Pulpit orator, born Bourges, France, 1632; died Paris, France, 1704. Having joined the Society of Jesus when only 16 years of age, he taught successively rhetoric, philosophy, and moral theology. He began to preach in his 33year and was so successful that he was invited to appear before the court no less than 10 times and preached in Paris for 34 consecutive years. His contemporaries place him even above Bossuet and he was called "The Preacher of Kings and the King of Preachers." The characteristics of his eloquence are, religious logic, keen psychological analysis, and fearless apostolic severity. His first editor, Bretonneau, somewhat disfigured his style under pretense of improvement, and it is only of late that Father Griselle has rediscovered the true Bourdaloue.