[1] According to Joseph Sollier, in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Baius' concept of the primitive state of man was Pelagian; his presentation of the downfall was Calvinist; and his theory of redemption was more than Lutheran and close to Socinian.
Under the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance, the newly founded Society of Jesus asserted the role of free will, with authors such as George de Montemajor, Gregory of Valentia, Leonardus Lessius and Johannes Hamelius.
The Jesuit Luis Molina published De liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis, divina praescientia, praedestinatione et reprobatione concordia in 1588, which asserted that God offers his grace to all people, and that it was by an act of free will that each one accepted it or rejected it.
A similar controversy arose between the Dominicans and Jesuits, which led Pope Clement VIII to establish the Congregatio de Auxiliis (1597–1607) in order to settle the debate.
Pope Paul V, in a 1611 Holy Office decree, prohibited publication without prior examination by the Inquisition of all works, including commentaries, about the aid of grace.
Finally, at the request of the Apostolic Nuncio to Brussels, Georg Pauli-Stravius [de], and the Apostolic Nuncio to Cologne, Fabio Chigi,[citation needed] Urban VIII prohibited Augustinus in In eminenti ecclesiae in 1642, because Augustinus was "published in opposition" to "condemnations and prohibitions" in decrees of Paul V and Urban VIII, was expressed "with contempt toward the authority of the" Holy See, and contained previously condemned propositions.
They accused Jansen of having misinterpreted Augustine, conflating Jansenists with Lutherans – in the frame of a highly conflictual context, which had led to the French Wars of Religion, officially ended with the 1598 Edict of Nantes.
On 16 October 1656, Alexander VII promulgated the apostolic constitution Ad sanctam beati Petri sedem, which judged the meaning and intention of Jansen's words in Augustinus, and confirmed and renewed the condemnation in Cum occasione.
Mazarin persuaded the pope to compel Jansenists to sign a formulary, to assent to Ad sanctam beati Petri sedem, and to confess their faults.
On 15 February 1665, Alexander VII promulgated the apostolic constitution Regiminis Apostolici, which required, according to the Enchiridion symbolorum, "all ecclesiastical personnel and teachers" to subscribe to an included formulary, the Formula of Submission for the Jansenists – assenting to both Cum occasione and Ad sanctam beati Petri sedem.
[8] From then on, Jansenists of Port-Royal ceased publishing Lettres provinciales, and, along with Pascal, started collaborating with the Ecrits des curés (Friars' Writings) which condemned casuistry.
On 16 July 1705, Pope Clement XI promulgated the apostolic constitution Vineam Domini Sabaoth, which declared that "obediential silence" is not a satisfactory response to the Formula of Submission for the Jansenists.
This in turn led to the further radicalization of the King and of the Jesuits, and in 1661 the Convent of Port-Royal was closed and the Jansenist community dissolved – it would be ultimately razed in 1710 on orders of Louis XIV.