JANSEN, CORNELIS (CORNELIUS JANSENIUS)

(1585–1638)

Dutch Roman Catholic theologian and bishop. After his studies of theology, Jansen became professor at the University of Louvain in 1618 and bishop of Ieper in 1631. His posthumously published views (Augustinus, 3 vols., 1640) on the problems of free will, grace, and predestination were rejected by the pope and placed on the index of forbidden books. They were nevertheless popular in some circles in the Netherlands and France (Port Royal). Persecution led to the refuge of many French followers of Jansenism to the Netherlands.