McIntyre 1

On March 31, 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree, also called the

Edict of Expulsion, which banished all Jews from Spain. Portugal, under pressure from Spain,

followed suit in 1497. Given the choice of leaving the country or converting to Catholicism,

many Jews, in an effort to escape expulsion, chose to convert. Due to this, the number of Jews

converting to Catholicism skyrocketed but Jews had been converting in large numbers for at least

a century prior to the expulsion. The sincerity of these conversions, however; was constantly in

doubt. Many conversos (as they were called in Spain) were suspected of continued practice of

Judaism in secret while outwardly professing the Catholic faith; one of the chief reasons for the

inception of the notorious Spanish Inquisition was to root out these alleged “crypto-Jews.” Even

Jews, who sincerely converted to Catholicism and devoutly practiced their newfound faith, were

subject to suspicion and discrimination, as were their descendants, since it was believed that the

“taint” of unbelief persisted in the blood down to the fourth generation. “Purity of blood”

statutes, the most infamous of which was the Sentencia-Estatuo adopted at Toledo in 1449,1

forty-three years before the expulsion, imposed many restrictions on conversos, also known as

“New Christians,” which included being barred from admittance into most religious orders.

John W. O’Malley, in his definitive work on the early Society of Jesus The First Jesuits,

states, “Even if they had wanted to, the first Jesuits could not avoid the issue…[A]ll the major

and most influential religious orders in Spain refused to admit novices of Jewish origin. The

pressure on the new and fragile Society of Jesus to follow suit was almost overwhelming, so that

some deliberate decision had to be made.”2 The Jesuits took a stand and made the decision to

admit conversos into the still nascent Society, a decision that was not met without controversy.

Almost from their start, the Jesuits had to go toe-to-toe with Juan Martinez Silíceo, Archbishop

of Toledo and Inquisitor General of Spain.3 In 1547, a mere seven years after the official
 McIntyre 2

inception of the Society of Jesus, Archbishop Silíceo had authored a particularly virulent piece of

anti-converso pureza-de-sangra (purity of blood) legislation. “Claiming the authority of

Scriptures and the Fourth Council of Toledo, he argues that the conversos ‘still hold on their lips

the milk of their ancestor’s perversity.’ To Silíceo, this inclination to the vice of unfaithfulness

takes root in a man already at his birth.”4 The Jesuits resolutely refused to curb to pressure and

continued to admit conversos. O’Malley attributes this steadfastness to the considerable force of

Loyola’s will, stating simply that on the matter, “Ignatius refused to yield.”5

Indeed, further examination of the issue indicates that the welcoming attitude of the early

Society of Jesus toward conversos originated in the mind of its founder. Loyola lays out his

vision for the organization and governance of the Society of Jesus in a group of documents

collectively titled The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. In a section titled, The General

Examen, Loyola states, “Certain questions ought to be asked that the candidate might become

better known.”6 Included is a question asking, “Has he come from a family long Christian or one

recently converted?”7 Clearly, Loyola thought this was good information to know about a

prospective postulant, but he did not see it as a barrier to admission to the Society. Robert

Aleksander Maryks, in his monograph titled The Jesuit Order as a Synagogue of Jews: Jesuits of

Jewish Ancestry in the Early Society of Jesus points out, “Contrary to the interpretation given to

this text by the converso-phobic Italo-Portuguese lobby in the twenty year period between

General Congregations 3 and 5 (1573-93),…the goal of the question inserted into the General

Exam was merely to supplement the information about the candidate.”8 Indeed, later in The

Constitutions, there is a fairly extensive listing of impediments to admission into the order, and

blood status as a converso is not included.9 Maryks goes on to state that, “A key to

comprehending the ‘Jewish question’ in the Jesuit Order is first to be found in the approach to
 McIntyre 3

Jews and conversos of its founder, Ignatius of Loyola.”10 Thus, the original more lenient attitude

of the Jesuits toward conversos was a direct result of the influence of their founder Ignatius de

Loyola, with stricter policies against conversos not being implemented until the Society of Jesus

came under the influence and control of men who had not been contemporaries of Ignatius, nor

part of his inner circle.

Loyola pioneered a number of other initiatives which were designed to help converted

Jews become full-fledged members of Christian society. Most notably, “Loyola pressed Pope

Paul III to change the papal policy towards converted Jews and to issue in 1542 the bull

Cupientes Iudaeos, which allowed catechumens to retain their property after their conversions.” 11

John M. McManamon S.J. in his The Text and Contexts of Ignatius Loyola’s “Autobiography”

goes further and notes, “In his massive biographical dictionary, Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)

publicized Ribadeneira’s claim that Ignatius played a role in the drafting of Pope Paul III’s 1542

constitution on evangelizing Jews, Cupientes Iudaeos. Maryks states that Loyola’s motivation in

supporting these measures was “In order to make his apostolate more successful”12 and O’Malley

concurs, saying Cupientes Iudaeos “obviously removed a major obstacle to conversion and

indirectly gave impetus to proselytizing by increasing the likelihood of its success.”13

It is clear that Loyola did not have a problem with Jewish descent. O’Malley states,

“Ignatius on several occasions expressed the wish to be of Jewish blood so as to be of the same

race as Christ. He left at least the Spaniards among his listeners astounded, if not shocked.”14 It is

clear, that for Ignatius Loyola, a Christian was a Christian, whether New or Old. His actions

demonstrate that once Jews (or Muslims for that matter) were converted to the Catholic faith, he

believed they should be on as equal footing as possible with any other Catholic, regardless of

whom their parents or grandparents might have been. In light of this and the efforts of the
 McIntyre 4

Ignatius Loyola and the other early Jesuits to convert Jews to Catholicism, the cordial attitude of

the Society’s founder towards conversos, reflected subsequently in Society policy makes perfect

sense. Maryks states, “[T]he logical consequence of his acceptance of Jewish converts into the

Catholic Church was his non-discrimination policy towards candidates of Jewish origin who

desired to join the Jesuit order.”15 This was in marked contrast to most other leaders in the

Church at the time.

Ignatius Loyola died on July 31, 1555. His immediate successor as Superior General was

Diego Laínez, one of the seven “founding fathers” of the Society of Jesus and a converso.

O’Malley writes, “That Lainez was easily elected to succeed Ignatius as general indicates, as

least in the leadership of the Society, Ignatius’ attitude prevailed during the period I am

considering, and the lack of limpieza de sangre was not an obstacle to the highest position.”16

Laínez, however; had not been Loyola’s presumptive heir by any means. His rival during the

election was another converso named Jeronimo Nadal. Nadal had not been a member of

Ignatius’ original inner circle at the University of Paris. In fact, he had fled from it, fearing that

association with its members, especially Ignatius, who had multiple run-ins with the Inquisition,

would draw unwanted attention to his Jewish lineage.17 Given his possible family history, this

was a valid concern. “At least four conversos who bore the name Nadal were tried by this

tribunal [the Spanish Inquisition] at the end of the fifteenth century (Gaspar in 1489, the dyers

Pablo and his wife Martina in 1497, and Pau, who was a tailor), and at least one in the

seventeenth century (Rafael Nadal Pomár de Benito in 1679).”18 Nevertheless, after much

persistence from the early Jesuits, especially Laínez, Salmerón and Favre, Nadal joined the

Society of Jesus once it received official papal approval, and quickly rose to prominence with its

ranks. “After just four months, Loyola appointed Nadal minister of the Jesuit headquarters”19 A
 McIntyre 5

year after taking his solemn religious vows, in 1553, Nadal was appointed to the Commissary for

the Iberian Jesuit provinces, which meant he had the unfortunate task of explaining and

defending the Jesuit converso policy in the hotbed of anti-converso sentiment: Spain. “Nadal,

who often had to bear the brunt of Jesuit policy in Spain, faithfully implemented it and defend it

to both clergy and laity. Among those he had to face on the issue was Silíceo, the formidable

archbishop of Toledo.” Maryks adds that, “Nadal explained this Jesuit policy to the converso-

phobic Archbishop Silíceo, who was willing to burn all Jesuits for their alleged converso

background, when the two reluctantly met head-on in Toldeo in February 1554.”20 Nadal also

had to deal with protests concerning the admission of conversos from within the Society itself,

particularly Antonio de Araoz, who, despite being a relative of Loyola, did not share his

kinsman’s sympathy for conversos.21 In all disputes over allowing conversos to enter the Society

of Jesus, Nadal relied on the writings of Loyola, specifically the Constitutions, to effectively

argue that if conversos were good enough for Ignatius Loyola, they should be good enough for

the rest of the order and that admitting them was keeping in the spirit with which Loyola had

founded the Society. It was during one of these disputes that Nadal famously said, “We [Jesuits]

take a pleasure in admitting those of Jewish ancestry.”22

Nadal was elected vicar general when he returned from Spain in 1554, during the last of

Loyola’s life.23 This indicates that Nadal was, at the very least, on the shortlist to succeed Loyola

upon his death, but Nadal was away from Rome when Ignatius passed to this eternal reward in

July of 1555 and did not receive news of the founder’s death until more than a year afterward. In

the meantime, “the professed Jesuits in Rome had congregated and elected a new vicar general,

Diego Laínez.”24 If Nadal felt that he had been robbed of the highest position in the Society, he

made no complaint about it, but rather worked closely with Laínez to help govern the Society
 McIntyre 6

during the two-year long interregnum between Loyola’s death and Laínez’s election to succeed

him. Nadal was joined in this task by two other conversos, Juan Alfonso de Polanco and

Cristóbal de Madrid.25 This “converso triumvirate” serving under a converso General

demonstrates the extent to which the members of the Society of Jesus felt that the best way to

carry on the legacy of Loyola was to almost completely entrust the order he founded to the care

of conversos. The First General Congregation, which elected Laínez as Superior General, also

elected Nadal, Polanco and Madrid as Assistants General to aide him.26 Naturally, Laínez and his

converso triumvirate carried on Loyola’s policy of unhesitatingly including conversos in their

ranks.

These men were the logical ones to continue Loyola’s legacy, because they were put into

key positions by Loyola himself. Maryks writes, “Another example of boundless trust that

Loyola gave to converso Jesuits was the appointment of his and the Society’s secretary, Juan

Alfonso de Polanco, who became Ignatius’s ‘memory and hand’ until the latter’s demise.”27

Nadal’s meteoric rise in the Society was ignited with his appointments by Loyola to important

and influential positions within the Society, some even before he was fully professed,

culminating in his election as vicar general, and second-place finish, albeit by a wide margin,

behind Laínez in the election of Loyola’s successor. Laínez, being one of Loyola’s original

companions, was a logical choice to succeed him. While it might appear that the accession of so

many conversos to high office is simply a result of the fact that there were a disproportionate

number of conversos within the Society of Jesus thanks to Loyola’s inclusion policy, the close

connections that each of these man had have Loyola lends itself to the conclusion that the

phenomenon was more calculated than coincidental. To this end, Maryks states, “Loyola’s

acceptance of Bobadilla, Rodriques and especially of Laínez into the group of disciples whom he
 McIntyre 7

attracted at the University of Paris seems to be quite logical, unless his disciples' converso

ancestry was absolutely unknown to him.”28 Loyola seems to have deliberately placed into

strategic positions within the Jesuit hierarchy men he know would carry on his legacy, a legacy

that included the continued acceptance of conversos into the Society of Jesus.

Proximity to Loyola, or even converso background, however; was no

guarantee of acquiescence to the Jesuit policy of accepting conversos. Nicolás Bobadilla was one

of the original seven Jesuits, and was most likely a converso, but he did not share Loyola’s views

on the matter of conversos. The personal feud between Ignatius of Loyola and Pope Paul IV was

exacerbated when, as McManamon points out, “He received Nicolás Bobadilla in formal

audience before Ignatius. Bobadilla held no office in the Jesuits, but he shared Paul’s enthusiasm

for the Inquisition and the repression of Jews.”29 Indeed, in 1554, Bobadilla presided over the

burning of a Talmud at Ancona,30 a measure which Kenneth Stow argues was, along with the

policies instituted in Cum nimis absurdum, part of Paul IV’s plan to force the Jews to convert.31

Bobadilla took his support further than Loyola and his like-minded followers, who mainly

supported Paul IV’s measures as an inducement for more Jews to convert, to a prejudice against

anyone of Jewish lineage. This opposition led him to vehemently oppose the increased roles

Nadal and Polanco were playing after the election of Laínez and the influence they were exerting

over the new Superior General.32 Nadal, however; was not afraid to fire back. “Bobadilla’s

argumentation was harshly criticized by Nadal, who accused him of being worldly, seditious, and

an unquiet soul.”33 Nadal himself, however; had his own issues with Jews. “Before Nadal entered

the Society he had become involved in a bizarre incident at Avignon, The Jews there wanted to

make him their chief rabbi because he knew Hebrew so well, but he exploded with indignation at

the invitation, calling them ‘diabolical spirits and heretics in the Law of Moses.’” 34 Nevertheless,
 McIntyre 8

Nadal clearly adhered to and endorsed Loyola’s policy of acceptance and was in this way more

like Salmerón and Laínez, who showed their eagerness to accept converts from Judaism by

baptizing the first Jewish convert in Rome and preaching at the ceremony, respectively, 35 than

Bobadilla, who had originally been of their number. Thus, it is interesting to note that, although

he was the longest lived of the original seven Jesuits, dying 1590, Bobadilla held no major office

within the Society of Jesus. Perhaps this was a deliberate measure on the part of Loyola, who

promoted men like Nadal and Laínez, whom he knew would continue his policies, and

overlooked men like Bobadilla, whom he knew would not.

Francisco de Borja, who succeeded Laínez as Superior General in 1565, was not a

member of the original seven nor was he a converso. Borja had joined the Jesuits in 1550, and he

would have no doubt encountered and been influenced by Loyola in the flesh. Furthermore, he

was a close collaborator with Nadal in his campaigns to maintain the Loyola’s policy of

admitting conversos.36 Therefore, when he was elected third Superior General by an

overwhelming majority, Borja continued the policy of admitting conversos into the Society of

Jesus, to the point that his assistant general Benedetto Palmio accused him of having an infinite

and unconditional love for conversos to the detriment of the Society of Jesus as a whole.37 Yet,

even while Borja was Superior General, the tides of change were rising in the Society of Jesus.

An anti-converso faction, which included Palmio, was aiming to take power. When Borja died in

1572, it appeared highly likely that Polanco, the former secretary to Loyola, would be elected to

succeed him. As Maryks states,

When, as elected vicar general, he convoked the Third General Congregation to meet on
12 April 1573, the converso Juan Alfonso de Polanco was the most prominent figure in
the Society of Jesus…Because the previous two vicars general, Laínez and Borja, had
been elected superiors general at the subsequent general congregations, Polanco was
considered the most probable for the highest post in the Society.38
 McIntyre 9

The last thing that the anti-converso faction wanted was another converso as Superior General.

They managed to prevent Polanco’s election with the help of a papal intervention by Gregory

XII, who had been included in the plot against Polanco by a letter from the king of Portugal

demanding that neither a converso nor a pro-converso candidate be elected Superior General of

the Jesuits. Because it was highly likely that a converso candidate would also be a Spaniard,

Gregory told several members of the assembled Congregation that he preferred that a non-

Spanish candidate be elected and suggested the Walloon Everard Mercurian. “The next day, on

23 April 1573, the assembly chose Everard Mercurian as the next superior general on the first

ballot by a majority of twenty-seven votes.”39 This was a turning point for the Society. Maryks

states,

From the very first years of his office he proceeded to “cleanse the house”: he removed
from Rome (and possibly from Italy or even Europe) many converso Jesuits, in spite of
their undisputable contributions and merits. Polanco, after almost three decades in office,
was moved away from Rome and sent to Sicily…Jerónimo Nadal, who after the election
of Mercurian absconded into the bucolic Jesuit villa of Tivoli at the outskirts of Rome,
eventually “fled” to Austria.40
Mercurian’s successor as Superior General, Claudio Acquaviva, continued and expanded his

predecessor’s discriminatory measures, which ultimately culminated, in 1593, with the official

prohibition of any persons of Jewish or Muslim descent from entrance into the Society of Jesus.41

If one considers the term of a Superior General of the Society of Jesus to be a

“generation” of Jesuits, it becomes extremely ironic that conversos, who were normally barred

from entrance into a religious order “unto the fourth generation” where banned from the Society

of Jesus, one of few orders that accepted them, by the end of its fourth generation. There would

be many Jesuits who would continue to fight the discrimination against conversos, and in doing

so they would always go back to their founder, and argue that the legacy of Loyola was tarnished
 McIntyre 10

by barring from entrance into the Society the conversos whom he so readily accepted. This

legacy was, without a doubt, mixed, but was ultimately based on Loyola’s conviction that a true

love for Jesus Christ entailed a care and concern for those who shared His Jewish lineage and a

mission to help the Jews find the fulfillment of their faith in the Catholic Church. In an age

where religion was so frequently used to both mask and justify what was essentially racial

discrimination, Ignatius of Loyola’s attitude of acceptance was a welcome contrast.

Endnotes
1
Robert Aleksander Maryks, The Jesuit Order as a Synagogue of Jews: Jesuits of Jewish Ancestry and Purity-of-Blood
Laws in the Early Society of Jesus (Leiden, Brill: 2010), 3.
2
John W. O’Malley, The First Jesuits (Cambridge, Harvard University Press: 1993), 188.
3
O’Malley, 189.
4
Maryks, 30.
5
O’Malley, 188.
6
Ignatius of Loyola, Constitutions of the Society of Jesus,
7
Loyola,
8
Maryks, 75.
9
Loyola,
10
Maryks, p.42.
11
Maryks, p.62
12
Maryks, p.62
13
O’Malley, p.190
14
O’Malley, p.190
15
Maryks, p.63
16
O’Malley, 189.
17
Maryks, 76.
18
Maryks, 88-9
19
Maryks, 79.
20
Maryks, 84.
21
Maryks, 80.
22
Epistolae et Monumenta P. Hieronymi Nadal 2:21 as quoted in Maryks, 87.
23
Maryks, 89.
24
Maryks, 90.
25
Maryks, 90.
26
Maryks, 98.
27
Maryks, 68.
28
Maryks, 55.
29
McManamon, 90.
30
O’Malley, 191.
31
Stow, 48.
32
Maryks, 90.
33
Maryks, 91.
34
Mon Nadal 1:29-31 as quoted in O’Malley, 190.
35
Maryks, 58.
36
Maryks, 80.
37
Maryks, 100.
38
Maryks, 118.
39
Maryks, 122.
40
Maryks, 123.
41
O’Malley, 189.