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Francois Fenelon Biography

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FÉNELON, François de Salignac de la Mothe (1651–1715). A distinguished French author and prelate. He was born Aug. 6, 1651, in the Château Fénelon, Province of Périgord, in the present Department of Dordogne. He was the descendant of a family which has given many celebrities both to the church and to the state in France. His education was conducted at home up to his twelfth year. At a very early age he showed lively interest in the classics and especially in Greek. At the age of 12 he was sent to the University of Cahors, noted at the time for its classical course. Thence he was transferred to the famous Jesuit College Du Plessis in Paris. His success in his studies was remarkable, and at the early age of 15 he attracted the attention of the literary coterie of the Hôtel Rambouillet. At the close of a brilliant college career, when scarcely 20 years of age, he entered the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, which, under the Abbé Tronson, was worthily fulfilling the purposes of its great founder, Olier. In 1675, at the age of 24, Fénelon received holy orders. He wished to enter upon mission work in Canada and, when that was impossible, in Greece. For some time after his ordination he was employed in attendance at the hospitals and in other parochial duties of the parish of Saint-Sulpice. In the year 1678 he was made director of the Nouvelles Catholiques, a community of women founded for the purpose of furthering the conversion of girls from Protestantism. While thus occupied, he formed an intimacy with Bossuet and took part in conferences on Holy Scripture held under his auspices. Fénelon looked up to Bossuet almost as a master. At this time, at the request of the Duchess of Beauvilliers, he wrote his book De l’éducation des filles, which was intended only for private circulation. It attracted so much attention, however, that it was given to the public in 1681. (There are several English translations, e.g., "On the Education of a Daughter," Boston, 1856.) The book has been called an anticipatory condemnation of Rousseau’s Emile. The efficiency with which he discharged his duties as director led to his appointment as head of a mission, which, on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, was sent to preach among the Protestant population of Saintonge and Poitou. Here his zeal and wisdom accomplished much in converting the inhabitants. He refused to allow force to be employed wherever his authority extended. In 1688 he resumed his duties in the Maison des Nouvelles Converties, and in 1689 was named by Louis XIV to the highly responsible post of preceptor of his grandson, the young Duke of Burgundy. Bossuet said that the position was a proper reward for merit that took the greatest pains to conceal itself. In this position Fénelon showed himself a great practical educator. While imparting the most varied knowledge, he knew how to prepare the mind and heart of his pupil for the great responsibility that was to be his as the destined ruler of France. He impressed upon him the great principles of truth and justice and the vanity of earthly glory, power, and happiness that are not accompanied by a sense of duty well done. In order to fulfill these lofty purposes to his satisfaction, Fénelon found himself under the necessity of composing his own textbooks. To this we owe many works still popular in educational use—the Fables, the Dialogues des morts, Abrégé des vies des anciens philosophes, and the preliminary sketch, at least, of Télémaque. There was also a translation of the Æneid of Vergil, and a Vie de Charlemagne, but unfortunately the first is lost, and the manuscript of the second was destroyed by fire at the burning of the archiepiscopal palace of Cambray in 1697. It was later charged that he had succeeded only too well, and made the Duke religious at the expense of manly vigor. In 1694 he was given the abbacy of Saint-Valéry in the diocese of Amiens and in the following year the archbishopric of Cambray. He accepted the archbishopric only on the condition that he should be allowed to live at his see the nine months of each year required by the canons, and that not even his duties as preceptor royal should interfere with this requirement. During his preceptorship he became acquainted with Madame Guyon (q.v.), a pious widow who was wont to give spiritual conferences to ladies of rank and who had written a Short and Easy Method of Prayer, a commentary on certain parts of the Bible, and several other mystical works in which she expounded her views regarding the inner life. Not long before the writings of Miguel de Molinos, the founder of the Quietists, had been condemned as heretical. (See Quietism; Molinos.) Molinos taught that perfect contemplation of God is a state wherein one neither reasons nor reflects, but passively receives the impression of heavenly light. In this mental inaction a soul neither fears hell nor desires salvation. The practice of the virtues of faith, hope, and love becomes unnecessary in this state, which Molinos called "quiet." Madame Guyon was not a professed follower of Molinos, but she favored his spiritual doctrine at least to the extent of teaching that in the state of perfect contemplation the soul resigns itself so entirely to the will of God as to care not whether it is to be damned or saved. She professed readiness to submit to the decision of the church, but her teaching was regarded as dangerous. Bossuet, with characteristic acumen, recognized the danger, but, with what cannot but be considered now as intemperate zeal, harshly condemned where gentle persuasion might have sufficed. From this time on, Bossuet and Fénelon were antagonists. Fénelon, convinced of the uprightness of Madame Guyon and her good intentions, defended her. In a book written during the controversy, called Maximes des saints, he showed the influence of Madame Guyon's teaching. After considerable delay 23 propositions from the maxims were condemned by the Pope, who rebuked the lack of moderation of some of Fénelon's opponents by adding, "He has erred through excess of Divine love, but you have erred through lack of love for your neighbor." Fénelon announced his condemnation to his own people at once and expressed his full submission. He seemed happy to give an example of docility and humility to his flock. Afterward he presented a golden ostensorium to his cathedral on which appeared the figure of the angel of Truth trampling on forbidden books. One of the titles in evidence was Maximes des saints. After this unfortunate episode Fénelon, who had been banished from the court, devoted himself entirely to the care of his diocese. The fame of his benevolence and enlightened charity spread far and wide. When the region about Cambray was invaded by the armies of Marlborough and Prince Eugène, those commanders gave strict orders to respect the estates of Fénelon, and in a time of great scarcity Marlborough provided a guard to protect the Archbishop's granaries. Notwithstanding these precautions, his valuable library was burned. In it were some of his precious manuscripts not yet given to the printer. Fénelon's only remark was, "I would much rather that this were destroyed than the cottage of some poor peasant." Fénelon fell into disgrace at court by reason of his Télémaque, which was regarded as a masked satire upon the King and his policies. The work had been printed from a copy surreptitiously obtained by the Archbishop's servant. Critics freely pointed out the characters presumably satirized. Sesostris was supposed to represent the Grand Monarch himself; Calypso, Madame de Montespan; Protesilaus, Louvois; and Eucharis, Mademoiselle de Fontanges. As Louis XIV fell into decline, there were hopes that Fénelon would be the Minister of the Duke of Burgundy when he should follow his grandfather to the throne. Fénelon even sketched a complete scheme of political reform, which he sent to the Duke, who still retained, in spite of the King's adverse influence and continued hostility, all his pristine affection for his former preceptor. Fénelon's political maxims were far in advance of the time. These hopes were disappointed by the premature death of the Duke in 1712. Fénelon survived him only until Jan. 7, 1715, dying in sentiments of the greatest piety and resignation to the Divine Will.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. VIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 454-455.