The Jesuits II: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 1540–1773

The disciplinary scope of the second conference and volume reflects, as before, the interests and proclivities of the editors, namely, the history of music, science, and art and architecture. Or, to invoke a somewhat dated but none the less useful term, the contributions in both volumes may be considered variegated explorations of Jesuit Kulturgeschichte. Neither in the first volume nor in this one have we sought, however, to offer a comprehensive survey of every aspect of the Society in all its multifarious activities over almost two and a half centuries. The volumes leave practically untouched, for instance, the involvement of the Jesuits in politics and diplomacy, an aspect of their activities for which, rightly or wrongly, they are perhaps best known in legend and in novels, opera, and drama. They leave practically untouched their polemics with Protestants, the administration and structure of their universities, and the internal governance of the Society. They leave untouched the Jesuits’ almost countless writings on spirituality. The list could go on.