III. History from 1540 to 1750.— On the death of Ig- natius the General Congregation could not meet imme- diately, as the Spaniards, who were at war with the pope, blocked up the roads to Rome. On June 19, 1557, Jacob Lainez, the most gifted member of the order, was elected the second general of the order. The constitu- tions were once more revised, and imanimously adopted ; but the pope (Paul IV) disliked several of its provisions, and in particular wished to have the general elected for a term of only three years, and an observance of the canonical hours. The Jesuits had to submit in the lat- ter points, but when the aged pope soon after died they returned to their original practice. The society spread rapidly, and numbered at the death of Lainez (Jan. 1 9, 15G5) eigliteen provinces and 130 houses. During tie administration of the two following generals, the (Span- iard Francis Borgia (1565-72) and the Belgian IMtrcu- rian (1572-80), the order was greatly favored by tie popes, and new provinces were organized in Peru, JIcx- ico, and Poland. The fourth General Congregation, on Feb. 19, 1581, elected as general the Neapolitan Clau- dius Aquaviva (1581-1G15), a man of rare administra- tive genius, who successfully carried the society through the only internal commotion of importance through which it has passed, and who, next to its founder, has done more than any other general in moulding its char- acter. The leading Spanish Jesuits, mortified at seeing the generalship, which they had begun to regard as a domain of their nationality, pass into the hands of an Italian, meditated an entire decentralization of the or- der and the hegemony of the Spaniards at the expense of the unity and the monarchical principle. The plan met with the approval of Philip II ; but the energy of pope Sixtus V, who took sides with Aquaviva, i'oiled it. Under Clement YIII the Spaniards renewed their scheme, and tlie commotion yjroduced by them became so great that in 1593 the fifth General Congregation (the first extraordinary one) was convoked. The Span- iards lioped that Aquaviva would be removed, but again their designs were defeated, and the centralistic admin- istration of the general sustained. The administrative crisis was followed by violent doctrinal controversies. The book of the Portuguese Jesuit Molina involved the order in a quarrel with the Dominicans, and a work (published in 1599) in which the Spanish Jesuit Blari- ana justified tyrannicide raised a storm of indignation against the society throughout Europe, although Aqua- viva, in 1614, strictly forbade all members of the order to advance this doctrine. During the administration of Aquaviva (about 1680) the order numbered 27 prov- inces, 21 houses of professed, 287 colleges, 33 novitiates, 96 residences, and 10,581 members. During the admin-
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istration of the Roman Mutius Vitelleschi (1615-45) the order celebrated its first centenarj' (1040). The eightli General Congrcp;ation, on Jan. 7, 164(5, elected as gen- eral the Neapolitan Vinccnz Carall'a. On January 1 of this year pope Innocent X liad issued a brief, according to which a General Congregation was to be lield every ninth year, and the administration of the superiors was limited to three years. The latter provision Avas re- pealed by Alexander VII (Jan. 1, 1663) ; the former did not take effect until 1661, as the short administration of tlic generals Vincenz Caratfa (f June 8, 1649), Francis Piccolomini (f June 17, 1651), and Aloys Gottifredi had practically suspended it. On Jlarch 17, 1652, the Gen- eral Congregation for the first time elected as general a German, Goswin Nickel, of Julich, to whom, on account of liis great age, the eleventh Congregation, on June 7, 1601, gave Paul Oliva as coadjutor, with tlie right of succession. Oliva was general for more than seventeen years, and was succeeded l)y the Belgian Noyelle (1082- 86) and the Spaniard Thyrsus Gonzalez (1687-1705). Pope Innocent XI was unfavorable to tlie order, and in 1684 the Congregation of the Propaganda forbade it to receive any more novices; but in 1686 this decree was cancelled by Innocent hims?lf. (ionzalez caused con- siderable excitement by publishing a work against the doctrine of Probabilism, which had been generally taught by the theologians of the society. He was succeeded by the generals Tamburini (1706-30), Retz (1730-50), Visconti (1751-55), Centurione (1755''57), Kicci (1758- 73); under the latter the order was suppressed (1773). The order during all this time had steadily, though not rapidly increased in strength. It numbered in 1720 5 assistants, 37 provinces, 24 liouscs of professed, 612 col- leges, 59 novitiates, 340 residences, 157 seminaries, 200 missions, and 19,998 members, among whom were 9957 priests. In 1762 the order had increased to 39 prov- inces, 639 colleges, 61 novitiates, 170 seminaries, 335 res- idences, 223 missions, and 22,787 members, among whom were 11,010 priests.
Soon after the establishment of the order, the pope, the bishops, and those monarchs who were opposed to the Reformation recognised the Jesuits as the most effi- cient organization for saving the old Church. Thus the spread of the order was rapid. At the Council of Trent the Spanish ambassadors declared that their king, Philip II, knew only two ways to stay the advance of the Reformation, the education of good preachers, and the Jesuits. Calls were consequently received from va- rious countries for members of the order; but, as they jiot only opposed Protestantism, but defended the most excessive claims of the popes with regard to secular goveniments, they soon encountered a violent resistance on the part of those governments which refused a ser- vile submission to the dictates of the papacy. In many cases the bishops sided against them, as the Jesuits were found to be always ready to extend the papal at the cost of the episcopal authority. This was especial- ly the case in the republic of Venice, where the patri- arch Trevisani showed himself their decided opponent. Subsequently, when they defended the interdict which Paul V had pronounced against Venice, they were ex- pelled (in 1606), and not until 1656 did pope ^Uexander VII succeed in obtaining from the republic a reluctant consent to their return. At the beginning of the 18th century the Piedmontese viceroy in Sicily, Maffci, ex- pelled them from that island, because they were again the most eager among the clergy to enforce a papal in- terdict. Nowhere did the order render to the Church of Rome so great services as in (Jermany and the north- ern countries of Euro]ie, where Protestantism had be- come predominant. While taking part in all the efforts against the spread of Protestantism, they labored with particular zeal for the establishment of educational in- stitutions, and for gaining the confidence of the princes. In both respects they met with considerable success. Their colleges at Ingolstadt, IVIunich, Vienna, Prague, Cologne, Treves, INIentz, Augsburg, EUwangen, and other