Abstract
Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus in 1540, there was identification between its spiritual aims and the task ascribed to the Spanish Monarchy. The article starts pointing out the traditional concept of the Jesuits as an army and the constant association that empowered them. It establishes how different people of the Society have been related with the government and the different ways of the Jesuits to get involved in politics, as well as the most important Jesuits who have taken part in these interventions. It is explained, later, some of the main political problems where the Society participated: the supposed Spanish identity of the Order, which was questioned after Francisco de Borja´s death in 1572; the conspiratory image associated to the desires of the Catholic Restoration in England; the defence of Catholicism in Europe while the war, during the first half of the XVII century; the Jesuits´ position in the crisis of the Monarchy in 1640, specially, during the independence of Portugal; and finally, the utopias and clashes of interests in the Spanish America, as well as the missionary plans proposed for China. So, the Jesuits weren’t unaware of the political life in the modern Spanish.
Highlights
Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus in 1540, there was identification between its spiritual aims and the task ascribed to the Spanish Monarchy
The article starts pointing out the traditional concept of the Jesuits as an army and the constant association that empowered them
It establishes how different people of the Society have been related with the government and the different ways of the Jesuits to get involved in politics, as well as the most important Jesuits who have taken part in these interventions
Summary
Desde la fundación de la Compañía de Jesús en 1540, se produjo una identificación entre los objetivos espirituales de la misma y la misión atribuida a la Monarquía española. Después, algunos de los principales problemas políticos en los que intervino la Compañía: la supuesta identidad española de la orden, cuestionada tras la muerte de Francisco de Borja en 1572; la imagen conspiratoria asociada a los deseos de restauración católica de Inglaterra; la defensa del catolicismo en la Europa en guerra de la primera mitad del siglo XVII; la posición de los jesuitas en la crisis de la Monarquía en 1640 y, sobre todo, en la independencia de Portugal; por último, las utopías y conflictos planteados en la América española, así como los planes evangelizadores propuestos para la China. Los jesuitas no fueron ajenos a la vida política de la España moderna. PALABRAS CLAVE: Monarquía Hispánica, Iglesia católica, Jesuitas, Guerras de religión, Siglos XVI y XVII
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