Publication of Pascal's Provincial Letters

Timeline

1. 1655–1656Paris · FranceJansenist theologian Antoine Arnauld was tried by the Sorbonne in Paris for adhering to Jansenist doctrine and faced the threat of excommunication. To defend Arnauld and the Jansenist community at Port-Royal, Pascal decided to expose the abuses of Jesuit casuistry to a wide readership in an accessible epistolary form, sending the first letter anonymously on 23 January 1656.
2. 1656–1657Paris · FrancePascal published 18 letters in total (letters 1–10 attacking Jesuit casuistry, letters 11–18 responding to Jesuit counter-criticism). Written in clear, witty French prose, they ironically quoted Jesuit theologians' own words to expose their moral flexibility and caused an immediate sensation. Pope Alexander VII placed the letters on the Index in 1657, but manuscripts and translations spread widely. The letters are regarded as a foundational work of modern French prose, and Voltaire and other Enlightenment thinkers praised their style.