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 at the same exercising the future king to use restraint and wisdom in exercising his absolute power, in Telemachus, Fénelon went so far as to write " Good kings are rare and the generality of monarchs bad " ( p. 254 ).

He is indeed far below Bossuet, 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.

With the period of the Dauphin's formal education ending in 1681, Bossuet was gazetted Bishop of Meaux ; but before he could take possession of his see, he was drawn into a violent quarrel between Louis XIV and the pope.

As Louis insisted on his clergy making an anti-papal declaration, Bossuet got leave to draw it up and made it as moderate as he could, and when the pope declared it null and void, he set to work on a gigantic Defensio Cleri Gallicani, only published after his death.

Again Bossuet did what he could to suppress the work.

Bossuet held that communion under both kinds could not be of divine obligation, since many would thereby be deprived of the Sacrament owing to a natural weakness.

The French bishop Bossuet described Cesarini as the strongest bulwark that the Catholics could oppose to the Greeks in the Council of Florence.

Here he gathered round him a brilliant company, which included many men of genius such as Molière, Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, Nicole, Bourdaloue and Bossuet.

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet ( September 27, 1627 – April 12, 1704 ) was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses.

Court preacher to Louis XIV of France, Bossuet was a strong advocate of political absolutism and the divine right of kings.

Bossuet was born at Dijon.

He was the fifth son born to Beneigne Bossuet, a judge of the parlement ( a provincial high court ) at Dijon, and Marguerite Mouchet.

When his father was appointed to the parlement at Metz, Bossuet was left in Dijon under the care of his uncle Claude Bossuet d ' Aiseray, a renowned scholar.

His father's influence at Metz allowed him to obtain for the young Bossuet a canonicate in the cathedral of Metz when the boy was just 13 years old.

Metz Cathedral | St. Etienne's Cathedral in Metz, where Bossuet was made a Canon ( priest ) | canon at age 13 in 1640

Bossuet was already showing signs of the oratorical brilliance which served him so well throughout his life.

On one celebrated occasion at the Hôtel de Rambouillet, during a dispute about extempore preaching, the 16-year-old Bossuet was called on to deliver an impromptu sermon at 11 pm.

( He did not entirely sever his connections with the cathedral of Metz, though: he continued to hold his benefice, and in 1664, when his widower father was ordained as a priest and became a canon at the cathedral at Metz, Bossuet was named the dean of the cathedral.

Bossuet quickly gained a reputation as a great preacher, and by 1660, he was preaching regularly before the court in the Chapel Royal.

Bossuet was always best when at work on a large canvas ; besides, here no conscientious scruples intervened to prevent him giving much time and thought to the artistic side of his subject.

At least that was what Bossuet made it ; for on this field, he stood not merely first, but alone.

A favourite of the court, in 1669, Bossuet was gazetted bishop of Condom in Gascony, without being obliged to reside there.

To Bossuet, the establishment of Christianity was the one point of real importance in the whole history of the world.

Bossuet denounced him again and again ; Simon told his friends he would wait until the old fellow was no more.

Fénelon, 24 years his junior, was an old pupil who had suddenly grown into a rival ; like Bossuet, Fénelon was a bishop who served as a royal tutor.

Among the books written by Bossuet during this period are three classics.

Bossuet might scribble nova, mira, falsa in the margins of his book and urge on Fénelon to attack them ; Malebranche politely met his threats by saying that to be refuted by such a pen would do him too much honor.

20th-century statue of Bossuet, sculpted by Ernest Henri Dubois, on display in Meaux Cathedral

Bossuet describes three ways that this can be achieved: by maintaining a good constitution, making good use of the state's resources, and protecting the state from the dangers and difficulties that threaten it.

A character in Les Misérables, being from Meaux and an orator, is nicknamed Bossuet by his friends.

* the Bossuet number of the Bibliothèque des bibliographies critiques, compiled by Canon Charles Urbain and published by the Société des Études Historiques ( Paris, 1900 );

Some blame the complete esteem with which the sovereign's office was held, justified by prominent French Roman Catholic theologians ( e. g. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet ), and that the special powers of French Kings " were accompanied by explicit responsibilities, the foremost of which was combating heresy ".

The influence of Bossuet, at that time tutor to the dauphin, was invoked ; the chancellor, Michael le Tellier, lent his assistance ; a decree of the council of state was obtained, and after a series of intrigues the whole impression, consisting of 1300 copies, was seized by the police and destroyed.

Simon had hoped to overcome the opposition of Bossuet by making changes ; these negotiations with Bossuet lasted a considerable time, but finally broke down.

Fénelon accepted, and he was consecrated by his old friend Bossuet in August.

Massillon enjoyed in the 18th century a reputation equal to that of Bossuet and of Bourdaloue, and has been much praised for his eloquence by Voltaire, D ' Alembert and kindred spirits among the Encyclopaedists.

A posthumous work entitled Contemplatio Philosophica was printed for private circulation in 1793 by Taylor's grandson, Sir William Young, 2nd Bart., ( d 10 January 1815 ) prefaced by a life of the author, and with an appendix containing letters addressed to him by Bolingbroke, Bossuet, and others.

He became, according to Lacordaire, " a humble priest with all the authority once enjoyed by Bossuet ".

A very similar phrase was used in a sermon by the eminent 17th-century French bishop and theologian Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet:

He definitely secured the favour of Louis XIV by his support of the claims of the Gallican Church formulated by the declaration made by the clergy in assembly on 19 March 1682, when Bossuet accused him of truckling to the court like a valet.

no: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet