6. France

In 1551, the Order started to establish itself in France, which was seventeen years after its foundation in the chapel Saint-Denis at Montmartre.

Indeed, they presented themselves as effective adversaries of the Reformation which had won about one seventh of the French population, but people mistrusted these soldiers too devoted to the Holy See. So, their penetration on French soil was slow at first. As in all other countries where general opinion was not in their favour, they insinuated themselves first amongst people at Court, then, through them, into the upper classes. But in Paris, the Parliament, the University and even the clergy remained hostile. It came out clearly when they first attempted to open a college there.

“The Faculty of Theology, whose mission is to safeguard the principles of religion in France, decreed on the 1 st of December 1554, that ‘this society appears to be extremely dangerous regarding the faith, she is an enemy of the Church’s peace, fatal to the monastic state and seems to have been born to bring ruin rather than edification’ “.(34)

The Fathers were nevertheless allowed to settle at Billom, in a corner of Auvergne. From there, they organised a great action against the Reformation in the provinces of southern France. The famous Lainez, the man at the Council of Trent, distinguished himself in polemics, especially at the Colloquy of Poissy, in an unhappy attempt to conciliate the two doctrines (1561).

(34) Gaston Bally, op.cit., p.69.

Thanks to the Queen-Mother Catherine of Medici, the Order opened its first Parisian establishment, the College of Clermont, which was in competition with the University. The opposition from this university, the clergy and the parliament was more or less pacified with concessions, verbal at least, made by the Company who promised to conform to the common right; but the University had fought hard and long against the introduction of “men bribed at the expense of France to arm themselves against the King”, according to Etienne Pasquier, and whose words were proved right not long after.

There is no need to ask if the Jesuits “consented” to the Saint Bartholomew Massacre (1572). Did they “prepare” it? Who knows?… The Company’s politics, subtle and supple in their proceedings, have very clear aims; it is the popes’ politics: “destray heresy”. Everything must be subordinated to this major aim. “Catherine of Medici worked towards this aim and the Company could count on the Guises”.(35)

But this major design, helped so much by that massacre on the night of the 24th of August 1572, provoked a terrible blaze of fratricidal hatred. Three years later, it was the League, after the assassination of the duke de Guise, nicknamed “the king of Paris”, and the appeal to His Most Christian Majesty to fight the Protestants.

“The shrewd Henry III did his best to avoid a war of religion. In agreement with Henry of Navarre, they gathered the Protestants and most of the moderate Catholics against Paris, the League and these partisans, mad Romans backed by Spain…

“The Jesuits, powerful in Paris, protested that the king of France had surrendered to heresy… The directing committee of the League deliberated at the Jesuits’ house in the Street Saint-Antoine. Was Spain holding Paris? Hardly. The League? The League was only an instrument in skilful hands… “This Company of Jesus who had been fighting in the name of Rome for thirty years now… This was Paris’s secret master”.

“So, Henry III was assassinated. As the heir was a Protestant, the murder seemed at first glance to have been for other than political reasons; but is it not possible that those who planned it and persuaded the Jacobin Clement to carry it out were hoping for an uprising of Catholic France against the Huguenot heir? The fact is that a little later Clement was called an “angel” by the Jesuit Camelet, and Guignard, another Jesuit who was eventually hanged, gave his students as a means of moulding their opinions tyrannicidal texts as subjects for their latin exercises”.(36)

Amongst other things, these school exercises contained this: “Jacques Clement has done a meritorious act inspired by the Holy Spirit… If we can make war against the king, then let us do it; if we cannot make war against him, then let us put him to death…” And this: “We made a big mistake at the Saint-Bartholomew; we should have bled the royal vein”.(37)

(35) Pierre Dominique, op.cit., p.84.
(36) and (37) Pierre Dominique, op.cit., pp.85, 86, 89.

In 1592, a certain Barriere who tried to assassinate Henry IV confessed that Father Varade, rector of the Jesuits in Paris, had persuaded him to do it. In 1594, another attempt was made by Jean Chatel, former pupil of the Jesuits who had heard his confession just before carrying it out. It was on that occasion that the previously mentioned school exercises were seized at the house of Father Guignard. “The Father was hanged at Greve while the king confirmed an edict of Parliament banishing the sons of Loyola from the kingdom, as “corrupters of youth, disturbers of public peace and enemies of the State and crown of France…”. The edict was not carried out fully and, in 1603, it was revoked by the king against the advice of Parliament. Aquaviva, the general of the Jesuits, had been clever in his manoeuvres and led king Henry IV to believe that the Order, reestablished in France, would loyally serve national interests. How could he, subtle as he was, believe that these fanatical Romans would indeed accept the Edict of Nantes (1498) which determined the rights of Protestants in France, and, even worse, they would back up his projects against Spain and the Emperor? The fact is, Henry IV chose as his confessor and tutor for the Dauphin one of the most distinguished members of the Company, Father Cotton (38a).

On the 16th of May 1610, on the eve of his campaign against Austria, he was murdered by Ravaillac who confessed having been inspired by the writings of Fathers Mariana and Suarez. These two sanctioned the murders of heretic “tyrants” or those insufficiently devoted to the papacy’s interests. The duke of Epernon, who made the king read a letter while the assassin was lying in wait, was a notorious friend of the Jesuits, and Michelet proved that they knew of this attempt. “In fact, Ravaillac had confessed to the Jesuit Father d’Aubigny just before and, when the judges interrogated the priest, he merely replied that God had given him the gift to forget immediately what he heard in the confessional”.(38)

Parliament, persuaded that Ravaillac had only been a tool for the Company, ordered the executioner to burn Mariana’s book.

“Fortunately, Aquaviva was still there. Once again, this great general schemed well; he condemned most severely the legitimacy of tyrannicide. The Company always had authors who, in the silence of their studies, exposed the doctrine in all its rectitude; she also possessed great politicians who, when necessary, would put the right masks on it”.(39)

(38a) His adversaries used to say that he had “cotton” in his ears!
(38) Henri Fulop-Miller, op.cit., p. 113.
(39) Pierre Dominique, op.cit., p.95.

Thanks to Father Cotton who took the situation in hand, the Society of Jesus came out of the storm unscathed. Her wealth, the number of her establishments and adherents grew rapidly. But when Louis XIII came to the throne, and Richelieu took the affairs of State in hand, there was a clash of wills. The Cardinal would not let anyone oppose his politics. The Jesuit Caussin, confessor of the king, was able to find that out when he was put in prison at Rennes, on Richelieu’s order, as a State criminal. This act produced the best results. In order to stay in France, the Order went as far as collaborating with the redoubtable Minister.

H. Boehmer wrote this about it: “The lack of consideration for the Church always shown by the French government, since Philippe le Bel, in the conflicts between national and ecclesiastic interests had been, once again, the best politics”.(40)

(40) H. Boehmer, op.cit., p. 100.

The accession of Louis XIV marked the start of the most prosperous time for the Order. The “laxism” of Jesuit confessors, this clever leniency they used to attract sinners not very anxious to make penance, was employed extensively amongst ordinary people as well as at Court, especially with the king who was more a ladies’ man than devout.

His Majesty had no intention of renouncing his amorous affairs, and his confessor was careful to keep off the subject, in spite of it being plain adultery. So, all the royal family was soon provided with Jesuit confessors only, and their influence grew more and more amongst the high society. The priests of Paris attacked in their “Writings” the loose morals of the famous Company’s casuists, but to no avail. Pascal himself intervened, in vain, in favour of the Jansenists, during the great theological quarrel of that time; in his “Provincial letters”, he exposed their too worldly opponents, the Jesuits, to eternal ridicule.

In spite of it, the secure place they held at Court assured them of victory, and those of Port-Royal succumbed. The Order was to win another great victory for Rome, whose consequences were against national interests. It goes without saying that they had only unwillingly accepted the religious peace assured through the Edict of Nantes, and had continued a secret war against the French Protestants. As Louis XIV was getting older, he turned more and more to bigotry under the influence of Madame de Maintenon and Father La Chaise, his confessor. In 1681, they persuaded him to restart the persecution against the Protestants. Finally, on the 17th of October 1685, he signed the “Revocation of the Edict of Nantes”, making those of his subjects who refused to embrace the Catholic religion outlaws. Soon after, to accelerate the conversions, those famous “dragonnade” started; that sinister name became part of all subsequent attempts to proselytize by fire and chains. While the fanatics cheered, the Protestants fled from the kingdom en-masse. According to Marshal Vauban, France lost in that way 400,000 inhabitants and 60 million francs. Manufacturers, merchants, shipowners, skilful artisans went to other countries and brought them the benefit of their abilities.

“17th of October 1685 was a day of victory for the Jesuits, the final reward for a war which had gone on for one hundred and twenty-five years without respite. But the State paid the cost of the Jesuits’ victory. “The depopulation, the reduction of national prosperity were the acute material consequences of their triumph, followed by a spiritual impoverishment which could not be cured, even by the best Jesuit school. This what France suffered and the Society of Jesus had to pay for very dearly later”.(41)

During the century following, the sons of Loyola saw, not only France, but all the european countries reject them from their midst—but, once again, it was only for a while; these fanatical janissaries of the papacy had not finished to accumulate ruins in the pursuit of their impossible dream.

(41) H. Boehmer, op.cit., p.103.

Download a PDF file of this article.

Please follow and like us: