Jesuit reports

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Title page of the Jesuit relations from 1662 to 1663

The Jesuit relations or Jesuit reports are written records from the seventeenth century about the experiences and activities of the missionaries of the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits") in the provinces of New France . After a thorough examination of the order, the Jesuit relations were published in France from 1632 to 1673 and thus made accessible to the literate elite or to those interested in colonization . The reports are primarily ethnographic documents and describe the indigenous population, their habitat and their cultures, but also the progress of colonization and Christianization . The Jesuit relations are important sources for American studies, history, anthropology, religious studies, geography and linguistics. Among the authors are Paul Le Jeune , Jérôme Lalemant , Jean de Brébeuf and Paul Ragueneau , they give detailed account of the evangelistic efforts and the difficulties of the missionaries.

backgrounds

The Society of Jesus

The Jesuit relations are a product of the most powerful Catholic order at the time , the Society of Jesus or Societas Jesu, and are related to the efforts of the order to put education and science at the service of the Catholic Church. The Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius von Loyola in 1534, is based on the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity on discipline and includes a vow of obedience to the Pope. In addition to pastoral care, preaching and making confessions, the work of the Order focuses primarily on education, teaching and mission. The novices' long training period lasts around twelve years. The core of spirituality are the retreats , thirty-day spiritual exercises in which the retiree relates his life and the life of Jesus in prayer and meditation and reflects on it.

The Society of Jesus and its basic statutes, the so-called Constitutiones , were founded in 1540 by Pope Paul III. officially recognized with the bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae . The order was dissolved in 1773 with the Breve Dominus ac redemptor noster by Pope Clement XIV and remained banned until 1814. Former members formed Sacred Heart Societies and stayed underground. They also found refuge in Russia and Prussia, where they were valued as teachers and pastors. With the papal bull sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum , the Society of Jesus was re-admitted and still exists today.

From the founding of the Society of Jesus to its dissolution in 1773, the order had grown in influence, as the members were popular with the Catholic kings and princes in Europe as confessors, advisers and teachers due to their high level of education. In addition, the Society of Jesus had a significant influence in the Counter Reformation , when attempts were made to strengthen the Catholic faith through missions in regions where Protestantism was spreading. For this reason the Society of Jesus also built its first religious houses and educational institutions in areas such as Germany , England and Ireland . In addition, the Society of Jesus was very successful with its missions outside of Europe and grew into the largest missionary order in a relatively short time . Mission has played a central role in the Order from the beginning . Ignatius of Loyola laid down the mission ideal of the order, which is characterized by the willingness to mission of all. Through the vow of obedience, each member of the order undertakes to deepen, defend and spread the faith. Thus the vow of obedience is also a missionary vow and the vocation to the Society of Jesus is also a missionary vocation. The missionary method of the Society of Jesus was also special at that time. In contrast to other orders, the Jesuit missionaries tried to understand the culture and mentality. This enabled them to find clues in the cultures of other peoples to convey Christianity in an understandable way. For they were primarily concerned with integrating the Catholic faith into the culture and social order of other peoples and not just converting individuals. Franz Xavier , who was the first Jesuit missionary to ever be sent to India in 1541 , also made a significant contribution to understanding missions .

Reports before the Jesuit relations

Even before the Jesuit relations, there were reports from Jesuit missionaries about their surroundings and protégés in distant countries such as India or Japan . One reason for this is that these reports and letters were the only means of communication available over long distances. They kept in touch with headquarters and served as sources of information for other missionaries . Another reason for reporting was the general's control over the missionaries' activities. A large part of the reports were printed and thus made available to readers outside of the Order, as there was interest in previously unknown countries in early modern Europe. Above all, however, the letters and reports served to accumulate knowledge and knowledge about foreign countries and cultures. Furthermore, the reports were created with the idea that what was written was permanent and could be used as a testimony. This point of view also emerges from Ignatius von Loyola's instructions for reporting.

Franz Xaver played a formative role in this reporting. As the first missionary of the Society of Jesus, he set the standard for subsequent emissaries. Franz Xaver's written work comprises 137 documents that are considered authentic, mostly correspondence from his years as a missionary in India and Japan. His letters were mainly addressed to Ignatius von Loyola, the superior general of the Jesuits, or to the Portuguese king to report on the state of the colonies. Franz Xaver also wrote extensive letters to inform, edify and admonish younger friars. These documents motivated numerous members of the Order to apply for a job as missionary, as can be seen from the many letters of application after the letters were published. Franz Xaver's writings thus form the basis for the Jesuit relations.

The Jesuit relations were also not the first reports of the Order about New France. The first Jesuits in New France were Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé , who were sent there as missionaries from 1611 to 1613. About twenty years before the first Jesuit relations, Pierre Biard wrote a report on the nature of the land and the natives as well as his experiences as a missionary in New France. This report was published as "Relation de la Nouvelle France" in 1616 and is important precisely because it was the first Jesuit report on New France and thus formative for the European perception of the French colonies in today's Canada . In 1626, well before the Jesuit relations , Father Charles Lalemant wrote a letter that took a stand on the spread of the Christian faith in New France.

The Jesuits in New France

Historical map of New France / Canada from 1713

colonization

Long before the Jesuits reached New France, French fishermen, fur traders, adventurers and explorers like Cartier had come into contact with Canada's indigenous people. The first settlements were founded in 1604 ( Sainte-Croix ) and 1605 ( Port-Royal ) in the province of Acadie (now Nova Scotia , New Brunswick and northern Maine ). The founding of Quebec City followed in 1608. There was, however, even before the Jesuit missionaries of the Franciscan Recollect the Order in New France. Due to the growing influence of the Jesuit order in France and the availability of sufficient funds, however, the Society of Jesus received the sole task of mission in New France.

The Jesuits were particularly important in New France because of the special nature of French colonization. The French colonization differed from the Spanish and English colonization in that only a comparatively small settlement took place. About a hundred French settlers lived in New France in the 1620s. The reason for this is that the French were primarily interested in the fur trade rather than large-scale farming or mining. Therefore, only a few trading forts were needed. Since the indigenous population (mainly Algonquin tribes and Iroquois tribes ) traded exclusively with friendly peoples, the French had to establish military and diplomatic relations with the indigenous people in order to be able to trade in fur. As a result, on the one hand, there was intensive interaction between French settlers or traders and the indigenous peoples and, on the other hand, the indigenous peoples were not conquered, but largely remained autonomous groups. Since the French were dependent on the indigenous peoples as trading partners and were outnumbered, there was hardly any oppression of the indigenous population, although of course there were also conflicts and wars. The French colony emerged through trade relations and alliances with the various indigenous peoples and confederations and stretched far across North America . By interacting with the French, great changes took place in indigenous cultures. Economic systems were transformed by the French demand for fur and European weapons (especially firearms) and the trade in alcohol . Pathogens from Europe (such as smallpox or the flu ) triggered epidemics among the indigenous population and affected their social systems. Another factor driving changes in the indigenous way of life were the Jesuit missionaries. While trying to Christianize individual tribes, two factions often emerged within the tribes, those who joined the new faith and those who clung to their old traditions. This could lead to political instability within the tribes. The Jesuit relations are consequently also eyewitness accounts of these transformation processes.

The Jesuit Missions in New France

There were two attempts by the Jesuit missionaries to gain a foothold in New France. The first attempt took place from 1611 to 1613 under Pierre Biard (1567-1622) and Ennemond Massé (1575-1646) in Acadia . The second attempt went from 1625 to 1629 and was led by five French Jesuits Ennemond Massé, Charles Lalemant (1587–1674), Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649), François Charton (1593–1657) and Gilbert Burel (1585–1661) . Both times had to be broken off due to British raids and attempts at conquest. The French regained control of the colonies in Canada in 1632 and the Jesuit missionaries returned. From then on the number of missionaries, donnés (helpers of missionaries) and lay brothers grew . The sources are very imprecise about the number, but the number of missionaries is estimated at about 30 per year and from 1632 to 1760 a total of about 300 missionaries were active in New France. The majority of missionaries did not return to France , but ended their careers in New France or died during the Mohawk Wars in the late seventeenth century. The tasks of the Jesuits in New France primarily concerned the Christianization of the indigenous peoples with whom the French traded. In the beginning these were mainly the Hurons, Algonquin and Montagnais. They also campaigned for the establishment of educational institutions such as schools, libraries and universities. Laval University, for example, goes back to the Jesuits. In the first years of the Jesuit missions, the main task of the missionaries was to learn to understand the languages ​​and cultures of the indigenous peoples in order to find clues in their cultures and religious understanding in order to carry out Christianization. That is why some missionaries such as Jean de Brébeuf lived with the respective tribes to be proselytized. Nomadic tribes were tried, with less success, to settle down first, as it was believed that only peoples with permanent residence were also civilized. According to the model of the so-called reductions in today's Paraguay, village communities were established. Most of the indigenous peoples regarded the missionaries as emissaries from the King of France. That is why they let the Jesuits have their way for diplomatic reasons, as they welcomed the goods of the French and did not want to do without them as allies in the event of war. At first the missionaries were relatively successful and managed to persuade important indigenous personalities to convert to Christianity . However, the situation for the missionaries became more difficult as it soon became clear that Christianity at that time was exclusive and did not tolerate other types of beliefs. Many indigenous peoples had incorporated the Catholic faith into their religious system as an extension. The missionaries, however, tried to overwrite the religious ideas of the indigenous people with the Catholic faith in order to make them good Christians. The fear of eternal damnation was still very real in the early seventeenth century. With Christianization the salvation of souls was sought. The conversion of the indigenous people was therefore seen as a good and necessary act. Although criticism of the order arose at the end of the seventeenth century and with the Enlightenment a factor that limited the influence of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit missionaries in New France were still important. They also outlasted Great Britain's conquest of New France. However, after the order was banned, they slowly disappeared. After the restoration of the Order in 1814, the first nine Jesuit missionaries returned to Canada in 1842 . The anthropologist Eleanor Burke Leacock has contributed important studies about the social condition of the indigenous people and the consequences of the invasion of colonialism and the missionary attempts of the Jesuits for societies that are still largely egalitarian .

The relations

Reports and reporting

The relations were annual reports by the Jesuit missionaries in New France on their efforts to convert the indigenous peoples of the Canadian northeast to the Catholic faith. The relations also contain information about the progress of colonization, war and peace and convey knowledge about the indigenous cultures, their religious ideas and languages. The reports were collected, paraphrased and edited at the Order headquarters in Quebec. The Jesuit Superior in New France was responsible for reporting. They were then sent to the head office in Paris, where the reports were revised again and combined into a volume. Only then was the edition of the respective year published under the title Relation de ce qui s'est passé en la Nouvelle France . It usually took a long time for the reports to reach Paris and the editing took up even more time. Often they were published in Paris a year after they were written. Despite the revisions, the reports are to be regarded as authentic, since the corrections mainly related to formal issues. The collection of published relations has a volume of 41 volumes. Reports from Jesuit missionaries in New France were also sent to Paris after 1673, the year of the last published edition of the Relations. However, due to a decree from Rome, they could no longer be published.

The Jesuit relations are primarily ethnographic descriptions and are therefore kept rather impersonal and very factual. The factuality of the reports - the result of the long revision process - provides a good insight into the culture of the indigenous peoples of Canada at the time of their first contact with the Europeans and the relationship between the indigenous people and the French. Nevertheless, relations are not free of values; they were written by Europeans for Europeans and are thus shaped by the European worldview and values ​​of the time. The main purpose of the relations was to find sponsors for the missions in New France, to attract settlers and to inform other interested parties. They therefore had a double function: on the one hand as sources of information, on the other hand as propaganda publications . Not much is known about the readership, but it can be assumed that, apart from the members of the Society of Jesus, both the French clergy and the nobility were interested in the relations. Nor is it known how far the relations circulated in Europe. Due to the general interest in foreign cultures in early modern Europe, the Jesuit relations are likely to have spread widely.

Criticism of the relations

However, the Jesuit relations did not only evoke positive reactions. Especially with critics of the Society of Jesus, including Protestants , Jansenists , Dominicans and Franciscans , the relations were not very popular. In Protestant circles, the Jesuits were seen as a power-hungry evil that was obedient to the pope.

Other Catholic orders differed in their understanding of mission from the Jesuits and criticized their approach to missions. Envy also played a role due to the success of the Society of Jesus. The members of the Franciscan Récollect Order, who were initially responsible for the mission in New France, but lost this task to the more influential and financially stronger Jesuits, were particularly critical . Writers of the Récollect order, such as Christien Le Clerq or Louis Hennepin, mocked the relations of the Jesuit missionaries as a pipe dream, especially the reports about martyrs . They also doubted that the indigenous people actually converted to Christianity permanently.

The members of the Récollect order saw the spiritual possibilities of the indigenous peoples much less positively, which is why they doubted the number of conversions mentioned by the Jesuits. However, their criticism did not generally concern the correctness of the relations as ethnographic reports, but mainly the theological approaches of the Jesuits. In fact, the Jesuit missionaries did not claim to have Christianized New France. On the contrary, the relations show their disenchantment and disappointment at the failure of the mission. However, this is overlaid with long passages about their successes. In addition, the published relations had previously been revised and neutralized.

Modern publications and importance for science

In 1858 the Jesuit relations were published again for the first time. When the original writings of the relations were destroyed after the fire of the Québec parliament in 1854, the Canadian government ordered the printing of the entire edition from 1632 to 1673 in three octave volumes, to which the report by Pierre Biard from 1616 and the letter from Charles Lalemant from 1626 were added . It is an uncommented edition.

One of the best-known publications comes from Reuben Gold Thwaites , which was published under the title The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents 1896-1901 in Cleveland , a collection of 73 volumes containing both the originals in French, Italian or Latin as well as the English Translations. It contains not only the relations from 1632 to 1673, but also the unpublished documents from 1611 to 1791. It is a scientifically annotated edition with bibliographical information and a detailed index.

From 1968 to 1986 Lucien Campeau SJ published a seven-volume series with documents on French colonization and the mission and church history of Canada in the seventeenth century, including the Jesuit relations. The series is entitled Monumenta Novae Francia . The individual titles are: Volume I: La première mission des jésuites en Nouvelle France (1611–1613) et les commencements du collège de Québec (1625–1670) ; Volume II: Les Cent-Associés et le peuplement de la Nouvelle-France (1633-1663) ; Volume III: L'Évêché de Québec (1674). Aux origines du premier diocèse érigé en Amérique française ; Volume IV: Les finances publiques de la Nouvelle-France sous les Cent-Associés (1632–1655) ; Volume V: Gannentaha, première mission iroquoise (1653-1650) ; Volume VI: Catastrophe demographique sur les grands Lacs. Les premiers habitants du Quebec ; Volume VII: La mission des Jésuites chez les Hurons (1634–1650).

The ethnologist Helmut Reim published the reports of the French Jesuit Joseph-François Lafitau in 1987 . The title is: "The manners of the American savages compared to the customs of the early days" (Leipzig). It is a reprint of the “First Section” of the General History of the Countries and Peoples of America published in 1752 (“First Part”) and 1753 (“Second Part”) in Halle by Johann Justinus Gebauer . Commented by Helmut Reim.

In 1997, the Romanist Klaus-Dieter Ertler published a volume with the relations from 1632 to 1636 and 1648/49 as well as Pierre Biard's report from 1616, a bilingual work in German and French. The title is: From Blackcoats and Warlocks, Robes Noires et Sorciers .

In 2000, Allan Greer , professor at the University of Toronto published an edited and annotated anthology with selected Jesuit reports under the title The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America . The collection also includes reports that were not published in the course of the Jesuit relations, for example Jacques Marquette's report On the First Voyage by Father Marquette toward New Mexico and How the Idea was Conceived from 1674 .

The Jesuit relations are of great importance for modern research on the indigenous population in Canada and the northeastern United States . Although the Jesuit relations are neither value-free documents nor precise scientific documents, they are nevertheless of great importance as eyewitness reports. In addition, of the few written sources on the indigenous peoples of these areas, the Jesuit relations are considered to be the most reliable and meaningful. Based on the annual reports of the Jesuit missionaries, changes in the indigenous social systems and the mutual influence of indigenous peoples and Europeans can be analyzed on the basis of the relations .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rita Haub: The story of the Jesuits . Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2007, pp. 26–31.
  2. ^ Ibid.
  3. ^ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Ibid., 96. and Diarmaid MacCulloch: A History of Christianity . Penguin Books Publishing, New York 2010, pp. 660-663.
  5. ↑ Haub: The History of the Jesuits. Pp. 41-58; and MacCulloch: A History of Christianity. Pp. 665-666.
  6. ↑ Haub: The History of the Jesuits. P. 71; and MacCulloch: A History of Christianity. Pp. 696-715.
  7. ↑ Haub: The History of the Jesuits , 71.
  8. ^ Ibid.
  9. ^ Ibid.
  10. ^ Michael Sievernich: Xavier Franz (1506–1552). In: Gerhard Müller and others: TRE. Volume 36, Walter De Gruyter, Berlin 2004, pp. 425-430.
  11. ↑ Haub: The History of the Jesuits , 71.
  12. ↑ Klaus-Dieter Ertler (ed.): From black robes and witch masters . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1997, 18-19.
  13. ^ Ibid.
  14. ^ Sievernich: "Xavier Franz (1506–1552)", 427–428.
  15. ↑ Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken and Warlocks , 20, and Margaret J. Leahey: 'Comment peut un muet prescher l'évangile?' Jesuit Missionaries and the Native Languages ​​of New France. French Historical Studies , 19, 1995, pp. 1, 109-112.
  16. ↑ Ertler: From black coats and sorcerers , 20.
  17. ↑ Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken and Warlocks , 20, and Leahey: Comment peut un muet prescher l'évangile? 112.
  18. ^ H. Elliott: The Old World and The New 1492-1650 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970, 91-92, Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken und Hexenmeistern , 15-16, and James P. Ronda: The European Indian: Jesuit Civilization Planning in New France. Church History , 41: 3, 1972, 266-268.
  19. ↑ Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken and Warlocks , 16-17.
  20. ^ Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's Publishing, 2000), 9-10.
  21. ^ Ibid.
  22. ^ Ibid.
  23. ^ Jacques Monet: The Jesuits in New France. in: Thomas Worcester (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Jesuits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 186–188, Ronda, The European Indian , 388–389, and Allan Greer, The Jesuit Relations , 10.
  24. ^ Daniel K. Richter : Iroquois versus Iroquois: Jesuit Missions and Christianity in Village Politics, 1642–1686. Ethnohistory , 32, 1985, pp. 1, 10-12, and Cornelius J. Jaenen, Problems of Assimilation in New France, 1603-1645. French Historical Studies , 4, 1966, pp. 3, 265-289.
  25. ↑ Leahey: Comment peut un muet prescher l'évangile? 109-112.
  26. ↑ Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken and Warlocks , 20–21.
  27. ^ Monet: The Jesuits in New France. 186, and Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations , Nov.
  28. ↑ Jaenen: Problems of Assimilation. 276-281.
  29. ↑ Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations , 13.
  30. ^ Monet: The Jesuits in New France. 196.
  31. ↑ Leacock: The Montagnais "Hunting Territory" and the Fur Trade, American Anthropological Association, Volume 56, No. 5, Part 2, Memoir No. 78 [1954]
  32. ^ Leacock, Eleanor Burke: "Montagnais Women and the Jesuit Program for Colonization", in: Myths of Male Dominance, Chicago, Illinois 1981.
  33. ↑ Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations. P. 1, 14.
  34. ↑ Ertler: Of black coats and sorcerers. Pp. 19-21.
  35. ^ Ibid.
  36. ↑ Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations. P. 14.
  37. ^ Ibid. 15th
  38. ^ Ibid.
  39. ↑ Ibid., 15-16.
  40. ^ Relations des Jésuites: contenant ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable dans les missions des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus dans la Nouvelle-France. Québec: A. Côté, 1858
  41. ^ L. Pouliot: Jesuit Relations. New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd Edition. Vol. 7, Gale, Detroit 2003, p. 778, and Ertler: Von Schwarzröcken and Warlocks. Pp. 9-10.
  42. ^ Allan Greer, "Introduction", The Jesuit Relations , v.
  43. ↑ Lafitau, Joseph-François: The Sitten der American Wilde compared to the Sitten of the early period (German 1752/1753; French original version 1723/1724), edited by Helmut Reim, Leipzig 1987
  44. ↑ Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations. Pp. 188-211.

bibliography

Secondary sources

  • Jesuit Relations. In: Michael Glazier, Thomas Shelly: The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History . Liturgical Press, Collegeville 1997.
  • Dominique Deslandres: Croire et faire croire: Les Missions Françaises au XVIIe Siècle . Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris 2003.
  • Peter A. Dorsey: Going to School with Savages: Authorship and Authority among the Jesuits of New France. In: The William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series: 55, 1998, p. 3.
  • JH Elliott: The Old World and The New 1492-1650 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1970.
  • Klaus-Dieter Ertler (Ed.): From black robes and witch masters . Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1997.
  • W. Göbell: Jesuits. In: Kurt Galling : Religion in the past and present. Volume 3, Mohr Siebeck Verlag, Tübingen 1956.
  • Allan Greer: The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America. Bedford / St. Martin's Publishing, Boston 2000.
  • Steven J. Harris: Jesuit Scientific Activity in the Overseas Missions, 1540-1773. In: Isis. 96, 1, 2005, pp. 71-79.
  • Haub, Rita . The hidden story of the Jesuits . Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2007.
  • Jaenen, Cornelius J. Problems of Assimilation in New France, 1603-1645 French Historical Studies . 4, 1966, pp. 3, 265-289.
  • Leahey, Margaret J. 'Comment peut un muet prescher l'évangile?' Jesuit Missionaries and the Native Languages ​​of New France. French Historical Studies . 19, 1995, p. 1.
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. A History of Christianity . New York: Penguin Books Publishing, 2010.
  • Monet, Jacques. The Jesuits in New France. in: Thomas Worcester (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Jesuits . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  • Moore, James T. Indian and Jesuit: A Seventeenth-Century Encounter . Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1982.
  • McCoy, James C. Jesuit Relations of Canada 1632–1673: A Bibliography . New York: Burt Franklin Publishing, 1936.
  • Pouliot, L. Jesuit Relations. New Catholic Encyclopedia . 2nd ed. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2003.
  • Richter, Daniel K. Iroquois versus Iroquois: Jesuit Missions and Christianity in Village Politics, 1642–1686. Ethnohistory , 32, 1985, p. 1.
  • Ronda, James P. The European Indian: Jesuit Civilization Planning in New France Church History , 41: 3, 1972, 385-395.
  • Sievernich, Michael. Xavier Franz (1506–1552) in: Gerhard Müller ao: Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Volume 36, Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2004.
  • Vercruysse, Joe ESJ Jesuits. in: Gerhard Müller and others: Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Vol. 16. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2004.