishop of Alet The former French Catholic diocese of Alet (Lat.: ''Electensis'') was created in 1317 from territory formerly in the diocese of Narbonne. The diocese continued until the French Revolution when it was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801. Alet-les-B ...

and

Jansenist 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 th ...

. His attitude against

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

won him the admiration of

Port-Royal Port Royal is the former capital city of Jamaica. Port Royal or Port Royale may also refer to: Institutions * Port-Royal-des-Champs, an abbey near Paris, France, which spawned influential schools and writers of the 17th century ** Port-Royal A ...

. Alet became the "Mecca" of the Jansenists. His nephew was the writer

Étienne Pavillon Étienne Pavillon (1632 – 10 January 1705) was a French lawyer and poet. Biography Grandson of a famous lawyer and nephew of bishop Nicolas Pavillon, Pavillon was born and died in Paris. He first studied theology before renouncing this ...

Life

He joined the community of St-Lazare, founded by

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...

, and, for a time, devoted himself to charities and preaching. His zeal and eloquence caused Richelieu to appoint him to the See of Alet. The thirty-seven years of his episcopate were filled with ceaseless labours for the religious and moral improvement of his diocese; visitation of parishes, holding of synods, and foundation of schools. He opposed pope and king. He was one of the four bishops who refused to sign the formulary imposed by Alexander VII, on the plea that the pope cannot pronounce on facts but only on rights. When

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 ...

commanded submission to the papal order, Pavillon in ''Lettre au roi"'' (1664) declined to recognize his interference. The royal attempt at extending to all the provinces of France the so-called ''

droit de regale ''Jura regalia'' is a medieval legal term which denoted rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty (''jura majora'', ''jura essentialia''), such as royal authority; or accidental (''jura minora'', ''jura a ...

'' found in Pavillon a sturdy opponent. He spurned royal threats and ecclesiastical censures and appealed to the pope against both the King of France and the Metropolitan of Narbonne. From the data of a contemporary pamphlet (''Factum de Messire Vincent Ragot'', Paris, 1766) Toreilles shows the effects of Jansenist principles on every branch of Pavillon's diocesan administration and on his relations with the nobility, the clergy, the regulars, and the peasantry.

Works

He wrote ''Rituel d'Alet'' (Paris, 1666), condemned by

Pope Clement IX Pope Clement IX ( la, Clemens IX; it, Clemente IX; 28 January 1600 – 9 December 1669), born Giulio Rospigliosi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 20 June 1667 to his death in December 1669. Biography Ear ...

, and ''Ordonnances et status synodaux'' (Paris, 1675).

References

*Paris, ''Vie de M. Pavillon'' (Paris, 1738) * Ste-Beuve, ''Port-Royal'' (Paris, 1900), index, s. v. *Marion, ''Histoire de l'Église'', III (Paris, 1908), 369 *Toreilles, "Nicolas Pavillon" in ''Revue du Clergé français'' (Oct. 1902)

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavillon, Nicolas 1597 births 1677 deaths Clergy from Paris Bishops of Alet Jansenists