Jesuits and the State: A Comparative Study of their Expulsions (1590–1990)

The Society of Jesus constitutes a remarkable example of permanence and universality; therefore it is an ideal laboratory for studying the troubled relations national institutions entertained with such a supranational congregation. In the first part of the paper the conflicting interests of both parties are analysed; it is then noticed that historically the expulsions form four successive waves and the question of contagion of anti-Jesuits policies is discussed. Furthermore it is shown (as far as permitted by available sources) that in each individual country the methods used in order to set up and to enforce the expulsions show a high degree of continuity over the course of three centuries.