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An opponent of the Jesuits, Jansen proposed a return to the principles laid down in the work of St Augustine of Hippo. His posthumously published work, Augustinus ( 1640), gained an increased following, and prominent adherents of Jansenism included Racine and Pascal. In France, Jansenism was associated with the convent of Port-Royal, which operated a number of famous schools that educated Racine and Pascal, and by the books of Pasquier Quesnel.

Jansenism emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine graceGrace may stand for: favors received from God, see divine grace a short prayer said before a meal to bless and give thanks for it, in folk practices of Christianity and other religions. a synonym for reformed; so the Grace Baptist Assembly is a fellowship, and predestinationPredestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. Its religious nature distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism and free will, and related concepts.. In Jansenist thought, human beings were born bad, and without divine help a human being could never become good. This meant that one had to be very careful about one's choices, exhibit a high level of piety and moral rectitude, and prepare carefully through prayerPrayer is an effort to communicate with a God, or to some deity or deities, either to offer praise to the deity, to make a request of the deity, or simply to express one's thoughts and emotions to the deity. There are a variety approaches to understanding and confessionIn criminal proceedings, a confession is a document in which a suspect admits having committed a crime. See also testimony, right to silence Confession of sins Confession of sins is an integral part of the Christian faith and practice. The meaning is esse before receiving CommunionThe word communion can refer to the Eucharist, or the act of receiving the Eucharist; or a group of churches in full communion with each other, or the relationship of full communion between Christian religious denominations; or the Communion of Saints; or (hence they favored less frequent reception). The Jansenist idea of predestination, based on Augustine's writing and close to that of CalvinismEmmanuel de Witte Calvinism is a Protestant Christian doctrine named after John Calvin. Calvin had international influence on the development of the doctrine of the Protestant Reformation, beginning at the age of 25, when he started work on his first edit, was that only a small number of human beings, the "elect", were destined to be saved.

Jansenism was condemned as heretical in several papal bulls, notably by Pope Innocent X and Clement XI ( Unigenitus). It is interesting to note that because Jansen himself died before his work was published and he included statements of submission to the Roman church in it, he himself was never considered a heretic. The final condemnation of Jansenism was by St. Pius X, who advocated daily communion and communion for children as soon as they could distinguish the host.

In France, King Louis XIV, acting under the pressures of the Jesuits, sought the end of Jansenism. Particularly targeted was the convent of Port-Royal. In a very symbolic gesture, the convent was razed in 1710 after the last nuns had been forcibly removed.

Contrast: Molinism