BEAUMONT, CHRISTOPHE de. - Archbishop of Paris, b. in 1703, d. in Paris on 12 Dec. 1781, exemplary for the rigor of his morals, for his great spirit of faith and for his profound devotion to the sovereign. He was first appointed canon and count of Lyon, then, in 1741, consecrated bishop of Bayonne; in 1745 archbishop of Vienne and, the following year, he was promoted to the see of Paris. His theological dispute against the Jansenists has remained famous, concerning the papal bull that condemned the work of Fr. Du Quesnel entitled Réflexions morales. He also sustained lively polemics with certain philosophers and wrote various ordinances against books — among them the Émile — of J. J. Rousseau, which seemed to him to undermine the foundations of religion and of the State. This attitude of his stirred up against him the violent opposition of the Parliament, so much so that Louis XV, in order to remove him from persecution, exiled him first to the Château de La Roque, in Périgord, then to Conflans and finally to a monastery of Trappists. No threat was able to bend him before his adversaries.
The B., extremely rigid against the Jansenists, was on the other hand admirable in private for his moderation, for his gentle temperament and for his great charity toward his neighbor. He dedicated himself with generous zeal to the direction of his diocese until the last days of his life. There remains to us from him a Recueil de mandements, lettres et instructions pastorales.
Bibliography2 works
Carmine Starace