In recent years scholars in a range of disciplines have begun to re-evaluate the history of the Society of Jesus. Approaching the subject with new questions and methods, they have reconsidered the importance of the Society in many sectors, including those related to the sciences and the arts. They have also looked at the Jesuits as emblematic of certain traits of early modern Europeans, especially as those Europeans interacted with 'the Other' in Asia and the Americas.

Originating in an international conference held at Boston College in 1997, the thirty-five essays here reflect this...

Recent years have seen scholars in a wide range of disciplines re-evaluate the history of the Society of Jesus. In 1997, a group of scholars convened a major international conference to discuss the world of the Jesuits between 1540 and 1773 (the year of its suppression by papal edict). This meeting led to the creation of the first volume in this series, The Jesuits, which examined the worldwide Jesuit undertaking in such fields as music, art, architecture, devotional writing, mathematics, physics, astronomy, natural history, public performance, and education, with special attention...