BEAUMONT, CHRISTOPHE de. - Archbishop of Parigi, b. in 1703, d. in Parigi on 12 Dec. 1781, exemplary for the strictness of his morals, his great spirit of faith, and his profound devotion to the sovereign. He was first appointed canon and count of Lione, then, in 1741, consecrated bishop of Baiona; in 1745 archbishop of Vienne and, the following year, was promoted to the see of Parigi. His theological dispute against the Jansenists, concerning the papal bull that condemned the work of Fr. Du Quesnel entitled Réflexions morales, remained famous. He also engaged in lively polemics with certain philosophers and issued various ordinances against books—including Émile—by J. J. Rousseau, which seemed to him to undermine the foundations of religion and the State. This attitude aroused against him the violent opposition of Parliament, so much so that Luigi XV, in order to remove him from persecution, exiled him first to the Castle of La Roque, in the Périgord, then to Conflans, and finally to a monastery of Trappists. No threat succeeded in bending him before his adversaries.
B., most rigorous against the Jansenists, was nevertheless admirable in private for his moderation, his gentle temperament, and his great charity towards his neighbour. He devoted himself with generous zeal to the direction of his diocese until the last days of his life. There remains from him a Recueil de mandements, lettres et instructions pastorales.