1750 –
EUROPE
• Tratado de Madrid signed by Kings of Portugal and Spain (January 13).
Dona Barbara de Braganza sister of King of Portugal and wife of King of Spain
masterminded this treaty.
By this treaty Spain ceded/gave to Portugal the region east of Uruguay (where SJs had 7
Reducciones with 29,000 Indians). And Portugal ceded the colony of Sacramento (where
SJs had 15 reducciones). The Guaranis had to move out and leave all their possessions.
Portugal did not want the Indians, only the Indian’s possessions.
The Jesuits and the Guaranis resisted and General Retz fearing the big powers of the
House of Bourbon would see this again as a case of “Jesuit disobedience” wrote a letter to
Fr. Manuel Querini provincial of Uruguay.
General Retz wrote “Your Reverence will command in my name by virtue of holy
obedience and under the pain of mortal sin that no one obstruct or offer any resistance to
the transfer of the 7 reducciones to the crown of Portugal. I order that all the Jesuits in
these areas use their influence so that the Indians immediately hand over their lands to the
Portuguese. . . without resistance, without evasions and without excuses”.
• November – General Retz dies and thus never saw the effects of his letter.
He was general for 20 years.
• College and observatory built in Port-a-Mouson, France.
• All over the world – 22,589 (11,293 priests), 39 Provinces
24 universities, 669 colleges, 176 seminaries, 61 houses of formation, 273 mission stations
Jesuit missionaries numbered 3,276 (1/7 of the entire Society)
ASIA
• Joseph Amiot (French scientist) goes to Beijing, where he wins the confidence of Emperor Kien-Lung.
1751 –
EUROPE
• July – Ignatius Visconti (from Milan) becomes 16th general in GC XVII.
He will be general for only about 4 years.
During this time the Society saw the mortal wounds inflicted upon the reducciones and the
escalation of the tension between the Society, Spain and Portugal, which ultimately led to
the suppression of the Society.
• Collegium Nobilium (School for Nobles), that wraps around St. Casimir’s church in Vilnius, Lithuania is built. The facilities would become military property when the Society of Jesus would be suppressed in 1773.
• College and observatory built in Prague.
AMERICAS
• Jesuits working in the Reducciones (in Uruguay) ceded to Portugal met with Fr. Provincial at San Miguel and decided to write a letter – “. . . the transfer imposed on the Indians of the seven pueblos, by the treaty, is against the Indian’s natural right to maintain their liberty, homes and lands. . they are truly the masters of their villages”.
The Jesuits sent the letter to the King of Spain, the Viceroy of Peru, the vicar-general of the
Society (Visconti (not yet the general)), the Royal inspectors at the Audiencia de Charcas
and to Fr. Francisco Ravago, the King’s confessor.
The Viceroy, the Royal Audiencia and the ecclesiastical authorities wrote strong letters of
protest to the Spanish cabinet.
Not much result from these letters and Fr.Visconti (now the General) wrote to Fr. Jose
Barreda (Provincial) to facilitate the surrendering of the 7 pueblos.
• Earthquake at Buena Esperanza (today’s Rere, Chile). The other buildings around it collapsed, except the Jesuit college there. S.G. Peter Mayoral (Spanish), one of Chile’s most famous missionaries, was still there when this earthquake happened.
1752 –
AMERICAS
• Fr. Barreda writes to the Jesuits in the reducciones and tells them of the hopelessness of the situation and that they must follow (except if the viceroy will be touched by God and he goes against this transfer by the Spanish court).
• February – the delegations from Portugal, Spain and Society arrive in Buenos Aires.
Head of the Spanish delegates was Don Gaspar de Monive (Marques de Valdelirios)
Head of the Portuguese delegates was Freire Gomez de Andrade.
The Jesuit delegate was Fr. Lope Luis Altamirano (Padre Comisario)
Fr. Lope Luis Altamirano warns Jesuits that those who would refuse will be dismissed
and excommunicated.
Don Gaspar de Monive warned the Jesuits that he would not hesitate to use force against
those who will resist (using one of the clauses of the Treaty of Madrid – i.e. “use of
force”).
Don Gaspar de Monive gives the Jesuits a three-year period to transfer 30,000 Indians.
Later Fr. Lope Luis Altamirano himself gives the recommendation of military action.
1753 –
EUROPE
• Joseph Pignatelli (Italian) enters the Society in Spain.
• John Carroll enters the Society.
• Richard O’Callaghan, Irish Jesuit, enters the Society. He will be one of those who will reenter when the Society is restored in England by Catholicae Fidei in 1801.
• Fr. Thomas Zebrauskas establishes astronomical observatory in Vilnius (Lithuania).
• The Poczobut Astronomical Observatory, Vilnius, Lithuania is founded.
Located on top of the main Vilnius University building, its founder is the Jesuit astronomer
and architect Tomas Zebrauskas (1714-1758). It is the fourth observatory in Europe and
the first in Eastern Europe. It is named for another Jesuit astronomer, Marcin Poczobut-
Odlanicki (1728-1810), who entered the Society in 1745. He would be director of the
observatory in 1764 and would continue to serve as its director for the next 44 years.
• College and observatory built in Tvrnan in Hungary.
AMERICAS
• Indians block the work of Portuguese demarcadores (those laying out new borders) and took them as hostages. Jesuits are blamed for the attack.
Freire Gomez de Andrade writes to Don Gaspar de Monive “that the real rebels are the
Jesuits”.
Fr. Lope Luis Altamirano appoints Fr. Alonso Fernandez as Vice-Comisario and sends
him to announce to the Jesuits in missions – “By virtue of Holy obedience. . . if by August
15 the Indians are not ready to move, the fathers will consume the host, destroy the holy
vessels and leave the towns carrying nothing but the breviary. . . If they won’t or can’t,
neither leave nor escape, their priestly functions will be suspended”.
Fr. Altamirano also writes to Fr. Ravago (Spanish king’s confessor) saying that the Jesuit
missionaries (esp. non-Spaniards) “oppose the implementation of the treaty”.
Attempts to get the Comisario’s precepts to the Jesuits were unsuccessful.
The Indians inform the Vice-Comisario that they have come to destroy them and that their
intention was to drive them out of their lands. In the end, the Indians said they were ready
for war. The Guaranis had accepted the assistance of the Charruas, Mocetones, Chiquitos,
Cambas, etc.
• Fr. (Superior) Antonine de La Valette is recalled from Martinique (island in E West Indies – department of France) due to commercial activities and disasters.
General Visconti later allows him to go back to his mission. But the failure of his
commercial operations, gives an opportunity to the enemies of the Society in France to
begin a warfare that would end with the Suppression (cf. 1755).
1754 –
EUROPE
• Peter John Cayron (Servant of God), Jesuit formator in France, dies.
• Province of Salesia (Central Europe) is established.
AMERICAS
• March – The Comissars got together to organize their armies. Governor Jose Andonaegui
(governor of Concepcion, Argentina) was made Commander in Chief with Freire
Andrade as second in command holding Portuguese troops, about a thousand, at the Rio
Grande. The Spanish soldiers, also about a thousand, were to wait at the junction of the Rio
Negro and Rio Uruguay. The plan was that the Portuguese would attack San Nicolas and
the Spaniards Santo Angel on mid-July. After less than a week, they realize that the jungle
is so different (cold, humid, heavy rains and the provisions they brought were not enough).
They become far behind schedule and later they decide to withdraw. The Guaranis were
elated. They were to live in peace for one more year.
• Ninth Jesuit Bolivian reducción in Chiquitania, Santiago Apóstol (present-day Santiago de Chiquitos), founded.
• S.G. Peter Mayoral (Spanish), one of Chile’s most famous missionaries, dies.
1755 –
EUROPE
• General Visconti dies and does not see the end of the reducciones.
• Luigi Aloysius Centurioni, who was vicar general, calls for a GC.
He becomes 17th General elected in GC XVIII.
GC XVIII (Nov. 17, 1755 to Jan. 28, 1756)
He was General for only 1 year and 10 months.
GC XVIII – creates a 6th Assistancy (Polish Assistancy – with 4 Provinces – Greater
Poland, Lesser Poland, Lithuania and Masovia)
• Carlos III accepts resignation of his Jesuit confessor Fr. Ravago.
(This becomes a victory for the anti-Jesuit forces in Spain).
• College and observatory built in Florence.
• Observatory built by civil government is entrusted to the Jesuits in Vienna.
ASIA
• By this time, in the uncultivated areas of the Philippines and Marianas, Jesuits caring for the spiritual needs of 130 communities with about 212, 155 Catholics.
AMERICAS
• Around September, in Argentina, the armies, both Spanish and Portuguese were getting ready to recover the shame of having retreated one year ago.
Estimate power of both armies – 3,000 soldiers.
• Tenth Jesuit Bolivian reducción in Chiquitania, Santa Ana de Velasco, founded.
• Fr. La Valette becomes involved in financial difficulties and the Society in France is haled into court (cf. 1753; 1761). The failure of his commercial operations, gives an opportunity to the enemies of the Society in France to begin a warfare that would end with the Suppression.
La Valette (procurator and superior of the Martinique mission) had a reputation for good
management and financial skills esp. in shipping produce and fruits of SJ plantations to
Europe in order to finance SJ missions.
(In 1755) 12 of his ships were captured by British ships and he was ruined financially. He
claimed he was not responsible for their debts since this was beyond their control. But a
court ordered him to pay their debts.
Both Jansenists and Gallicans join the Parlement of Paris with weapons of jurisprudence
and legalities to bring the Society to destruction. Here the initial issue of the Society’s
financial liability was broadened into the much wider question of the Society’s right to
exist in France.
Later Constitutions of the Society becomes a key issue and enemies of the Society in
France declare that the Jesuit Constitutions support regicide (killing of a King).
Louis XV asserts that he must do the reviewing of the Jesuit Constitutions and not the
Parlement.
Another group against the Society in France was the Enlightenment group.
• The first book ever published in Ecuador is printed by Brother John Adam Schwarz, director of Ecuador’s first printing press at the Jesuit College of Ambato
1756 –
EUROPE
• Fr. Peter de Cloriviere, historical link to the old and restored Society in France, enters the Society in Paris.
• Province of Lithuania has 1068 members.
• Polish provinces are readjusted into four: Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Lithuania, Massovia, counting in all 2359 religious. Assistancy of Poland is established.
AMERICAS
• February – both armies of Spain and Portugal enter Santa Fe.
• May – San Miguel falls (6,000 Indians die and 9,000 flee to the mountains; half of the population of the seven reducciones east of the Rio Urugay was gone).
• Governor Jose Andonaegui wrote – “. . . it was senseless cruelty when the soldiers under the influence of brandy went mad slashing and stabbing and shooting a thousand kneeling Guarani”. Eleven Jesuits sent to prison for treason.
• Don Gaspar de Monive (Marques de Valdelirios) and Freire Andrade send letters to Lisboa and Madrid testifying that the Jesuits had mastered the rebellion.
• Don Pedro de Ceballos (new Governor) appointed by King of Spain to investigate the involvement of the Jesuits in the rebellion arrive in Buenos Aires
• 400 Jesuits in Province of Paraguay.
1757 –
EUROPE
• October – General Centurioni dies. He was general for only about 2 years.
• College and observatory built in Parma.
• Observatory built by civil government is entrusted to the Jesuits in Wurzburg, Germany.
• All over the world, Society had 41 provinces, 270 mission posts, 171 seminaries
• In Paris, Fr. Busembaum’s Medulla Theologiae Moralis is publicly burned by order of Parliament on the grounds that it favored tyrannicide.
ASIA
• British crown colonize India.
AMERICAS
• Don Pedro de Ceballos (new Governor), after investigating, (and also after witnessing the musical performances of the Guaranis) believes that the Jesuits had in fact explained the King’s orders and asked the Indians to obey. But because the Guaranis abhorred giving up their towns and lands, they resisted.
In the end, the Jesuits are not condemned by Spain. Freire and Portugal are furious.
• Jean-Joseph Casot, the last French Jesuit to go to New France after many years, arrives in New France. With the British Conquest, French Jesuits are not allowed to accept novices. They would die out. Casot would die at Quebec in 1800.
1758 –
EUROPE
• Before the GC (for election of new general) Sebastian Jose Carvalho (Marques de Pombal) of Portugal demanded of Benedict XIV “. . the end of Jesuit disobedience to the church, lust for gold. . power. .”
• Benedict XIV appoints Cardinal Francisco Saldanha to make a canonical visit to the Jesuits in the reducciones and check on them.
Cardinal Francisco Saldanha owed his red hat to Pombal. He visits only the professed
house in Lisbon, meets the community and leaves immediately. Five days later, he issues
an edict condemning the Jesuits, saying that every Jesuit house under Portuguese rule in
Europe, America, Asia, Africa was a center of scandalous commercial transactions.
• Papal Nuncio Filippo Acciaoli doubts this edict of Cardinal Saldanha asking for evidence. (He congratulates Cardinal Saldanha for an excellent document but remarks there is one slight omission – namely the evidence).
• Mazovia Province is formed (division from Province of Lithuania).
Province of Lithuania has 604 members.
• Fr.Giovanni Antonio Timoni, vicar general, calls for a GC (GC XIX).
May – Lorenzo Ricci elected 18th general in GCXIX (last GC before the Suppression)
He would be the General until the Suppression
• Benedict XIV dies.
• Clement XIII becomes pope (had given clear evidence that he trusted the Society).
He would defend the Society against the Jansenists and the Bourbons of Europe.
• September – Attempt to kill Jose I (King of Portugal) (while visiting his mistress Marchioness of Tavora)
Duke D’Aveiro and the De Tavora family are accused by Sebastian Jose Carvalho,
Marquis de Pombol. Some Jesuits are also accused by Pombol. One of them was Jesuit
Gabriel Malagrida, confessor of the De Tavora family. Later, the case is dropped but
Carvalho (Pombol) accuses Fr. Malagrida of heresy before the Inquisition. He is found
guilty and is burned at the stake (1761).
• The French Parliament issues a decree condemning Fr Busembaum’s Medulla Theologiae Moralis.
1759 –
EUROPE
• January – Ten Jesuits arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination plot against the King Jose I. Six days later all Jesuit property ordered confiscated in Portugal.
• April – Jesuits are banished from Portugal by King Jose I (influenced much by Carvalho (Marques de Pombal)) despite Vatican position that they had nothing to do with the assassination attempt.
Jose I announces he would allow those who have not yet made their final vows to remain
in the empire of Portugal if they request their release from their first vows.
Most Jesuits (= 90% of 1,700 Jesuits in Portugal and in her colonies) decide to remain in
the Society. Thus, Jesuits expelled from Portugal and from all her colonies, which includes
Brazil and East Indian provinces.
Jesuits will return to Portugal only after long 70 years (1829)
• Sept 4 – At Para, Brazil, 150 Jesuits are shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisboa on Dec. 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on Jan. 17, 1761.
• Sept 16 – at Lisboa 133 Jesuits (fathers and brothers) leave as exiles to Civita Vecchia.
When they reach Civita Vecchia, they would be most kindly received by Clement XIII
and by the religious communities, especially the Dominicans.
• Nov. 21 – At Livorno, the harbor officials refuse to let the ship S Bonaventura, with 120 exiled Portuguese Jesuits on board, cast anchor. Carvalho (Marques de Pombal) sent orders to the Governor of Rio de Janeiro to make a diligent search for the supposed wealth of the Jesuits.
• Nov. 28 – 20 Fathers and 192 scholastics set sail from the Tagus for exile. 2 were to die on the voyage to Genoa and Civita Vecchia.
• Church dedicated to St. Francis Xavier in Kaunas, Lithuania is completed. Jesuits went to Kaunas in 1642.
