ARNOUX, JEAN

ARNOUX, JEAN. - Jesuit, b. at Riom in 1575, d. at Toulouse on 14 May 1636. Having entered the Society of Jesus in 1592, he became a skilled controversialist against the Calvinists, who were then raging throughout southern France, and his missions in various places were crowned with effective successes. Chosen as confessor to Luigi XIII (1617), he strove with all his strength to bring about reconciliation between the king and the queen mother, Maria de' Medici; and, after stormy vicissitudes, he saw his constancy rewarded with the conclusion of the peace of Angoulême (20 Apr. 1619). Having one day, while preaching before the court, dared to warn Luigi XIII against the intrigues and violent counsels of those surrounding him, he fell into disgrace, and the duke of Luynes, all-powerful with the king, secured his removal (1621). Retiring to Toulouse, he continued there his struggles against heresies, being eagerly invited by the bishops of France to preach in their dioceses. When death overtook him, he had for one year been provincial of Toulouse, after having been superior of various houses of the Order. There remain some polemical writings by him against the Calvinists and the funeral eulogy of Enrico IV, in the style of the period, delivered at Tournon in 1610.