Paul Grendler, professor of history emeritus at the University of Toronto, has published a new history of Jesuits and Italian universities, from 1548 until the papal suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773. According to Catholic University of America Press, The Jesuits and Italian Universities 1548-1773 charts the successes and failures of Jesuit attempts, “from Turin in the north to Messina in Sicily, to found new universities or to become professors in existing universities.” Grendler finds resistance from lay professors and local civil governments, “denunciations,” he argues, that “reveal profound differences about what universities should be.” On one hand, Italian universities stressed the study of law, while on the other Jesuits “emphasized the humanities and theology.”
Grendler has previously published a historiographical essay on Jesuit schools in Europe and a historical essay on the culture of a Jesuit teacher before the suppression. Both essays appeared in the Journal of Jesuit Studies and are available in Open Access.