Descartes: A Biography

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Death in Sweden 

and then overland to Paris. The travel plans were delayed in the Danish

capital for three months, and there were further delays, caused by customs

inspections, as the cortege moved from one country to another. The coffin

arrived eventually in Paris in January, and was lodged temporarily in

Saint Paul’s Church while a suitable, permanent resting place was sought.

Following consultation with the religious community of Saint Genevi`eve,

it was decided to rebury Descartes in the Church of Saint Genevi`eve de

Mont. On FridayJune, Descartes’ remains were recovered from

Saint Paul’s Church and received into what was supposed to be his final

resting place. The community of Saint Genevieve chanted the Vespers of`

the Dead, with lit candles and a solemn procession. The next morning,

there was planned a funeral oration to celebrate the life and achievements

of a great Catholic philosopher. However, the oration was cancelled at

the last minute, for fear of censors who might have infiltrated the con-

gregation, so that the final ‘adieu’ was limited to a pontifical High Mass

and blessing. Those in attendance included some of the most prominent

supporters of Cartesianism in France: Jacques Rohault, Claude Clerselier,

and Habert de Montmor. Clerselier provided a suitable epitaph, which

was inscribed on a marble stone to mark the place where Descartes was

buried in the knave of the church.

Descartes’ reburial in Paris was motivated partly by the wishes of his

philosophical supporters that his status as a great philosopher be recog-

nized in his native country. However, there was also an element of settling

old scores about his religious orthodoxy and of acknowledging publicly

that he had died as a Catholic philosopher, despite having spent twenty-two

years abroad in either a Calvinist commonwealth or a Lutheran kingdom.

Those who arranged the funeral requested testimonies from a number of

people about how orthodox and faithful he had been in his religious prac-

tices. Among those who were asked to contribute was Queen Christina. She

obliged promptly, from her temporary residence in Hamburg, although

her testament did not arrive in Paris until three months after the funeral,

in September. Christina wrote:

Wehereby make known that, having been invited to honour with a sign of our esteem

the memory of Mr. Descartes – who justly acquired the title of ‘the great philosopher of

our century’ – we did not wish to refuse to the memory of such a great man the honour

of our approval....Wetherefore admit that his reputation and writings formerly made

us wish to know him....When he agreed to spend some time at our court, we wished

to receive from such a good teacher a smattering of philosophy and mathematics, and