Pierre François le Courayer

Pierre François le Courayer (17 November 1681 – 17 October 1776) was a French Catholic theological writer, for many years an expatriate in England.

[1] The following year he wrote to the Journal des savants to put his name to the work, though his opinions exposed him to attacks from several theologians, a prosecution and 32 of his propositions being labelled heresies.

He was rebuked by Louis Antoine de Noailles, archbishop of Paris then excommunicated by Jean XI Polinier, abbot of Sainte-Geneviève.

He still did not recant his opinions but they had gained him supporters in Great Britain and with the help of Francis Atterbury, then in exile in Paris, he took refuge in England and was presented with a doctor's degree by the University of Oxford.

In 1736 he published a French translation of Paolo Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent, and dedicated it to Queen Caroline, from whom he received a pension of £200 a year.