The First Biographies of St Ignatius Loyola

The First Biographies of St Ignatius LoyolaWhile St Ignatius was still alive, his companions must have questioned him about his previous life and one of them, his devoted secretary Juan Polanco, saw the urgent need to have an account in writing. He urged Diego Lanez, then busy at the Council of Trent, to write one and Lanez, despite all his duties at the Council, obliged in 1547, sending quite a long letter. On receiving this, Polanco himself added in the following year a supplementary

While St Ignatius was still alive, his companions must have questioned him about his previous life and one of them, his devoted secretary Juan Polanco, saw the urgent need to have an account in writing. He urged Diego La’nez, then busy at the Council of Trent, to write one and La’nez, despite all his duties at the Council, obliged in 1547, sending quite a long letter. On receiving this, Polanco himself added in the following year a supplementary account. Both texts were known to Pedro de Ribadeneira when, after the death of Ignatius in 1556, he was asked to compose the official biography (first in Latin, 1586, and then in Spanish, 1605). However, no English translation of these key texts has been available. Their interest is twofold: they reveal the picture that the early companions had of Ignatius, and incidentally reveal the personalities of two foundational characters in the history of the Jesuits.