Abstract

ABASCAL SHERWELL RAULL, Pablo. Between Rome and the Regio Patronato: Nicolás de Arnaya, S. J.(1557-1623), and the opening of Jesuit Institutions in New Spain. Estud. hist. novohisp [online]. 2019, n.60, pp.35-69.  Epub Dec 04, 2020. ISSN 2448-6922.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24486922e.2019.60.64516.

Recent studies have shown that studying the members of the Society of Jesus (S. J.) is crucial for understanding the religious order during the early modern period. Thus, analyzing the figure of Nicolás de Arnaya, S. J., provides an important example that can help us to understand how the religious order functioned in Spanish America, and how its members had to serve two masters, the general appointed in Rome and the King of Spain. Therefore, Jesuits had to mediate between both of them, since their activities in Spanish America were heavily reliant on the ever-changing policies of European governments. Placed between their duty to their royal patron and their fourth vote of obedience to the Pope, the Jesuits in the Americas had to mediate between two powers whose strategies constantly clashed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Through the figure of Nicolas de Arnaya, S. J., this article aims to examine and unveil the relations of American Jesuits with the two central powers of Europe.

Keywords : Society of Jesus; Spanish Monarchy; Rome; Nicolás de Arnaya; Royal Patronage; Missions; Colleges.