Claudio Acquaviva was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Jesuit priest elected in 1581 the 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus

Superior General of the Society of Jesus

The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the official title of the leader of the Society of Jesus—the Roman Catholic religious order, also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position carries the nickname of Black Pope, after his simple black priest's...

. He is often referred to as the second founder of the Jesuit Order .

Early life

Claudio Acquaviva was born at Atri

Atri, Italy

Atri is a comune in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It has a population of over 11,500...

, Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

, son of Giovanni Antonio Acquaviva d'Aragona, 9th Duke of Atri, descended from a noble family illustrious at the court of Naples for its patronage of humanist culture. His grandfather, Andrea Matteo Acquaviva

Andrea Matteo Acquaviva

Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, 8th Duca d'Atri was an Italian nobleman and condottiero from the Kingdom of Naples, who distinguished himself as a partisan of the French. He was made prisoner by Consalvo of Cordova and carried into Spain; but his confinement was not long, and on his return to Naples he...

 (1456-1528) was a condottiere and humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 whose brother Belisario Acquaviva

Belisario Acquaviva

Belisario Acquaviva, Duca di Nardò was an Italian nobleman and writer from the Kingdom of Naples. The younger brother of the literary figure Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, Belisario politically opposed his brother, being loyal to the Spaniards. Belisario was hence enabled not only to preserve his own...

 (1464-1528), Duke of Nardo, was also a noted man of letters. After initial studies of humanities (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

) and Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, he studied Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...

 in Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

, and then he was appointed as Papal Chamberlain by Pope Pius IV

Pope Pius IV

Pope Pius IV , born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 1559 to 1565. He is notable for presiding over the culmination of the Council of Trent.-Biography:...

.

First contacts with Jesuits

He had heard of the Society of Jesus through his friendship with Francis Borgia

Francis Borgia

Saint Francis Borgia, 4th duke of Gandía, 3rd Father General of the Jesuit Order, Grandee of Spain, was a Spanish Jesuit and third Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was canonized on 20 June 1670.-Early life:He was born Francesco Borgia de Candia d'Aragon within the Duchy of Gandía,...

 and Juan de Polanco. He was particularly impressed by the works of the Early Companions during the Plague in 1566 and decided to join the Order in 1567. With the blessing of Pius V he asked the then Superior General, Francis Borgia, to be admitted to the noviceship. After completing his studies, he was very soon given positions of important responsibility, his administrative gifts marking him out for the highest posts. He soon became the Provincial superior of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and then of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

; and during this office he offered to join the Jesuit mission to England that set out under Robert Parsons

Robert Parsons (priest)

Robert Persons , later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest.-Early life:...

 in the spring of 1580.

General Congregation IV

Upon the death of Everard Mercurian

Everard Mercurian

Everard Mercurian was the fourth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.- Brief Biography :Born Lardinois into a humble family in Marcourt, near La Roche-en-Ardenne in what is now the province of Luxembourg in 1514, in the south-east corner of what is now Belgium. This is the origin of his...

 on 1 August 1580, the Fourth General Congregation

General Congregation

The highest authority in the Society of Jesus is the General Congregation, an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world. A general congregation is always summoned on the death or resignation of the administrative head of the order—called the Superior General—to...

 was called for 7 February 1581. Acquaviva was elected the next Superior General, being then only thirty-seven years old, to the great surprise of Gregory XIII. However, the extraordinary sense of governance he displayed - in particular when his leadership was questioned -, the continuous apostolic vitality of the Jesuits as well as the regular increase of membership that came to the Society during his long generalate, abundantly justified the votes of the electors.

Achievements as General

In his first letter On the happy increase of the Society (25 July 1581), he treats of the necessary qualifications for superiors, and points out that government should be directed not by the maxims of human wisdom but by those of supernatural prudence. He successfully quelled a revolt among the Spanish Jesuits, which was supported by Philip II

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

, and he made use in this matter of Parsons. In a very rare case of the convocation of a General Congregation being imposed on a Superior General (GC V, of 1593) Aquaviva's ways or working were forcefully challenged, but his openness and genuine humility won him the Delegates' hearts and he came out of the ordeal completely vindicated. A more difficult task was the management of Sixtus V, who was hostile to the Society. By consummate tact and boldness Acquaviva succeeded in playing the king against the pope, and Sixtus against Philip. For prudential reasons, he silenced Juan de Mariana

Juan de Mariana

Juan de Mariana, also known as Father Mariana , was a Spanish Jesuit priest, Scholastic, historian, and member of the Monarchomachs....

, whose doctrine on tyrannicide

Tyrannicide

Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant, or one who has committed the act. Typically, the term is taken to mean the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good. The term "tyrannicide" does not apply to tyrants killed in battle or killed by an enemy in an armed conflict...

 had produced deep indignation in France; and he also appears to have discountenanced the action of the French Jesuits in favour of the League, and was thus able to secure solid advantages when Henry IV. overcame the confederacy.

During his period as General, the already worldwide Jesuit Missions grew in India and Japan were established in China under Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano, , was a Jesuit missionary born in Chieti, back then part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the introduction of Catholicism to the Far East, and especially to Japan....

. Acquaviva saw missions established in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and he promoted them throughout Protestant Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, in particular to English Recusants during the Elizabethan Age.

The Ratio Studiorum

To him is due the promulgation of the Ratio atque institutio studiorum

Ratio Studiorum

The Ratio Studiorum often designates the document that formally established the globally influential system of Jesuit education in 1599...

(1586) summing up years of experience in the field of education and marshalling them into a 'Jesuit system of education'. But the Dominicans

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 denounced it to the Inquisition, and it was condemned both in Spain and in Rome, on account of some opinions concerning the Thomist doctrines of the divine physical promotion in secondary causes and predestination. The incriminated chapters were withdrawn in the edition of 1591. In the fierce disputes that arose between the Jesuit theologians and the Dominicans on the subject of grace, Acquaviva managed, under Clement VIII and Paul V, to save his party from a condemnation that at one time seemed probable.
Claudio Acquaviva died at Rome in 1615, leaving the Society nearly tripled in size and numbering 13,000 members in 550 houses and 15 provinces. The subsequent influence exercised by the Jesuits, in their golden age, was largely due to the far-seeing policy of Acquaviva, who is undoubtedly one of the greatest Superior Generals to have governed the Society.

Famous Quote

Fortiter in re suaviter in modo

Fortiter in re suaviter in modo

Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo or Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re is a Latin phrase, meaning "Resolute in execution, gentle in manner"....

("Strong in the matter, gentle in the manner") from Industriae ad curandos animae morbos (1600).