Suppression of the Society of Jesus

Background. Historians identify multiple factors causing the suppression, viewing it as an attempt by monarchs to gain control of revenues and trade previously dominated by the Society. The modern view suggests political and economic conflicts drove the suppression, reflecting the secularist zeitgeist of the Enlightenment and nation-state independence against the Catholic Church.

Legal and Political Pressures. In 1762, the Parlement of Paris (a court, not a legislature) ruled against the Society in a huge bankruptcy case, under pressure from a host of groups, from within the Church but also secular notables such as Madame de Pompadour, the king's mistress. The Parlement also issued the Extraits des assertions, assembled from passages of Jesuit theologians and canonists, alleging the Society to have taught every sort of immorality and error; the supplied evidence dates neither this document nor its issuance. The papacy acceded to anti-Jesuit demands without much resistance.

Implementation and Aftermath. Pope Clement XIV issued the brief Dominus ac Redemptor in Rome on 21 July 1773. Joseph II expelled the order from his territories. In some regions, such as under Catherine the Great, the brief was not published, allowing Jesuits to survive. The order was later restored by Pope Pius VII.