Journal of Jesuit Studies

28/11/2025

Our colleagues at Pontificia Università Gregoriana doing an amazing job! Looking forward to our cooperation during the Jesuit Summer School in Rome in September 2026!

28/11/2025

Big success for Jesuit Studies + Digital Humanities: NCN National Science Centre has awarded together some 1,000,000 euros to two international grants: “Respublica Controversa Re-Formata: Mapping the Catholic–Protestant Polemical Literature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1573–1648)” and “Wars of the Quill: The Anti-Papal, Anti-Habsburg, and Anti-Jesuit Conspiracy Network in Early Modern Europe” 😅 Both projects were created in cooperation with Cezary Rosiński from CHC Digital Humanities Centre (Warsaw/Poznań).

27/11/2025

🌍 Scholarly Reflection on Interfaith Dialogue and Linguistic Bridges 🕊️

As Pope Leo XIV embarks on his historic visit to Turkey today, we are reminded of the profound intellectual and cultural exchanges that have long characterized Jesuit contributions to cross-cultural understanding. Consider Franciszek Meniński, a remarkable Jesuit scholar educated at the Collegio Romano, who in the 17th century became a pivotal figure in bridging linguistic and cultural divides.

Meniński's magnum opus, the Thesaurus linguarum orientalium (1680), was more than just a dictionary—it was a sophisticated exploration of Ottoman Turkish that went far beyond mere translation. By meticulously documenting not just language, but also Islamic religious ceremonies, Sufi practices, and societal customs, he exemplified the Jesuit tradition of deep cultural empathy and scholarly rigor.

His work was explicitly aimed at supporting missionaries in Constantinople, reflecting a nuanced approach to cultural engagement that resonates with the Pope's ongoing mission of interfaith dialogue. Meniński didn't just study a language; he sought to understand the people, their beliefs, and their ways of life.

Today's papal visit continues this legacy of building bridges of understanding, reminding us that true dialogue transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries. 🕊️📚

https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EJTC/micro139.xml

26/11/2025

As we're awaiting the imminent publication of the last issue of this year, let us revisit the three thematic issues published this year:

– Jesuits and Numismatics https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/12/1/jjs.12.issue-1.xml
– Jesuit Contributions to Pharmacy, Medicine, and Natural Sciences
https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/12/2/jjs.12.issue-2.xml
– Food Culture in the Society of Jesus: Sources, Practices, Perspectives
https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/12/3/jjs.12.issue-3.xml

"Volume 12 (2025): Issue 3 (Sep 2025): Special Issue: Food Culture in the Society of Jesus: Sources, Practices, Perspectives" published on 11 Sep 2025 by Brill.

24/11/2025

What’s cookin’? Vol. 12:3 of our Journal of Jesuit Studies is a special issue on food culture. With dishes from Peru, Tibet, and ships on the ocean. Available in open access at https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/12/3/jjs.12.issue-3.xml.

23/11/2025

Pindar in the Jesuit translation culture of Poland–Lithuania

The latest entry in the Encyclopedia of Jesuit Translation Culture in Poland–Lithuania, 1564–1820 turns to a surprisingly “peripheral” yet revealing figure: the Greek choral poet Pindar (c. 518–440/38 BCE), whose epinician odes for victors at the great games became a touchstone of early modern classicism, but only partially and belatedly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The article shows that, unlike in Italy, France, the Reich, or England, Pindar’s reception in Poland–Lithuania remained limited, highly mediated, and strongly tied to educational contexts—above all those shaped by Jesuit pedagogy and, later, by Protestant classical philology. In the Jesuit milieu, Pindar surfaced first not as a translated author in the vernacular but as a didactic resource: Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski drew on Latin translations of the odes (very likely from Henri Estienne’s 1587 "Pindari Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, Isthmia, caeterorum octo lyricorum carmina") in his lectures on poetics, excerpting topical passages—especially the openings of odes—as models for composition.

The first Polish rendering of Pindar also emerged from the Jesuit circle. Adam Naruszewicz’s translation of the First Pythian Ode, published in "Zabawy przyjemne i pożyteczne" (1772) and reprinted in "Liryki" (1778), is a classic example of relay translation, probably via Latin or French. The dense explanatory notes that accompany the text testify both to the modest level of knowledge about Pindar in the Commonwealth and to the didactic ambitions of Enlightenment-era classicism: Naruszewicz’s Pindar is as much a chapter in the Polish Horatian project as it is an encounter with the Greek lyricist himself.

Enthusiasm for Pindar grew only with the intervention of the Protestant philologist Gotfryd Ernest Grodeck, active at the Puławy court of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski. Grodeck encouraged his students—including Jerzy Czartoryski and the former Jesuit Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin—to experiment with Pindaric models in works such as "Parodia z Pindara," inspired by the fourteenth Olympic ode. This Pindaric moment then continued in the milieu of Vilnius University (successor of the Jesuit Academy), where even Adam Mickiewicz took up the challenge of translating Pindaric lyrics.

By tracing these scattered but significant appropriations, the entry argues that Pindar’s role in Poland–Lithuania, though never central, illuminates several key dynamics of early modern literary culture:

- the selectivity of classical repertoires circulating in Jesuit schools;
- the reliance on Latin (and French) as mediating languages for Greek lyric;
- the interplay between Jesuit and Protestant scholarly networks;
- and the crucial role of university and courtly education in shaping national poetics.

In this way, Pindar becomes a case study in the cross-confessional and multilingual transmission of antiquity in the Commonwealth—less a dominant model than a specialized, learned resource gradually adapted to Polish literary traditions.

The full entry, “Pindar,” is now available open access in the Encyclopedia of Jesuit Translation Culture in Poland–Lithuania, 1564–1820: https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EJTC/microfq071.xml

22/11/2025

A unique copy of the Society’s Reglas

20/11/2025

Another volume of our sister publication venue at De Gruyter Brill Medieval & Early Modern Studies is now available:

"Lodovico Flori’s Treatise on Household Accounting for the Jesuit Order (1636)" published on 30 Oct 2025 by Brill.

19/11/2025

New Entry in the Encyclopedia of Jesuit Translation Culture: Marcin Laterna (c.1552–1598)

We are pleased to highlight a new entry in the *Encyclopedia of Jesuit Translation Culture in Poland-Lithuania, 1564–1820* on Marcin Laterna, whose translation work had a profound impact on Polish devotional practice.

Who was Marcin Laterna?

Born to a shoemaker's family in Drohobych (present-day Ukraine), Laterna studied philosophy at the Jesuit academy in Vilnius before serving as preacher and confessor at Polish royal courts. He accompanied King Stephen Báthory during the war with Moscow and participated in the Union of Brest. Tragically, while returning from a campaign to Sweden in 1598, his ship was captured by supporters of the future Charles IX of Sweden. After being tortured, Laterna was thrown into the Baltic Sea and later venerated as a martyr.

*Harfa duchowna*: A Landmark in Polish Religious Literature

Laterna's masterpiece was *Harfa duchowna* (Spiritual harp), first published in 1585. This prayer book became one of the most frequently reprinted Polish books of the 16th and 17th centuries, with twenty recorded editions between 1585 and 1642.

The collection contained over 300 prayers and devotional texts organized into ten chapters, each representing a string in King David's harp. Laterna translated most of these texts into Polish either for the first time or anew, drawing from numerous sources including the Roman missal, the breviary, and collections of prayers by Simon Verrept and others.

Translation Approach

Laterna's goal was to produce translations aligned with the devotional and liturgical functions of specific texts while preserving their artistic qualities. His approach varied depending on the text type:

- For hymns, he created rhymed verses that followed the melodies of the Latin originals
- For prayers, he generally adhered to the source text but occasionally modified invocations and closing formulas
- For biblical passages, he prioritized fluency and readability in Polish over word-for-word rendition

Legacy and Influence

*Harfa duchowna* revolutionized Polish devotional literature by encouraging a more learned and conscious piety than earlier prayer books and incorporating elements typical of Jesuit spirituality. Its versatility enabled it to serve as a prayer book, hymn book, catechism, and a source of arguments in religious debates.

The collection's influence extended for three centuries, making it one of the most significant Polish Jesuit books of the sixteenth century. Despite this, Laterna's role as a translator is often overshadowed by his other achievements, and the full impact of his translations on Polish devotional practice and religious language remains to be fully examined by scholars.



https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EJTC/micro115.xml

17/11/2025

Reflecting on 12 Years of the Journal of Jesuit Studies

Colleagues and readers,

The inaugural issue of the of Jesuit Studies was published 12 years ago today. This anniversary provides an opportunity to assess developments in Jesuit historiography and the journal's contribution to scholarship on the Society of Jesus.

In our first issue's preface in 2014 (https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/1/1/article-p1_1.xml),
we referenced Paul Grendler's observation of the "climate of interest and acceptance for scholarship on the Jesuits in the English-speaking world that did not exist thirty to fifty years ago." John W. O'Malley, S.J. characterized what was occurring as a "revolution" in the study of Jesuit history.

The past decade has seen this transformation continue. Jesuit historiography has expanded beyond traditional institutional approaches to become an interdisciplinary field examining global history through diverse lenses: art history, theology, science, international law, and performing arts among others.

Open Access Scholarship

From the outset, JJS has been committed to making scholarship accessible. As early adopters of open-access publishing in this field, we recognized the importance of removing barriers to knowledge about the Jesuits' historical influence. This approach has enabled scholars from regions where the Jesuits had significant historical presence to access and contribute to the scholarly conversation.

The results include broader readership, wider citation patterns, and a more diverse community of contributors than conventional publishing models typically allow.

# # Contributions to the Field

Over eleven years, the JJS has:
- Published research across multiple thematic areas
- Provided a bibliographical database for Jesuit studies
- Facilitated scholarly connections through international conferences
- Addressed historiographical gaps
- Fostered interdisciplinary approaches to Jesuit history

Moving Forward

The journal continues its work as a resource for scholars studying modernity through the lens of Jesuit history. The field continues to develop, and our aim remains to document and contribute to its evolution.

The inaugural issue remains available online for those interested in tracing the development of Jesuit studies over the past decade: https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/1/1/jjs.1.issue-1.xml

The Editors

"Volume 1 (2014): Issue 1 (Jan 2014): Current Trends in Jesuit Historiography" published on 01 Jan 2014 by Brill.

13/11/2025

Explore the role of St. Stanisław Kostka's hagiography in the translation culture of Poland–Lithuania:

https://referenceworks.brill.com/search?pageSize=50&q=kostka&sort=relevance&source=%2Fdb%2Fejtc

13/11/2025

This Saturday:

Francis X Clooney ● 15 November 2025