"L'affetto disordinato verso le patrie": i gesuiti tra ideale universalistico e prassi "nazionalista" nell’Europa del ‘600

This essay aims to examine the theme of multiple and “national” loyalties that characterize the political action of the fathers of the Society of Jesus in the Catholic courts of the Seventeenth century. In particular, it analyzes the crisis of the relationship with the Catholic king and the increasingly close relations with the French monarchy, promoted by General Claudio Acquaviva after the conversion of Henry IV. The seventeenth-century history of the Jesuits shows choices consistent with the national interests pursued by the sovereigns at whose courts they worked; I would say rather, their belonging to courtier parties! The idea of the Societatis Jesu as a religious order dependent on the pope is thus redefined. The investigation is also conducted through the analysis of the activity and writings of some Jesuit teachers in Milan and Venice in the second half of the 17th century, interested in the comparison and debate not only with their students but also with exponents of the social classes engaged in political, economic and diplomatic activities. Finally, the essay highlights the intensification of the protest against the Society during the XVIIth century, on the part of other religious orders, the Inquisition and the Roman Curia.