During the 17th century, the Solitaires were Frenchmen who chose to live a humble and ascetic life in retreat at Port-Royal-des-Champs. One of the most typical movements of 17th century France, it was closely linked to Jansenism

Jansenism

Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...

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Often from noble or bourgeois families, the Solitaires set up house at the monastery of Port-Royal des Champs, where nuns founded the monastery of Port-Royal de Paris then in the farm of Les Granges, on the nuns' return. The Solitaires divided their life up between manual work (agriculture, gardening, drainage, etc.) and intellectual work, producing many works on theology, patristics, paedagogy and so on. They also founded Port-Royal's Petites écoles

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...

, which proved very innovative in its teaching methods.

Notable Solitaires

• Antoine Le Maistre
  Antoine Le Maistre
  Antoine Le Maistre was a French Jansenist lawyer, author and translator. His name has also been written Lemaistre and Le Maître, and he sometimes used the pseudonym of Lamy.-Background and early life:...
  
  
• Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy
  Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy
  Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy , 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 the Bible de Port-Royal.-Biography:Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy was born in Paris, one...
  
  
• Antoine Arnauld
• Claude Lancelot
  Claude Lancelot
  Claude Lancelot was a Jansenist monk and grammarian.Lancelot was born in Paris. He participated in the creation of the Petites écoles de Port-Royal in May 1638 .Lancelot was placed in charge of the education of the duke of Chevreuse and of the princes of Conti.Lancelot was...
  
  
• Pierre Nicole
  Pierre Nicole
  Pierre Nicole was one of the most distinguished of the French Jansenists.Born in Chartres, he was the son of a provincial barrister, who took in charge his education...
  
  
• Antoine Singlin
  Antoine Singlin
  Antoine Singlin was a French 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 ....