Description
Book SynopsisFounded in 1540, the Society of Jesus was instantly popular, attracting thousands of candidates in its first century. Camilla Russell looks to the lives and writings of early Jesuits to better understand the Society's appeal, how it worked, and the ideas that drove Christian thinkers and missionaries during the Renaissance and early modern period.
Trade ReviewDescribes Jesuit lives with verve and empathy…[Russell] follows these lives into India and China, two missionary fields in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where Italian fathers played prominent roles. -- Ronnie Hsia * Times Literary Supplement *
Russell’s methodology merits emulation for other geographical and temporal contexts in Jesuit history…
Being a Jesuit in Renaissance Italy has blazed a trail in Jesuit history. -- Hilmar M. Pabel * Renaissance and Reformation *
So impressive…Russell’s aim is to provide a new view of the first century of the Society of Jesus, derived from within and not from outside or above as is often the case with institutional histories. Biographical detail, which in histories of the early Society might be cited as an example or illustration, is foregrounded: here the early Jesuits themselves tell the story. -- Michael Holman * Catholic Herald *
It is daring to write in a single breath the early history of the Society of Jesus, which encompassed thousands of exemplary lives in all their diversity, fluidity, and mobility. Fortunately, Camilla Russell dared. Looking closely at unpublished documents and foundational texts, she creates an illuminating fresco of the lives of Italian Jesuits. Her lucid account reveals how individual members both shaped the Society and, in turn, were shaped by it. -- Ines G. Županov, coauthor of
Catholic OrientalismCamilla Russell’s collective biography tells a remarkable story about the early Italian Jesuits. Examining why a variety of individuals joined the order, what they did there, and why some of them left, this book brings their world back to life. -- Peter Burke, author of
The Italian RenaissanceUtterly original in its approach, this study fundamentally changes our understanding of how the Jesuits saw themselves and the Society in its first hundred years. Russell’s insightful analysis shows that the early Jesuits not only negotiated their identities with reference to authoritative texts, but also viewed these texts through the lens of quotidian experience. -- Simon Ditchfield, author of
Liturgy, Sanctity and History in Tridentine ItalyIn the first century of the Society of Jesus, thousands signed up to join the new order. This richly textured study draws on a treasure trove of biographical records to reconstruct the motives and experiences of those who lived and died as Jesuits. -- Mary Laven, author of
Mission to China
