The Jesuits of the Low Countries: Identity and Impact (1540-1773): Proceedings of the International Congress at the Faculty of Theology, Ku Leuven (3-

From 3 until 5 December 2009 an international colloquium was organised at
the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (KU Leuven) which intended
to highlight and discuss the impact of the Society of Jesus on the
development of cultural, scientific and political life in the Low
Countries. The colloquium not only aimed to bring together specialists in
the various fields of Jesuitica research, but also organised a
meeting between the people committed to scientific research, and those who
disclose archives and other information sources enabling new research.
Some of the finest scholars in Jesuit studies presented the results of
their research in a number of lectures. The current volume contains a
selection of these lectures, dealing with a broad spectrum of subjects,
from Jesuit spirituality to the Jesuit contribution to the science of law,
political thought and the visual arts, to education, mathematics and
architecture. Attention is paid to the role of the Jesuits in the
development of the printing press, their relation with Louvain’s Faculty
of Theology and their position in the Jansenist controversies, as well as
to their expansion abroad, in the Missio Hollandica, in South Wales
and in the mission to China. Furthermore, the book includes a number of
presentations from the workshops, specifically concerning archives and
databases related to the history of the Jesuits in the Low Countries.