Title and Preface – Polanco's Chronicon

v1_title&preface_latin MONUMENTA HISTORICA SOCIETATIS JESU MONUMENTA HISTORICA SOCIETATIS JESU v1_title&preface_latin HISTORIA SOCIETATIS JESU HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS v1_title&preface_latin VITA THE LIFE OF v1_title&preface_latin IGNATII LOIOLAE IGNATIUS LOYOLA v1_title&preface_latin ET AND v1_title&preface_latin RERUM SOCIETATIS JESU HISTORIA THE HISTORY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS v1_title&preface_latin AUCTORE JOANNE ALPHONSO DE POLANCO BY JUAN DE POLANCO, S.J. v1_title&preface_latin TOMUS PRIMUS VOLUME I v1_title&preface_latin (1491-1549) (1491-1549) v1_title&preface_latin Translated from the Latin by Kenneth Baker, S.J. v1_title&preface_latin MATRITI MATRITI v1_title&preface_latin EXCUDEBAT TYPOGRAPHORUM SOCIETAS EXCUDEBAT TYPOGRAPHORUM SOCIETAS v1_title&preface_latin Sub patrocinio Sancti Francisci Salesii constituta. Founded under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales. v1_title&preface_latin PRAEFATIO PREFACE v1_title&preface_latin Res a Societate Jesu sub lgnatio, ipsius Societatis conditore, gestas enarrare Patre Joanne de Polanco melius nemo poterat. Norunt id quibus Ignatii vita cognita est. In gratiam tamen eorum, quibus Polancus noster ignotus forte est, quae de ipso scripsit Sotwellus hic subjungemus: “Joannes Polancus, natione Hispanus, patria Burgensis; Humanioribus Litteris excultus, et Philosophicis etiam disciplinis in Parisiensi Academia eruditus, Romam venit, ubi Scriptor (ut vocant) Apostolicus factus, in ipso juventutis flore, ab Jacobo Laynio exercitationibus spiritus formatus, animum appulit ad nostram Societatem anno salutis 1541. Deinde Patavii Sacrae Theologiae dedit operam magno ingenio, gravi judicio, labore assiduo, quibus praesidiis eo evasit, ut a gravi illius saeculi scriptore, Guilielmo Eysengrein in Catalogo Testium Veritatis ad A. C. 1560, ex merito appelletur Vir doctrina, et eloquentia clarus, Orator facundus, Philosophus gravis, Sacrarumque litterarum scientia nemini secundus. Postea Romam a S. P. nostro Ignatio revocatus, post magnam Bononiae, atque in Etruria factam frugem animorum, omnium per novem annos consiliorum, actionum, totius denique gubernationis praecipuus Minister illius atque adjutor fuit. Et cum esset publicus Societatis Secretarius, cui omnia committebantur arcana, concionibus, sacrisque lectionibus simul operam dabat; idemque et Christianae Doctrinae et Procuratoris Generalis officium administrabat; nec tamen a culina, tricliniique muneribus erat immunis. Anno 1549, sacro Annuntiationis Angelicae die, gradum ad solemnem quatuor votorum professionem fecit Romae; eique Ignatius cum secessum a negotiis aliquem sub extrema vitae exspectaret, administrationem Societatis pene uni permisit. Sancto viro in coelum sublato, apud Jacobum Laynium (cujus etiam pro Hispaniae Provinciis Assistens fuit, et Admonitor, et Secretarius, unaque diu Generalis Procurator ; qui cum etiam profectus in Gallias anno 1561, publice Parisiis cum Sectariorum primariis disputavit, et cum eodem mox Tridentum progressus, inter theologos peregit sententiam, tam docta, et graviter culta oratione, ut ex merito ferret approbationem ; cum dicerent vulgo, ea demum dignitate, ac majestate summas, ac divinissimas res tractari aequum esse), et apud S. Franciscum Borgiam, qui proxime in Generalatu Laynio successerat, eumdem locum tenuit. In gubernanda namque Societate, illi Joanne Polanco plus utebantur nemine. Ille a secretis erat, ille omnium litteris, et consultationibus respondebat, ille negotiorum, ille vel rei familiaris curam gerebat; ut unus omnium fere obire officia, et suis humeris universam quodammodo Societatem sustinere videretur, exquisita obedientia, diligentia singulari, rara patientia atque modestia. Illud praeterea saepenumero non absque admiratione animadvertimus, in ipso maximarum occupationum concursu, eumdem semper vultum, eamdem semper in Joanne Polanco frontem fuisse. Post obitum Sancti Patris Francisci Borgiae factus est Vicarius Generalis, praefuitque Congregationi Generali, qua Pater Everardus Mercurianus Praepositus creatus est; a quo missus in Siciliam, ut Provinciam illam visitaret, suo munere egregie perfunctus Romam rediit: ubi haud multo post ex morbo decubuit, et optime de Societate atque adeo de universa Ecclesia meritus, sexagenario majore vita decessit die 21 Decembris anno salutis 1577. „ Hucusque Sotwellus in Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Jesu edita anno 1676. No one better than Juan de Polanco could have narrated the beginning of the Society of Jesus under Ignatius, the founder of the Society. They know this who are familiar with the life of Ignatius. But for the sake of those to whom our Polanco is perhaps not known, we will add here what Sotwellus wrote about him: “Juan Polanco, a Spaniard from the city of Burgos; he was well versed in humane letters, and also studied philosophy at the University of Paris. He came to Rome where he worked as an apostolic writer (as they say), and in the flower of his youth. After making the Spiritual Exercises under the direction of Diego Laynez, he entered our Society in the year of salvation 1541. Then with serious hard work and great success he studied sacred theology at Padua. Because of this, by a serious writer about that time, William Eysengrein in his book Catalogus Testium Veritatis (1560), he received the following description: “A man famous for doctrine and eloquence, a fluent preacher, a serious philosopher, second to none in his knowledge of Holy Scripture. Afterwards, having been called to Rome by our holy Father Ignatius, and after a great harvest of souls in Bologna and Etruria, for nine years he was his principal assistant and helper for all the decisions and actions of the whole government of the Society. And when he was the public Secretary of the Society, to whom all the secrets were entrusted, at the same time he dedicated himself to preaching and giving theological lectures. He also oversaw the office of Christian Doctrine and the Procurator General, but he was not excused from work in the kitchen and serving at table. In 1549, on the feast of the Annunciation, he made his profession of the four solemn vows at Rome. When he was no longer able to work and knew he was about to die, Ignatius committed the administration of the Society to him alone. After that holy man died, he held the same position under Diego Laynez (for him he was also the Assistant for the Spanish Provinces, and Admonitor, and Secretary, and at the same time the Procurator General; also when he went to France in 1561, he debated publicly at Paris with the leaders of the Sectarians, and then having gone with Laynez to Trent, he expressed his views among the theologians, and he did it with such learned and cultivated speech that he met with great approval; and as they say commonly, he did it with the dignity and grandeur that lofty and divine things deserve); he held the same position under St. Francis Borgia, who succeeded Laynez as General. For in the government of the Society they made use of no one more than Juan Polanco. He knew all the secrets, he responded to the letters and consultations of all, he took care of all the business and family affairs. As one man he seemed to perform almost all offices, and in a certain sense he seemed to carry the whole Society on his shoulders, with perfect obedience, with singular diligence, with extraordinary patience and modesty. Moreover, often we noticed not without admiration that, in the midst of intense occupations, the same facial expression, the same composure was to be seen in Juan Polanco. After the death of holy Father Francis Borgia he became the Vicar General, and he presided over the General Congregation in which Father Everard Mercurian was elected as General. Then he was sent by him to Sicily in order to visit the Province; after doing this admirably, he returned to Rome. Shortly thereafter he died, and having served the Society and the Church excellently, at the age of 60 he rendered his soul to God on December 21, in the year of salvation 1577.” That is what Sotwellus says about Polanco in his work, Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Jesu, which was published in 1676, v1_title&preface_latin Quae de Vita Ignatii et de Societatis initiis scripta reliquit, quaeque hic primum publica luce donare aggredimur, cum non sint ad omnes conscribendae historiae regulas composita, proprie et vere historia dici non debent, sed rerum non omnino inordinata congeries, quae ad historiam Ignatii et Societatis faciunt; nec eam auctor historiam appellavit, sed alius, qui post ipsum voluminibus his manu scriptis titulos apposuit. What Polanco wrote about the life of Ignatius and the beginnings of the Society, and which we are here making public for the first time, since it is not written according to all the norms of writing a history but is not a completely disorderly assembly of events which pertain to the history of Ignatius and the Society, the author himself did not call it a history; but it was someone else after him who gave this title to the volumes which were written by hand. v1_title&preface_latin Sunt autem haec volumina quatuor; quorum tria magnitudinis, quae folio minor appellatur; quartum vero, primo inserendum, est in 4.° Totum in iis unius amanuensis manu, de quo quis fuerit nobis adhuc certo non constat, exaratum est ; in pluribus tamen foliis, initio praesertim, auctoris manus aliquid addens aut emendans apparet. There are four of these volumes; of these three are of the size known as folio minor; the fourth one, in a different size, is in the first place. All of it was written in the hand of one secretary, but it is not known for certain who that was. But on many of the pages, especially at the beginning, the hand of the author appears, either adding or correcting something. v1_title&preface_latin Materiem, ejus ordinem et quem tenuerit in scribendo scopum, declaravit ipse Polancus sequentibus verbis propria ipsius manu scriptis in charta, quae primi voluminis initio assuta est: Polanco himself explained the matter, its order and the purpose he had in mind in the following words written with his own hand on the paper, which is placed at the beginning of the first volume: [ The following explanation is in Italian: Translator] v1_title&preface_latin “DELLI SCRITTI MIEI APPERTENENTI ALL’ HISTORIA DELLA COMPAGNIA “CONCERNING MY WRITINGS PERTAINING TO THE HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY: v1_title&preface_latin „ Prima, lascio 16 fogli di Carta, dove si contione la vita de nostro P. lgnazio insino alia deliberazione di far la Compagnia, et questi soli sono revisti. “First, I leave in writing 16 pages of paper, where the life of our Father Ignatius is contained until the decision to establish the Society, and these are the only ones I have corrected. v1_title&preface_latin „2.° Seguitano quasi duo alfabeti in 4.° quali cominciano delle missioni del 39 incirca (perchè alcuni paragraphi notati con una linea nel margine intrano nelli 16 fogli detti, scritti in ultimo, se ben le cose siano le prime) insino al tine del 48, et li primi fogli et anni vanno a modo de chronico alquanto breve; nel progresso, per l’ ordine de nostro Padre, de mettervi cose che potessino servire per ricordo alia pratica del governo, cominciai a slargarmi et mettervi edam alcuni successi et cose non editicative, benchè al fine detto serva loro cognizione : questi 10 anni stanno in 40 fogli in 4.°, com’ ho detto. “2) Two accounts follow in the fourth volume, which begin from the missions about 1539 (because some paragraphs marked with a line in the margin are contained in the 16 pages already mentioned; they were written last, although the matter belongs to the beginning) until the end of 1548, and the first pages and years are treated in the manner of a rather brief chronicle. In the progress, by the order of our Father, in order to make known things that could help to remember the practical decisions of government, I began to give more details and also to mention some things that are not edifying, although at the end it preserves their knowledge: these 10 years are found in the 40 pages in the fourth volume, as I have said. v1_title&preface_latin „ 3.° Dopoi, cominciando dal principio de 1549, insino al anno de 1556 finito, in foglio come li primi 16, altri 754 fogli di carta, quali comprendono solamente otto anni del progresso della Compagnia. “3) After that, starting from the beginning of 1549, until the end of 1556, on pages like the first 16, there are another 754 pages, which cover only eight years of the progress of the Society. v1_title&preface_latin ,, 4.° In fora delli primi 16 fogli della vita del P. Ignatio, et alcuna poca parte delli altri 40, tutto il resto più presto si intende esser un estracto che l’ historia istessa. Et quello che pensavo io far con ordine dell’ obedienza è questo : cavar in primo loco una historia universale et vero chronico delle cose degne de memoria, quale potesse servir per quelli della Compagnia et di fuora, al modo che sono li 16 fogli della vita de nostro Padre Ignatio, et alcuni delli altri 40. — In 2.° loco si può cavar (et io pensava farlo havendo tempo ) l’ historia particolare de tutte le case et Collegii della Compagnia separatamente, et toccando più in specie le cose di questo estracto, acciò potessino legerle quelli delli istessi Collegii, et altri che avessino particolar desiderio di saper delle cose di tali case et Collegii : et perchè li anni sono distincti, et notati per la maggior parte et quasi per tutto gli titoli delle provincie, case et Collegii, era facil cosa matter insieme gli annali de ogni loco seorsum. — Loco 3.° : si potrebbe cavar la historia d’ alcune particolari persone principali della Compagnia, et per facilitar questo, pensava metter al margine del estracto, in poche parole, la somma delle cose contenute nel texto, dove si toccarebbono le persone. — 4.° loco : si potriano cavar alcune observationi nell’ istesso successo historiale, quali servissero per quelli che governeranno per l’ avvenir, advertendo al passato. “4) In addition to the first 16 pages on the life of Father Ignatius, and a few small sections of the other 40 pages, all the rest as much as possible is intended to be a summary of our history. And what I thought I should do in obedience to what I was told to do is this: in the first place to provide a universal and truly chronological history of the things worthy of remembrance, which would be of service to the members of the Society and to others, in the same way as the 16 pages are concerning the life of our Father Ignatius and some other things contained in the other 40 pages. In the second place, one can present (and I have decided to do this when I have the time) the particular history of all the houses and colleges of the Society separately, and consider more in particular the things in this summary, so that those of the same colleges can read them, and others who may have a special desire to know the things pertaining to a particular house or college; and because the years are kept distinct, for the most part, and almost for all, the titles of the provinces, houses and colleges have been noted; it was easy to gather together the chronicles of each place separately. In the third place, one could present the history of particular important persons of the Society, and in order to facilitate this, I decided to place in the margin of the summary, in a few words, a summary of the things contained in the text where persons are mentioned. In the fourth place: one could place some observations in the same historical account, which may be useful for those who will govern in the future, having learned from the past. v1_title&preface_latin „ 5° II modo che io pensavo tener è questo: prima, nel reveder l’ estracto, notar le cose che sono per l’universale historia con segno V, et dopoi quelle della particolare con segno P, et dopoi per l’ historia delle persone particolari bastarebbe ciò che è al margine, et per alcune cose il segno S: quanto ali’ observationi il segno O. Et con linee in alcun modo si potrebbe notar al margine ciò che appartiene ad uno o ad un altro capo. Et questo effetto, facevo conto che, essendo visto et al margine notato, come ho detto, restassi in mano del superiore, non d’ altro, per le cose che contiene, non da vedere da tutti. “5) The method I have decided to follow is this: first, while re-reading the summary, to note those things, which pertain to the whole history, with the letter V, and then those that are particular with the letter P, and then for the history of particular persons what would be in the margin would be sufficient, and for some things the letter S; regarding other observations I used the letter O. And with a line in a certain way one could see in the margin what pertains to one or the other chapter. And having done this, I took account of the fact that, having been noted in the margin, as I have said, it remained in the hand of the superior, and not for anyone else, that the things contained there are not to be seen by all. v1_title&preface_latin „ 6.° Saranno molli errori in questo estracto, perche non l’ho reletto dopoi che lo dittai, et in cose revise nelli primi 16 fogli posso veder che ci saranno infiniti lalli; et pur la substanza si potrà, credo, trovare. Alcune cose si potrebbono aggiungere, et per ciò serviranno alcune lettere, che non mi furono date a tempo, et alla revisa si sono servate. “6) There will be many errors in this summary because I did not check it after I had dictated it, and in the revised matters in the first 16 pages I can see that there are countless errors; but in spite of that one can, I believe, find the substance of the matter. Some things could be added, and that can be done by certain letters, which were not given to me in time, and they will be of help in a revision. v1_title&preface_latin „ 7.° Pensavo ancora alla revisa reservare de veder le copie de’ contracti per le historie particolari de case et Collegii, et li Cathalogi de’ nostri con l’ informazioni per l’ historie delle persone, et in parte per l’ universale. Et questo è in somma il disegno de questi scripti, dove ci sono le cose, et l’ ordine de tempi et lochi, non stilo nè ornato alcuno. “7) I have decided also, when a revision is made, to consult the copies of the reports of the history of the particular houses and colleges, and also to consult the Catalogues of our members for information pertaining to the history of the persons, and partly also for the whole Society. And this is a summary of the purpose of this manuscript, where there are things recorded, and the order of the time and the place, but it is done without any style or literary adornment.” v1_title&preface_latin Titulus in secunda pagina superscriptus: “Ciò che si contiene in questi estracti historiali et il disegno che si teneva in quello. „ This title is written at the top of the second page: “What is contained in this historical summary and the purpose that was maintained in it.” v1_title&preface_latin ________ ________ v1_title&preface_latin Primo volumini affixus est titulus: Vita Ignatii | Loyolae | et | Rerum Societatis | Jesu | Tomus primus | anni | 1549, 1550, 1551 | Joanne Polanco auctore This title is given to the first volume: Life of Ignatius / Loyola / and / History of the Society / of Jesus / Volume I / 1549, 1550, 1551 / By Juan Polanco / v1_title&preface_latin Nos autem, ne nimium excrescat, in primo hoc nostro ea tantum, quae ad annum usque 1549 gesta sunt, comprehendemus. But in order that this volume may not be too long, we will cover only those things that took place up until the year 1549. v1_title&preface_latin Et in paginarum ima ora, ubi opus sit et nobis licebit, documenta indicabimus, ex quibus ea quae narrat deprompsit Polancus; libros item, quos adire ii poterunt qui hanc historiam amplificare, confirmare aut in quibusdam emendare volent, designabimus. Quo fiet ut sua stet tanti viri scriptis auctoritas et melius, tutius, faciliusque iis uti quisque possit. And at the bottom of the pages, where it is necessary and where we can do it, we will indicate the documents from which Polanco derived the things that he narrates. Likewise, we will mention the books which they can consult who want to expand, confirm or in some way emend the text. In this way the authority well be established for the writings of such a great man, and each person will be able to use them in a better, safer and easier way.