Esprit Fléchier
Encyclopedia
Esprit Fléchier was a French
preacher and author
, Bishop of Nîmes from 1687 to 1710.
, in the département of Vaucluse
, in the Comtat Venaissin
, and brought up at Tarascon
by his uncle, Hercule Audiffret, superior of the Congrégation des Doctrinaires. Fléchier entered the order, but on the death of his uncle, he left it, owing to the strictness of its rules, and went to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing poetry
. His French
poems met with little success, but a description in Latin
verse of a tournament (carrousel, circus regius), given by Louis XIV
around 1662, brought him a great reputation.
He subsequently became tutor to Louis Urbain Lefebvre de Caumartin, afterwards intendant of finances
and counsellor of state, whom he accompanied to Clermont-Ferrand
, where the king had ordered the Grands Jours to be held (1665), and where Caumartin was sent as representative of the sovereign. There, Fléchier wrote his curious Mémoires sur les Grand jours tenus à Clermont, in which he relates, in a half romantic, half historical form, the proceedings of this extraordinary court of justice. In 1668, the duke of Montausier
procured for him the post of lecteur to the Dauphin. The sermons of Fléchier increased his reputation, which was afterwards raised to the highest pitch by his funeral orations. The most important are those on the duchesse de Montausier (1672), which gained him the membership of the Académie française
, the duchesse d'Aiguillon
(1675), and, above all, Marshal Turenne
(1676). He was now firmly established in the favour of the king, who gave him successively the abbacy
of Saint-Séverin
, in the diocese of Poitiers, the office of almoner to the Dauphine, and in 1685 the bishopric of Lavaur, from which he was in 1687 promoted to that of Nîmes. The edict of Nantes
had been repealed two years before; but the Calvinists were still very numerous at Nîmes. Fléchier, by his leniency and tact, succeeded in bringing over some of them to his views, and even gained the esteem of those who declined to change their faith.
During the troubles in the Cévennes
he softened to the utmost of his power the rigour of the edicts, and showed himself so indulgent even to what he regarded as error, that his memory was long held in veneration amongst the Protestants of that district. It is right to add, however, that some authorities consider the accounts of his leniency to have been greatly exaggerated, and even charge him with going beyond what the edicts permitted. He died at Montpellier
.
, whose robust and sublime genius had no rival in that age; he does not equal Bourdaloue
in earnestness of thought and vigour of expression; nor can he rival the philosophical depth or the insinuating and impressive eloquence of Jean-Baptiste Massillon. But he is always ingenious, often witty, and nobody has carried farther than he the harmony of diction, sometimes marred by an affectation of symmetry and an excessive use of antithesis. His two historical works, the histories of Theodosius I
and of Ximenes, are more remarkable for elegance of style than for accuracy and comprehensive insight.
Partial list of works:
He left a portrait or caractère of himself, addressed to one of his friends. The "Funeral Oration of Marshal Turenne" has been translated in English in HC Fish's History and Repository of Pulpit Eloquence (ii., 1857).
on December 5, 1672, as a successor of Antoine Godeau
. He entered the Académie on January 12, 1673, the same day as Jean Racine
and Jean Gallois
.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
of 1913 states: "[Esprit Fléchier was] together with Bourdaloue
, Bossuet
, Fenelon
, and Mascaron
, one of the greatest sacred orators of his century".
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
preacher and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, Bishop of Nîmes from 1687 to 1710.
Life
He was born at Pernes-les-FontainesPernes-les-Fontaines
Pernes-les-Fontaines is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-References:*...
, in the département of Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
, in the Comtat Venaissin
Comtat Venaissin
The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short , is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. It comprised roughly the area between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventoux, with a small exclave located to the...
, and brought up at Tarascon
Tarascon
Tarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...
by his uncle, Hercule Audiffret, superior of the Congrégation des Doctrinaires. Fléchier entered the order, but on the death of his uncle, he left it, owing to the strictness of its rules, and went to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. His French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
poems met with little success, but a description in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
verse of a tournament (carrousel, circus regius), given by Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
around 1662, brought him a great reputation.
He subsequently became tutor to Louis Urbain Lefebvre de Caumartin, afterwards intendant of finances
Intendant des finances
The Intendants des finances were intendants or agents of France's financial administration under the Ancien Régime.-History:The role of intendant des finances was created in 1552 as a 'commission' or committee, to manage the subsidies raised for the 'trip to Germany', though these commissaires were...
and counsellor of state, whom he accompanied to Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
, where the king had ordered the Grands Jours to be held (1665), and where Caumartin was sent as representative of the sovereign. There, Fléchier wrote his curious Mémoires sur les Grand jours tenus à Clermont, in which he relates, in a half romantic, half historical form, the proceedings of this extraordinary court of justice. In 1668, the duke of Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier was a French soldier and the governor of the dauphin, Louis le Grand Dauphin, the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France....
procured for him the post of lecteur to the Dauphin. The sermons of Fléchier increased his reputation, which was afterwards raised to the highest pitch by his funeral orations. The most important are those on the duchesse de Montausier (1672), which gained him the membership of the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, the duchesse d'Aiguillon
Duchesse d'Aiguillon
Marie Madeleine de Vignerot du Pont de Courlay, Duchesse d'Aiguillon was the daughter of Cardinal Richelieu's sister, Françoise du Plessis and her husband René Vignerot....
(1675), and, above all, Marshal Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
(1676). He was now firmly established in the favour of the king, who gave him successively the abbacy
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of Saint-Séverin
Saint-Séverin-sur-Boutonne
Saint-Séverin-sur-Boutonne is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-Geography:The village lies on the right bank of the Boutonne, which forms most of the commune's eastern border.-Population:-References:*...
, in the diocese of Poitiers, the office of almoner to the Dauphine, and in 1685 the bishopric of Lavaur, from which he was in 1687 promoted to that of Nîmes. The edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
had been repealed two years before; but the Calvinists were still very numerous at Nîmes. Fléchier, by his leniency and tact, succeeded in bringing over some of them to his views, and even gained the esteem of those who declined to change their faith.
During the troubles in the Cévennes
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
he softened to the utmost of his power the rigour of the edicts, and showed himself so indulgent even to what he regarded as error, that his memory was long held in veneration amongst the Protestants of that district. It is right to add, however, that some authorities consider the accounts of his leniency to have been greatly exaggerated, and even charge him with going beyond what the edicts permitted. He died at Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
.
Works
Pulpit eloquence is the branch of belles-lettres in which Fléchier excelled. He is indeed far below BossuetJacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
, whose robust and sublime genius had no rival in that age; he does not equal Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue was a French Jesuit and preacher.He was born in Bourges. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, and was appointed successively professor of rhetoric, philosophy and moral theology, in various Jesuit colleges...
in earnestness of thought and vigour of expression; nor can he rival the philosophical depth or the insinuating and impressive eloquence of Jean-Baptiste Massillon. But he is always ingenious, often witty, and nobody has carried farther than he the harmony of diction, sometimes marred by an affectation of symmetry and an excessive use of antithesis. His two historical works, the histories of Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
and of Ximenes, are more remarkable for elegance of style than for accuracy and comprehensive insight.
Partial list of works:
- La vie du cardinal Jean-François CommendonGiovanni Francesco CommendoneGiovanni Francesco Commendone was an Italian Cardinal and papal nuncio.-Life:After an education in the humanities and in jurisprudence at the University of Padua, he came to Rome in 1550...
, où l'on voit ses voyages, ambassades, légations & négotiations, dans les plus considérables cours des empereurs, rois, princes & républiques de l'Europe. Écrite en latin par Antoine Maria Gratiani, et traduite en françois par Monsieur Fléchier (1671) - Histoire de Théodose le GrandTheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
, pour Monseigneur le Dauphin (1679).http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k575300 Translated into English by F Manning (1693) - Histoire du cardinal Ximenès (1693) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57531b http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k581188
- Panégyriques des saints et quelques sermons de morale (1695)
- Lettres de Mr flechier évêque de nismes sur divers sujets (1711)
- Lettres choisies de Mr Fléchier, avec une Relation des fanatiques du Vivarez et des réflexions sur les différens caractères des hommes (2 volumes, 1715). Reedition : Fanatiques et insurgés du Vivarais et des Cévennes : récits et lettres, 1689–1705, Jérôme Millon, Grenoble, 1997.
- Œuvres complètes (10 volumes, 1782)
- Voyage de Fléchier en Auvergne (1796) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k351273
- Oraison funèbres (2 volumes, 1802) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k29532j
- Œuvres complètes de Fléchier, classées pour la première fois, selon l'ordre logique et analogique (2 volumes, 1856). Published by Jacques Paul MigneJacques Paul MigneJacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied...
(Paris) - Mémoires de Fléchier sur les Grands-Jours tenus à Clermont en 1665–1666 was first published in 1844 by Benoît Gonod. The second edition (1856), Mémoires de Fléchier sur les Grands-Jours d'Auvergne en 1665, had a notice by Sainte-BeuveCharles Augustin Sainte-BeuveCharles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
and an appendix by Pierre Adolphe ChéruelPierre Adolphe ChéruelPierre Adolphe Chéruel was a French historian.He was born at Rouen and educated at the École Normale Supérieure, becoming a fellow in 1830. His early studies were concerned with local history...
.http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k200313s Reedition : Mercure de FranceMercure de FranceThe Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group....
, Paris, 1984.
He left a portrait or caractère of himself, addressed to one of his friends. The "Funeral Oration of Marshal Turenne" has been translated in English in HC Fish's History and Repository of Pulpit Eloquence (ii., 1857).
Recognition
Esprit Fléchier was elected at the Académie françaiseAcadémie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
on December 5, 1672, as a successor of Antoine Godeau
Antoine Godeau
Antoine Godeau was a French bishop, poet and exegete. He is now known for his work of criticism Discours de la poésie chrétienne from 1633.-Life:...
. He entered the Académie on January 12, 1673, the same day as Jean Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
and Jean Gallois
Jean Gallois
-Life:He was abbot of the priory of Cuers and a royal librarian.. He was named to the Académie des sciences in 1669 and elected a member of the Académie française in 1672. Also a member of the Académie des Inscriptions, he became its permanent secretary...
.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
of 1913 states: "[Esprit Fléchier was] together with Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue was a French Jesuit and preacher.He was born in Bourges. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, and was appointed successively professor of rhetoric, philosophy and moral theology, in various Jesuit colleges...
, Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
, Fenelon
François Fénelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon , was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer...
, and Mascaron
Jules Mascaron
Jules Mascaron was a popular French preacher. He was born in Marseille as the son of a barrister at Aix-en-Provence. He entered the French Oratory early and became reputed as a preacher...
, one of the greatest sacred orators of his century".