Jesuits as Counsellors

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At the recent annual conference of the Renaissance Society of America (New York City, 27-29 March: http://www.rsa.org/), three panels convened by Liverpool historian, Dr. Harald E. Braun, explored the many ways in which the Society of Jesus (a Roman Catholic religious order) advised individuals and communities in the early modern period.

The panels looked at the notions, genres and rhetoric of Jesuit counsel as well as the motivations, guidelines and forms of expertise that prompted and instructed members of the Society of Jesus to act as counsellors to princes, magistrates and private individuals. Speakers investigated the texts, theories and practice of counsel - including the early modern stage as a medium for the delivery of moral advice and for shaping the image of the “good counsellor”; the precarious boundary between ethical advice, self-interest, and “political spin”, and how Jesuits offered consolation in times of personal crisis.  Preliminary results from the panels also gave important pointers for future research into the development of the literatures, theories, strategies and infrastructures of counsel from the early modern period to the present.

Speakers:

  • Harald E. Braun (University of Liverpool, UK)
  • Paolo Broggio (Roma Tre University, Italy)
  • Erik De Bom (KU Leuven, Belgium)
  • Jean Pascal Gay (University of Strasbourg, France)
  • Brandan Grayson (Anderson University, USA)
  • Michelle Molina (NorthWestern University, USA)
  • Kira von Ostenfeld-Suske (Columbia University, USA)
  • Nicole Reinhardt (Durham University, UK)

The sessions were sponsored by the Society for Renaissance Studies, the , and the Durham Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.