Note 6 — THE EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS, 1768–1769

In November, 1779, letters were received by the Spanish government from their ambassador at Rome, asking that, in view of the poverty and suffering endured by the ex-Jesuits there, their pensions might be increased. Inquiries were made as to their numbers, with the following results; “On April 1, 1767, there existed in España 1,660 priests, 102 scholastics, and 965 coadjutors, making a total of 2,727. From the seven provinces of the Indias there arrived at the port of Santa María 1,396 priests, 327 scholastics, and 544 coadjutors, making a total of 2,267. The pensions of both classes amounted to 7,264,650 reals. On April 1, 1779, there existed in Italia 1,274 priests and scholastics, and 664 coadjutors belonging to the four provinces of España [i.e., those of the Jesuit order in that country, being designated as Toledo, Castilla, Andalucía, and Aragón], and, confined in them, sixteen priests and five coadjutors, the life-pensions of all these amounting to 2,852,600 reals; and from the seven provinces of Indias there were 1,197 priests and 279 coadjutors, the yearly sum of whose pensions was 2,255,750 reals, including those assigned to the Jesuits confined in España. Thus the difference between 1767 and 1779 was that of 2,151,300 reals, on account of the flight to foreign lands or the [ecclesiastical] suspension of 242 priests, 4 scholastics, and 145 coadjutors, and the death of 1,038 priests and 516 coadjutors. The twelve colleges and the procuradoría of the provinces of Méjico and of Filipinas, and of the college of Navarra, yielded 3,665,133 reals, 15 maravedís, leaving a surplus of 1,111,408 reals. The expenses for pensions, maintenance in España, clothing, and others which had arisen with the ex-Jesuits from the Indias, up to the end of June, 1779, reached the sum of 45,321,439 reals, 20 maravedís; and adding to this 3,086,767 reals, 14 maravedís, the value of a certain contribution given by order of his Majesty to the royal hospital of this court, and the payment of debts contracted by some colleges in the Indias, the total is 48,408,207 reals. The temporalities of the Indias were therefore indebted to those of España in 7,077,836 reals, 16 2–3 maravedís.” In view of these statistics, the Council did not feel able to increase the amount of the pensions, but agreed to send to the Spanish ambassador at Rome the sum of 1,500,000 reals, to be distributed among the ex-Jesuits in such manner as would best relieve their poverty. (Danvila, op. cit., iii, pp. 614, 615.)

(The above passage is carefully copied from Danvila, but there are some discrepancies in the figures given; these cannot be verified, of course, without reference to the original document in the Simancas archives cited by the author. These discrepancies are in all probability due to careless proof-reading, some instances of which we have seen in Danvila’s admirable work.)

“Some of the expelled [Jesuits] did not content themselves with removing [from Corsica] to the States of the Church and the Italian cities, but ventured to make their appearance in Barcelona and Gerona; and when the Council committee had notice of this fact they assembled, and decided that the observance of the pragmatic sanction [for the expulsion] ought to be decreed, imposing the penalty of death on the secular lay-brothers, and perpetual confinement on those ordained in sacris.” (Danvila, op. cit., iii, pp. 114, 115, 117.) The “suspension” referred to above evidently applies to certain persons who returned to secular life and occupations, some coadjutors even marrying wives. ↑