BOURGOING DE VILLEFORE (Jean-François, baron de). Anecdotes - Lot 207

BOURGOING DE VILLEFORE (Jean-François, baron de). Anecdotes ou mémoires secrets sur la constitution unigenitus. sl [Trévoux], sn, 1730-1733. 3 vol. in-12, blue morocco, richly decorated ribbed spines, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on the edges, interior roulette, gilt edges (period binding). First edition of this work based on the Diary of Abbé Dorsanne, a Jansenist involved in the violent dispute provoked by the fulmination of the Unigenitus bull (1713). The Unigenitus Bull was the apostolic constitution in the form of a bull issued by Pope Clement XI in September 1713 to attack Jansenism. It was aimed specifically at the oratorian Pasquier Quesnel, and condemned as false and heretical one hundred and one propositions taken from his moral reflections, a work published in 1692 and which continues to be the foundation of his success. Far from putting an end to the divisions in the Church, this bull provoked a coalition, or even a fusion, of several oppositions: Gallican, richerist and Jansenist. Faced with the Paris parliament's refusal to register it and the reluctance of certain bishops, Louis XIV sought to impose it by force. Opposition to the Bull resurfaced during the Regency, calling for a national council. Fleury, who came to power, made it the law of the land by the royal lit de justice of March 24, 1730, and continued a purge of the clergy, which stirred up opposition (clergy, parliament). From then on, Jansenism developed in opposition to the proclamations of the bull. A precious copy in contemporary morocco.