JESUIT BOOKS IN THE LOW COUNTRIES 1540-1773 A Selection from the Maurits Sabbe Library
Edited by
Paul Begheyn S.J., Bernard Deprez, Rob Faesen S.J., and Leo Kenis With the collaboration of Eddy Put, Frans Chanterie S.J., and Lieve Uyttenhove
MAURITS SABBEBIBLIOTHEEK FACULTEIT GODGELEERDHEID PEETERS LEUVEN 2009
Contents
Preface Rob Faesen S.J.
IX
The Maurits Sabbe Library and Its Collection of Jesuit Books Leo Kenis
XI
Jesuits in the Low Countries and Their Publications Paul Begheyn S.J.
XXI
Peter Canisius S.J., Catechismus (1558) (P. Begheyn S.J.) Jan David S.J., Schild-wacht (1602) (D. Vanysacker)
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1
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4
Frans de Coster S.J., Libellus sodalitatis (1607) (M. King)
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8
Pedro de Ribadeneira S.J., Vita beati/sancti patris Ignatii Loyolae (1610/n.d.) (W.S. Melion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Andries Schott S.J., Adagia sive Proverbia graecorum (1612) (G. Tournoy)
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18
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22
Nicolas Trigault S.J., Litterae Societatis Iesu e regno Sinarum (1615) (N. Standaert S.J.)
26
Der Iesuiten negotiatie (1616) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
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30
Lodewijk Makeblijde S.J., Den berch der gheestelicker vreughden (1618) (P. Begheyn S.J.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
Annuae litterae Societatis Iesu anni M. DC. IV. (1618) (A. Delfosse)
36
Juan de Polanco S.J., Directorium breve (1613) (R. A. Maryks)
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Frans de Coster S.J., Vierthien catholiicke sermoonen (1618) (G. Vanden Bosch)
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40
Peter Wadding S.J., Disputatio theologica de praedestinatione et gratia (1621) (M.W.F. Stone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
Jean Bourgeois S.J., Leven lyden ende doodt (1623)/Vitae passionis et mortis mysteria (1622) (R. Viladesau) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
José de Acosta S.J., Historie naturael en morael van de Westersche Indien (1624) (J. Verberckmoes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
Herman Hugo S.J., Obsidio Bredana (1626) (M. Gielis)
58
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Valentijn Bisschop S.J., Lof der suyverheydt (1626/1632) (M. Monteiro)
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Augustijn van Teylingen S.J., Devote oeffeninghe (1628) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
64
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67
Heribert Rosweyde S.J., Leven vande heylighe Maghet ende Moeder Godts Maria (1629) (P. Begheyn S.J.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70
Carlo Scribani S.J., Christus patiens (1629) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
72
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V
Virgilio Cepari S.J., Het leven van Ioannes Berchmans (1629) (R. Faesen S.J.) . . . . . . . .
74
Otto van Zijl S.J., Historia miraculorum B. Mariae Silvaducensis (1632) (B. Fahy)
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77
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81
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86
Willem Boelmans S.J., Theses mathematicae (1634) (A. De Bruycker) Corpus institutorum Societatis Jesu (1635) (S. Van Impe)
Ignaas Derkennis S.J., Positiones sacrae (1638) (A.-É. Spica)
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Jerónimo Xavier S.J., Historia Christi Persice conscripta (1639) (T. Van Hal)
92
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96
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100
Jacob Wijns S.J., De vita, et moribus R. P. Leonardi Lessii liber (1640) (T. Van Houdt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
104
Jacques Damiens S.J., Tableau racourci (1642) (A. Delfosse)
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108
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111
Maximilianus Sandaeus S.J., Societas Iesu amatrix, cultrix, imitatrix, Christi crucifixi (1647) (R. Faesen S.J.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
114
Carolus Werpaeus S.J., De raptu Manresano S. Ignatii libri IV (1647) (R. Faesen S.J.)
118
Famiano Strada S.J., De bello Belgico decas secunda (1648) (W. François)
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121
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125
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129
Paul Rageneau S.J., Verhael van t’ gheen gheschiet is in de missie van de PP. der Societeyt Iesu by de Hurons (1651) (J. Monet S.J., B. Deprez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
133
Govert Henskens S.J., De episcopatu Traiectensi (1653) (M. Gielis)
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137
Jacob van der Straeten S.J., Practijcke van een particulier examen (1654) (J. Haers S.J., B. Deprez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
140
Hendrik Engelgrave S.J., Lux evangelica (1654) (M. Van Vaeck)
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144
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150
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153
Jean Vincart S.J., Sacrarum heroidum epistolae (1640) (A. Smeesters)
Jodok Kedd S.J., Statera veritatis (1646) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
Gosuinus van Buytendyck, Den roemgierigen jesuyt (1648) (J. Roegiers) Joost Andries S.J., La perpetua croce (1650) (A. Catellani)
Antoon van Torre S.J., Dialogi familiares (1657) (E. Put) Blaise Pascal, Les provinciales (1659) (J. Roegiers)
Adriaen Poirters S.J., Het heyligh herte (1659) (L. Roggen)
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157
Henry More S.J., Historia missionis anglicanae Societatis Iesu (1660) (M. Whitehead)
162
Martino Martini S.J., Novus atlas Sinensis (1662) (N. Golvers)
166
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Jan van Sambeeck S.J., Het geestelyck jubilee (1663) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
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170
Athanasius Kircher S.J., Mundus subterraneus (1665) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
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173
Sidronius Hosschius S.J., Elegiarum libri sex (1667) (D. Sacré) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
177
Cornelis Hazart S.J., Kerckelycke historie (1669) (J. van Gennip)
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182
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187
Francis Line S.J., Explicatio horologii (1673) (P. Davidson)
Friedrich Lamberts S.J., Septimana sancta (1673) (P. Begheyn S.J.)
VI
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191
François de Rougemont S.J., Historia Tartaro-sinica nova (1673) (N. Golvers) Ignatius of Loyola S.J., Geestelycke oeffeninghen (1673) (M.M. Mochizuki)
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193
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196
Petrus Franciscus de Smidt, Hondert-jaerigh jubilé-vreught (1685) (G. Marnef)
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202
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206
Daniël Huysmans S.J., Kort begryp (1690) and Leven ende deughden (1691) (M. Monteiro) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
212
Philip Couplet S.J., Historie van mevrouw Candida Hiu (1694) (N. Golvers)
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216
Koenraad Janning S.J., Apologia pro actis sanctorum (1695) (B. Joassart S.J., B. Deprez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
220
Onderwysinghe om te houden thien vrydaghen ter eeren van den H. Franciscus Xaverius (1698) (F. Chanterie S.J.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
224
Paolo Segneri S.J., Grouwelyckheyt der doodt-sonde (1702) (J. Jans)
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229
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233
Guy Tachard S.J., Reis na Siam (1687) (S. Van Wolputte, B. Deprez)
Appendix augustiniana (1703) (A.S.Q. Visser)
André Tacquet S.J., Opera mathematica (1707) (J. Riche)
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Frans Nerrincq S.J., De Goddelycke voorsienigheydt (1710) (P. van Dael S.J.)
237
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244
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249
Thomae Philippo de Alsatia de Boussu gratulatur Societas Jesu (1716/1719) (G. Proot) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
252
Joseph-François Lafitau S.J., De zeden der wilden van Amerika (1731) (J. Verberckmoes)
257
Guillaume Hyacinthe Bougeant S.J., Le saint déniché (1732) (A. Dabezies S.J., B. Deprez, E. Geleijns) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
261
Pierre de Charlevoix S.J., Histoire de l’isle Espagnole ou de S. Domingue (1733) (W. Thomas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
266
Wilhelm Nakatenus S.J., Hemels palmhof (1694/1740) (T. Clemens)
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270
De plafonds, of gallerystukken uit de kerk der Jesuiten te Antwerpen (1751) (R. Dekoninck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
277
Korte levensbeschryvingen van de heiligen der Societeit van Jesus (1761) (F. Chanterie S.J.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
280
Manuel Álvares S.J., Syntaxis (1776) (G. Tournoy)
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284
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287
Jacques Coret S.J., Engel bewaerder (1711) (H. Geybels, B. Deprez)
Abbreviations
Index of Persons
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288
Index of Printers
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298
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300
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305
Index of Places Contributors
VII
Juan de Polanco S.J., Directorium breve (1613) R. P. Ioannis Polanci Societatis Iesv theologi, Directorivm breve, ad confessarij, ac confitentis munus rectè, obeundum. Accessit methodvs ad adivvandos eos qvi moriuntur. Leodii: In officina Henric-Hoviana, apud Guilielmum Houium, 1613. A-S12; 255 [=256], 172, [4 blanco] p. // 24° [12,5 × 7,5]. Provenance: emptus Antv.ae @ 1614 13 decemb. 10 st.; Michael Andriessens Hiluare-Becanus [Hilvarenbeek] (ms); Bibliotheca Conventus Megensis (stamp); Bibl. Praep. Prov. (bookplate); Bibliotheca Prov. Neerl.; SJ Bibliotheek Berchmanianum Nijmegen (stamps). Binding: contemporary, sheepskin, traces of ties. 2-004510/A
P
Breve Directorium was printed in Rome and in Louvain at the very beginning of 1554. It was the only book on the Jesuit preeminent ministry of sacramental confession for twenty years – until 1574, when the first Jesuit manual for penitents, Comfort of the Tormented, by the converso Gaspar de Loarte, was published in Rome. The Directory had its editorial boom in the 1570s and its decline in the 1590s, when it was replaced by the works of another two converso Jesuits: Manuel de Sá’s Aphorisms (80 editions) and Francisco de Toledo’s Instruction for Priests and Penitents (166 editions) at the end of the sixteenth century. The Directory was the fourth most published Jesuit book on confession with at least 76 editions (reprints and translations included). It was the only early Jesuit penitential book translated into Illyrian and Slovenian, and one of the only two Jesuit confessional manuals translated into Portuguese.
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OLANCO’S
The present edition was printed in Liège in 1613 and is one of at least eight other editions that were issued in this city – the very first was produced in 1579. The editions that were produced between 1591 and 1621 all come from the same printing house of Guillaume Hovius (Hoyoux). Another copy of the 1613 edition is held by the National Library of Paris. This edition includes another short treatise by Polanco on the art of dying well, which of course was strictly connected to the ministry of sacramental confession – the Jesuits uncritically inherited the medieval notion of the sacrament necessary to achieve eternal salvation. In order to complete the picture of the Jesuit ministerial focus, the Breve Directorium equally incorporates a short work by Polanco’s collaborator from the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, Cristóbal [Sánchez] de Madrid, on frequent Communion for which the first Jesuits tirelessly campaigned. Madrid was born in 1503 in a converso family of Daimiel (Toledo). He entered the Society in Rome as a priest in 1554. He was already a close adviser to Loyola as a novice. In 1555, together with Polanco and Jerónimo Nadal, he was appointed Assistant General, even though he did not pronounce his solemn vows and, therefore, was not yet a full Jesuit. After Loyola’s death (that he personally witnessed with André des Freux), the first General Congregation elected him Assistant to the General for Italy (1558-65). Since 1564, he was supervising the Roman College and after the election of Borja – the colleges of Amelia, Tivoli, and Frascati. He died in 1573. Ignatius of Loyola wanted every Jesuit confessor to have a personal copy of the Directory. It is true that the manual was subsequently used in Jesuit ministries and even in lectures on cases of conscience. An influential Directory to the Spiritual Exercises (1555) by Juan Alonso de Vitoria (1530-1578) recommended Polanco’s text as useful for the preparation to general sacramental confession. However, it is to be noted that the exclusivity of the Directory on the Jesuit penitential book market ceased with the election of Éverard Mercurian (1514-1580, former Vice-Provincial of the Provincia Germaniae Inferioris, Assistant under Borja, and the first non-Spanish General Superior) in 1573, when Polanco – who was not elected Superior General because of his converso background – was removed along with other converso Jesuits from the government. It is not unreasonable to infer, then, that the publishing success of the Directory may well have been related to Polanco’s position of authority rather than to the manual’s intrinsic usefulness to confessors or students of cases of conscience. Undeniably, Juan Alfonso de Polanco was one of the most influential Jesuits. He was born 24 December 1517 in Burgos (Castile) to Gregorio, regidor of the city, and María de Salinas. Polanco bore the name of his paternal grandfather, Alfonso (d. 1491), who married Costanza de Maluenda (d. 1520). The latter was a daughter of Juana García de Castro and Martín Rodríguez de Maluenda (1454-1530), a descendent of the sister of the rabbi-turned-bishop of Burgos, Pablo de Santa María. Polanco entered the Society in 1541 and six years later was appointed by Loyola the secretary of the Society of Jesus, an office that he held for twenty-six years. Polanco contributed to composing the Jesuit Constitutions and was commissioned by Loyola to translate them into Latin. After Loyola’s death in 1556, he played a crucial role in the constitutional crisis that was overcome with the election of Diego Laínez (15121565). He participated in the Colloquy of Poissy (1562) and in the last session of the Council of Trent (1563). Even though the Directory was designed to be just a compendium to accommodate the needs of the first Jesuits who were too busy with their ministries to dedicate much time to academic activities, it lacked basic awareness of important shifts operative during that century. Indeed, the official edition of the Directory to the Spiritual Exercises from 1599 suggested a non-Jesuit
23
contemporary text – Enchiridion by Martín Azpilcueta (1493-1586). The popular and authoritative Navarrus, as it was briefly called, was more comprehensive and reflected important socioeconomic changes brewing in the sixteenth century. The Jesuits, who were consulted about the Ratio Studiorum (1599), overwhelmingly called for a new manual that could be used in the Society for lectures on cases of conscience. This time, Francisco de Toledo’s Instruction, rather than Polanco’s Directory, was suggested as the best Jesuit textbook to teach cases of conscience. Even though the Polish Jesuits would reprint the Directory more than 300 years later, by the end of the sixteenth century it was already outdated. Indeed, it employed the Tutiorism of the major thirteenth-century scholastics, which the Jesuits abandoned in the last quarter of the sixteenth century by enthusiastically espousing Probabilism that became the Jesuit ethical system throughout the next century. A closer look at the extensive correspondence emanating from the Jesuit headquarters, where Polanco functioned as secretary, reveals some intriguing information about the Directory’s authorship. In January 1554, shortly after the first Roman publication of the manual, Polanco wrote three letters, commissioned by his superior Loyola, mentioning the publication of the Directory. All three letters state that the Directory was compiled for Jesuit confessors at Loyola’s request – the only information confirmed in the Preface to the manual itself. A further comparison of the Preface with these letters reveals, however, a striking discrepancy. From the Preface we learn unequivocally that the author of the Directory was Polanco, whereas in all three letters Polanco discloses that the manual was composed by a group from the Jesuit headquarters in Rome. He does not unveil who participated in the task, but one of the letters would suggest a name: Martín de Olave (1512-1556), who put Polanco’s name as the author of the Directory (another letter says that the former did it without informing the latter). Olave did so, for Loyola – probably with censorship requirements in mind – did not approve the idea of printing the book without expressly naming one author in particular. The critical-historical approach to the texts suggests that we rely more on the information provided by the three letters. When we do so, Polanco’s authorship, resulting from the Preface, needs to be considered a rhetorical device aimed at assuring the reader of the book’s authoritativeness. Mentioning Loyola in the Preface is a historical fact and naming Polanco as the only author of the Directory was all part of a plan to ensure the manual’s good reception and circulation. This kind of editorial promotion is further confirmed by the title of the manual. The title of the Directory clearly indicates that it is intended for both confessors and penitents. But another letter from Polanco reveals something different. In 1554, he advised the Flemish Jesuit Adriaen Adriaensens (1520-1580) that the manual was published just for confessors and not for the general public. Indeed, the content of the manual brings to light that it approaches sacramental confession exclusively from the confessor’s position. The choice of Polanco’s name as the only author may have been motivated by at least two reasons. Either Polanco’s contribution to the work was truly significant, or the choice was made because of Polanco’s authority. After all, he was the second most important Jesuit in the Society and he was also renowned as a good confessor. Perhaps both reasons were at work. Unfortunately, we can only speculate about motives, for they are veiled behind Polanco’s modesty. He asserts in the aforementioned letters that if there was something good in the book, it came from others (or better still, from God) rather than from himself. He interprets his confreres’ choice as a way of accepting his responsibility for any defects in the manual.
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Additionally, some other letters exchanged between Polanco and his confreres may shed light on the history of the making of the Directory. In his letter from 1549, Polanco wrote to Diego Laínez that he was planning to send him a certain “Practice of confessing” that he had composed in a clearer and briefer fashion, but only after Father [Ignatius] had read it. In another letter dated just two weeks later, Polanco informed the Jesuit Miguel Ochoa (1516-1575) that he was sending him a booklet concerning the way to confess. Very likely, both letters mentioned the same text that was to become a part of the future Directory. The uneven and episodic structure of the latter would further confirm the possible evolution of the text: it consists of two unequal parts – the first and briefer is a description of the sacrament’s nature and of the confessor’s requirements; the second is a series of appendices: on how the confessor has to perform an interrogation by reviewing the Ten Commandments and some (not all) capital vices; a short interrogation composed in verse on how to interrogate persons according to status, on remedies against the capital vices, on restitution, and the final, longest appendix on excommunication. Probably the first part is what Polanco composed as “Practice of confessing” as far back as 1549 and the appendices were written later by him and/or other Jesuits at Loyola’s request (especially after the Council of Trent’s session on penance in 1551 and other papal documents on the subject). The information from the letters corroborates the thesis that the Directory’s content reflected the conscience not of a single author but of a group of men religious from the Jesuit headquarters, and that the manual was highly representative of the first generation of Jesuits. Robert A. Maryks Lit.: Sommervogel VI, 942/1; Robert A. Maryks, “Census of the Books Written by the Jesuits on Sacramental Confession (1554-1650),” Annali di storia moderna e contemporanea 10 (2004): 415-519; Robert A. Maryks, Saint Cicero and the Jesuits: The Influence of the Liberal Arts on the Adoption of Moral Probabilism (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008); http://www.jewishjesuits.com.
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