The Mercurian Project: Forming Jesuit Culture (1573-1580) (review)

Abstract

The Mercurian Project: Forming Jesuit Culture (1573-1580). Edited by Thomas M. McCoog, SJ. [Biblioteca Institut! Historici Societatis Iesu, Volume 55; The Institute of Jesuit Sources, Series III: Original Studies Composed in English, No. 18.] (Rome: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu; St.Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources. 2004. Pp. xxx, 992. $80.00 cloth; $60.00 paperback.) Everard Mercurian (1514-1580) was superior general of the Society of Jesus for the last seven years of his life. While the period 1573-1580 of Jesuit history is the focus of this massive volume-a book comprising a thousand pages and some thirty essays, in English, with summaries in Spanish and in the original language of each essay-Mercurian himself sometimes remains but in the background. A wide range of issues and persons receive attention, including how Jesuits adapted to an era when direct, personal connections with their founder, Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), began to fade. By the mid-1570's, the Order was growing ever larger, and ever more international. Many were the friends and supporters of the Jesuits, but so too were the enemies and opponents. McCoog's collection of essays offers a wealth of interesting insights into what we might call the growing pains of the second generation of Jesuits. Elected superior general at the third general congregation of the Society of Jesus, Mercurian, born in the prince-bishopric of Liege, was the first nonSpaniard to lead the Jesuits. Questions of nationality emerge in several essays in this volume, and they are set in the larger contest of late sixteenth-century political and religious tensions. Protestants and some Catholics lambasted the Jesuits for their links with Spain, and, it was alleged, their links with the Habsburg monarchs. Certain Catholics favorable to the Jesuits saw a need for making clear the international nature of the Society of Jesus; for instance, Pope Gregory XIII (reign 1572-1585) advertised his desire for the election of a Jesuit superior general of a nationality other than Spanish. Mercurian's election pleased Gregory. But election of a non-Spaniard did not mean an end to all controversies. Indeed, the Iberian Peninsula was the locus of multiple problems in the 1570's. The Portuguese Jesuits were divided between those wanting a penitential model of piety, and those advocating a gentler and more worldaffirming form of religious observance. Jose Vaz de Carvalho's essay examines the peace-making efforts of Simao Rodrigues, sent by Mercurian to pacify the Portuguese province. A. D. Wright's essay, on relations between the Society of Jesus and other religious orders in Spain, shows Mercurian's era to be one of intense rivalry between Jesuits and Dominicans (and other mendicants). Ronald Cueto's essay makes clear how Jesuits were blamed for Portugal's loss of its own royal house. Several authors explore the successes and failures of Jesuit activity in Europe and around the world. Philippe Lecrivain's essay on Juan Maldonado shows how a brilliant Spanish Jesuit theologian met with varied responses when he taught in Paris. John Patrick Donnelly's essay on Antonio Possevino considers an Italian Jesuit who labored as a diplomat in distant parts of Europe, Sweden among them. …