The history of the Society in Portugal was peaceful and bril liant. At the universities of Coimbra and Evora, Jesuits attained eminence as professors; the colleges flourished, and the apostolic work of the Province was singularly fruitful. The famous series of theological texts issued at Coimbra (the Conimbricenses) was an outstanding accomplishment. Molina taught at Coimbra ; and there propounded his famous system on Grace and free will which has largely prevailed in subsequent theological thought.
In France, the story of the Society was chequered and often adverse. The Crown, many Bishops, and a large section of the nobility favoured the Order. But the University and Parlement of Paris were bitterly hostile to the nascent Society; and in the religious wars the Jesuits were an especial object of hatred to the Huguenot minority. After his conversion to Catholicism, Henry IV. favoured the Society. In the seventeenth century the French Provinces grew and flourished. The colleges, especially the famous La Fleche, attained European renown. Perhaps a ma jority of eminent Frenchmen in this century were alumni of Jesuit institutions. Yet many storms arose, particularly from the hostility of the Jansenists. The Provincial Letters of Pascal, a masterpiece of sarcasm and invective, but filled with distortion and calumny, was one fruit of Jansenistic opposition to "Jesuit ism." Again, Gallicans of all schools distrusted the Society as a bulwark of Ultramontane teaching. Yet the Jesuits, until their expulsion in 1764, remained the leading educators of France. Among the more eminent of French Jesuit scholars, only Petavius, the founder of positive theology, and Bourdaloue, the "modern Chrysostom," can be mentioned.
In the Latin nations the Jesuits strove to strengthen the Catho lic Faith and to improve moral standards. In the northern coun tries of Europe the Society struggled with advancing Protes tantism. It became a leading factor in the Catholic Reaction, commonly known as the "Counter-Reformation." Though St. Ignatius, contrary to the usual impression, had no specific design of opposing the Reformation when he founded his Society, yet the Jesuits were largely instrumental in saving great sections of northern Europe to the Catholic Church and in regaining lost territory. In 155o, Protestantism seemed on the verge of a sweeping triumph in Poland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Ba varia, and the Rhineland. That these sections of Europe, fifty years later. were finally and overwhelmingly Catholic was due largely to the Jesuits.
In Germany, Blessed Peter Faber was the founder of the Counter-Reformation, but his disciple, St. Peter Canisius, merits
the title of "Apostle of Germany." Through preaching, both popular and academic, by disputations and catechisms, through countless tracts and books, the Jesuits defended the Catholic Faith among the German and Slavic peoples. Wherever possi ble, they established colleges for the education of the laity, and seminaries for the training of priests. In Austria and Hungary the Society enjoyed peace and prosperity. In Bohemia it was an able instrument in defending the Catholic cause against the Hussite legacy and against Calvinistic infiltration. In Lutheran Germany the Society was rigorously proscribed and its colleges and works suffered greatly during the Thirty Years War. But the German Provinces were flourishing and active until the fatal year, 1773. The famous theological series published at the Uni versity of Wurzburg (Wirceburgenses) is a masterly summary of Catholic doctrine and a scholarly answer to Protestant objections. A host of Jesuit scholars and preachers attained eminence in German speaking lands.
The Society prospered in Belgium after the first initial strug gle. The colleges were numerous and flourishing, while the so dalities were notably successful. The work of the Bollandists in scientific hagiography, begun in the early seventeenth century and continued until our own day, has gained the admiration of his torians throughout the world. Among Belgian Jesuit scholars the great Lessius is pre-eminent. In Poland, also, Jesuits played a leading part in education until the Suppression.
In England, before the Society was fully organized, the penal laws were already in force. These laws drove young men to the continent and as refugees in Douai and Louvain, they fell under the influence of the Jesuits. Many of these entered the Society and the purpose evolved of returning to England for the encouragement of their fellow Catholics. Edmund Campion, Robert Persons, and a succession of others crossed the Channel resolved on martyrdom. Many suffered the death penalty under Elizabeth. the Stuarts and the Commonwealth. During this period, while some were working secretly in England, others were es tablishing English colleges in Valladolid, Seville, Liege, St. Omer, and elsewhere. After the period of martyrdom, the Jesuits resided quietly in England and carried on their educational projects abroad. Some controversies between them and the English secu lar and regular priests on matters of policy were finally settled by the decisions of the Pope.