Note 394 — Chapter XVI · 1773. ABOLITION OF THE ORDER.
Reading edition
It is differently reported by what means the consent of Austria to the destruction of the Jesuits was obtained. The report most current at the time was, that Charles III. obtained it from Maria Theresa, by sending to the empress her own confession, which her Jesuit director had sent to the General, and which the king had had the means of obtaining. St Priest, in contradicting this opinion, says that Maria Theresa’s resistance was conquered by her son Joseph, who, although he took little interest in the affair as it affected the Jesuits, yet coveted their possessions.