News by Emanuele J Colombo
The Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies (IAJS) at Boston
College invites international scholars... more The Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies (IAJS) at Boston
College invites international scholars who work on different
aspects of Jesuit Studies (history, art, literature, music, science,
etc.) to gather at Boston College for a workshop to be
hosted at the Institute (20 minutes from downtown Boston)
on the occasion of the Renaissance Society of America Conference
(Boston, March 20–22, 2025).
Books (Author) by Emanuele J Colombo
Le indipetae (da "Indias petentes") sono le lettere che i gesuiti europei inviavano al loro Super... more Le indipetae (da "Indias petentes") sono le lettere che i gesuiti europei inviavano al loro Superiore Generale per chiedere di partire per le missioni d'oltremare, le «Indie». Conservate negli archivi della Compagnia di Gesù, sono oltre 24.000, scritte tra il 1560 e il 1960, e sono nello stesso tempo lettere amministrative e spirituali, pubbliche e private. I giovani gesuiti cercavano di convincere il Superiore che Dio li aveva chiamati due volte: prima ad abbandonare il mondo, per entrare nell'ordine, e poi a lasciare le loro città e attraversare l'oceano, per dedicarsi alle missioni nelle terre lontane. A partire da queste lettere Emanuele Colombo compone una storia globale della vocazione, delle suggestioni culturali che l'hanno sorretta, dei sogni e dell'immaginario che l'hanno alimentata. Il libro si conclude nel Novecento quando, dopo quattrocento anni, la consuetudine di scrivere indipetae cominciò a declinare.
Brill Research Perspectives in Jesuit Studies, 2023
This volume chronicles Jesuit efforts to engage with Muslim populations in Christian Europe, such... more This volume chronicles Jesuit efforts to engage with Muslim populations in Christian Europe, such as the Moriscos, as well as the work of Jesuit missionaries in Muslim territory, such as Constantinople. It provides insights into the activities of the Society of Jesus along the eastern frontier of the Ottoman Empire, and tracks the careers of individual Jesuits such as Tomás de León and Antonio Possevino. These influential Jesuits devoted much of their lives to addressing the claims of Islam and the pressures applied on Christian Europe by Muslim polities. Some lesser-known Jesuits, such as the translator Ignazio Lomellini, are also profiled.
Le indipetae sono lettere particolari con cui i gesuiti chiedono al proprio generale di essere ma... more Le indipetae sono lettere particolari con cui i gesuiti chiedono al proprio generale di essere mandati in terra di missione. Esse si trovano dunque a essere al contempo espressione della politica missionaria dell’ordine e della sua spiritualità, mettendo in luce dettagli di vita, processi psicologici e spirituali, motivazioni personali di una metodica all’obbedienza, alla carità e all’ascesi nell’ambito di quel desiderio delle Indie che mosse migliaia di gesuiti verso l’avventura missionaria nel mondo in una straordinaria continuità tra l’Antica (1540-1773) e la Nuova Compagnia (1814-).
Nel clima di slancio e di entusiasmo per la vittoria della Lega Santa a Vienna (1683), che arrest... more Nel clima di slancio e di entusiasmo per la vittoria della Lega Santa a Vienna (1683), che arrestava l'espansione dell'impero ottomano, Tirso Gonzàlez de Santalla, cattedratico a Salamanca e futuro generale della Compagnia di Gesù, diede alle stampe un "Manuale per convertire i maomettani" in cui forniva ai missionari dettagliate istruzioni e consigli sulla predicazione agli islamici, in Europa e in terra di missione. Il "Manuale", ricco di esempi tratti dall'esperienza diretta del gesuita, ebbe numerose edizioni e traduzioni. Emanuele Colombo fornisce ampi intarsi di questo fortunato libro e dei carteggi di Gonzàlez: uomo colto e illuminato, il gesuita riferisce incontri e dialoghi che approdano alla conversione, ma anche, talvolta, alla conferma di diffidenze e incomprensioni.
Books (Editor) by Emanuele J Colombo
Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 21 (CMR 21), covering South-western Europe ... more Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 21 (CMR 21), covering South-western Europe in the period 1800-1914, is a further volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the 7th century to the early 20th century. It comprises a series of introductory essays and the main body of detailed entries. These treat all the works, surviving or lost, that have been recorded. They provide biographical details of the authors, descriptions and assessments of the works themselves, and complete accounts of manuscripts, editions, translations and studies. The result of collaboration between numerous new and established scholars, CMR 21, along with the other volumes in this series, is intended as a fundamental tool for research in Christian-Muslim relations.
Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 21 (CMR 21), covering South-western Europe ... more Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 21 (CMR 21), covering South-western Europe in the period 1800-1914, is a further volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the 7th century to the early 20th century. It comprises a series of introductory essays and the main body of detailed entries. These treat all the works, surviving or lost, that have been recorded. They provide biographical details of the authors, descriptions and assessments of the works themselves, and complete accounts of manuscripts, editions, translations and studies. The result of collaboration between numerous new and established scholars, CMR 21, along with the other volumes in this series, is intended as a fundamental tool for research in Christian-Muslim relations.
(with Emanuele Colombo), Section Italy and Malta, in Christian-Muslim Relations: a Bibliographical History, vol. 13, Western Europe (1700-1800), eds. D. Thomas, J. Chesworth et al., Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2019, pp. 819-969. Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History Volume 13 (CMR 13) covering Western Europe ... more Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History Volume 13 (CMR 13) covering Western Europe in the period 1700-1800 is a further volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the 7th century to the early 20th century.
Egied Van Broeckhoven, nato ad Anversa nel 1933 e morto nel 1967 a Bruxelles, entrò giovanissimo ... more Egied Van Broeckhoven, nato ad Anversa nel 1933 e morto nel 1967 a Bruxelles, entrò giovanissimo nel noviziato della Compagnia di Gesù (1950). La condivisione della vita degli operai nelle periferie di Bruxelles e il valore dell'amicizia come luogo dell'incontro con Dio sono stati al centro della sua missione e della sua riflessione. Nel 1958 iniziò a scrivere un diario, testimonianza di inestimabile valore del suo intenso cammino spirituale.
a cura di Emanuele Colombo, Pierluigi Giovannucci, Guido Mongini
Books (Translator) by Emanuele J Colombo
Articles-Book Chapters by Emanuele J Colombo
The Oxford Handbook of the Jesuits, 2019
This chapter discusses Jesuit narratives on Islam and the Jesuits’ approaches toward Muslims in e... more This chapter discusses Jesuit narratives on Islam and the Jesuits’ approaches toward Muslims in early modern Europe, showing that its interaction with Islam was a key component of the Society’s identity, despite the fact that the order was not celebrated for the success of this interaction. It explores the dream of Ignatius of Loyola and the first Jesuits to convert Muslims; the history of some Muslims who converted to Catholicism and joined the Society of Jesus; the fluctuation of early modern Jesuits between a polemical attitude and a missionary approach; and, finally, the Jesuits’ willingness to engage Islamic religion and their attempts to study Arabic during this period. The chapter sheds new light on the presence of Islam in early modern Europe and helps our understanding of views that also influenced early modern Jesuit missionaries overseas, most of whom undertook their formation in Europe.
Journal of Jesuit Studies
OPEN ACCESS: https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/8/2/article-p276_276.xml
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News by Emanuele J Colombo
College invites international scholars who work on different
aspects of Jesuit Studies (history, art, literature, music, science,
etc.) to gather at Boston College for a workshop to be
hosted at the Institute (20 minutes from downtown Boston)
on the occasion of the Renaissance Society of America Conference
(Boston, March 20–22, 2025).
Books (Author) by Emanuele J Colombo
Books (Editor) by Emanuele J Colombo
Books (Translator) by Emanuele J Colombo
Articles-Book Chapters by Emanuele J Colombo
College invites international scholars who work on different
aspects of Jesuit Studies (history, art, literature, music, science,
etc.) to gather at Boston College for a workshop to be
hosted at the Institute (20 minutes from downtown Boston)
on the occasion of the Renaissance Society of America Conference
(Boston, March 20–22, 2025).
In the last few years, O’Malley published with Harvard University Press a trilogy on the three last councils in the history of the Catholic Church: What Happened at Vatican ii (2008), Trent: What Happened at the Council (2012), and Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church (2018). A comparative view of the three councils is offered now in his most recent book, When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican ii (2019). O’Malley has lectured widely around the world to both professional and general audiences. He is past president of the Renaissance Society of America and the American Catholic Historical Association. He holds the Johannes Quasten Medal from The Catholic University of America for distinguished service in religious studies. In 1995, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 1997, to the American Philosophical Society; and in 2001, to the Accademia Ambrosiana, Milan. He holds lifetime achievement awards from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, the Renaissance Society of America, and the American Catholic Historical Association.
At the origin of the following interview, there are three conversations Emanuele Colombo had with O’Malley in Chicago, in 2017 and 2018, as a follow-up of a lecture he gave on his life, “My Life of Learning,” now published in The Catholic Historical Review
"Dalla carta allo schermo" è un laboratorio per studenti dei corsi di laurea nelle materie umanistiche. Il laboratorio si concentra sulla lettura, interpretazione e trascrizione delle "litterae indipetae" (candidature alle missioni di giovani gesuiti) dei secoli XVI-XVIII e sull’uso di piattaforme digitali per la consultazione di queste fonti. Dopo una serie di lezioni introduttive, gli studenti parteciperanno al lavoro di trascrizione e interpretazione delle fonti. Le trascrizioni entreranno a far parte del "Digital Indipetae Database", promosso dall’Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies di Boston College in collaborazione con l’Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu. Le trascrizioni saranno pubblicate sul database con la firma dello studente autore della trascrizione; in questo modo la collaborazione di ciascuno studente con il progetto sarà riconosciuta.
In seguito a COVID-19 è nata l'idea di rendere disponibile un “pacchetto” che consenta ai docenti che partecipano all’iniziativa di insegnare questo laboratorio in qualunque condizione e in forme diverse (corso online – corso ibrido – corso tradizionale) e di poter passare con facilità da una formula all’altra se richiesto dalle circostanze.
Digital Indipetae Database: https://indipetae.bc.edu
Download the interview here: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22141332-00303007
La Misión en 1986 cuyo argumento se basó en las reducciones jesuíticas en Paraguay, con una Misa dedicada al primer papa jesuita, Francisco, compuesta con motivo del Doscientos Aniversario de la Restauración de la Compañía de Jesús (2014).
Despite its relevance for the identity of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit martyrdom has not been studied yet in a systematic fashion. This article develops some revealing elements of Jesuit martyrdom: the first representations of Jesuit martyrs during the “revival of Christian martyrdom” in the early sixteenth century; the defense of Jesuit martyrs at the beginning of the seventeenth century, during the pontificate of Urban VIII, when the regulations of the Catholic church on the matter of sainthood became stricter; the celebration of Jesuit martyrs during the centennial anniversary of the Society of Jesus, especially in the famous engraved book "Imago primi saeculi" (1640); and the presence of martyrdom in the more than 500 Italian litterae indipetae (applications for overseas missions sent to the Jesuit General by European Jesuits) written in 1640-1641. Finally, the article suggests new directions for future research on Jesuit martyrdom, showing the continuities and changes in the longue durée.
https://books.fbk.eu/pubblicazioni/titoli/i-gesuiti-e-i-papi/
in early modern Catholicism.
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22141332-00203005-12
Available in open access
https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/9/1/jjs.9.issue-1.xml
Carlos Zeron
Paul Nelles
Kevin Spinale
Available in OPEN ACCESS on BRILL WEBSITE
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/2/3
***
Thematic Issue: Jesuits and Their Books
Guest Editor: Kathleen M. Comerford
* The Dispersion of Jesuit Books Printed in Japan: Trends in Bibliographical Research and in Intellectual History (Yoshimi Orii)
*The Role of Libraries in the Missionary Regions of Orinoquia
(José del Rey Fajardo S.J.)
*Guerra com a lingoa
(Kristen Windmuller-Luna)
*The Oriental Library and the Catholic Press at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut
(Rafael Herzstein)
*Engaged Collecting: Culture Transforming Mission The Regis College Library, University of Toronto
(Gordon Rixon S.J.)
*The History of Jesuit Libraries in Croatia
(Marica Šapro-Ficović and Željko Vegh)
The entire issue is available for free download in Open Access at http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332
***
In this issue:
Clifford Ando and Anne McGinness, "In Memoriam Sabine G. MacCormack"
Sabine MacCormack, "Ancient Authorities Intertwined. Natural Philosophy, History, and Theology in the Writings of José de Acosta, S.J. (1540–1600)"
Sky Michael Johnston, “What is California? Nothing but Innumerable Stones”
Gregory Afinogenov, "Jesuit Conspirators and Russia’s East Asian Fur Trade, 1791–1807"
Henrique Leitão and Francisco Malta Romeira, "The Role of Science in the History of Portuguese Anti-Jesuitism"
The entire issue is available for free download in Open Access at
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/2/1
***
In this issue:
James E. Kelly
Gerard Kilroy
Victor Houliston
Ronald Corthell
Hannah Thomas
Clarinda E. Calma
The entire issue in Open Access at
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/1/4
***
In this issue:
Stephen Schloesser
Hilmar M. Pabel
Cristiano Casalini
Jost Eickmeyer
César Guillen-Nuñez
Patrick Schwemmer
The entire issue in Open Access at
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/1/3
Thematic Issue: Jesuit Missionary Perspectives and Strategies
Guest Editor: Bronwen Catherine McShea
Ana Carolina Hosne
Emanuele Colombo
Elizabeth Ellis-Marino
Anne B. McGinness
John K. Thornton
Adina Ruiu
The entire issue in Open Access at
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/1/2
***
In this issue:
Paul F. Grendler, "Jesuit Schools in Europe. A Historiographical Essay"
Yasmin Haskell, "The Vineyard of Verse: The State of Scholarship on Latin Poetry of the Old Society of Jesus"
Ronnie Po-chia Hsia, "Jesuit Foreign Missions. A Historiographical Essay"
Evonne Levy, "Early Modern Jesuit Arts and Jesuit Visual Culture: A View from the Twenty-First Century"
Sheila J. Rabin, "Early Modern Jesuit Science. A Historiographical Essay"
Sephen Schloesser, "Recent Works in Jesuit Philosophy: Vicissitudes of Rhetorical Accommodation"
The entire issue in Open Access at
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/22141332/1/1
REGISTER HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKCiuA3yyIKgs9J-CW8V0PFZr9ayHS1RmF3ngcOL5kUb-B6w/viewform
Seminario di studi online sulla diffusione della devozione alla Madonna di Loreto nelle Americhe -- 14-16 ottobre, 2021 (orari compatibili con Europa e America).
It discusses how religious orders positioned themselves between collective salvation and individual survival. It considers the contribution of religious orders to a spiritual awakening in the face of epidemics, both as intercessors responding to appeals from lay people and civil authorities and as religious ready to offer their lives for the victims. It compares male and female religious orders in the modern era, which was more globalized, medicalized and secularized than medieval societies. Facing disease, both consecrated men and women took original paths and even invented new and provocative theologies of illness. A comparative approach, from the Black Death in the fourteenth century to AIDS in the twentieth century, and wide geographical coverage on a global scale, from transnational congregations to specific care establishments, enable comparisons to be make but also clearly distinguish different historical configurations.
Building on a renewed scholarship into Catholic religious orders, this book is a major contribution to the history of societies shaped by religion and disease.
Deadline July 28
Antonio Possevino (1533–1611) is one of the most fascinating early modern Jesuits, renowned for his political and diplomatic activities in Central and Eastern Europe and the prolific author of treatises, pamphlets, and commentaries, as well as the Bibliotheca selecta (1583), his encyclopedic masterpiece. Although he is often quoted in recent scholarship and hundreds of articles and books on specific aspects of his life and career have been published, the most recent comprehensive biography written about him dates back to the eighteenth century, a work by the French Jesuit Jean Dorigny. In connection with The Collaborative Possevino Project, a multi-author intellectual biography of Antonio Possevino sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, we look for papers that explore different aspects of Possevino, his life, his publications, and his intellectual legacy.
Email your proposal by July 28. 2024 at Emanuele Colombo - columbo@bc.edu
More specifically, we will consider how religious orders dealt with diseases that disrupted the lives of societies or were part of their almost everyday life. Many paths can be explored: religious institutions that took care of the sick, the contribution of religious orders to public health policies, gender issues of care and disease, the professionalization of religious personnel, preaching and theology, devotional practices, representations of illness and death, etc. The scope of the seminar series will range from the 15th c. (after the Black Death) to the present day and can include any geographical area. It will promote dynamic historiography of religious orders by emphasizing a comparative and transnational approach to their history. The seminar will be organized through Zoom or in-person in Chicago, USA, depending on the reopening of the campus. The seminar will meet every month. The papers will be published in a peer-refereed academic journal.
https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/centers/iajs/programs/jesuit-studies-cafe.html
discussions and for additional details, fill the form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXsIcYYAvpsENi-D0pukZOAP0q5UEg2VylNi1pAyEQLn5VUA/viewform
Innovation in Early Modern Catholicism reveals that the period between 1550 and 1700 emerged as an intellectually vibrant atmosphere, shaped by the tensions between personal creativity and magisterial authority. The essays explore ideas about grace, physical predetermination, freedom, and probabilism in order to show how the rhetoric of innovation and tradition can be better understood. More importantly, contributors illustrate how disintegrated historiographies, which often excluded Catholicism as a source of innovation, can be overcome. Not only were new systems of metaphysics crafted in the early modern period, but so too was a new conceptual language to deal with the pressing problems of human freedom and grace, natural law, and Marian piety. Overall, the volume shines significant light on hitherto neglected or misunderstood traits in the understanding of early modern Catholic culture.
Re-presenting early modern Catholicism more crucially than any other currently available study, Innovation in Early Modern Catholicism is a useful tool for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars in the fields of philosophy, early modern studies, and the history of theology.
1. Introduction: Innovation and Creativity in Early Modern Catholicism
Ulrich L. Lehner
2. The Rhetoric of Innovation and Constancy in Early Modern Catholicism
Ulrich L. Lehner
3. Catholic Theology and Doctrinal Novelty in the Quarrel over Grace: Theological schools, innovations, and pluralism during the Molinism Controversy
Sylvio Hermann De Francheschi
4. Faithfulness and Novelty in Early Modern Thomism: The Dionysian Dimension of Physical Predetermination
Matthew Gaetano
5. The Innovative Character of the Suárezian Project in its Proper Historical Context
Victor M. Salas
6. New Models of Church Government: Innovation in Catholic Ecclesiology, ca. 1600–1800
Shaun Blanchard
7. At the Fringes of the Church: The Ecclesial Status of Heretics and their Baptized Children in Early Modern Ecclesiology
Eric DeMeuse
8. The Invention of Probabilism
Emanuele Colombo
9. Natural Law and Cultural Difference: innovations in Spanish scholasticism
Elisabeth Rain Kincaid
10. Duns Scotus and the Making of Modern Catholic Theology
Trent Pomplun
11. The Invention of Early Modern Mariology
Damien Tricoire
beings as such, a force that dominates them in their innermost
being. In this sense, it presents itself as a given of nature that comes
before any reflection on it or attempt to discipline it. At the same
time, the imaginary worlds created around desire, which have
described its essence and pervasiveness, represent one of the most
fascinating pages in the cultural history of human civilization. The
medieval period contributed significantly to this cultural production,
not only in terms of theological-philosophical reflection.
Following an interdisciplinary and transcultural approach, this
volume proposes an investigation into the processes that contributed
to building the cultural image of the phenomenon of desire. The
focus is on the texts, the sociopolitical and intellectual contexts,
and the actors involved in this cultural construction as it took
shape within the Mediterranean basin in the centuries from late
antiquity to the early modern age. In this geographical space, the
great cultural traditions that marked the medieval era – Christian,
Jewish, Arab – interacted with each other over centuries, creating
a laboratory that has left a unique legacy to the modern world.
This interaction represents a fruitful field of investigation for
understanding the history of medieval and early modern societies
in terms of thought and on the social and institutional level.
Contributions of:
Amos Bertolacci; Charles Burnett; Franco Cardini; Andrea Colli;
Emanuele Colombo; Nicolangelo D’Acunto; Francesco Paolo de Ceglia;
Costantino Esposito; Alessandra Gianni; Danielle Jacquart; Bruno
Laurioux; Marina Massimi; Gert Melville; Marina Montesano; Antonio
Musarra; Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli; Agostino Paravicini Bagliani;
Marco Rainini; Francesco Santi; Pietro Silanos; Francesca Sivo; Francesco
Violante; Lidia L. Zanetti Domingues