Jes'ui, Jes'uite (Numb, xxvi, 44). See Isiiui, 1.
Jesuits, or the Sonet y of Jesus (Societas Jesit). the most celebrated among the monastic institutions of the Roman Catholic Church.
I. Foundation of the Order. — It was founded by the Spanish nobleman Don Inigo (Ignatius) of Loj-ola (q. v.). Thirst for glory caused him at an early age to en- ter the army. Having been wounded, May 20, 1521, during the siege of Pamplona by the French, he turned during the slow progress of his recoverj' from his former favorite reading of knights' novels to the study of the life of Jesus and the saints. His heated imaginati(m suggested to him an arena in which even greater dis- tinction could be won than in military' life, and he re- soh-ed henceforth to devotj his hfc to the service of IV.— I I I
God and of the Church. Having recovered, he first went to the Benedictine abbey of Montserrat, vi^here, after a general confession, he took the vow (jf chastity, hung up his sword and dagger on the altar, and then jiroceeded to Manresa, where, after a short stay in the hospital, he hid himself in a rocky cavern near the town, in order to devote himself wholly to prayer and ascetic exercises. Here he is believed to liave made his first draft of the " Spiritual Exercises" {Exercitia Spiritualia), a work which in 1548 a brief of pope Paul III warmly commended to all the faithful, and to which the tliorough soldier-like disciijline that characterizes the order of the Jesuits, and the ultra papal system of which they have been the pioneers, are greatly due. As Ignatius himself subsequently states, the idea of a ncv.' religious order which was to take a front rank under the banner of Christ in the combat against the prince of darkness likewise originated with him at this time. During a brief pilgrimage which Ignatius made in 1523 to Palestine, he became aware that he utterly lacked the necessary literary qualification for carrj'ing out the pL-ins which he had conceived. Accordingly, Vvfhen he had returned to Spain, he entered a grammar-school at Barcelona, and subsequently visited the universities of Alcala and Salamanca, and at last went to Paris, where he studied from 1528 to 1,535, and in 1533 acquired the title of doctor of philosophy. In Paris Ignatius gradu- ally gathered around himself the first members of the order he inteiuled to found. His first associates were Lefevre (Petrus Faber), from Savoy, Francis of Xavier, from Navarre, and the Spaniards Jacob Laincz, Alfons Salmeron, Nicolaus Bobadilla, and Simon Rodriguez. They were for the first time called together by Ignatius in July, 1534, and soon after, on August 15, the festival of the Assumi)tion of Mary, they took the vows of poverty, chastity, and of making a pilgrimage to .Jerusalem, in order to labor in the Holy Land for the conversion of the infidels. In case they should be unable to carry out this project within one j'ear after their arrival in Venice, they would go to Rome and place themselves .It the disposal of the pope. On Jan. G, 1537, Ignatius was joined in Venice by all of his disciples and three more Frenchmen — Le Jay, Codure, and Brouet. All took, two months later, holy orders, but their plan to go to Jerusalem they could not execute, as the republic of Venice was at war with sultan Soleiman II. They con- sequently went to Rome to await the orders of the pope. Paul III received them kindly, gave to Faber and Lai- nez chairs in the Sapienza, and requested Ignatius to labor as a city missionary for the improvement of the religious life. In March, 1538, the other associates also arrived in Rome, and it was now formally resolved h) establish a new religious order. Ignatius was elected to submit their plan to the pope, and to obtain his sanc- tion. This was given on Sept. 27, 1540, in the bull Begimini Ililitantis ecclesia, which, however, restricted the number of professi to forty. Three years later (March 14, 1543), another buU, Injunctum Nobis, re- moved this restriction. Reluctantly Ignatius accepted the dignity of the first general of the order, to wliicli he had been unanimously elected. He entered upon his office on April 17, 1541 ; and soon after, in accordance with the request of Paul III, the draft of the constitu- tion of the new order was made by him (not, as is often maintained, by Lainez ; see Genelli, Leben des heil. Ir,- ridtiifs, p. 212). Before being finally sanctioned, the con- stitution was to undergo several revisions; but before these were made, Ignatius died, July 31, 155G.
II. Comtitution aud Form of Government. — The laws regulating the order are contained in the so-called Insti- tutum (official edition, Prague, 1757, 2 vols.; new edit. Avignon, 1827-38). The work opens with a collection of all the bulls and decrees of the apostolic see concern- ing the new society. This is followed by a list of the privileges which have been granted to the order, and by the General Examination, which serves as an intro- duction to the constitutions, and is laid before everj' ap-
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