estudios

IMAGO Revista de Emblemática y Cultura Visual http://dx.doi.org/10.7203/imago.9.10830

[Núm. 9, 2017] pp. 55-71 ISSN: DIGITAL 2254-9633 - IMPRESO 2171-0147

THE IMAGO PRIMI SAECULI

SOCIETATIS IESV (1640). DEVOTION,
POLITICS AND THE EMBLEM
EL IMAGO PRIMI SAECULI SOCIETATIS IESV (1640). DEVOCIÓN, POLÍTICA
Y EL EMBLEMA

Pedro F. Campa
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

ABSTRACT: The Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv (1640) is, perhaps, the most beautiful book
of emblems published by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century. The book is a festive com-
memoration offered by the priests and students of the Flemish-Belgian Province in celebration
of the centenary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. The work includes 127 full-page em-
blems distributed throughout a total of 956 folio-sized pages that narrate and illustrate in em-
blematic fashion the foundation, development, vicisstitudes and achievements of the Socirty in
its evangelical and pedagogical mission. From the moment of its publication, the Imago was the
object of attacks by Huguenauts and Jansenists who criticized its haughtiness, grandiloquent
language and the hyperbolic comparisons of the narration. Hidden behind this criticism were
the reasons for the Jansenist offensive against the book. Probabilism, the supposed frivolous
attitude towards confession and the frequency of communion, advocated by the Jesuits, was
the object of a pair of insulting treatises directed against the Imago by the famous Jansenists
Antoine Arnauld and Issac Louis le Maître de Sacy. The critics of the Imago maliciously ignored
that the book’s grandiloquent style, appropriate to a jubilation celebration, conforms to the
language of classical rhetoric, thus perpetuating the propagandistic image of the book.
KEYWORDS: Imago Primi Saeculi, Society of Jesus, Flanders, Flemish-Belgian Province.
RESUMEN: El Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv (1640) es quizás el libro de emblemas más
bello publicado por los jesuitas en el siglo xvii. El libro es una conmemoración festiva ofrecida
por los sacerdotes y los escolares de la Provincia Flandro-Belga que celebra el centenario de la
Compañía de Jesús. La obra contiene ciento veintisiete emblemas a plena página con un total
de novecientas cincuenta y seis páginas en folio que narran e ilustran de manera emblemática
la fundación, el desarrollo, las vicisitudes y los logros de la Compañía en su misión evangélica
y docente. Desde su publicación, el Imago fue blanco de los ataques de hugonotes y jansenistas
que criticaban la soberbia, el lenguaje grandilocuente, y las comparaciones hiperbólicas de la
narrativa. Detrás de la crítica, se escondían las razones de la ofensiva jansenista hacia el libro.
El probabilismo, la supuesta actitud frívola hacia la confesión, y la frecuencia de la comunión,
aconsejada por los jesuitas, fueron objeto de sendos tratados injuriosos contra el Imago por
parte de los famosos jansenistas Antoine Arnauld e Issac Louis le Maître de Sacy. Los críticos
del Imago maliciosamente descontaron que el estilo grandilocuente del libro, propio del jubileo,
se ajusta al lenguaje de la retórica clásica, perpetuando así la imagen propagandística del libro.
PALABRAS CLAVES: Imago Primi Saeculi, Compañía de Jesús, Flandes, Provincia Flan-
dro-Bélgica.
Fecha recepción: 20-8-2017 / Fecha aceptación: 27-9-2017

55
Pedro F. Campa

Perhaps the most beautiful emblem book produced in the seventeenth century, and without
a doubt, among the most attractively illustrated imprint produced in the Low Countries, is
the celebratory volume commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of
the Society of Jesus. The Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv was published in Antwerp in 1640.
The book was composed by Jesuits and their students in the Flandro-Belgian province of the
Society as homage to the founders of the Order as well as a record of spiritual and material
achievements of its members on behalf of the Church (Daly and Dimler, 1997: I, 56-57). One
of the many emblem books produced by Jesuits in the seventeenth century, the Imago became
the target of virulent attacks against the public image of the Society in France and abroad.
These attacks, fueling envy against the Society, had begun in 1603 during the reign of
Henri IV, when the Jesuits were allowed to return to France since their expulsion by the
Parlement de Paris in 1594. The offensive acquired a new impetus as Jansenists and Calvin-
ists joined the ranks as enemies of the Jesuits. Some of the causes of animosity against the
Society were the ostensible pride in its evangelizing accomplishments (which was perceived
as arrogance), the preponderance of Jesuits as royal advisers and confessors, the alleged
laxity and casuistry of Jesuits’ confessional methods, and the envy over the ever-increasing
success of Jesuit colleges. Even if the Imago did not directly address some these issues, the
book became the most visible target for attacks against the Society of Jesus.
The Jesuits had a long history in France before the publication of the Imago. By virtue
of the Edict of Rouen (January 2, 1604), the Society was allowed to return and resume
their pastoral and educational mission in France with a number of restrictions and fewer
concessions than those granted to other religious orders. These restrictions did not sit well
with the then General Claudio Acquaviva who was hesitant to accept the terms for the
re-establishment of the Society (Nelson, 2005: 102). Finally the terms of the Edict were
accepted because in reality Henri IV’s intention was to keep the Society under royal patron-
age rather than to follow the restrictions imposed by the agreement. The Society became a
powerful ally of the throne in the efforts of conversion of Calvinists and the Jesuits enjoyed
a broader support amongst French Bishops than before the expulsion (Nelson, 2005: 127).
In 1608, Henri IV lifted the prohibition of against foreign Jesuits to residing France, so the
Society could deal with the shortage of qualified teachers (Nelson, 2005: 113). In 1603 the
founding of the College of La Flèche under royal patronage was followed by the opening
and/or re-establishing of Jesuit colleges at Aix, Amiens, Billom, Bourges, Caen, Cahors,
Châlons, Rennes, Tours and Troyes. Local patronage and private endowments played a part
in the founding and support of the colleges and by 1610, the Society was the largest single
organization educating the Catholic elite in France (Nelson, 2005: 123). During the reign
of Louis XIII, the Jesuits continued to be well connected with the king and his powerful
first minister, Cardinal Richelieu. Early on, the Cardinal saw in the Society a most useful
weapon against heresy and a powerful component of the educational mission of the realm.
The Jesuit General Vitelleschi and Richelieu continued to be on good terms in spite of con-
flicts regarding some of the king’s Jesuit confessors. When the Charenton Calvinist pastors
demanded the abolition of the Society in Europe, the Cardinal retorted:
You think of annoying the Jesuits, but you help them greatly [...] it is a great glory for them to be
blamed by the very mouth that accuses the Church, slanders the Saints, offends Jesus and makes
God guilty [...] many love the Jesuits because you hate them.1

1. «Vous pensez nuire aux Jésuites et vous les servez grandement [...] ce leur est grande gloire d’être blâmés de la bouche meme
qui accuse l’Eglise, qui calomnie les Saints, fait injure à Jésus-Christ et rend Dieu coupable [...] beaucoup les aiment partic-

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The Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv (1640)

In spite of royal protection and its tangible success, the Society went through difficult
times during the first half of the seventeenth century. First, their educational competence
was challenged in order to prevent them from conferring degree-granting university status
to some of their colleges (Bertram Hill, 1961: 17). Their disapproval of alliances with Prot-
estants in the Low Countries to the detriment of Catholic and Imperial interests offended
French patriotic sensitivities and thwarted Richelieu’s plans for being on the winning side
of the Thirty Years War. Nicholas Caussin S. J., who was briefly Louis XIII’s confessor, tried
to appeal to the king’s conscience to break the alliance with Protestants. The king in turn,
showed him signed affidavits, that the Cardinal had brought him that included several Jes-
uit signatories supporting the war effort. The Jesuit exclaimed: «Ah, Sire ils ont une église à
batir» (But, Sire, they have a church to build) (Crétineau-Joly: II, 485).
Also, there was foreign and local propaganda about the harsh behavior of members of
the Society in their crusade for the conversion of Protestants throughout the Empire and
their alleged greed in requisitioning establishments that belonged to other religious orders.
Although the Society in France tried to detach itself from debates over papal prerogatives,
it often had to deal with the Gallican ideology of French bishops and conflicts involving
royal power and papal supremacy where the loyalties of the Jesuits were put into question.
On the issue of temporal power, the writings of foreign Jesuits (such as Bellarmine, Suárez
and Mariana) about tyrannicide, placed French Jesuits on the defense as if having to justi-
fy the political opinions of their foreign confrères. In addition, throughout this period the
devotional and dogmatic writings of some members of the Society were also scrutinized
in the light of probabilism and casuistry and their alleged unconventional practices for the
sacrament of confession. In particular, the Jansenists took issue with the Jesuits’ advocacy
for frequent confession and communion in their zeal to renew devotion and eucharistic
practices among the Catholic faithful.
In brief, this was the political and religious climate in 1640 when the Flemish Jesuits
published the Imago Primi Saeculi in the Spanish Netherlands to commemorate the hun-
dredth anniversary of the founding of the Society. Why and how a celebratory volume writ-
ten in Latin could have become the focus of such passionate and long-lived attacks among
the enemies of the Society are some of the questions that this article will attempt to answer.
The authorship of the Imago is ascribed to the Jesuits and their students in the Flan-
dro-Belgian province of the Society. Evidence reveals that the project was coordinated by
Johannes Bollandus, the famous compiler of Catholic hagiography (Acta Sanctorum), who
according to De Baecker-Sommervogel (1890: I, 1625) had the original idea that the book
was to be a mélange of poetry, emblems and history preceded by a study about the ori-
gin and development of the classical Jubileum. The provincial in the Low Countries, Jan
de Tollenaere (1582-1643) promoted the book stating that all of the orators and poets of
the Flemish province had collaborated in the project. The names of Sidronius de Hossche
(1596-1630) and Jakob van de Walle (1599-1690), both notable and prolific Jesuit poets
and Latinists shared the authorship of the emblem subscriptions. According to Daly and
Dimler (2016), The Imago appeared in the two most productive decades of Jesuit emblem
book production, between 1621 and 1640, when 330 Jesuit emblem books were published.
The organization for the book, with its 127 emblems, is arranged into six sections as
presented in the frontispiece which was designed by Phillipe Fruytiers and engraved by

ulièrment parce-que vous les haïssez», Les principaux points de la Foi [...] défendus contre les quatre ministres de Charenton
(Châlons, 1683), cit. in J. Crétineau-Joly, 1846: II, 479.

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Pedro F. Campa

Cornelis Galle, the Elder. The struc-

ture of the work is schematized by
the six emblems that flank a female
figure with the IHS triagram on her
chest uttering the words: «Not for
us Lord, not for us but for your glo-
ry» (Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed
Nomini tuo) [fig. 1].2 The figure is an
allegorical representation of the So-
ciety, with a pen and a book on her
right hand and a cross in flames on
her left. Three angelotti hover over
the figure holding crowns sym-
bolizing martyrdom, chastity, and
knowledge. The escutcheons, held
by putti flanking the head of the
figure, one with two «L’s» and one
with a «C» represent the centenary
of the Society and the two «L’s» in
Loyola’s name respectively. Father
Time, holding an hour glass and a
scythe, sleeps under the right foot
of the figure. Discarded, under her
left foot, are the rejected symbols of
Church hierarchy: a bishop’s mit-
er and a cardinal’s galero. The four
vows of the Jesuits are represented
below by four winged genies; one
holding a compass for obedience
(terraque marique), the second one
below, a mirror for chastity (sine
Fig. 1. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). Frontispiece. labe); the next one of the left a
hooded falcon (ad nutum) for papal
obedience and the last genie is empty handed trampling objects under his feet (sine aere) and
it represents the vow of poverty. The emblems that flank the figure are crowned by roman
numerals indicating the title of each section.
The first section «Societas nascens» the birth of the Society, illustrated with 31 emblems in
which the founding of the Society is compared with the birth of Christ; the second section,
«Societas crescens» illustrated with 14 emblems traces the development of the Order until
1640. The third section, «Societas agens» symbolizes the deeds of the Society, as it compares
it with Christ’s evangelical labors, and it is illustrated with 8 emblems. The fourth section,
«Societas patiens» stands for the toils and suffering of the Society and it is illustrated by 17
emblems. The fifth section, «Societas Honorata» recounts the honors received by the Society

2. The illustrations from the Imago Primi Saeculo for this article are taken from the high-resolution CD Rom
images included in O’ Malley, J. (ed.) [2015]. Art Controversy and the Jesuits. The Imago Primi Saeculi (1640), Phila-
delphia, SJUP [Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts, 12].

58 IMAGO, NÚM. 9 2017, 55-71

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The Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv (1640)

and it is illustrated by 14 emblems. Finally, the sixth section, deals with the history of the
Flandro-Belgian Province of the Society for which there are 14 emblems.
In the book, the emblem clusters are preceded by occasional celebratory odes followed
by lengthy narratives, panegyrics, encomia, epitaphs, elegies, orationes etc. which account
for most of the book’s 956 pages. The Imago ends with monumental epigraphy commending
the Society under the protection of Mary and Jesus, SS. Ignatius and Francis Xavier (they
were both canonized in 1622) and the
Church militant, followed by an index.
The privilegium to publish, dated 1640,
was issued by Phillip IV of Spain and
Jaan de Tollenaere, the Jesuit Flemish
Provincial.
Many of the emblems of the Imago
as Guido Arbizzoni3 has observed are
emblematized imprese; that is imprese
that had been used by a famous bear-
er and they have been transformed
into emblems with an additional ex-
planatory motto and subscriptio. In other
cases, as R. Dimler (1981: 433-38) has
observed, the picturae come from the
mainstream emblematic tradition and
have been pressed into service invested
with a new meaning. For example, one
of the imprese from Societas Agens, «In
utrumque paratus», the impresa of On-
ofrio Panvinio illustrated in Le imprese
ilustre (1584) of Girolamo Ruscelli (and
also in Pietrasancta’s De symbolis heroicis,
1534, p.460) with the same motto and
pictura [fig. 2] in the Imago it becomes
an emblem titled: «Societas et agere &
pati fortia» (the Society accomplishes
and endures great deeds, Imago, p.453).
The pictura shows an ox in a plowed
field flanked by a sacrificial altar and a
plow with the borrowed impresa motto
«In utrumque paratus» (Ready for one
or the other). In this case the subscriptio
alludes to the sacrifices and evangelical
work of the Order as well plowing in
the Lord’s vineyard.
In the «Prolegomena» an emblem of Fig. 2. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). «Liber tertivs»,
the palm tree appears with the motto 453.

3. Arbizzoni, 2007: 23-24. Van Vaeck, van Houdt and Roggen, 2015: 127-410, have tracked down the sources
and analogs of the emblems in specific books.

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Pedro F. Campa

«in senecta uberi» [fig. 3] (in its old age

it will yield abundantly, Imago: 50). The
pictura of the palm tree also acquires a
new title: «Societas anno saeculari co-
piosos fructus promittit» (The Society
promises rich fruits in its hundredth
year). This symbol for fertility and un-
bending resilience becomes a symbol
for the Society; like a tree that Ignatius
planted and Jesus nurtured into fruit
«Haec arbor, Loiola tua est» (Imago: 50).
The palm tree is also included in the
preliminary emblem of the book [fig.
4]. The subscriptio alludes to the seeds of
the fruitful missionary work of the Or-
der and the palm fronds represent the
celebration of victory for its endeavors.
In this case, the traditional motto of
the palm tree impresa «onerata resur-
get» (if bent, it will come back straight)
is implied in this preliminary emblem
under «Sinopsis totius opera». The com-
position celebrates the centenary of the
Society. It depicts a forge where Divine
Love gives shape to a ring on an anvil.
The jewel on the ring is the radiant IHS,
the impresa of the Society. The inscrip-
tio, «Aeternum Formet in Orbem» [Let
Him shape it into an eternal ring] is
explained by the subscriptio, which de-
clares that the Ancient of Days, who
fashions time is going to give a ring of
lasting connubiality of alliance to the
Fig. 3. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). «Prolegomena», Society. Ostensibly, this emblem, for the
50. hundredth anniversary of the Society,
foreshadows the next auspicious centu-
ry (saeculo) of resilient, unbending and fruitful activity as the palm tree standing behind the
ring suggests.4
The 31 emblems of the first section «Societas nascens» (The birth of the Society) deal for
the most part with the rewards of poverty, chastity, humility and obedience, the perils of
ambition, the rejection of honors and Jesuit vows, including an emblem for the fourth vow
«Rescipit Astrorum Regem» (It looks over the king of stars, Imago: 153) on papal obedience.
The subject of the emblems in this section is complementary to the text which deals with
the origins and the founding of the Society, including the outlandish notion that the Soci-

4. For the emblematic palm tree see: Chorpenning (2007: 333-347); Díaz de Bustamante (1980: 27-88); Galera
Andreu (1985: 63-67).

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The Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesv (1640)

Fig. 4. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). Preliminary, h. 4v.

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ety had been foretold in the prophecies

of Isaiah (Imago: 60). This statement as
well as other rhetorical hyperboles in
the Imago became the focus of aggres-
sive criticism.
At a glance, there is more than meets
the eye in the emblems of the Imago. Fr.
Dimler in a lengthy article explored the
inter-textuality of the emblems in the
light of Jakob Masen’s imago-figurata cat-
egories (Dimler, 1999: 279-295), where
many anagrams and plays on words are
found in the Latin subscriptios. An em-
blem from the fifth Section, «Societas
Honorata», the emblem concerning Peter
Fabre [fig. 5] «Ignatius P. Fabrum adhibet
ad conversionem Xaverii» (Ignatius uses
Peter Fabre to convert Francis Xavier)5
is a suitable example. The pictura shows
a blacksmith pounding hot iron from a
forge on an anvil (Imago: 717); the motto
reads «Solus non sufficit ignis» (Fire alone
is not enough). In this emblem, the re-
cruitment of Francis Xavier by Peter Fa-
vre, and Ignatius himself, is the object of
an ingenious play on words with «faber»,
the Latin word for smith and «ignis», the
word for fire which is the first syllable for
the name Ignatius. (The craftsman did
not melt the iron by fire alone/ It was not
simply one effort) «Non solo ferum molliit
igne faber/ Non labor unus erat». The black-
smith (faber) is also the Latin rendering
Fig. 5. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). «Liber qvint-
of Favre, who was known as the «ham-
vs», 717.
mer of the heretics».
Fire, flames and its analogs have a
long history in the allegorical and pictorial imagery for the Society.6 The symbolism here
is reminiscent of Ignatius’ «Ite inflammate omnia» (Go, set them on fire). In this case, to set
Xavier’s soul on fire «spiritus ignes», it took work, strength, constancy and art. The motto of
this emblem is also an allusion to other lemmata used throughout the book. For example,
«nexus not sufficit unus» (One vow is not enough) from the emblem «Renovatio votorum»

5. Fabre was instrumental in the spiritual development of Xavier. As he relates for the year 1529: «[...] dico autem
maxime de magistro Francisco Xaverio, qui est de Societate Jesu. Hoc anno venit Ignatius, ut esset in eodem collegio Sanctae
Barbarae et in eodem cubiculo [...]. Erat autem supradictus magister Xaverius id oneris suscepturus. Benedicta sit in aeternum
Divina Providentia, quae sic ordinavit in meun bonum et salutem!» (Favre, 1873: 7).
6. There are numerous allusions and depictions of fire in the emblem picturae and mottoes; for example: «sursum
rapit ignes», 719; «male luditor igne», 716; «in igne alacritas», 579; «[...] divini amoris igne concionem», 718.

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(The renewal of the vows, Imago: 199) and «unus non sufficit orbis» (one world is not
enough, Imago: 26) which not surprisingly, is a motto used by the present Jesuit General,
Adolfo Nicolás S. J.
Throughout the Imago there are other specific emblems honoring other Jesuit saints and
blessed. Saint Ignatius and the Jesuit devise (IHS) are the subject of several emblems as well
as Aloysius Gonzaga (329, 723), Stanislaus Kostka (724, 330), Francis Xavier (720, 721),
Francis Borgia (722), Carlo Spinola (727) and the Jesuit martyrs (725, 726).
Section «Societas agens» (Imago: 331-480) contains both in the text and the emblems the
keys to the Jesuit docent and spiritual mission. In the spiritual realm, frequent confession
and communion, missions, the value of The Spiritual Exercises and the encouragement and
support of Marian sodalities. In the educational field, catechism instruction, the education
of children, higher learning for youth and the instruction of the illiterate are illustrated by
appropriate emblems.
The matter of confession and communion7 ignited serious controversies between
Jansenists and the members of the Society. These issues, including the publication of the
Imago, made famous by Pascal’s Provinciales, brought matters to the extreme. The Jesuits
were accused of casuistry and laxism when dealing with confession. Allegedly, easy absolu-
tions and frequent communion tended to trivialize eucharistic practices and not to prepare
for the sacrament with extreme contrition, prayer and abstinence (Bergin, 2009: 261-268).
The truth of the matter is that in the seventeenth century Jesuit confessional practices
evolved and were ahead of their time if compared to those of the French secular clergy.
For example, the penitential cannons of Carlo Borromeo, translated into French and im-
posed upon some of the French regular clergy reads more like a medieval penitential than
a post-tridentine confessional manual (Borromée, 1672).8
In the section «Societas Crescens» (in Caput X) there is an impressive list (Imago: 238-248)
of the provinces, colleges, seminaries and houses (Catalogus Provinciarum Societatis Iesu, Do-
morum, Collegiorum [...]) as well as a list of lengthy individual epitaphs or Elogia Sepulchrarum
(Imago: 280-95) celebrating the life of the founders of the Society, in large capital letters, in
the manner of Imperial Roman monumental epigraphy. The list includes Ignacio de Loyola,
Francisco Xavier, Diego Laínez, Simão Rodrígues, Pierre Favre, Paschasse Broët, Alfonso
Salmerón, Claude Jay, Jean Codure and Nicolás Bobadilla.
No doubt that the fourth section dedicated to the suffering Society («Societas Patiens»)
was meant to inspire sympathy and pity upon the readers. This section eloquently details
the calumnies, persecution and expulsions endured by a blameless Society on both sides
of the world as well as the blood shed by its members at the hands of pagans and heretics.
The Society had been maliciously persecuted by heretics as «Superba, ambitiosa, arrogans
Societas est» (Imago: 559) and had been maligned since its founding. The seventh chapter
in this section specifically «Eiecta e Galliâ Societas, et restitute» (Imago: 505-511) is a rather
extensive diatribe about the false accusations levied against the Society by members of the
Parliament of Paris and the Sorbonne who allegedly conspired with foreign agents to in or-

7. Antoine Arnauld treatise of frequent communion allegedly keep many faithful away from the sacrament:
«[...] c’est un grand peché de s’approcher de cette Table Sainte, & cette Hostie terrible, comme parlent les Pères,
sans la disposition necessaire pour une action si sublime & si divine [...]» (1644: 30).
8. For example, aside from assigning specific atonement for each sin (e.g. ten years of penance for apostasy),
Borromeo recommends for parish priests to keep a detailed chart for each family and to monitor parish attend-
ance, behavioral changes, fasting, etc. Lyn Martin (1988: 233), contends that the Jesuits «revealed a flexible
mind, not restricted to tradition and regulation, but open to modification by experience, a mentality promoted
by the recurrent advice contained in Loyola’s Constituttions [...]».

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der to secure the banishment of the Jesuits from France. As one reads through this section,
the feeling is evident that nothing has been forgotten.
In 1640, when Bishop Cornelius Janssen’s Augustinus was posthumously published, the
Jesuits took it as a personal affront that the book appeared on the centennial of their Or-
der Strayer, 2012: 59). The followers of bishop Janssen were Catholic rigorists concerned
with the primacy of grace versus free will. In the Jansenists’ minds, the only chance for
salvation is a grace not freely granted by God since presumably Christ did not come to save
the whole world but a chosen few. The Jansenists’ rebellious austerity favored simplicity,
seclusion, individuality and constant prayer.9 They also supported the prerogatives of Galli-
canism vis-à-vis papal supremacy. The Arnauld family, sworn enemies of the Society, almost
single-handedly ran the Jansenist establishment of Port Royal which attracted notable peo-
ple, like Blaise Pascal, Antoine Le Maistre, Pierre Nicole, Louis-Issac Lemaistre de Sacy, and
Jean Racine among others, to their circle. Jesuits attacked Jansenists on principle since their
ideas had been censured by Rome and their rigorism on matters of attrition, absolution and
frequent communion was diametrically opposed to the Jesuit mission for the conversion
of Protestants and the renewal of the Faith. Even though Jansenism had a strong whiff of
Calvinism, it had many sympathizers among devout Catholics and main-stream bishops
because of its questioning of papal supremacy and the austere life style and devotional
practices of its followers.
Curiously enough, the first controversy concerning the Imago did not emerge from the
Jansenists, but from the theology faculty of the University of Louvain who examined the
book –especially section six concerning the Flandro-Belgian Province– (Salviucci, 2010:
616) to see if the book had faithfully reported the controversies around Fr. Leonardus Les-
sius’ (1554-1623) teachings on matters of grace and predestination. Lessius appears in the
Imago (17, 847-8, 877) as having been supported by the Society as well as by the Louvain
faculty, who favored Augustinian views in matters of grace, in spite of several controversial
issues. The issue seemed settled when Rome prohibited further polemic on the matter in
1588. However, as late as 1610, General Acquaviva wrote Lessius:
[...] what seems most difficult is that against the authority of St. Augustin and of Cardinal Bellar-
mine, Fr. Suárez and the other theologians of the Society, your Reverence does not admit that
God does more in favor of the predestined than for others, as if there was only one common grace,
sufficient for all, so that God granted the chosen no more than what he gave the condemned.10

It seems that in spite of the controversies, the Flemish Jesuits wished to uphold the rep-
utation of Lessius as a most virtuous and famous member of their province «non magis inge-
nii monumentis quàm virtutum famâ aeternum» (Imago: 17). During the Lessius controversy the
text mentions that there were complaints to the Spanish king about the Jesuit devise (IHS)

9. «Only grace communicated in a serious life of prayer, can inaugurate the reign of virtues in the human soul.
Efforts to cultivate the virtues on the basis of personal initiative are doomed to failure since the initiative itself
is rooted in pride [...]. Grace cannot build on nature, since the corruption of postlapsarian humanity is so thor-
ough» (Conley, 2009: 85).
10. «[...] reicit gratiam congruam, nec admittit. Deum facere quidquam aliud erga homines, quos salvare intendit, qua erga al-
ios qui perduntur; sed gratiam unam esse asserit communem omnibus sufficientem [...]», Acquaviva to Lessius, Rome, 23
October 1610 (Cit. in. Le Bachelet, 1931: I, 151-152). In 1614, Cardinal Bellarmine wrote Lessius: «I approve and
am glad that you have given up writing and turned your mind to reading and contemplation, for it is impossible
to write anything at present without laying oneself to the cavils of either enemies or friends» (Cit. in Brodrick,
1928: II, 67).

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as immodest and boastful («adversus nos scripta est accusatio divitiae nostrae inmodicae iactaban-
tur [...]», Imago: 849). Also, mixed with these facts there is some venting about the malign-
ing of the Society based on allegations of greed and self promotion «In our life how often
we are beaten down; when we want to characterize someone who is miserly and greedy do
we not call him a Jesuit?» («In vita nostrae moresque quám frequenter vapulant! Quoties avarum,
quotes ambitiosum genus hominus dicimur Iesuitae?», Imago: 849).
Section six of the Imago is a history of the Flandro-Belgian Province and its missions as
well as some recapitulation of items covered in previous chapters. The Low Countries, the
most troublesome of the Spanish possessions in Europe was also the site of bloody encoun-
ters between Catholics and Protestants and the Spanish and the Dutch. The Jesuits, who
endured persecution and banishment, were allowed to return under Alejandro Farnesio,
governor of the Low Countries (1578-1592). Although brutal excesses were committed un-
der the rule of the Duque of Alba, the Protestants are blamed for the internal struggles and
the vicissitudes endured in the Low Countries in the sixteenth century («Haereses maxima
caussa miseriarum Belgii», Imago: 902).
The recovery of the Spanish provinces reaffirmed the position of the Society and under
the new governor and Jesuit colleges were founded (Courtrai, Ypres, Gant, Mons, Brussels).
This section celebrates the protection of the Spanish crown to the Catholic cause and to the
Society and memorializes the piousness of the Spanish Habsburgs –Phillip II, Phillip IV, Don
Fernando, the Cardenal Infante– (Imago: 891-898). The section ends with an oration dedi-
cated to Petrus Canisius, «the apostle of Germany», the most famous Jesuit of the Province.
The first impressions of the Imago when it was published in 1640 came as negative rumor
from the Jesuits in Rome since Bollandus himself had sent a copy to Cardinal Francesco
Barberini, who gave it to his uncle Pope Urban VII. By February 1641, the Jesuit General
Muzio Vitelleschi had not seen the book, but he writes the Flemish Provincial that although
he will suspend judgment, he fears that such an ostentatious volume might not be in the
best interests of the Society. By June of the same year, Vitelleschi finally reads the book
and, in spite of some of its detractors, both he and the censors realized the excellence of
the project (Salviucci, 2010: 617-618).11 He writes to de Tollenaere: «Opus loculentum est et
ad posteros habiturum, ut spero commendationem» (It is a rich work and I hope and it will be
acclaimed by posterity).12
The first printed Jansenist attack on the Imago comes from a notorious figure, Issac Louis
le Maistre de Sacy (1613-84), whose Enluminures du Fameux Almanach des Jesuites (1654)
parallel Pascal’s opening for the Fifth letter of the Provinciales.13
The tenth Enluminure directed against the allegorical figure of «Error» (Jansenist ideas)
in the Almanach, mocks a passage from the third book of the Imago, «Societas Agens»: «[...]

11. The publication of the Imago happened at an unauspicious time; see Wright (2011: 178).
12. ARSI, Fl. Belg. 5 Ep. Gen. 990 (cit. in Salviucci, 2004: 201).
13. I have not been able to see the Almanach des Jésuites. This was an illustrated work with large satirical engrav-
ings (e.g. XI, the figure of Jansenius dressed as a bishop with wings like a demon escaping the sword of justice
and running toward the Calvinists) mocking the jansenists and their proximity to Calvinism. At the beginning
of the book, Maître de Sacy describes the engravings which are the subject of the Enluminures. Bound with the
Enluminures is also J. Barbier d’Aucur’s, Onguant pour la brûlure, o le secret por empecher les Jésuites de brûler les Livres
(pp. 99-164) a long poem in huitains with some references to the Imago, but mostly defending Jansenism and
attacking the Society and specific Jesuits (Anat, Le Moyne). Also bound in the volume is an anonymous Réponse
à la Lettre d’une personne de condition touchant les regles de la conduitte des Saint Pères dans la composition de leur ouvrages
[...], pp. 1-112. This segment advocates for establishing ground rules, based on patristic opinions, for attacking
Catholic heterodox ideas.

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Angelorum Societas? [...] ut vatis Iessaei oraculo iampridem videri potest pronuntiatum» (Imago:
410). De Sacy’s parody in octosyllabic verse reads: «One reads this grand image / where
you give honor to yourselves / to this idol of greatness whose temple is in your hearts / one
sees that in your praises / you paint yourselves as angels / and the most vain and shameless
/ will blush at your vanity».14
As throughout the history of the reception of the Imago, the editorial elegance, the pride
and the perceived bombastic self-congratulatory character of the book always precedes the
attacks. The tenth Enluminure continues the satire of the Jesuits by contrasting their self-por-
trait to their actual performance in the world: «with the weights of a fair scale [...] / there, you
wisdom beams forth / here, your baseness is astonishing / there, your heroes are triumphant /
here, you are like children / [...] there, you convert the hearts / here you flatter the sinners».15
Blaise Pascal criticism of the Imago parallels de Sacy’s remarks and it is plausible to pre-
sume that he was coached and given all the necessary ammunition for the Provinciales from
de Sacy himself, Pierre Nicole (1625-95) and Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), who was ex-
iled 1656, the same year that the first of Pascal’s letters appeared in print. The beginning
of the fifth letter opens with: «This is what I have promised (to show you) about the first
traits of the moral character of the good Jesuit fathers who are led by divine wisdom which
is more certain than any other philosophy».16 Although one senses a mocking tone, Pascal
assures the reader that he is being serious because he is copying from the Imago.
Pascal continues the satire with: «Jesuits are a society of men, or rather of angels that
has been foretold by prophecy. A spirit of eagles a flock of phoenixes, since an author has
shown that there are many of those».17 This remark about the phoenix is an indirect ref-
erence to an emblem of the Imago (580), «Martyrum pretiosa mors» (The precious death of
martyrs) with the title «Non poterat fato nobilior mori» (I could not die with a more noble
destiny) about Jesuit martyrs [fig. 6]. The emblem displays a pictura of a phoenix burning
on its nest, as if in joyful martyrdom, to be born again to eternal life.18
It is not by chance that this impresa, with a new inscriptio: «Et benepatientes erunt» (They
will endure well), together with that of the palm tree, flank the base of the engraved fron-
tispiece of the Imago. The tree and the bird, due to a lexical coincidence both bear the name
phoenix in Latin, represent the birth, growth and service of the Society as well as its lasting
fame and renewal through the glory of its martyrs.
Ironically, Pascal laments in one of his manuscripts for Les Provinciales that the Enlu-
minures did a dis-service to the cause of Jansenim; he writes, «Les Enluminures nous ont
fait tort» (Pascal, 1970: 140). However, by far the most systematic and virulent attack on
the Imago is contained in La Morale pratique des jesuites written by Sébastien Joseph du

14. «Qu’on lis cette altiere Image / Où vous mêmes rendez homage / a cette Idole de grandeur / Dont le temple est dans votre
Coeur; / On vous verra dans vos loüanges / Vous dépeindre comme des Anges / Et les vains les plus effrontez / Rougiront de vos
vanitez» (Anon. [Issac Louis le Maître de Sacy], 1683: 42).
15. «[...] aux poids d’une juste balance [...]. / Là votre sagesse rayonne / Icy, vostre basstesse estonne / Là, vos Heros sont tri-
omphans / Icy, vous êtes des enfants / [...] Là vous convertissez les coeurs / Icy, vous flattez les pecheurs», Enluminures, 45.
16. «Voici ce que je vous ai promis. Voici les premiers traits de la morale de ces bons Pères Jésuites de ces homes éminents en
docrine et en sagesse qui sont tous conduits par la sagesse divine, qui est plus assure que toute la philosophie» (Pascal, 1954:
703).
17. «[...] C’est une societé des hommes, ou plutôt des anges, qui a été predite par Isaïe en ces paroles [...]. Ce sont des esprits
d’aigles; c’est un troupe de phénix, un auteur ayant montré depuis peu qu’il y en a plusieurs» (Pascal, 1954: 703).
18. The phoenix as a symbol of change and rebirth had a long run as an emblem motif with different meanings.
As a specific symbol of martyrdom, we can cite from Covarrubias, Centuria III, emblem 90, «Foeliciter ardet», that
alludes to the martyrdom of St. Lawrence depicting a phoenix in flames on top of an iron grill; St. Lawrence was
roasted on a grill.

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Fig. 6. Imago Primi Saeculi Societatis Iesu (1640). «Liber qvartvs», 580.

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Camboust19 l’abbé de Ponchâteau and Antoine Arnauld, anonymously published in Co-

logne 1669 and again in 1682 (although this might be a fictitious place of publication for
a city in the Netherlands). The imprint was originally attributed to Arnauld, but it is really
a collaborative volume. La Morale itself deserves a serious study for the history of seven-
teenth-century propaganda; it is a systematic slanderous critique of the Society since its
founding that gathers information, genuine and spurious, from international sources.
As Marc Fumaroli (1994: 365) has pointed out regarding La Morale, translating long
segments of the Imago into French illustrates the high-flouting language of the book that
becomes a caricature in French translation (Fumaroli, 1994: 495, note 34). La Morale begins
listing a number of accusations and calumnies against the Society from the Spanish Domin-
icans, followed by the controversy of the re-establishment of the Society in France in 1604
and the error of Henri IV to allow the Jesuits to return to France. From pages one to thirty
nine the section Extraits du livre intitulé Image du premier siècle de la societé des Jesuites contains
a set of quotes in French translation from the Imago, followed by commentary.
The first indictment is that the book exhibits pride, arrogance and self love when it com-
pares the origins and development of the Society with the life of Christ (Morale: 28-30). Oth-
er accusations follow: the Jesuits claim to be perfect in wisdom (Morale: 2); the Jesuits have
no saints who perform miracles because the Society itself is a miracle (Morale: 8); every Jes-
uit is born with a helmet on his head because they are warriors (Morale: 4); the frontispiece
of the Imago reveals the Society as a new foundation of the Church with twelve founders
like the twelve apostles (Morale: 19); the founders are compared to emperors, conquerors,
great kings and heroes from antiquity (Morale: 23, 30), since all Jesuits are saints they will
all be saved (Morale: 33). The second (Privileges) and third (Autres Histoires) section20 do not
concern the Imago, but deal with the privileges enjoyed by the Order and events from other
countries relating alleged abuses by Jesuits. These loosely translated quotes from the Imago
culminate with the most fierce attack against the very essence of the Society: «the reform
that the Jesuits have brought to the Church is that it allows to commit an infinite number
of sacrilegious communions, to fill their churches with an infinite number of persons who
never leave their confessional without absolution».21
The established notion that attacks on the Imago Primi Saeculi were provoked mainly
by the ostentatious and self-congratulatory quality of the book are only a small part of the
story. The Imago’s narrative about the Society’s history, detailing the militant opposition
from many fronts against their educational and evangelical mission were the cause of the
violent animosity against the book. In a sense, the Imago is both an allegoresis of the Society
as well as a factual account. As it reads in the prologue, it is a history written with «sweat
and blood» («sudorem et sanguinem»). The narrative’s abundant self-righteousness and lack
of diplomacy in recounting the misfortunes of the Society’s history must have awakened
fresh animosity against the Jesuits given the success of their colleges and their sodalities and
their large church attendance.
The Imago was conceived by the organizers as a Jubileum, a celebratory volume (from
Latin jubilare, to rejoice). Bollandus drives the point home in his introduction «Dissertationes
Prolegomenae de anno saeculari et iubileo» (Imago: 1-24) where he describes the classical origins

19. See Fumaroli (1994: 365, 495); also, Pavone (2010: 229-254).
20. La Morale (1669: 39-137 and 138-201).
21. «[...] toute la reforme que les Jesuites ont aportée dans l’Eglise aboutit à faire commettre une infinité de communions sac-
rileges, à remplir leurs Eglises d’un nombre infini de personnes qui ne sortent jamais de leurs confessionaux sans absolution
[...]», La Morale (1669: 94).

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of the festivities followed by the style of the Jewish and early Christian celebrations and he
finishes by describing the last Jubileum for the fiftieth anniversary of the Society commem-
orated by the Flandro-Belgian Province.
We must presume a certain amount of malice and envy however, since it is important
to note that the detractors of the Imago, reputable scholars, philologists and theologians
themselves, were not unaware of the classical meaning of Apologia and Jubileum; the Imago
is both. It is likely that they had witnessed or participated in formal secular and religious
festivities where pomp and circumstance required outlandish visual trappings and florid,
hyperbolic oratorical declamations. The encomia of the Society’s progress and the virtues
of the founders were no more outlandish than the celebratory volumes about the founders
of other religious orders or the celebratory programs for the canonization of a saint. Both
Marc Fumaroli and Lydia Salviucci have pointed out that the style of the Imago with its ora-
torical Latin rhetoric, its hyperbole, allegories and symbolic language clashed with the more
simple, witty, artful style in vogue at the beginnings of French Classicism, hence it was not
difficult to ridicule it.
However, there were other issues, the Jesuit taste for ceremony and spectacle clashed
with Jansenism which preferred austere, primitive forms of devotion and simple places of
worship. In La Morale, the authors bemoan the fact that «Jesuits with pomp and spectacles
fill up their churches, boasting of attracting many faithful», unlike «Cartusians and other
orders who have nothing in their churches that can distract them, or that are capable of
charming their eyes and ears while leaving their souls dry and worthless».22 The Jesuits, ac-
cording to La Morale transformed their churches from a «house of prayer and penance into
a place of voluptuousness and amusement where they often performed plays and tragedies
in a very profane and secular manner».23
Above all, the Imago is an apologia that is meant to take the elogii as well as the self dep-
recations to the extreme; such as calling itself a Society «created under the sign of a divine
oracle» or referring to itself as «Minimae Societas» («La plus petite Societé»). What appears to
be false modesty is a formal defense of the beliefs and accomplishments of the Society that
required a grand-eloquent exaggerated style and the apologia was the formal medium for
the defense of the Faith and the Order.
The Imago was an easy target for the enemies of the Society to settle old scores. Issues such
as the pretentiousness of the name Societas Iesu,24 dispensation from communal prayer, and
the fourth vow of papal obedience resurfaced when these issues seemed to have been for-
gotten since the days of the founding. It must be noted that in the midst of the controversies
surrounding the Imago, the Society continued to wield power in high places. One of the first
books published by the newly established Royal Press in France in 1640 (Typographia Regia),
perhaps fostered by Sublet de Noyers, was an edition of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises.25
The Imago Primi Saeculi remains a monument of editorial excellence and the printer’s art
as well as one of the most interesting emblem books of the seventeenth century. In spite of

22. «[...] des pompes & des spectacles don’t ils remplissent leurs Eglises. On sçait qu’il font gloire d’y attirer le monde [...]»,
«[...] comme les Chartreux & plusieurs autres Religieux n’ont rien dans leurs Eglises qui les dissipe, et qui soit capable en
ravissant leurs yeux & leurs oreilles de laisser leur esprit dans la secheresse & l’inutilité», La Morale (1669: 96 and 98).
23. «[...] ils font d’une maison de prière et de penitence un lieu de volupté & de divertissement. Ils y joüent meme assez souvent
des tragedies & des comedies d’une manière très profane & très seculière [...]», La Morale (1669: 97).
24. La Morale (1669: 41) is quick to point out that the name Societas Iesu was censored by the Faculty of La
Sorbonne by «unanimi consensus» in 1554 and not only by some Doctors of the Sorbonne as the Jesuits claimed
to have been.
25. Excercitia Spiritualia S.P. Ignatii (Paris, Typographia Regia, 1644), cit. in Birely (2003: 182).

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its controversial aspects, the Imago directly inspired other illustrated Jesuit works that re-
count with the same intensity the life and missionary works of the members of the Society.
For example, parts of Mathias Tanner’s (1630-1692) Societas Iesus ad sanguinis et vitae profu-
sionem (Prague, 1675) and Societas Iesu apostolorum imitatrix [...] (Prague, 1694), and Daniello
Bartoli’s (1608-1685) Della vita e dell’istituto di S. Ignatio [...] (Rome, 1659) accounts of the
Society’s history drew some inspiration from the Imago. In these works the Jesuits’ activities
in every day life are depicted, as well as scenes that illustrate the torture and death of their
martyrs. In addition, the after life (Van Vaeck, van Houdt and Roggen, 2015: 181-196) of
the Imago as a source for other emblem books, as well as the extra-literary use of the Imago
inspired on the emblems has been discovered in decorative programs in Jesuit Churches.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Arnauld, A. [1644]. De La Frequente Communion [...], Paris, Antoine Vitré.
Anon. [Antoine Arnauld et l’Abbé de Ponchâteau] [1669]. La morale pratique des jesuites repre-
sentée en plusieurs histoires arrivées dans toutes les parties du monde [...], Cologne, Chez Gerv-
inus Quentel. [The second edition: Nancy, Joseph Nicolai, 1682].
Anon. [Issac Louis le Maître de Sacy] [1683]. Les Enluminures du Fameux Almanach des PP. Jes-
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Bertram Hill, H. (ed.) [1961]. The Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu, Madison, The Uni-
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Campa, P. F. [1996]. «La génesis del libro de emblemas jesuita», in S. López Poza (ed.), Actas
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Chorpenning, J. [2007]. «Francis de Sales and the Emblematic Tradition: The Palm Tree as
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blemático», Goya, 187-188, 63-67.
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