An erudite abbess of Port-Royal, Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d’Andilly (1624 – 1684) resisted the demands of church and state to condemn the Jansenist theological doctrines which the convent had long upheld. In her autobiographical Report on Captivity, Angélique de Saint-Jean recounts her personal methods of spiritual resistance as she and her fellow nuns underwent waves of persecution resulting in exile, house arrest, interdict, and excommunication. Her voluminous theological writings present the theoretical basis for this resistance, limiting the claims of political and ecclesiastical authorities over the conscience of the individual. In particular, she defends the right of women to refuse to surrender their convictions due to specious appeals to obedience and humility.

The Rev. John J. Conley, S.J., Henry J. Knott Chair of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola University Maryland, has written widely on the convent of Port-Royal as the center of Jansenist resistance to church and king, notably in his monograph Adoration and Annihilation: The Convent Philosophy of Port-Royal (University of Notre Dame Press, 2009), and his translation and edition for the Other Voice series of Jacqueline Pascal’s A Rule for Children (University of Chicago Press, 2003).