Jérôme Besoigne

A Jansenist writer, b. at Paris, 1686; d. 1763. Ordained in 1715, he received the doctorate of the Sorbonne three years later. He was also assistant principal of the College of Plessis, but his defence of Jansenism and his opposition to the Bull "Unigenitus" obliged him to resign the post. In 1729, the Sorbonne erased him from the list of Doctors and, in 1731, he was exiled from Paris. During the following year he was allowed to return. He wrote a "History of the Abbey of Port Royal" (6 vols.), and "Lives of the Four Bishops engaged in the case of Port Royal". We have also from his pen two works on Scripture: "Concorde des livres de la Sagesse" (Paris, 1737), reprinted in Migne's "Cursus Completus" (XVIII) and "Morale des Apôtres ou concorde des épîtres de saint Paul et des épîtres cononiques du N. T." (Paris, 1747).

Memoire sur la vie et les ourvrages de Jerome Besoigne (Paris, 1763); Querard, La France litteraire (Paris, 1827), I, 315-316; Heurtebize in Dict. de theol. cath., with a list of his Jansenistic writings; Rey in Dict. De la Bible.

JOHN CORBETT