Abstract
The attitude of the Jesuits, as of all Catholic recusants at this time, was conditioned by being a persecuted minority. Maintaining their faith, they were also concerned to win over the persecutors. So Jesuit writings combine counter-attack and apologetic in ways not contradictory but certainly complex. Theirs was a special difficulty. They avoided politics, but many of their confrères on the continent, notably Robert Persons, favoured a military solution since the prevailing régime in England had from the outset rejected any peaceful overture. They relied on the Spaniards for a successful invasion. This never happened. Treason not prospering remained treason. But from about 1601 and the abortive Spanish effort at Kinsale, even the Catholics on the continent realised that there could be no forceful answer to the recusant dilemma.
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