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François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, PSS (), more commonly known as François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), was a French
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
,
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and writer. Today, he is remembered mostly as the author of '' The Adventures of Telemachus'', first published in 1699. He was a member of the Sulpician Fathers.


Childhood and education, 1651–75

Fénelon was born on 6 August 1651 at the
Château de Fénelon The Château de Fénelon is a château in Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. History The site has been inhabited since at least the 11th century, with the oldest surviving parts of the building dating from the 12th century. It is probably mos ...
, in Sainte-Mondane,
Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...
,
Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
, in the Dordogne river valley, the second of the three children of Pons de Salignac, Comte de La Mothe-Fénelon by his wife Louise de La Cropte. Reduced to the status of "impecunious old nobility" by François' time, the La Mothe-Fénelons had produced leaders in both Church and state. At the time of Fénelon's birth, his uncle Francois served as bishop of nearby Sarlat, a see in which fifteen generations of the Fénelon family had filled the episcopal chair. "In fact, so many members of the family occupied the position that it had begun to be considered as practically a familial apanage to which the Salignac-Fénelon had a right as seigneurs of the locality" Fénelon's early education was provided in the
Château de Fénelon The Château de Fénelon is a château in Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. History The site has been inhabited since at least the 11th century, with the oldest surviving parts of the building dating from the 12th century. It is probably mos ...
by private tutors, who gave him a thorough grounding in the language and literature of the Greek and Latin classics. In 1663, at age 12, he was sent to the University of Cahors, where he studied
rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
under the influence of the Jesuit ''ratio studiorum''. When the young man expressed interest in a career in the church, his uncle, the Marquis Antoine de Fénelon (a friend of
Jean-Jacques Olier Jean-Jacques Olier, S.S. (20 September 1608 – 2 April 1657) was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Sulpicians. He also helped to establish the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, which organized the settlement of a new town ca ...
and
Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...
) arranged for him to study at the Collège du Plessis in Paris, whose
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
students followed the same curriculum as the theology students at the Sorbonne. While there, he became friends with Antoine de Noailles, who later became a
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
and the Archbishop of Paris. Fénelon demonstrated so much talent at the Collège du Plessis that at age 15, he was asked to give a public sermon. About 1672 (i.e. around the time he was 21 years old), Fénelon's uncle managed to get him enrolled in the
Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice The Saint-Sulpice Seminary () is a Catholic seminary run by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice, located in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. History The Saint-Sulpice Seminary was established in 1641 in the village of Vaugirard (now p ...
, the
Sulpician The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Early years as a priest, 1675–85

Around 1675 (when he would have been 24), Fénelon was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
as a
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
. He initially dreamed of becoming a missionary to the East, but instead, and at the instigation of friends, he preached in Sulpician parishes and performed routine pastoral work as his reputation for eloquence began to grow. In early 1679, François Harlay de Champvallon, Archbishop of Paris, selected Fénelon as director of ''Nouvelles-Catholiques'', a community in Paris for young Huguenot girls, who had been removed from their families and were about to join the Church of Rome. In 1687, he published a pedagogical work, ''Traité de l'éducation des filles'' (''Treatise on the Education of Girls''), which brought him much attention, not only in France, but abroad as well.François Fénelon profile
CCEL.org. Accessed 8 June 2024.
From 1681 to 1695, Fénelon was prior of the fortified
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
at Carennac.


Missionary to the Huguenots, 1686–87

During this period, Fénelon had become friends with his future rival
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and theology, theologian. Renowned for his sermons, addresses and literary works, he is regarded as a brilliant orator and lit ...
. When
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
revoked the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...
in 1685, the Church began a campaign to send the greatest orators in the country into the regions of France with the highest concentration of
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
s to persuade them of the errors of
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
. Upon Bossuet's suggestion, Fénelon was included in this group, alongside such oratorical greats as Louis Bourdaloue and Esprit Fléchier. He spent the next three years in the Saintonge region of France preaching to Protestants. He persuaded the king to remove troops from the region and tried to avoid outright displays of religious oppression. But, in the end, he was willing to resort to force to make Protestants listen to his message. He believed that "to be obliged to do good is always an advantage and that heretics and schismatics, when forced to apply their minds to the consideration of truth, eventually lay aside their erroneous beliefs, whereas they would never have examined these matters had not authority constrained them."


Important friends, 1687–89

During this period, Fénelon assisted Bossuet during his lectures on the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
at
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. It was probably at Bossuet's urging that he now composed his ''Réfutation du système de Malebranche sur la nature et sur la grâce'', a work in which he attacked
Nicolas Malebranche Nicolas Malebranche ( ; ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesise the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...
's views on
optimism Optimism is the Attitude (psychology), attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is Is the glass half empty ...
, the creation, and the
Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...
. This work was not published until 1820, long after Fénelon's death. Fénelon also became friendly with the Duc de Beauvilliers and the Duc de Chevreuse, who were married to the daughters of Louis XIV's minister of finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert. He wrote a ''Treatise on the Existence of God''. In 1688, Fénelon first met his cousin Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, usually known simply as Madame Guyon. At that time, she was well received in the social circle of the Beauvilliers and Chevreuses. Fénelon was deeply impressed by her piety and actively discipled her. He would later become a devotee and defend her brand of Quietism.


Royal tutor, 1689–97

In 1689, Louis XIV named Fénelon's friend the Duc de Beauvilliers as governor of the royal grandchildren. Upon Beauvilliers' recommendation, Fénelon was named the tutor of the Dauphin's eldest son, the seven-year-old
Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
, who was second in line for the throne. This brought him a good deal of influence at court. As tutor, Fénelon was charged with guiding the character formation of a future
King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...
. He wrote several important works specifically to guide his young charge. These include his ''Fables'' and his ''Dialogues des Morts''. But by far the most lasting of his works that Fénelon composed for the duke was his ''
Les Aventures de Télémaque :''"Les Aventures de Télémaque" is also the title of a 1922 seven-chapter story by Louis Aragon.'' ''Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse'' () is a didactic novel by François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, who in 1689 became tutor to ...
'' he Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses written in 1693–94. On its surface, ''The Adventures of Telemachus'' was a novel about Ulysses' son Telemachus. On another level, it became a biting attack on the divine right absolute monarchy which was the dominant ideology of Louis XIV's France. In sharp contrast to Bossuet, who, when tutor to the Dauphin, had written '' Politique tirée de l'Écriture sainte'' which affirmed the divine foundations of absolute monarchy while also exhorting the future king to use restraint and wisdom in exercising his absolute power, Fénelon went so far as to write "Good kings are rare and the generality of monarchs bad". French literary historian Jean-Claude Bonnet calls ''Télémaque'' "the true key to the museum of the eighteenth-century imagination". One of the most popular works of the century, it became an immediate best seller both in France and abroad, going through many editions and translated into every European language and even Latin verse (first in Berlin in 1743, then in Paris by Étienne Viel 737-87. It inspired numerous imitations, such as the Abbé Jean Terrasson's novel '' Life of Sethos'' (1731), which in turn inspired Mozart's ''
Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
''. It also more directly supplied the plot for
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's opera, ''
Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...
'' (1781). Scenes from ''Télémaque'' appeared in wallpaper. The American president Andrew Jackson wallpapered the entrance hall to his slave plantation, The Hermitage, in Tennessee, with scenes from Telemachus on the Island of Calypso. Most believed Fénelon's tutorship resulted in a dramatic improvement in the young duke's behaviour. Even the memoirist
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, Grandee of Spain, GE (; 16 January 16752 March 1755), was a French soldier, diplomat, and memoirist. He was born in Paris at the Hôtel Selvois, 6 rue Taranne (demolished in 1876 to make way for the Boulevard ...
, who generally disliked Fénelon, admitted that when Fénelon became tutor, the duke was a spoiled, violent child; when Fénelon left him, the duke had learned the lessons of self-control as well as being thoroughly impressed with a sense of his future duties. ''Telemachus'' is therefore widely seen as the most thorough exposition of the brand of reformism in the Beauvilliers-Chevreuse circle, which hoped that following Louis XIV's death, his brand of autocracy could be replaced by a monarchy less centralized and less absolute, and with a greater role for aristocrats such as Beauvilliers and Chevreuse. In 1693, Fénelon was elected to Seat 34 of the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
. In 1694, the king named Fénelon Abbot of Saint-Valery, a lucrative post worth 14,000 livres a year. The early- to mid-1690s are significant since it was during this period that Mme de Maintenon (quasi-
morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
wife of Louis XIV since roughly 1684) began to regularly consult Fénelon on matters of conscience. Also, since Fénelon had a reputation as an expert on educating girls, she sought his advice on the house of Saint-Cyr which she was founding for girls. In February 1696, the king nominated Fénelon to become the
Archbishop of Cambrai This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai. Bishops For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...
while at the same time asking him to remain in his position as tutor to the duke of Burgundy. Fénelon accepted, and he was consecrated by his old friend Bossuet in August.


Quietist controversy, 1697–99

As already noted, Fénelon had met Madam Guyon in 1688 and became an admirer of her work. In 1697, following a visit by Mme Guyon to Mme de Maintenon's school at Saint-Cyr,
Paul Godet des Marais Paul Godet des Marais (1647–1709) was a French Bishop of Chartres, and served as spiritual director for Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, Mme de Maintenon. History Marais was born at Talcy, Loir-et-Cher, Talcy, near Blois. He st ...
,
Bishop of Chartres The oldest known list of bishops of Chartres is found in an 11th-century manuscript of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme. It includes 57 names from Adventus (Saint Aventin) to Aguiertus (Agobert) who died in 1060. The most well-known list is included in the ...
(Saint-Cyr was located within his
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
) expressed concerns about Mme Guyon's
orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...
to Mme de Maintenon. The bishop noted that Mme Guyon's opinions bore striking similarities to Miguel de Molinos' Quietism, which
Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...
condemned in 1687. Mme de Maintenon responded by requesting an ecclesiastical commission to examine Mme Guyon's orthodoxy: the commission consisted of two of Fénelon's old friends, Bossuet and de Noailles, as well as the head of the Sulpician order of which Fénelon was a member. The commission sat at Issy and, after six months of deliberations, delivered its opinion in the ''Articles d'Issy'', 34 articles which briefly condemned certain of Mme Guyon's opinions, as well as set forth a brief exposition of the Catholic view of
prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...
. Both Fénelon and the Bishop of Chartres signed the articles, as did all three commission members. Mme Guyon immediately submitted to the decision. At Issy, the commission asked Bossuet to follow up the Articles with an exposition. Bossuet thus proceeded to write ''Instructions sur les états d'oraison'', which he submitted to the commission members, as well as to the Bishop of Chartres and Fénelon, requesting their signatures before its publication. Fénelon refused to sign, arguing that Mme Guyon had already admitted her mistakes and there was no point in further condemning her. Furthermore, Fénelon disagreed with Bossuet's interpretation of the Articles d'Issy, as he wrote in ''Explication des Maximes des Saints'' (a work often regarded as his masterpiece - English: ''Maxims of the Saints''). Fénelon interpreted the Articles d'Issy in a way much more sympathetic to the Quietist viewpoint than Bossuet proposed. Louis XIV responded to the controversy by chastising Bossuet for not warning him earlier of Fénelon's opinions and ordered Bossuet, de Noailles, and the Bishop of Chartres to respond to the ''Maximes des Saints''. Shocked that his grandson's tutors held such views, the king removed Fénelon from his post as royal tutor and ordered Fénelon to remain within the boundaries of the archdiocese of Cambrai. This unleashed two years of pamphlet warfare as the two sides traded opinions. On 12 March 1699, the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
formally condemned the ''Maximes des Saints'', with Pope Innocent XII listing 23 specific propositions as unorthodox. Fénelon immediately declared that he submitted to the pope's authority and set aside his own opinion. With this, the Quietist matter was dropped. However, that same year, ''The Adventures of Telemachus'' was published. This book also enraged Louis XIV, for it appeared to question his regime's very foundations. Thus, even after Fénelon abjured his Quietist views, the king refused to revoke his order forbidding Fénelon from leaving his archdiocese.


Later years

As Archbishop of
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...
, Fénelon spent most of his time in the archiepiscopal palace, but also spent several months of each year visiting churches and other institutions within his archdiocese. He preached in his cathedral on festival days, and took an especial interest in seminary training and in examining candidates for the priesthood prior to their ordination. During the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
, Spanish troops encamped in his archdiocese (an area France had only recently captured from Spain), but they never interfered with the exercise of his archiepiscopal duties. Warfare, however, produced refugees, and Fénelon opened his palace to refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict. During these latter years, Fénelon wrote a series of anti-
Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...
works. The impetus was the publication of the ''Cas de Conscience'', which revived the old Jansenist distinction between questions of law and questions of fact, and argued that though the church had the right to condemn certain opinions as heretical, it did not have the right to oblige one to believe that these opinions were actually contained in Cornelius Jansen's '' Augustinus''. The treatises, sermons, and pastoral letters Fénelon wrote in response occupy seven volumes in his collected works. Fénelon particularly condemned Pasquier Quesnel's ''Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament''. His writings contributed to the tide of scholarly opinion which led to
Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...
's 1713 bull ''
Unigenitus ''Unigenitus'' (named for its Latin opening words ''Unigenitus Dei Filius'', or "Only-begotten Son of God") is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713. It opened the final phase of the Janse ...
'', condemning Quesnel's opinions. Although confined to the Cambrai archdiocese in his later years, Fénelon continued to act as a spiritual director for Mme de Maintenon, as well as the ducs de Chevreuse and de Beauvilliers, the duke of Burgundy, and other prominent individuals. Fénelon's later years were blighted by the deaths of many of his close friends. Shortly before his death, he asked Louis XIV to replace him with a man opposed to Jansenism and loyal to the Sulpician order. He died on 7 January 1715.


Fénelon as reformer and defender of human rights

Fénelon wrote about the dangers of power in government. Historian
Paul Hazard Paul Gustave Marie Camille Hazard (; 30 August 1878, in Noordpeene, Nord – 13 April 1944, in Paris), was a French professor and historian of ideas. Biography Hazard was the son of a school teacher. Starting in 1900, he attended the École No ...
remarks that the author posed hard questions for his fictional hero Telemachus to put to Idomeneus, King of Salente: Fénelon defended universal human rights, and the unity of humankind. He wrote: He also wrote of women's education as a means against heresy.


Works

*'' The Adventures of Telemachus'', doi:10.3931/e-rara-79368 (Digitized Edition at E-rara).
''Treatise on the Education of Daughters''''Dialogues of the dead''''Lives of the ancient philosophers''
*''Christian Perfection'' *
The Existence of God
' *''Let Go'' *''The Royal Way of the Cross''
''Maxims of the Mystics''
*

' * Spiritual Letters (2 volumes, letters to men; letters to women, Rivingtons, London, 1877)


Homage

Rev. A. W. Tozer highly praises François Fénelon's ''Inner Life (Christian Perfection)'', valuing its profound spiritual insights and practical guidance for deepening one’s relationship with God. Tozer regards it as an essential read for those earnest in pursuing a devout Christian life, emphasizing its timeless significance. Tozer cherished Fénelon's ''Christian Perfection'' deeply, never lending it out, and considered it an unparalleled aid to spiritual life.
William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous fo ...
later referenced Fénelon in book II, chapter II of his Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, as an example of man whose life and continued authorship of important works was so valuable to society at large, that if his palace was in flames and someone was in a position to rescue either Fénelon or his valet (some editions say ''chambermaid''), we should rescue Fenelon, even if the servant was our close relative.


Biography

* H. L. Sidney Lear, ''Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai: A Biographical Sketch'' (London, 1877) * Stafford Harry Northcote, Viscount Saint Cyres, ''François de Fénelon'' (London: Methuen & Co., 1901)


See also

*
Human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
*
Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...
* François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (missionary) - half brother and missionary


References


Further reading

*"François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed''. Gale Research, 1998. *Sabine Melchior-Bonnet, ''Fénelon''. Paris; Éditions Perrin, 2008. *Peter Gorday, ''François Fénelon, a Biography: The Apostle of Pure Love''. Brewster, MA; Paraclete Press, 2012. *Kanter, Sanford B., "Archbishop Fenelon’s Political Activity: The Focal Point of Power in Dynasticism", French Historical Studies 4, no. 3 (1966): 320–34

*MANSFIELD, ANDREW, "The Political Principles of Fénelon", In ''Ideas of Monarchical Reform: Fénelon, Jacobitism, and the Political Works of the Chevalier Ramsay'', 83–104. Manchester University Press, 2015

*Randall, Catharine. "'LOOSENING THE STAYS': MADAME GUYON’S QUIETIST OPPOSITION TO ABSOLUTISM", Mystics Quarterly 26, no. 1 (2000): 8–30

*Christoph Schmitt-Maaß, Stefanie Stockhorst and Doohwan Ahn (eds.). 'Fénelon in the Enlightenment: Traditions, Adaptations, and Variations'. Amsterdam - New York, Rodopi, 2014. *


External links

* * * * * *
Avis Chretiens
' "Christian Counsel" (1810) English translation
''Fenelon''
Librivox free audio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenelon, Francois 1651 births 1715 deaths People from Dordogne 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France 17th-century French novelists 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French Catholic theologians 17th-century Christian mystics 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France 18th-century Christian mystics Roman Catholic mystics French poets French religious writers Members of the Académie Française Archbishops of Cambrai University of Paris alumni French male poets French male novelists French male non-fiction writers