Félicité de La Mennais
French priest, philosopher and political theorist (1782–1854)
Félicité Robert de La Mennais (or Lamennais, French: [lamnɛ]; 19 June 1782 – 27 February 1854) was a French Catholic priest, philosopher and political theorist. He was one of the most influential intellectuals of Restoration France. Lamennais is also considered the forerunner of both liberal Catholicism and Modernism.
His opinions on matters of religion and government changed dramatically over the course of his life. He initially held rationalistic views, but in part due to the influence of his elder brother, Jean-Marie, came to see religion as an antidote for the anarchy and tyranny unleashed by revolution. He derided Napoleon, in part because of the Organic Articles, in which France acting unilaterally amended the Concordat of 1801 between France and the papacy. Lamennais vocally assailed both Gallicanism and Caesaropapism, views that demanded a completely subservient relationship by the Church to the State, and he was for a time a staunch defender of the independence of the Church.
Lamennais was ordained a priest in 1817, the same year he published Essai sur l'indifférence en matière de religion. In 1830, he founded L'Ami de l'ordre (precursor of L'Avenir) with Montalembert and Lacordaire. His social ideas embraced an enlarged suffrage, separation of church and state, universal freedom of conscience, instruction, assembly, and the press.
The public source identifies “Félicité de La Mennais” as french priest, philosopher and political theorist (1782–1854). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Félicité, Mennais and French.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q334973. VIAF identifies the subject as 56612324. The Library of Congress control number is n50039923. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1782, 1854, 1801 and 1817.
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This entry incorporates text from “Félicité de La Mennais” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.