PORT-ROYAL-DES-CHAMPS, pUr dft-shlix'. A convent of the Cistercian or Ber nardine nuns, near Versailles, which obtained much celebrity during the seventeenth century as a centre of •Jansenism. It was founded by the wife of Mathieu de Montmorency in 1204 and soon after its establishment obtained from the Pope the privilege of receiving lay persons who, without taking monastic vows, desired to live in religious retirement. This feature of the Port Royal rule became Icier of great importance. The discipline of the convent was much relaxed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the superior WRS appointed from worldly or political motives. In 160•L Angelique Arnauld, sister of the cele brated brothers Artmuld. was appointed, when a child, coadjutrix of the abbess, whom she suc ceeded at the age of eleven. As the new abbess advanced in years. she undertook a reformation of the comumnity in all its de tails—demanding a strict observance of relig ious poverty, abstinence from meat, complete seclusion, and the most severe ascetic exer cises. The community removed to Paris in 1626, and in 1633 obtained a new convent, which was thenceforward called Port-Royal-de-Paris; and from this time the old establishment of Port-Royal-des-Champs was the home of a lay community in accordance with the original Papal privilege. This community became very celebrated, and numbered among its inmates some of the most distinguished scholars of the time, Arnauld d'Andilly, the three brothers le Maistre (Antoine, Louis Isaac de Sacy. and Simon de S6ricourt), Nicole, Lancelot, and several others. The name of Pascal was closely associated with Port-Royal. The rule of life of the Port-Royal ists was austere and they devoted many hours to prayer, spiritual instruction, and manual labor. They for these schools the well-kaiown text-books of the Port-Royal series, such as Greek and Latin grammars, works on general grammar, geometry, and logic.
In 1643. inspired by profound love for children, the Port-Royalists founded the Little Schools, first at Port-Royal and then in Paris, in which they received a small number of pupils. The study of the vernacular was strongly emphasized in these schools, the general aim being to de velop the reason, judgment, and power of personal reflection rather than a mastery of Latin. For
the first time in the history of French education, the study of French received careful considera tion. In teaching pronunciation and spelling they almost approached the modern phonetic method. The schools had but a short existence and embraced but a limited sphere. but the prin ciples laid down had a salutary influence on edu cation in' France throughout the succeeding cen turies.
Greater importance for the time was given to the community by its pertinacious adherence to the Jansenist views (see J.xxsExism). and by the number of polemical works which issued from Port-Royal. The nuns having refused to sub scribe the formula condemning the five proposi tions of Jansenius. a royal order was issued in 1660 for the suppression of the school and the removal of the boarders, and the abbess and sev eral other nuns were arrested and confined as prisoners in other monasteries. After the "peace of Clement IX.," they were permitted to return; but the two communities. Port-Royal-des-Champs and Port-Royal-de-Paris, were placed under sepa rate government. This led to many disputes, and to a continued adherence at Port-Royal-des Champs to the Jansenist spirit and opinions: and when the final steps for the repression of the Jansenists were taken in 1705 and the following years. a formal bull was issued by Pope Clement XI. for the suppression of the old convent and the transfer of its property to Port-Royal-de Paris. In 1709 the nuns were finally dispersed and distributed among convents of different Or ders throughout France. The property of the con vent and church was transferred to the Paris house, and all the buildings of Port-Royal-des Champs were leveled to the ground. by order of the King. See Sainte-Beuve. Port-Royal (5th ed.. 7 vols., Paris, ISS7) ; Racine. Histaire ubrcq,c de Port-Royal (Paris. 1742: new ed., 1S65) Beard, Port-Royal (2 vols., London, 1361) : Ca det. L'education it Port-Royal (Paris, ISS7) Ricard. Les premiers Jansenistes et Port-Royal (ib., 1SS3).