Pierre Thomas, sieur du Fossé (1634–1698) was a French scholar and author, and was the son of a master of accounts at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. He was sent as a child to be educated to the Jansenists at

Port-Royal des Champs Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions. History The abbey was established in 1204, but became fam ...

. There he received his bent towards the life of a recluse, and even of a hermit, which drew him to establish himself in the neighborhood of

. There he associated with Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont,

Antoine Singlin Anthoine Singlin (1607–1664) was a French Jansenism, Jansenist Catholic priest, best known as a member of the Jansenist community at Port-Royal-des-Champs and as head of the Petites écoles de Port-Royal (set up by his friend Jean du Vergier de ...

Robert Arnauld d'Andilly Robert Arnauld d’Andilly (28 May 1589 – 27 September 1674, abbaye de Port-Royal-des-Champs)Jean Lesaulnier et Anthony McKenna dir., ''Dictionnaire de Port-Royal'', Paris, Honoré Champion, 2004, notice "Robert Arnauld d’Andilly", p. 108. wa ...

and Antoine Le Maistre. In 1661 he came to Paris, and in 1666 was arrested along with

Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy (29 March 1613 – 4 January 1684), a priest of Port-Royal, was a theologian and French humanist. He is best known for his translation of the Bible, the most widespread French Bible in the 18th century, also known as t ...

, and after a month in the Bastille was exiled to his estate of Fossé near Forges-les-Eaux. He later made yearly visits to Paris during the winter months. Apart from his collaboration with de Sacy on a French translation of the Bible, Thomas wrote some hagiographic works and left ''Mémoires'' (1697–1698 and again 1876–1879), which are highly praised by

Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

as being a remarkable mirror of the life at Port-Royal. He also wrote under the

pseudonyme A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s Pierre Thomas Beaulieu and Pierre Thomas La Motte.

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References

Pierre Thomas du Fossé Pierre Thomas, sieur du Fossé (1634–1698) was a French scholar and author, and was the son of a master of accounts at Rouen. He was sent as a child to be educated to the Jansenists at Port-Royal des Champs. There he received his bent towards ...

at the French Wikipedia (visited March 16, 2009) ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Pierre 1634 births 1698 deaths French scholars French memoirists Jansenists Writers from Rouen French male non-fiction writers 17th-century memoirists