The cultural influence of the Jesuits in the city (1540

Interior of the church of the former school of the Society of Jesus of Segovia. Photography by Rubén Pascual López.

On October 14, the “Hontanar” Culture Classroom resumes its “training” proposal, and gradually recovers the activities that were interrupted during the pandemic. Among the novelties that await us for this course we find the space that wants to be dedicated to showing the Hispanic cultural legacy. That is why it will dedicate a date as relevant as the inauguration of this new course, to the presentation of the book Jesuits. Cultural impact of the Society of Jesus in the Hispanic Monarchy (1540-1767). 2 vols. Henar Pizarro (dir.), José García de Castro, Macarena Moralejo and Wenceslao Soto (eds).

This book focuses on the first two hundred and twenty-seven years of life of the Society of Jesus: from the year of its foundation in 1540 by Pope Paul III to 1767, when Carlos III decided to expel the Jesuits from all Hispanic territories. This work constitutes an example of the contribution that the Jesuits offered to the communities and cultures with which they were interacting, at the same time that they unfolded their proposal of life with enormous creativity and fruitfulness in numerous fields of knowledge and human life.

In recent years, the scientific study of the cultural heritage of the Society of Jesus has become the focus of interest for different research groups in various parts of the world. The label cultural heritage, according to UNESCO’s definition, “is the cultural legacy, material and immaterial, that we receive from the past, that we live in the present and that we will transmit to future generations”. This definition has offered the foundation on which to support the works that make up the different chapters of both volumes. The work presented consists of forty chapters in which 43 specialists from 26 academic institutions take part. Each of the authors, from their particular discipline, contributes their knowledge and perspective to a choral project supported from the beginning by the Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid.

The axis of the publication is an enhancement of the cultural heritage that the Jesuits carried out during the historical period that has been mentioned. The reader will be able to see how, in a progressive and pedagogical way, he is being introduced to this enormous legacy, exposed in a way that is as entertaining as it is rigorous.

From its birth and through its people and institutions, the Society of Jesus did not go unnoticed in the different scenarios in which it settled. produced a impact that was evidenced in numerous areas of society and culture: art, science, pedagogy, philosophy, spirituality… In its internal structure, the book groups these contents into five large sections: “Documentary heritage and written culture” opens the first volume. The enormous Jesuit legacy is easily recognizable in archives and libraries in various parts of the world. The Jesuits were born in an academic-university environment and their fondness for letters was reflected in the wealth of publications that they were generating and in the quality of the libraries that were being developed in their schools and residences.

No less relevant was the contribution of the members of the Society of Jesus to the various branches of the Theology and in the realm of Spirituality. Bible, Dogma, Moral and spiritual life that took shape in the animation and care of devotions and in the transmission of the faith through catechisms and prayer books [sección B, capítulos 8-14].

This knowledge was embodied in all those scenarios where the Jesuits carried out their mission. Perhaps the most important was the field of education, where the impressive network of schools dedicated to training youth favored the transformation and progress of society. The Jesuits were present at the court and in the centers of sociopolitical decision, without neglecting their radical commitment to the most disadvantaged sectors of society. At the same time, they entered Ethiopia, India, China or the Brazilian Amazon.

Perhaps less well known is the heritage of the Society of Jesus linked to the scientific field. The study of mathematics, astronomy, botany, pharmacy, geology, cartography… placed the Jesuits in a privileged position for rigorous dialogue with the scientists of their time, contributing to the advancement of various branches of science as innovators and discoverers.

The work closes with the section dedicated to “artistic heritage and visual culture”. The numerous institutions that were emerging offered possibilities for artistic creation, both from the way of thinking and creating buildings and churches and from the needs that these demanded to fit out their interior spaces and attend to the functions they performed.

Edited by the “Loyola Communication Group” (volumes 83 and 84 of its prestigious “Manresa Collection”), the final result offers a book that has been carefully cared for, with an important list of images, summaries, chronological tables and key events that offer a qualified tool for teachers, researchers and for all lovers of the culture of Modern Europe.

This work, called to become an obligatory reference in studies on Jesuits, opens a path that may be continued by other publishing projects that make it possible to continue deepening the knowledge and enhancement of the cultural heritage of the Society of Jesus. Despite the many topics covered in its more than 1,500 pages, there are still many things to say. Scientists, university professors and researchers now have the responsibility of becoming the transmission belt of this solid Jesuit heritage to make their knowledge accessible to society as a whole. The study of the history of the Society of Jesus is essential for the understanding of Western culture, especially in the Hispanic sphere.

And in this context, where do we place Segovia? Segovia was an important place, both in the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and in the subsequent history of the first Society of Jesus. In 1557 the Jesuits opened a college under the patronage of San Felipe and Santiago, which came to have studies of Grammar, Theology and was the Trilingual Seminary of the Province of Castile. At the same time, and seeking funding for the maintenance of the school, a network of benefactors and agricultural activities was established, generically called labors of farms. Through the wool business and laundries, but also with mills or wine production (as evidenced by the farms in Anaya, Bercial, Melque, Ochando, Moraleja de Coca, Aldeanueva del Codonal, Mozoncillo, San Cristóbal de Segovia, Villacastín… ) the Jesuits contributed to finance the college of the city and others throughout the Province of Castile, without forgetting the impressive Imperial College of Madrid.

It is possible that for many Segovians the only trace of the presence of the Society of Jesus is the building occupied by the Bishopric of Segovia and its monumental church, but as the author has shown in several of her publications, this has been much more significant and it is still to be valued in its fair measure.

To reverse this silence, we must begin by claiming Segovia as an Ignatian city, due not only to the years that Ignacio de Loyola spent with the accountant of the Catholic Monarchs, Juan Velázquez, but also because of the role played by different people who were directly linked to Segovia and helped to establish and strengthening of the Company in our city

Despite the scarcity of data, names such as Don Fadrique of Portugal, nephew of King Manuel I “El Afortunado”, bishop of Segovia between 1508 and 1511 and later Viceroy of Catalonia, must be rescued from oblivion; Calixto de Sà and the Segovians Lope de Cáceres and Diego de Cáceres (mentioned in the Autobiography of Saint Ignatius), speak of the close connection that existed with the Jesuits at the time of the founding of the Segovia school. At that time, not a few friends of Ignacio de Loyola lived in the city, such as Gonzalo de Cáceres, who venerated and showed the rooms of his Segovian houses in which he had lodged Ignacio.

Other Segovians supported the Company’s first settlement in Segovia. Juan de Cuéllar, a merchant in Antwerp, or various members of the Ducal House of Alburquerque, who, although they did not succeed in founding a Jesuit college in Cuéllar, helped as much as possible to establish the Company in Milan. We also find the “elusive” parish priest of San Esteban, Don Luis de Mendoza, who gave his house in the San Esteban neighborhood to the Company and donated his properties in Tivoli (Rome) to the Jesuits.

When studying the relationship between the Jesuits and the Hispanic Monarchy, as our book does, we cannot fail to remember the palaces of Valsaín and La Granja in order to correctly weigh the opportunity for contact with the Court during the periodic stays of the Austrian monarchs and Bourbons.

As we approach the Ratio Studiorum (1599) the great study plan and pedagogical proposal in which the guidelines of the Jesuit comprehensive education were established, the contribution to the text made by Father Diego de Ledesma, considered by his peers as “teacher of teachers” is obligatory memory , born in Cuellar in 1519.

When we talk about devotion to the Virgen de la Fuencisla, we cannot forget the Secular Congregation of the school, which had a prominent place in the processions for having been the oldest, long before the city celebrated the consecration of its Sanctuary. And what about Saint Alonso Rodríguez and the dedication of his sisters to the other ministries of the Society?

Similarly, the history of the Artillery Academy of Segovia cannot be understood without the Jesuits and their teachings of mathematics and other sciences. The rich heritage that today is guarded by various libraries, including the Public Library of Segovia, come largely from the collections of the library (bookstore) of the Colegio de la Compañía de Segovia, which at the time of the removal of the order by order of Carlos III (1767) they dispersed a total of twelve boxes full of books. And we still have to mention the contribution of the Jesuits to the school theater, the wealth of reliquaries, altarpieces, images and a majestic church, which fortunately is increasingly appreciated by all who visit it.

With everything that we have been exposing and summoned by the Hontanar Culture Classroom, we believe that the appointment for the next October 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the Vicariate Room of the Hotel San Antonio el Real in Segovia.

(1) P. Comillas University of Madrid.
(2) Hontanar Culture Classroom. Segovia

The cultural influence of the Jesuits in the city (1540-1767) | The Advance of Segovia