The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context

In 1773 Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus a dramatic puzzling act that had a profound impact. This volume traces the causes of the attack on the Jesuits the national expulsions that preceded universal suppression and the consequences of these extraordinary developments. The Suppression occurred at a unique historical juncture at the high-water mark of the Enlightenment and on the cusp of global imperial crises and the Age of Revolution. After more than two centuries answers to how and why it took place remain unclear. A diverse selection of essays - covering France Spain Portugal Italy the Netherlands China Eastern Europe and the Americas - reflects the complex international elements of the Jesuit Suppression. The contributors shed new light on its significance by drawing on the latest research. Essential reading on a crucial yet previously neglected topic this collection will interest scholars of eighteenth-century religious intellectual cultural and political history.