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Religion Catholic

The Jesuits II

Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 1540-1773

edited by Gauvin Alexander Bailey, Steven J. Harris, John W. O'Malley & T. Frank Kennedy

Publisher
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Initial publish date
Mar 2006
Category
Catholic, Civilization
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802038616
    Publish Date
    Mar 2006
    List Price
    $109
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442681552
    Publish Date
    Mar 2006
    List Price
    $131.00

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Description

Recent years have seen scholars in a wide range of disciplines re-evaluate the history of the Society of Jesus. In 1997, a group of scholars convened a major international conference to discuss the world of the Jesuits between 1540 and 1773 (the year of its suppression by papal edict). This meeting led to the creation of the first volume in this series, The Jesuits, which examined the worldwide Jesuit undertaking in such fields as music, art, architecture, devotional writing, mathematics, physics, astronomy, natural history, public performance, and education, with special attention to the Jesuits' interaction with non-European cultures.

This second volume, following a second conference in 2002, continues in a similar path as its predecessor, complementing the regional coverage with contributions on the Flemish and Iberian provinces, on the missions in Japan, and in post-Suppression Russia and the United States. The performing arts, like theatre and music, are broadly treated, and, in addition to continued attention to painting and architecture, the volume contains essays on a range of objets d'art, including statuary, reliquaries, and alter pieces - as well as on gardens, mechanical clocks, and related automata. Other themes include finances, natural theology, censorship within the Jesuit order, and the Society's relationship to women.

Perhaps most important, the volume gives particular attention to the eighteenth century, the 'age of disasters' for the Jesuits - the negative papal ruling on Chinese Rites, the destruction the of Paraguay Reductions, and the suppressions of the order that began in Portugal and that culminated in the general Suppression of 1773. With contributions from distinguished scholars from a dozen different countries, The Jesuits, II continues in the illustrious tradition of its predecessor to make an important contribution to religious memory.

About the authors

Gauvin Alexander Bailey is an associate Professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Clark University.

Gauvin Alexander Bailey's profile page

Steven J. Harris is a professor at the Jesuit Institute, Boston College.

Steven J. Harris' profile page

John W. O'Malley, S.J., is professor in the Department of Church History at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.

John W. O'Malley's profile page

T. Frank Kennedy, S.J. is a professor in and chair of the Department of Music at Boston College.

T. Frank Kennedy's profile page