The V Mexican Provincial Congregation, held November 2-9, 1599 at the College of Mexico, joined in this campaign.  On the morning of the 8th, the congregants were asked “if it would be convenient to ask our father [General] once again that the Society make a new request to his sanctity for the canonization of our Blessed Father Ignatius.” All responded “that it would be a thing of great consolation, and that as such it should be proposed to our father.” ² A few days earlier, on November 4, the Congregation had elected Father Antonio Rubio as procurator to Madrid and Rome, and Father Nicolás Arnaya as his substitute. If the former could not travel to Europe for any reason, the latter would replace him. In order to fulfill their functions, they were given

Thus, it fell to Rubio to carry the petitions of the Congregation to Rome, among which was the canonization of St. Ignatius. He was to leave New Spain in April 1600 in the company of his coadjutor lay brother Pedro Sanchez. He fulfilled the duties of his office with “as much solicitude and fidelity as his dispatches will show,” but he never returned to America. Father General Claudio Aquaviva gave him permission to stay in Spain to print a text on philosophy, but the main reason – he explained to the provincial  in Mexico, Francisco Váez – “is because he will serve more here than there, since according to what Your Excellency has written, he will not govern there, nor will he read or exercise his letters, for the reasons that Your Excellency has pointed out to me. And in Spain he will be able to help with his talent in letters, especially being as they say he is, so fond of St. Thomas, and a follower of his doctrine, which, for the times we live in, is a very important part.” The reasons that Váez gave to Aquaviva about why Rubio could not carry out his work in New Spain are unknown. In the end, Rubio settled in Alcalá de Henares where he died in 1615. ⁴

As “barter”, the General sent Father Ildefonso de Castro, having named him the new Provincial, along with 23 missionaries, among whom was Andrés Pérez de Rivas. ⁵ Castro embarked for New Spain in 1602 and must have traveled with the succinct response from Aquaviva to the request of the Congregation to promote the canonization of Father Ignatius: “The convenient diligences have already been made and are being carried out, and those that are not, it is because, at present, they are not considered convenient.” ⁶  In addition to the transfer of the missionaries, it is likely that the new Provincial also took “objects of devotion” with him to distribute in the Mexican Province and that some of these, such as portraits and relics, were intended to spread devotion to the “blessed Father Ignatius.”

The annua letters continued narrating miracles or “particular cases” that were realized through the intercession of the “holy father Ignatius.” One of them is about the use of an image that belonged to the Jesuit school of Guadiana, currently Durango, founded in 1596 and located 900 kilometers north of Mexico City, which shows how far these “objects of devotion” brought from Europe could travel. In this locality, it had become customary for the devout, the sick, and the dying to request from the school fathers the portrait of their founder – a painting on metal protected by glass – to place on the sick part of the body and/or to invoke the saint with great devotion. This image became famous for the numerous miracles it performed. It is also reported that there was a relic, “a little piece of his chasuble”, which “some ladies” had.⁷  However, these were not the only images and relics preserved at that time in New Spain. In the Casa Profesa in Mexico City there was a portrait and an autograph letter and the Colegio Máximo treasured a “signature of his.” ⁸

Ignatius of Loyola was beatified in 1609 and canonized in 1622, and both events were greatly celebrated by the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus in the cities of Mexico and Puebla. From then on, devotion to the saint and his relics increased. On the night of 1659 “a Chinese barber’s stand” caught fire in the main square of Mexico City and in order to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to the other portals, the archbishop brought out the Blessed Sacrament while members of various religious orders carried images of their saints. The fathers of the Society of Jesus went out with “a letter” of St. Ignatius ⁹, perhaps the one that was kept in the Casa Profesa.

After the expulsion of the order in 1767, these objects were dispersed, and many were lost. However, in the Manuel Ignacio Pérez Alonso Museum of the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus, located in Mexico City, there is a monstrance that contains, in the space assigned to expose the Blessed Sacrament, a paper cutout with the letters “Ign.o” written in ink. (Fig. 1) This “signature” is pasted on another oval-shaped paper with the following inscription in red ink: “IHS MANO PROPRIA DEL SANTO“, alluding to the fact that the writing is autograph. (Fig. 2) Although it is not possible to confirm the authenticity of the signature, as it was clearly severed from a document for which no information is available, it is an indication of the devotion to the founder of the Society of Jesus, his relics, and other objects that were transferred by the procurators from Europe to New Spain through its extensive communication network.

Fig. 1. Autograph of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (detail). Manuel Ignacio Pérez Alonso Museum. Mexico City. Photo: Verónica Zaragoza.

Fig. 2. Autograph of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Manuel Ignacio Pérez Alonso Museum. Mexico City. Photo: Verónica Zaragoza.

Verónica Zaragoza

 ¹ Jonathan E. Greenwood, “Los milagros americanos de Ignacio de Loyola y la red de información transatlántica de los jesuitas”, en Hispania Sacra, LXXII, 146, julio-diciembre 2020, 491-499.

²  Monumenta Mexicana, VI, edición de Félix Zubillaga, S.J., Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1976, p. 647.

³  Ibidem, p. 645.

 ⁴ Francisco Zambrano, S.J. y José Gutiérrez Casillas, S. J., Diccionario Bio-Bibliográfico de la Compañía de Jesús, t. XII, México, Editorial Tradición, 1973, pp. 726-755.

 ⁵ Agustín Galán García, El “Oficio de Indias” de Sevilla y la organización económica y misional de la Compañía de Jesús (1566-1767), Sevilla, Fundación Fondo de Cultura de Sevilla, 1995 (Colección “FOCUS”, núm. 8), pp. 219-220.

 ⁶ Monumenta Mexicana, op. cit., p. 653.

 ⁷ Monumenta Mexicana, VIII, editados y anotados por Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, S.J., Roma, Instituto Histórico de la Compañía de Jesús, 1991, pp. 180-186.

 ⁸ Francisco Javier Alegre, S.J., Historia de la Provincia de la Compañía de Jesús de Nueva España, t. II, Roma, Institutum HIstoricum S. J., 1958, p. 192.

 ⁹ Gregorio Martin de Guijo, “Diario de sucesos notables”, en Documentos para la historia de Méjico, tomo I, Méjico, Imprenta de Juan R. Navarro, 1853, p. 413.

La entrada Relics of St. Ignatius of Loyola and Devotion in New Spain se publicó primero en ProJesArt.

This second posting shares some of the preliminary research questions we are asking ourselves as part of this research project. Many of these will be answered through other blog entries, as well as through articles, seminars, and lectures by members of the project and other scholars of the academic community with whom we collaborate. They are also an invitation to consider in what ways the study of this topic impacts on various fields of knowledge and why it matters.

ONE

What impact did the objects of artistic value that were transported from Europe to America, or from Italy to Spain, have on the local art scenes where they arrived? How were they exhibited, and did they influence local artists?

TWO 

What was the impact of the scientific objects that sometimes traveled in Jesuit crates (including clocks, for example) and the hundreds of books? 

THREE

Given the volume of objects that Jesuit procurators moved, some in large quantities (especially devotional ones), how were they distributed? To whom were the devotional objects destined? And everything else?

FOUR

Where are these objects that travelled such long distances to be found today? How much has been lost? 

FIVE

Did the provincial procurators charge a commission for carrying out the requests and petitions of third parties in their provinces of origin? 

SIX 

Did the procurators have local agents to whom they turned to make their purchases in the usual stops of their itinerary, places such as Barcelona, Genoa, Rome, and Naples? 

SEVEN

Did the procurators typically buy the same things, or did the nature and types of objects purchased change over time? Did they buy on the open market and in bulk? How often did they commission specific objects or works of art in the cities to which they traveled?

EIGHT

Given that for the case of the Spanish American viceroyalties, many of the Jesuits who undertook these journeys were Creoles (Spaniards born in America) and that, in general, they had not traveled long distances before (which may also apply to those travelling from Iberian Spain as well), what did the journey entail as an experience for them? Can the journey of the Jesuit procurators in the later period and with its various stops be likened to the Grand Tour?

NINE

How does the activity of the procurators from the provinces in Spain compare with those who went to Rome from the American continent? Did those from Spain also buy objects in Rome? What were their main tasks? 

TEN 

How can we understand the concern and controversy that arose around the Jesuit procurators,  and the growing perception that they were acting as merchants and were exceedingly involved in worldly matters? How did these procurators negotiate between their vow of obedience (instructions from their superiors asking them to limit favors for the local lay population and curtail the quantities of materials purchased) and the service they felt necessary to carry out for and in their communities?

Luisa Elena Alcalá, “10 preguntas preliminares… en torno a los objetos viajeros y los procuradores jesuitas”, en Blog ProJesArt, febrero 2023 [ https://projesart.org/blog/ ]

La entrada 10 PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS se publicó primero en ProJesArt.

In this first blog entry, we offer an introduction to the main ideas one must be familiar with in order to approach the principal object of study of the ProJesArt Project: Jesuit provincial procurators and their involvement with material and artistic culture in the Early Modern Age.  At the end, a basic bibliography is included. Further texts by members of the project are listed in the “Publications” section of this web page.

ONE. DEFINITION OF THE POST 

The provincial procurators (procurator provinciae) were appointed every three years (sometimes six) to report on the affairs of their respective provinces to the highest authority of the order in Rome, the General, and to attend (if they coincided) the Congregations of the Society of Jesus. Sometimes the periodicity was not fulfilled due to various problems: in the case of the Americas, there could be economic obstacles to procurator mobility leading to the decision by some territories to delegate in other provinces; there were often also logistical problems, related to fleets, shipwrecks, etc.

TWO. PRIORITIES IN AMERICA AND THE PHILIPPINES

The procurators who came from the Jesuit provinces of America, including the Philippines, had an additional priority during their sojourns: to recruit missionaries and accompany them on the return trip. However, not all provincial procurators ended up returning to their original locations; some stayed in Spain to occupy other positions, such as Procurator General in Madrid or Procurator General of the Indies in Seville. 

THREE. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THESE “PROCURATORS” AND OTHERS

Within the Society of Jesus, the provincial procurators (to Rome) are a position distinct from the Jesuit procurators who worked on a local scale in all their institutions, managing the affairs of the colleges, seminaries, churches, and estates (such as the haciendas, estancias, or obrajes). It is also a different position than other special procurators appointed by the order at different times and places, such as the Procurator General in Madrid (liaison of the Jesuits at court), and the Procurator General of the Indies in Seville. The office of the latter was founded to facilitate the task of the procurators from the provinces of America and assist in organizing the transfer of missionaries from Europe abroad (on the subject, see A. Galán García in the bibliography). 

FOUR. PROFILE

These procurators were usually very capable Jesuits who had demonstrated their ability to deal with complex organizational tasks in previous occupations. They were also thoroughly knowledgeable about the specific needs of their province. All were professed Jesuits who had taken the four-vows. They were usually accompanied on their journey by a coadjutor (lay brother) who assisted them.

FIVE. INSTRUCTIONS

Prior to the trip, the highest Jesuit authority in each Province, the Provincials, issued Instructions to the procurators. Certain instructions were recurrent from one Provincial to the next, especially that they should make sure to obtain the necessary travel licenses from the Spanish authorities to travel to Rome from Spain, as well as to transfer missionaries. 

SIX. THE ACQUISITION OF OBJECTS ON THEIR TRAVELS

Another of the instructions was that they should acquire “things of devotion”, sometimes specifying rosaries, crucifixes, prints, medals and more, which were to be obtained in Rome. The purchases of this nature were extended to other geographies in the itinerary of their trip, including devotional objects from various sanctuaries they visited on their journey (Montserrat and Loreto) as well as other types of objects (such as sculpture in Naples). The “things of devotion” that traveled with the procurators were exempt from taxation because they were of devotional use and considered necessary for the missions. 

SEVEN. PETITIONS FROM THIRD PARTIES 

The Jesuits’ return crates also included some things that were NOT of a religious nature and that had been acquired in response to specific petitions the procurators had received from third parties in their places of origin before departing. The objects they purchased for third parties included devotional objects as well as books, clocks, rich fabrics such as silks, brocades, and velvets and other fashionable objects.  They also accepted commissions from these third parties of an administrative nature, leading the procurators to mediate in Europe in various affairs: depositing money for relatives, requesting a license for a private oratory, settling a debt, depositing alms in specific churches, chapels, or congregations, and more.

EIGHT. THE VOYAGE AND THE SCOPE OF THIS STUDY

The figure of the Jesuit procurator offers a window into the history of travel in the Modern Age with many possibilities for study (cultural, material, economic, political, social, religious and art historical). For the history of the American viceroyalties, these transfers are special because the procurators were among the most frequent travelers to Europe and very few residents in America had the possibility of making this transatlantic and Mediterranean round trip. Moreover, in the context of the history of the Hispanic world and its inter-territorial relations, it is a singular trip because it was not only about connecting America with Spain: rather, the objective was to reach Rome and, on the way, the Jesuit procurators passed through many other European geographies.

NINE. SOURCES

The documentation related to the activity of these Jesuit procurators found in archives around the world is very rich in information and still awaits further exploration. It includes instructions, much correspondence (which provides a glimpse into the true modus operandi of the procurators and how they negotiated the regulations and expectations of the period), registers of petitions, travel books, accounting records, and more.

TEN. THE CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE

In spite of the very extensive and rich historiography on the Society of Jesus world

Luisa Elena Alcala, “10 preguntas preliminares… en torno a los objetos viajeros y los procuradores jesuitas”, en Blog ProJesArt, febrero 2023 [https://projesart.org/blog/ ]

La entrada Ten Things One Needs to Know about the Provincial Procurators to Rome se publicó primero en ProJesArt.