F Fộnelon, Franỗois de Salignac de la Mothe- (Franỗois Fộnelon) (16511715) educator, intellectual, bishop Franỗois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fộnelon had one of the gentle minds of the 17th century that adapted the mold of the Christian humanist to the social and intellectual world of France Though he did not find contemporary authorities receptive to his ideas, later generations of politicians, educators, and church officials took their inspiration from his writings He was born the 13th child of a family of venerable pedigree in Gascony By the age of 24, he was ordained and took up parish work Having dreamed of doing outreach work among Orthodox Christians in Greece, he instead took up a new mission of winning French Protestants back to the Catholic Church His first project, called Convent of New Catholics, catapulted him into prominence as an educator The convent offered first-rate education to girls from Protestant families in accordance with Fénelon’s pedagogy His second project was to undertake direct preaching missions among the Protestants of the region, reflecting Fénelon’s feeling that persuasion was preferred to force when it came to converting souls In 1687, his Traité de l’education des filles articulated his sentiments about the dignity of women and their rights to an education Fénelon criticized the harsh pedagogy applied to students of his day and presented more gentle and persuasive ways of molding character, according to the mentality of each child Among those who became his advocates were the powerful bishop, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, and several important relatives of Louis XIV In 1689, he was chosen as the tutor of the dauphin For the dauphin Fénelon prescribed a regimen of moral education, stressing that a great king depended on greatness of personal character One of his texts, called Télémaque, was based on the opening books of Homer’s Odyssey, where Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, learns to take responsibility for his father’s house Another text featured the testimonies of past heroes, meant to inspire the student to set high ideals The effects of his pedagogical experiments were dramatic The king’s family noticed that the lad, once spoiled and prone to temper tantrums, now became serious, selfcontrolled, and even pious Fénelon thus became the toast of the court; by 1693, he was elected to the French Academy, and in 1695 he was named an archbishop Fénelon’s downfall came from an unexpected source— his lifelong speculation about piety and prayer In 1688, he had made friends with the French mystic Mme Guyon, a widow known for her eccentricities but followed by a notable clique Her teaching sounded suspiciously similar to a spiritual movement called Quietism, originating from Spain and condemned by the Holy See Bossuet censured Guyon, while Fénelon stood by her In the fateful year of 1699, Fénelon was stripped of his position as royal tutor Appealing to the pope, Fénelon was faulted for 23 of his propositions Then his text Télémaque was found by Louis XIV to be too 131