1. jansenists a party in the RomanCatholic Church, supporters of Jansen's views, who, in opposition to the Jesuits, maintained the Augustinianprinciple of the sovereign and irresistible nature of divinegrace. The most celebrated members of the party were the Port-Royalists (q. v.) of France, in particular Arnauld and Pascal, and they were opposed not only by the Jesuits, but by both LouisXIV. and the Pope. Driven from France on the death of Louis, they took refuge in Holland, and thither the Pope Clement XI. followed them, first in 1713, hurling a bull against them, and then in 1719 by ex-communicating them and driving them for good from within the pale of the CatholicChurch.
Definitions of jansenists
