FONTAINE, NICOLAS. - Biblicist and Jansenist historian, b. in Paris in 1625, d. in Melun on 28 Jan. 1709. At about the age of 25 he withdrew to join the solitaries of Port Royal. He was a follower of A. ARNALDISTI (v.), P. Nicole, and L. J. Le Maistre de Sacy.
He wrote: Memoire pour servir à l'histoire de Port Royal (Utrecht 1736), in which he idealized the figures of the principal solitaries. Accused of Jansenism, he was confined in the Bastille from 13 May 1666 until the end of Oct. 1668. He collaborated with Sacy on the Bible de Royaumont. He published anonymously several writings of a biblical character, observing that the notes were taken from St. Augustine and other Fathers: Pauletier de David (Paris 1674); Explications de St Augustine et sur le Nouveau Testament (ibid. 1675). He translated many works of the Fathers. Accused, among other things, of having made St. John Chrysostom a Nestorian or a Jansenist, he was condemned by the Pope on 7 May 1687. He submitted on 4 Sept. 1693.