JANSEN, CORNELIUS OTTO

born Oct. 28, 1585, Acquoi, near Leerdam, Holland died May 6, 1638, Ypres, Flanders, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium] Flemish leader of the Roman Catholic reform movement known as Jansenism. He wrote biblical commentaries and pamphlets against the Protestants. His major work was Augustinus, published by his friends in 1640. Although condemned by Pope Urban VIII in 1642, it was of critical importance in the Jansenist movement. Additional reading Alexander Sedgwick, Jansenism in Seventeenth-century France (1977), is an introduction to Jansenist theology and philosophy. Marc Escholier, Port-Royal: The Drama of the Jansenists (1968), explains the relationship between Jansen and Saint-Cyran and discusses the theological theses supported in Jansen's Augustinus.