How to Become a Missionary in the Orient?
Litterae indipetae and Other Strategies of the Polish-Lithuanian Jesuits (1612–1721)
Abstract
In the Early Modern Period, many a Jesuit sought a place on the overseas missions. The litterae indipetae – the petitions sent by the candidates to the General – provide evidence of the collective phenomenon of mass vocations among the members of the order. The present article pro- vides an analysis of the requests sent by Polish-Lithuanian Jesuits for the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire and Persia in the period between 1610s–1720s. It aims to understand how the candidates conceptualised these territories, and what knowledge about the dreamed destination they decided to reveal in the petitions. It also explores how they explained their inclination towards serving in the Muslim Orient and the religiously ambiguous Circassia. While many of the Polish-Lithuanian Jesuits followed the standard procedure of seeking the General’s consent for a mission abroad, only a few received his permission. Most probably, the real need of priestly ministry in Poland-Lithuania itself, played an important role in the superior’s indifference to the poignant descriptions of the suffering captives and their unbaptized children, as well as to a tempting picture of supposedly Christian inhabitants of the Northern Caucasus, who could be easily won for the Catholic faith. It deserves attention that numerous Polish-Lithuanian Jesuits, who spent some time preaching God’s Word in the Orient, did not send petitions before reaching their missionary destinations. Many of them traveled eastwards as the chaplains of the Polish-Lithuanian envoys. Those of the missionaries, who decided to stay abroad for a longer period, usually made an effort to receive post factum the General’s approval. Finally, we find one more group among the Polish- Lithuanian Jesuits serving in Persia and Northern Caucasus namely the supplicants for China, who failed to reach the Far-East and settled for less prestigious missionary posts.
References
General Archives of the Order of Preachers in Rome, XIII, 076900.
Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Gal. 96II, 103II, Pol. 13, 68II, 69, 77II, 78, 79.
Propaganda Fide Historical Archives in Rome, SOCG, vol. 62, 65, 122.
D’Avril Philippe, Voyage en divers états d’Europe e d’Asie, entreprise pour décou- vrir une nouveau chemin à la Chine (Paris, 1693).
Krusiński Joannes, Prodromus ad tragicam vertentis belli Persici historiam (L’viv: Typis Collegii Societatis Iesu, 1734).
Bednarz Mieczysław, “Ignacy Franciszek Zapolski, diplomata i misjonarz w Persji pod koniec wieku”, in: Gdy Europa szukała Azji, ed. Felix Plattner (Kraków: Wydawnictwo Apostolstwa Modlitwy, 1975), 371–86.
Casalini Cristiano, “Discerning Skills: Psychological Insight at the Core of Jesuit Identity”, in: Exploring Jesuit Distinctiveness. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ways of Proceeding within the Society of Jesus, ed. Robert Aleksander Maryks (Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2016), 189–211.
Clossey Luke, Salvation and Globalization in the Early Jesuit Missions (Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Czamańska Ilona, “Religia i polityka. Rola kościoła katolickiego i cerkwi pra- wosławnej w stosunkach polsko-mołdawskich w XVII wieku”, in: Bliżej sie- bie: Rumuni i Polacy w Europie. Historia i dzień dzisiejszy, eds. Stanislava Iachimovschi, Elżbieta Wieruszewska, (Suceava: Uniunea Polonezilor din România 2006), 168–171.
Ambrosius Eszer, Missionen in Randzonen der Weltgeschichte. Krim, Kaukasien und Georgien, in: Sacra Congregationis De Propaganda Fide Memoria Rerum 1622–1972, ed. Josef Metzler, vol. 1, part 1: 1622–1700 (Rome: Herder, 1971), 650–679.
Gliwa Andrzej, Kraina upartych niepogód. Zniszczenia wojenne na obszarze zie- mi przemyskiej w XVII wieku (Przemyśl: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk im. Kazimierza Marii Osińskiego w Przemyślu, 2013).
Golvers Noël, „«Litterae Indipetae» from the Jesuit Provincia Flandro-Belgica 1640/1660–1700”, in: Light a Candle. Encounters and Friendship with China. Festschrift in Honour of Angelo S. Lazzarotto P.I.M.E, eds. Roman Małek S.V.D., Gianni Criveller P.I.M.E. (Sankt-Augustin–Nettetal: Steyler Verlags- buchhandlung, 2010).
Hautala Roman, “Catholic Missions in the Golden Horde Territory”, in: From Pax Mongolica to Pax Ottomanica, eds. Ovidiu Cristea, Liviu Pilat (Leiden– Boston: Brill, 2020), 39–65.
Inglot Marek, “Misjonarze jezuiccy na Krymie od początku XVII do połowy XVIII wieku”, in: Polacy na Krymie, ed. Edward Walewander (Lublin: Studio Komputerowo-Wydawnicze „Bamka”, 2004).
Kizilov Mikhail, “The Black Sea and the Slave Trade: The Role of Crimean Mari- time Towns in the Trade in Slaves and Captives in the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries”, in: Critical Readings on Global Slavery, eds. Damian Alan Pargas, Felicia Roşu (Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2018), 958–982.
Królikowska-Jedlińska Natalia, “The Northern Caucasus Viewed by the Catholic Missionaries, 1625–1720s” in: Eastern Europe, Safavid Persia and the Iberian World. Frontiers and Circulations at the Edge of Empires, eds. José Cutillas Ferrer, Óscar Recio (Valencia: Albatros. 2018), 127–138.
Królikowska-Jedlińska Natalia, “Slaves of the Crimean Khan or Muslim War- riors? The Status of Circassians in the Early Modern Period”, in: Slavery in the Black Sea Region c. 900–1900. Forms of Unfreedom at the Intersection between Christianity and Islam, ed. Felicia Roşu, (Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2022), 364–384.
Matthee Rudi, “Introduction”, in: Judas Thaddeus Krusinski, The History of the Revolution of Persia: An Eyewitness Account of the Fall of the Safavi Dynasty (I.B. Tauris: London–New York, 2018), VII–XVII.
Miazek-Męczyńska Monika, Indipetae Polonae – kołatanie do drzwi misji chiń- skiej (Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickie- wicza, 2015).
Nowak Edmund, Rys duszpasterstwa wojskowego w Polsce 968–1831 (Wojskowy Instytut Naukowo-Wydawniczy: Warszawa, 1932).
Panfil Rafał, “Starania Stanisława Kuklińskiego o przejęcie kościoła zamkowego w Malborku”, Echa Przeszłości 18 (2017): 171–198.
Panfil Rafał, “Pierwsi Jezuici w Malborku jako reprezentanci multietnicznego społeczeństwa Rzeczpospolitej Obojga Narodów”, in: Stan badań nad wie- lokulturowym dziedzictwem dawnej Rzeczypospolitej, vol. 1, eds. Wojciech Walczak, Karol Łopatecki (Białystok: Instytut Badań nad Dziedzictwem Kulturowym Europy, 2017), 243–295.
Pizzorusso Giovanni, Governare le missioni, conoscere il mondo nel XVII secolo. La Congregazione Pontificia de Propaganda Fide (Edizioni Sette Città: Vit- erbo, 2018).
Pizzorussi Giovanni, “Reti informative e strategie politiche tra la Francia, Roma e le missioni cattoliche nell’impero ottomano agli inizi del XVII secolo”, in: I Turchi, il Mediterraneo e l’Europa, ed. Giovanna Motta (FrancoAngeli: Milano 1998), 212–231.
Prokop Krzysztof, Rzymskokatoliccy biskupi ordynariusze diecezji na ziemiach ruskich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów (do czasów I wojny świa- towej) (Warszawa–Drohiczyn: Drukarnia Akcydensowa Andrzej Dorosz, 2014).
Prosperi Adriano, Tribunali della coscienza: Inquisitori, confessori, missionary (Torino: Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 1996).
Reychman Jan, Biskupstwo bakowskie w świetle literatury historycznej rumuńskiej (Kraków: Nasza Przeszłość, 1948).
Russell Camilla, “Imagining the «Indies»: Italian Jesuit Petitions for the Overseas Missions at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century”, in: L’Europa divisa e i nuovi mondi. Per Adriano Prosperi, eds. Massimo Donattini, Giuseppe Marcocci, Stefania Pastore (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2011), vol. 2, 179–189.
Russell Camilla, “Vocation to the East: Italian Candidates for the Jesuit China Mission at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century”, in: Renaissance Studies in Honor of Joseph Connors, eds. Machtelt Israëls, Louis Waldman (Florence, Villa I Tatti: The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, 2013), vol. 2, 313–327.
Ryba Renata, Literatura staropolska wobec zjawiska niewoli tatarsko-tureckiej (Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, 2014).
Shore Paul, Narratives of Adversity. Jesuits in the Eastern Peripheries of the Hab- sburg Realms (1640–1773) (Budapest–New York: CEU Press, 2012).
Targosz Karolina, Jan III Sobieski mecenasem nauk i uczonych (Warszawa: Muze- um Pałac w Wilanowie, 2012).
Tiburcio Alberto, Muslim–Christian Polemics in Safavid Iran (Edinburgh: Edin- burgh University Press, 2020).
Toledano Ehud, “Enslavement in the Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern Period”, in: The Cambridge World History of Slavery, eds. David Eltis, Stanley Engerman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 25–46.
Wagner Marek, „Kampania kamieniecka 1688 roku”, in: Jarzmo Ligi Świętej? Jan III Sobieski i Rzeczpospolita w latach 1684–1696, ed. Dariusz Milewski (Warszawa: Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie, 2017), 187–213.
Wagner Marek, Stanisław Jabłonowski (1634–1702). Polityk i dowódca, vol. 1–2 (Tarnowskie Góry: Inforteditions 2020).
Windler Christian, Missionare in Persien. Kulturelle Diversität und Normen- konkurrenz im frühneuzeitlichen Katholizismus (17. –18. Jahrhundert) (Köln– Weimar–Wien: Böhlau–Verlag, 2018).
Zabolotnaia Lilia, “Populaţia catolicâ în oraşele din Moldova (secolele XVI– XVII)”, in: Bliżej siebie. Polacy i Rumuni a historyczne I kulturowe dziedzictwo Europy, eds. Stanislava Iachimovschi, Elżbieta Wieruszewska (Suceava: Uniu- nea Polonezilor din România, 2007), 156–173.
Załęski Stanisław, Misje w Persji w XVII i XVIII wieku pod protektoratem Polski (Kraków: Drukarnia „Czasu” Fr. Kulczyckiego i spółki, 1882).
Załęski Stanisław, Jezuici w Polsce, vol. 2, part 2 (Lwów: Drukarnia Ludowa, 1902).
Bobková-Valentová Kateřina, “Come elaborare la biografia di un gesuita? Rassegna delle fonti di registro dell’ordine, loro conservazione, accessibilità e valore documentario nella prospettiva di una sistematica elaborazione di un database biografico”, Bollettino dell’Istituto Storico Ceco di Roma 9 (2014): 111–145.
Bočková Alena, “Epistolae Generalium ad Nostros - Ăádová korespondence jako biografický pramen”, Folia Historica Bohemica 26 (2011): 403–416.
Eszer Ambrosius, “Giovanni Giuliani da Lucca O.P. Forschungen zu seinem Leben und zu seinen Schriften”, Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 37 (1967): 353–468.
Eszer Ambrosius, “Die Gemeinde von Čobruči am Dnestr und die II. Krim- Mission der Dominikaner”, Angelicum 46/3–4 (1969): 366–386.
Frei Elisa, “In Nomine Patris: The Struggle Between an Indipeta, his Father, and the Superior Generals of the Society of Jesus (ca. 1701–1724)”, Chronica mundi 13 (2018): 107–123.
Frei Elisa, “The Many Faces of Ignazio Maria Romeo, SJ (1676–1724?), Petitioner for the Indies: A Jesuit Seen through his Litterae Indipetae and the Epistulae Generalium”, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu 85 (2016): 365–404.
Gliwa Andrzej, “Doświadczenie inwazji tatarskich w narracjach ludowych i pamięci zbiorowej jako niematerialne dziedzictwo kulturowe Polski południowo-wschodniej”, Ochrona zabytków 1 (2014): 53–73.
Krzyszkowski, Joseph, “Entre Varsovie et Ispahan. Le P. Ignace-François Zapolski S.I. ”, Archivum Historicum Societatis Jesu 18 (1949): 85–117.
Lamalle Edmond, “L’archivio di un grande Ordine religioso. L’Archivio Gener- ale della Compagnia di Gesù”, Archiva Ecclesiae 24–25 (1981–1982): 114–116.
Madaj Mieczysław, Z dziejów misji polskiej na Krymie, „Sacrum Poloniae Millenium” 5 (1958): 521–538.
Maldavsky Aliocha, “Pedir las Indias. Las cartas ‘indipetae’ de lo jesuitas europe- os, siglos XVI–XVII, ensayo historiogràfico”, Relaciones XXXIII, 132 (2012). Mariani Andrea, “Aktywność jezuickich kapelanów nadwornych prowincji litewskiej. Między ustawodawstwem zakonnym a praktyką”, Rocznik Lituanistyczny 1 (2015): 37–82.
Matthee Rudi, “Poverty and Perseverance: The Jesuit Missions of Isfahan and Shamakhi in Safavid Iran”, Al-Qantara 36 (2015): 463–501.
Miazek-Męczyńska Monika, “Polish Jesuits and Their Dreams about Missions in China, according to the Litterae indipetae”, Journal of Jesuit Studies 5 (2018/3): 404–420.
Milewski Dariusz, „Jerzy Kutnarski – Polak w służbie mołdawskiej i polskiej”, Echa Przeszłości 13 (2012): 107–131.
Skowron Ryszard, “Tłumaczenia i recepcja w Europie i Turcji prac Judy Tade- usza Krusińskiego o wojnie afgańsko-perskiej i upadku dynastii Safawidów”, Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego Prace Historyczne 147/1 (2020): 13–36.
Souza Laura, Massimi, Marina, “Il desiderio dell’oltremare nelle litterae Indip- etae: le condizioni psicologiche per l’azione nella narrativa di giovani gesuiti del sedicesimo secolo”, Memorandum 3 (2002): 55–71.
Vantard Amélie, “Les vocations missionnaires chez les Jésuites français aux XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles”, Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l’Ouest 116/3 (2009): 9–22.
Copyright (c) 2022 Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Yearbook only accepts materials for publication that are free of all conflicts of interest, and that in no way involve conflicts over authorship, copyright, etc. The Editors will take action against any cases of plagiarizing, ghostwriting1, guest/honorary authorship2, etc. Where co-authored work is concerned, the Author listed first is expected to take responsibility for the submission, and is required to make clear the contributions of all of the Co-Authors involved. In the event of the publication owing its existence to funding dedicated to this purpose, this fact should be made clear: e.g. in any note of thanks/acknowledgement, or in a footnote, etc. Explicit notification should be given of any form of reprinting, with the appropriate evidence of permission to publish being furnished as required. Any impropriety on the part of Authors/Reviewers risks exposing them to appropriate responses from the relevant institutions.
______
1 This term refers to instances of a person who has made an essential contribution being omitted from the list of authors, or from notes conveying gratitude and/or acknowledgement.
2 This occurs when a person who has made either an insignificant contribution or no contribution at all nevertheless appears on the list of authors.
