UNIGENITUS, BULL, one of the most important documents in the history of Jansen ism. It was occasioned by the publication of the .Rejlexion,s _Morales of Quesnel (q.v.), in which all the essential principles of Jansenism were revived, and although cautiously, yet systematically explained, so as to form the basis of that practical, moral, and religious teaching which it is the object of the Deflexions _Morales to convey. The book was at first simply prohibited by a brief of pope Innocent XI., in the year 1708; but, as it found many patrons, and especially the archbishop of Paris, cardinal de Noailles, it was deemed necessary to subject it to a more detailed examination, the result of which was that 101 propositions were extracted from it, and formally condemned, in 1713, by a bull com mencing with the word "Unigenitus." The mode of condemning these propositions was peculiar, being that which is technically called damnatio iii globo. The whole body of propositions were condemned as " heretical," " false," " rash," " scandalous," " offensive to pious ears," etc. ; without, at the same time, any particular propositions being pointed out as deserving any one of these specific forms of censure. This circumstance, with others, gave rise to much controversy, and to a prolonged opposition to the bull. De Noailles and other bishops refused to accept it unless with certain qualifications; on the contrary, Louis XIV. insisted on unconditional acceptance; but on the death of Louis,
the regent, the duke of Orleans, having given his countenance to the opponents of the bull, tile resistance was persisted in; and eventually a declaration was put forth in 1717, by certain bishops. four iu numher, appealing from the pope to a general council. This appeal was condemned by the pope, nor was it countenanced even by the regent; but a more mod.tied appeal • from the pope ill-informed to the pope better informed," was afterward published by De NottiIles, which obtained many adherents. and by which the opposition Was kept flaw: to the' end of the pontificate of Clement XL in 17z1, and even under his successors, Innocent XIII. and Benedict XIII. It was not till the year 1730 that, after the formal registration of the bull Unigenitus by the parliament of Paris, the party thus created in France, and known under the name of •• appellants," received its final condemnation from the civil authority, after which it gradually died out, although some relics of it are still traceable, even after all the storms of the revolution, in the so-called "Petite Eglise." See GALLICAN CHURCH.