Uncover the enigmatic history of Monita privata, a provocative anti-Jesuit text that captivated early modern Europe and fueled centuries of controversy. This new critical edition reexamines the origins, authorship, and geopolitical significance of the text, challenging the traditional attribution to Hieronim Zahorowski and suggesting a broader anti-Jesuit campaign originating in Venetian circles. Through rigorous analysis and newly included Polish translations, this edition situates Monita privata as a key artifact in the polemics of its time, offering fresh perspectives on Jesuit influence and propaganda. Rich with scholarly insights, this edition is indispensable for anyone exploring early modern religious and political history.
1Introduction
2The Monitas Geopolitical Context
3The Evolution of the Monita privata and Its Editions
4The Monita privata as a Bestselling Polemic
5Overview of Content
6Analysis of Rhetoric and Style
7Reception and Impact
8Polish Translations and the Enduring Influence of the Monita privata
9Conclusion: A New Critical Edition for Modern Scholarship
10Monita privata (secreta) Societatis Iesu
11Editions of the Monita privata
12Editions of the Secreta monita
13Abbreviations
14Editorial Principles and Apparatus Criticus
Monita privata Societatis Iesu. Notobirgae, anno 1612
IQualem se Societas praestare debet, cum de novo accepit loci alicuius
fundationem
IIQuid factu opus est, ut principum et magnatum intima familiaritate
potiamur
IIIQuid curabunt domini pro nobis, dum pecunia destituunt, multae tamen
sunt auctoritatis in Republica et aliis modis nobis prodesse possunt
IVQuae commendata esse debent concionatoribus confessariisque principum et
magnatum
VQuid agendum cum religiosis, qui symbolizando nobiscum in multis
occupationibus multum nobis detrahunt
VIDe conciliandis viduis opulentis Societati
VIIQuis modus conservandi viduas in viduitate et de dispositione redituum
quos habent
VIIIDe remediis, ut filii et filiae nostrarum devotarum religiosum
amplectantur statum
IXDe reditibus augendis collegiorum
XDe disciplinae rigore ostendendo in Societate
XIQualiter se unanimiter praestabunt nostri contra dimissos
XIIDe delectu iuvenum pro Societate modoque eos retinendi
XIIIDe monialibus
XIVDe casibus reservatis et causis dimittendi a Societate
XVQui conservari et foveri debent ex personis Societatis
XVIDe contemptu divitiarum
Testimonia de Iesuitis Italorum et Hispanorum quorundam
Ex Polonis
1654
[ 1660?] = 1670
Secreta Monita Societatis Iesu
Praefatio [ the preface to the 1661 edition]
Preface
IQualem Societas praestare sese debeat, cum incipit de novo alicuius loci
fundationem
IIQuomodo principum, magnatum et primariorum p(atres) Societatis
familiaritatem acquirent et conservabunt
IIIQuomodo agendum Societati cum illis, qui magnae sunt auctoritatis in
Rep(ublica) et quamvis divites non sint, aliis tamen modis iuvare possunt
IVQuae commendata esse debeant concionatoribus et confessariis magnatum
VQuomodo agendum cum religiosis, qui iisdem in Ecclesia, quibus nos
functionibus vacant
VIDe conciliandis Societati viduis opulentis
VIIQuomodo conservandae viduae et disponendum de bonis, quae habent
VIIIQuomodo faciendum, ut filii et filiae viduarum religiosum aut
devotarium statum amplectantur
IXDe reditibus collegiorum augendis
XDe disciplinae huius rigore priovato in Societate
XIQualiter se nostri unanimiter praestabunt contra dimissos e Societate
XIIQuinam conservari ac foveri in Societate debeant
XIIIDe delectu iuvenum in Societatem admittendorum et modo retinendi
XIVDe casibus et causa dimittendi e Societate
XVQuomodo agendum cum monialibus et devotariis
XVIDe contemptu divitiarum palam prae se ferendo
XVIIDe mediis promovendi Societatem
The Society of Jesuss Private Instructions
IHow the Society Should Present Itself When It Receives a Foundation in a
New Place
IIWhat Must Be Done to Gain the Intimate Familiarity of Rulers
and Magnates
IIIWhat Will the Lords Care for Us When They Are Destitute of Money but
Have Much Authority in the Republic and Can Benefit Us in Other Ways
IVWhat Should Be Recommended to Preachers and Confessors of Rulers and
Magnates
VWhat Is to Be Done with Religious Who, While Agreeing with Us in Many
Occupations, Detract from Us a Lot
VIOn Winning Affluent Widows to the Society
VIIWhat Method of Preserving Widows in Widowhood, and concerning the
Disposition of the Revenues They Have
VIIIRegarding the Remedies, So That the Sons and Daughters of Our Devout
Followers Embrace the Religious State
IXOn Increasing the Revenues of the Colleges
XOn Showing the Rigor of Discipline in the Society
XIHow Ours Will Unanimously Behave against Those Dismissed
XIIOn the Selection of Young Men for the Society, and the Way
to Retain Them
XIIIOn Nuns
XIVOn Reserved Cases and Reasons for Dismissal from the Society
XVThose Who Must Be Preserved and Cherished among the Societys People
XVIOn the Disdain of Riches
[ Guidelines for the Discreet Communication of Private Instructions within
the Society]
IOf Bernard Maciejowski, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of
Gniezno, to the Ruler of the Venetians
IITo the Legate
IIIOf Jerzy Radziwi, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Bishop of Kraków
IVPiotr Myszkowski, Bishop of Kraków, to Sixtus V
VDemetrius Sulikovius, Archbishop of Lviv
VIThe Same
The Two Polish Translations of the Monita secreta Societatis Iesu
Editorial Commentary
1Foundations of the Edition
2Transcription Principles
3Critical Apparatus
4Annotations
Monita secreta Societatis Iesu to jest Rady tajemne Towarzystwa Jezusowego z
aciskiego na portugalski, woski, francuski, niemiecki etc., teraz za i na
polski jzyk przetumaczone, a[ nno] d[ omini] 1767
Do Czytelnika
Pierwszy przypadek
Drugi przypadek
Trzeci przypadek
First Instance
Second Instance
Third Instance
Przestrogi jezuickie o Radach tajemnych
Jesuit Warnings about the Secret Instructions
Monita secreta Societatis Iesu. Rady tajemne Towarzystwa Jezusowego
Rozdzia
1. Jak si ma Towarzystwo zachowa, osiadajc na jakowym nowotnym
miejscu
Rozdzia
2. Jakim sposobem jezuici wkrada si maj w ask i przyja u
ksit i innych znacznych osób
Rozdzia
3. Jak si ma zachowa Towarzystwo przeciwko tym, którzy znaczni s
w urzdzie, i tym, którzy cho nie s bogaci, jednak wane usugi wiadczy
nam mog
Rozdzia
4. Jak si maj sprawowa nasi teologowie, kaznodzieje, kapelani i
spowiednicy u wielkich panów
Rozdzia
5. Jak si maj obchodzi nasi z innymi zakonnikami, którzy tene,
co i my, urzd sprawuj w Kociele Boym
Rozdzia
6. Jak si ma zaleca nasze Towarzystwo do bogatych wdów
Rozdzia
7. Jak sobie z wdowami i ich dobrami postpowa Rozdzia
Rozdzia
8. Co trzeba czyni, aby dzieci wdów obrali ycie zakonne
Rozdzia
9. O sposobie pomnoenia d[ o]cho[ dów] naszych
Rozdzia
10. O surowoci w zakonie naszym przeciwko tym, którzy si wedug
niego nie sprawuj
Rozdzia
11. Jak si jednomylnie nasi obchodzi maj z tymi, którzy s z
zakonu naszego wygnani
Rozdzia
12. O tych, których w naszym Towarzystwie utrzymujemy i jak si z
nimi obchodzi
Rozdzia
13. O obieraniu modzi do Towarzystwa wstpujcej i jak j
utrzymywa
Rozdzia
14. O przypadkach zachowanych i o przyczynach wyrzucenia z naszego
Towarzystwa
Rozdzia
15. Jak si zachowa przeciw zakonniczkom i mniszkom
Rozdzia
16. Jak nasi maj pokazywa wzgard bogactw
Rozdzia
17. O rzodkach pomnoenia Towarzystwa
Przydatek: Tajemnica jezuicka, gdy si odwaaj targn na monarch
(przekopiowana z jednego starodawnego na pergaminie rkopisma)
Appendix: The Jesuit Secret When They Dare to Strike against a Monarch
(copied from an old manuscript on parchment)
Przewodnik, czyli Skryte rzdy ojców jezuitów, z aciskiego przeoone roku
1784
Przedmowa
Guide to the Secret Governance of the Jesuit Fathers, Translated from the
Latin, 1784
Preface
Rozdzia
1. O sposobach obchodzenia si z obywatelami w tych miejscach,
gdzieby wieo byy zaoone Towarzystwa klasztory
Rozdzia
2. O nabywaniu aski i spoufaleniu si z najpierwszemi ksity i
panami
Rozdzia
3. O sposobie obchodzenia si Towarzystwa z temi, którzy maj
powag wielk w rzeczypospolitej i którzy, cho bogatemi nie s, innym jednak
sposobem dopomóc by mogli
Rozdzia
4. Jak si maj zachowa kaznodzieje i spowiednicy wzgldem
wielkich panów
Rozdzia
5. Jako si obchodzi naley z zakonnikami, którzy te- same, co i
my, w Kociele Boym sprawuj urzdy
Rozdzia
6. O jednaniu dla Towarzystwa wdów bogatych
Rozdzia
7. O sposobie utrzymywania wdów w ich stanie i rozrzdzania
dobrami, które posiadaj
Rozdzia
8. Jakich uy potrzeba rzodków do namówienia synów i córek
wdowich do habitu lub dewocji
Rozdzia
9. O powikszaniu dochodów
Rozdzia
10. O wewntrznym rzdzie zakonu
Rozdzia
11. O sposobach jednomylnego bronienia si przeciwko oddalonym z
zakonu
Rozdzia
12. Którzy maj by utrzymywani w zakonie
Rozdzia
13. O wyborze modzi majcej by do zakonu przyjmowanej i sposobach
utrzymywania onej
Rozdzia
14. O grzechach zostawionych wyszej zwierzchnoci do rozgrzeszenia
i o przyczynach oddalenia z zakonu
Rozdzia
15. O obchodzeniu si z zakonnicami
Rozdzia
16. O powierzchownym okazywani[ u] pogardy bogactw
Rozdzia
17. O rzodkach promowowa[ n]ia zakonu
Bibliography of Prints and Manuscripts
Index
Bartosz Awianowicz is a professor of classics and head of the Institute of Literary Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru. He specializes in ancient and early modern rhetoric, ancient numismatics, and its 16th18th century reception. He has published bilingual (LatinPolish) editions of Ciceros De inventione and De oratore and several Latin panegyrics from the 16th17th centuries.
Radosaw Grzekowiak, Ph.D. (2000), is a professor of early modern Polish literature at the University of Gdask. He has published widely on Renaissance and Baroque poetry and specializes in textual criticism and the scholarly editing of Polish poetry and prose from the 16th to 18th centuries.
Robert Aleksander Maryks, Ph.D. (Fordham University, New York), is a full professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna. He has published extensively on Jesuit history, including the monographs Saint Cicero and the Jesuits (Ashgate, 2008) and The Jesuit Order as a Synagogue of Jews (Brill, 2010), along with a dozen (co-)edited volumes. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Jesuit Studies and other Jesuit book series.
