Port-Royal Abbey was an abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 that was a stronghold of Jansenism

Jansenism

Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...

. It was first built in 1626 to relieve pressure of numbers on the mother house at Port-Royal-des-Champs.

Famous people who stayed here include Marie de Rohan, intriguer during the Fronde

Fronde

The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....

; Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.-Biography:...

, future mistress of a duke of Savoy; Marie Angélique de Fontanges

Angélique de Fontanges

Marie Angélique de Scorailles was a French noblewoman and one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679...

, mistress of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

, died here giving birth to his child who also died.

It was closed down in 1790, at the beginning of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 and from 1793 used as a prison under the name Prison de Port-libre or Prison de la Bourbe. Chrétien Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (lawyer for Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

 during his trial) and Madame de Tourzel

Louise-Elisabeth, Marquise de Tourzel

Louise Élisabeth de Croÿ, Marquise of Tourzel was a French memoir-writer, noble and courtier...

, former governess of the "children of France

Fils de France

Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...

", were held here.

Today its main cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...

 (illustration) forms part of the modern Hôpital Cochin

Hôpital Cochin

The Hôpital Cochin is a famous hospital of public assistance in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques Paris 14e. It houses the central burn treatment center of the city. The Hôpital Cochin is a section of the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes...

.

Notable Patrons

• Blaise Pascal
  Blaise Pascal
  Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
  
  
• Jacqueline Pascal
  Jacqueline Pascal
  Jacqueline Pascal , sister of Blaise Pascal, was born at Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France.Like her brother she was a prodigy, composing verses when only eight years old, and a five-act comedy at eleven. In 1646, the influence of her brother converted her to Jansenism...
  
  , sister of Blaise Pascal
• Madame du Valois