Jesuit Letters Page 1 of 36 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). © Oxford University Press, 2018. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 23 July 2018 Abstract and Keywords This chapter describes the role of letters and written communication in the first decades of the Society of Jesus. Particular attention is given to the work of Juan Alfonso de Polanco, the first permanent Jesuit secretary in Rome and the architect of the Jesuit communications system. The chapter first explores the structural role of the Roman hub, Jesuit record-keeping practices and the creation of the Roman archive, and the place of the college network in Jesuit communications. It then turns to explore the evolution of Jesuit administrative correspondence, edifying letters, and mission letters. Emphasis is placed on the materiality of Jesuit letters and the scale of scribal production in the early Society. Letters were important tools of identity formation and both regulated and mediated Jesuit social activity. In conclusion, the chapter considers how the Jesuit communications network intersected with broader Jesuit knowledge practices. Keywords: Jesuit, letters, correspondence, record-keeping, Polanco, mission, colleges, Rome, archive, scribal production The first Jesuits were frequently separated by distance, and letters were a routine part of Jesuit life. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) distinguished between two different modes of written communication. First were letters for general circulation among the small group of early Jesuits. These were informative, newsy letters frequently referred to simply as nuevas (news). They were meant to edify and were frequently shared with non-Jesuits. Second were administrative letters, habitually referred to as bearing on gobierno (governance) or negocios (business). These letters circulated only among Jesuits, and though usually addressed to a single individual, in reality they were often read by many pairs of eyes. The edifying or “principal” letter frequently functioned as a cover letter for administrative correspondence, instructions, legal documents, and the like. Both letters of edification and letters of governance are important for understanding the mechanics of Jesuit communication and the nature of the surviving documentary record. Jesuit Letters Paul Nelles The Oxford Handbook of Jesuits Edited by Ines G. Županov Subject: Religion, Roman Catholic Christianity Online Publication Date: Jul 2018 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190639631.013.3 Oxford Handbooks Online