Robert Arnauld d'Andilly


Robert Arnauld d’Andilly was a French conseiller d’État, specialising in financial questions, in the court of Marie de' Medici. By the elegance of his language, he was among the major poets, writers and translators of 17th century French classicism. A fervent Catholic, he played an important role in the history of Jansenism and was one of the Solitaires of Port-Royal-des-Champs. He was also renowned for his part in the development of the pruning of fruit trees, to which he was devoted.

Youth (1589–1613)

Robert Arnauld was born in Paris, the eldest of the twenty children of lawyer Antoine Arnauld, procurator-general of Catherine de Médicis, and his wife Catherine Marion. He was a member of a notable family, whose members included Jacqueline, Henri, who would be bishop of Angers, and the Sorbonne academic Antoine, called "le grand Arnauld".

The "Journée du Guichet"

Entry into the conseil d'Etat

Courtier and administrator (1613–1626)

First retirement and return (1626–1644)

Return to public life (1634)

The "Mémoire pour un souverain"(1643)

Solitaire (1644–1653)

Translator

The Frondeur

Specialist in fruit trees

The last battles (1653–1673)

Condemnation of Jansenism

Return to Pomponne

Works

In French