Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Reviews journal of jesuit studies 6 (2019) 149-186 authorities could only be dealt with through regime change.This is evident in his speedy involvement in plans to place Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87) on the English throne.For all that, the letters also show Persons as part of the global Society of Jesus, something easy to forget for his strategic focus on England.For example, in 1582 Acquaviva planned to send Persons to meet with the Spanish superior in an effort to allay concerns about demands by Spanish Jesuits for greater autonomy and special privileges.The correspondence also shows the frustrations involved in early modern letter networks.With a letter taking roughly a month to travel from France or Belgium to Rome, there was often confusion as missives crossed each other on the journey.To account for losses, particularly as wars broke out, Persons often sent duplicates.Nor was all of Persons's correspondence private: though he wrote to Acquaviva on strategic matters, a high proportion of his writing to Alfonso Agazzari (1549-1602), rector at the English College in Rome, was designed for circulation, giving news particularly of the persecution in England.Though England was not a Jesuit province, these letters to Agazarri formed the basis of an annual report to be circulated to the global Society.Equally, Persons's correspondence also provides details of events in his host countries, whether France, the Low Countries or Spain.The wealth of material in this opening volume of Persons's correspondence is hugely significant and the editors are to be congratulated on their achievement.One surprising aspect to emerge is how quickly after the 1580 English Jesuit Mission's launch did the united front of English Catholicism start to fracture, with factions quickly emerging.This foreshadows the periods covered in the project's planned future volumes, when Persons became truly embroiled in disagreements about the future of English Catholicism, his own person becoming a lightning rod for dissent.These decades saw Persons really hit his stride in shaping English Catholic affairs, prompting one to wonder just how many pages these subsequent volumes are going to require.
Source: Journal of Jesuit Studies
Authors: Paul Oberholzer, Kerstin Maria Pahl
Language: German
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2921234067