Jansenism

Founded by the Flemish Bishop Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), Jansenism found its main stronghold in the Benedictine convent of Port-Royal in France, counting among its supporters the philosopher Blaise Pascal, whom Manzoni particularly liked. Manzoni’s presumed Jansenism is a long-debated issue that has not been entirely resolved by Manzoni scholars, all of whom exclude the idea of Manzoni’s purely theological links with Jansenism while admitting that as a man and writer he felt strong sympathy for the austere moral rigour theorized and practised by the Jansenists. With two Jansenist priests as confessors following his conversion, namely Eustachio Degola and Luigi Tosi, and already inclined towards deep introspection, Manzoni may well have felt a closeness to a more intimate and private form of religiousness that was more rigorous in its practices and more attentive to the teachings of the Gospels, as was the case with Jansenism. He may well have felt a bond with the Jansenist movement that had been conducted since the seventeenth century (with due respect for the institutions) for the reform of ecclesiatic customs, and shared their criticism of the increasing worldliness of the Church and the mingling of the interests of the (counter-reformist and Jesuit) clergy with secular interests. The friendship between Manzoni and Antonio Rosmini was also consolidated by their shared affinity with Jansenist spirituality. Unlike Rosmini, however, Manzoni made a clear distinction between Church and State and was opposed to the pope’s temporal power. As regards theological doctrine (the predestination of divine Grace and its relationship to free will), there is no evidence to suggest that Manzoni held beliefs that the Church considered heretical. It is true, however, that the Jansenist concept according to which only the (unfathomable) intervention of Grace can prevent man from a life of evil and sin seems to underlie Manzoni’s profound historical pessimism, as expressed in the tragic figures of his plays such as Adelchi and Ermengarda.