John
Baptist de La Salle:
His Life and Times
Celebration of the 350th anniversary of the birth of John Baptist de La Salle in Reims, France
Timeline of Events
De La Salle:
A Son of the Upper Class
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John
Baptist de La Salle: Celebration of the 350th anniversary of the birth of John Baptist de La Salle in Reims, France
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Timeline of Events 1650
1651: King Louis XIV attains his majority (age 14). Riccioli (in Italy) publishes a map of the surface of the moon.
1660
1666: Following the resignation of Pierre Dozet, John Baptist de La Salle is named Canon of the Cathedral Church of Reims. 1669: John Baptist de La Salle earns his Master's degree, with highest honors.
1670
1670: John Baptist de La Salle enters the seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris. 1670: Pascal's Pensées is published. 1672: John Baptist de La Salle's parents die. He leaves the seminary and returns to Reims to be head of the family and guardian of his six brothers and sisters. 1673: French explorers Marquette and Joliet reach the headwaters of the Mississippi River. 1678: John Baptist de La Salle receives a licentiate in theology and is ordained a priest, having continued his studies in Reims. 1679: A chance encounter at the convent of the Sisters of the Child Jesus on the Rue du Barbâtre with schoolmaster Adrian Nyel, who had just arrived from Rouen, involves John Baptist de La Salle in starting free schools for poor boys in Reims. John Baptist de La Salle invites into his home on the Rue Sainte Marguerite both Adrien Nyel and his fourteen-year-old apprentice.
1680
1680: John Baptist de La Salle receives his doctorate in theology. Pictured here is Collége des Bons Enfants where he went to school. Today, it is a government school. 1680: John Baptist de La Salle takes the struggling group of school teachers into his home for meals, meetings, and prayer. This is considered the founding of the Institute. 1683: De La Salle joins the Brothers in their poverty and dependence on God by resigning his office as canon and using his personal fortune to feed the poor during a famine.
1684: Louis XIV, after the death of Maria Teresa, marries Madame de Maintenon.
1686: First General Assembly of the Brothers, in Reims. A distinctive habit and the name "Brothers of the Christian Schools" are adopted, and a vow of obedience is taken. Ecclesiastical authorities reject the appointment of Brother L'Heureux. De La Salle resumes the office of superior. 1687: Archbishop Fénelon publishes his Treatise on the Education of Girls.
1688: In response to a request by Claude de La Barmondiere, the parish priest of Saint Sulpice, the Brothers assume direction of a school in Paris, their first enterprise outside of Reims. The Brothers are feared as competition by the for-profit educational establishment: lawsuits, conflicts, and harassment will continue for two decades.
1690
1690: There are defections and deaths among the Brothers, opposition from authorities, and a near-fatal illness for De La Salle. The Brothers open the establishment at Vaugirard, outside Paris, including the first formal novitiate. 1691: De La Salle and two Brothers swear a "heroic vow" to establish the Institute even if all others leave and they are reduced to begging for their bread. 1694: At the first General Chapter, De La Salle and twelve Brothers make perpetual vows, and the first Rule is adopted.
1699: The Brothers open a school in Chartres; schools are opened in 18 more cities in France over the next two decades.
1700 1702: The Drolin Brothers, Gabriel and Gerard, leave to work in Rome.
1705: The Brothers open the establishment at Saint Yon, near Rouen, including a novitiate, a boarding school, and a home for delinquent boys. Formal permission is given to print all the works prepared by De La Salle for use in the schools. 1711: The Clément family secures a court judgment against De La Salle in Paris that costs the Institute money and property and publicly impugns De La Salle's integrity.
1712: De La Salle withdraws from Paris to visit the InstituteÕs establishments in the south of France and to make an extended retreat. 1714: Summoned back to Paris by his Brothers, De La Salle obediently does as requested, preparing the next General Assembly and helping to revise the Rule.
1715: Louis XIV dies and is succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV.
1717: The second General Chapter elects Brother Barthˇlemy the first Superior General. 1718: De La Salle lives at Saint Yon, writing and ministering, but becomes increasingly ill. 1719: Madame de Maintenon, the widow of Louis XIV, dies, aged eighty.
1719: On Good Friday morning, De La Salle dies at Saint Yon, aged nearly 68. The word is passed through the streets of Rouen: "The Saint is dead." 1724: Royal letters patent are issued (State recognition of the Institute as a legal entity). 1725: Papal bull of approbation is issued (Brothers are recognized as Institute of Pontifical Right with Simple Vows).
1800 1888: On February 19th, De La Salle is beatified.
1900 1900: On May 24th, De La Salle is canonized. 1950: On May 15th, Saint John Baptist de La Salle is proclaimed Patron of All Teachers of Youth.
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