Jansen, Cornelius Otto

Jansen, Cornelius Otto

(born Oct. 28, 1585, Acquoi, near Leerdam, Holland—died May 6, 1638, Ypres, Flanders, Spanish Neth.) Flemish leader of the Roman Catholic reform movement known as Jansenism. He studied at the University of Louvain, where he absorbed the teachings of St. Augustine, especially those concerning original sin and the need for grace. He spent 1611–14 in Bayonne, France, where he directed the episcopal college. After studying theology three more years, he returned to Louvain. He became rector of the university in 1635 and a year later was appointed bishop of Ypres. In 1638 he died of the plague. His major work, the Augustinus, was published in 1640; in 1642 Pope Urban VIII forbade the reading of the book.