Grégoire, Henri (äNrē` grāgwär`), 1750–1831, French priest, writer, and revolutionist. A Jansenist (see under Jansen, Cornelis Jansen, Cornelis (kôrnā`lĭs yän`sən), 1585–1638, Dutch Roman Catholic theologian. He studied at the Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. ), he was prominent in the States-General of 1789 and supported the union of the lower clergy with the third estate. He fought clerical and noble privilege and proposed abolition of the law of primogeniture. Grégoire took the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (even though it was condemned by the pope) and became constitutional bishop of Blois in 1791. He maintained his religious beliefs throughout the Terror and fought for religious freedom under the Directory. As a senator under the Consulate, he opposed the Concordat of 1801 Concordat of 1801, agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII that reestablished the Roman Catholic Church in France. Napoleon took the initiative in negotiating this agreement; he recognized that reconciliation with the church was politic.
..... Click the link for more information. and, resigning his see, became a simple priest. Although he opposed the empire, Napoleon I made him a count. In 1819 he was elected to the chamber of deputies but, as a radical and a dissident priest, was refused his seat. Grégoire died in poverty; his burial was the scene of a great liberal demonstration. His writings, some of which have been translated, deal chiefly with Jansenism, racial equality, and international cooperation.

Grégoire, Henri

(born Dec. 4, 1750, Vého, Lorraine, France—died May 20, 1831, Paris) French prelate who defended of the Constitutional Church in the French Revolution as well as the rights of Jews and blacks. Elected to the National Assembly (1789), he worked to unite the clergy with the Third Estate. Initially opposed to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, he later became the Constitutional bishop of Loir-et-Cher (1790). In the de-Christianizing campaign of 1793–94, he continued to wear clerical dress and profess his faith openly. After the collapse of the Jacobin regime, he was a leader in restoring freedom of worship and reorganizing the church. He opposed Napoleon's regime and the Concordat of 1801 that ended the Constitutional Church. He supported the independent republic of Haiti created in 1804. He served as adviser to the Jewish council convened by Napoleon in 1807.