Claude Lancelot (c. 1615 – 1695) was a French

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 ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and grammarian. Lancelot was born in

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 ...

. He participated in the creation of the

Petites écoles de Port-Royal The Petites écoles de Port-Royal was the name given to a teaching system set up in 1637 by the intellectuals who gathered at Port-Royal-des-Champs in the middle of the 17th century at the height of the Jansenist controversy. They functioned from 1 ...

in May 1638 (then under the spiritual guidance of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Saint-Cyran). Lancelot was in charge of the education of the

duke of Chevreuse Duke of Chevreuse ( French ''Duc de Chevreuse'') was a French title of nobility, elevated from the barony of Chevreuse in 1545. Originally created for Jean de Brosse, Duc d'Étampes, it was transferred in 1555 to Charles of Guise, the Cardinal of L ...

and of the

princes of Conti The title of Prince of Conti (French: ''prince de Conti'') was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the princely house of Bourbon-Condé. History The title derives its name from Conty, a small town in northern France, c. 35 km ...

. From 1638 until 1660, Lancelot continued to be associated with the religious community around the Abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs. Lancelot authored ''Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la langue latine'' or ''New Method of Learning Latin'' (1644); ''Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la langue grecque'' or ''New Method of Learning Greek'' (1655); ''Jardin des racines grecques'' or ''Garden of Greek Roots'' (1657), first published under the name ''Racines Grecques de Port-Royal''; and, with

Antoine Arnauld Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...

, ''Grammaire générale et raisonnée'' or ''General and Rational Grammar'' (1660), otherwise known as the

Port-Royal Grammar The ''Port-Royal Grammar'' (originally ''Grammaire générale et raisonnée contenant les fondemens de l'art de parler, expliqués d'une manière claire et naturelle'', "General and Rational Grammar, containing the fundamentals of the art of speaki ...

. In early 1660, Lancelot was forced to leave the Abbey, and was ultimately exiled to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. Lancelot died near the Holy-Cross Abbey, in

Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km to the west of Lorient and 44 km to the east of Quimper. Historically, it belon ...

, in 1695.La Grammaire de Port Royal
Claude Lancelot & Antoine Arnauld, ''e-book downloadable (Epub)''

References

External links

* 1610s births 1695 deaths French Benedictines Jansenists Year of birth uncertain 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers {{france-linguist-stub