Why were the Jesuits suppressed in the eighteenth century?

Beginning in 1759, European monarchies serially expelled the members of the Society of Jesus from their territories and colonies. Absolute monarchs attempting to centralize political power viewed the Jesuits as too autonomous, supranational, and closely allied with the papacy. This anti-Jesuit pressure culminated in Pope Clement XIV officially abolishing the order through a papal brief in 1773.

What we know

• The Jesuits were serially expelled from the Portuguese Empire, France, Naples and Sicily, Malta, Parma, the Spanish Empire, and Austria and Hungary starting in 1759. [2]
• Monarchies attempting to centralize and secularize political power viewed the Jesuits as supranational, too strongly allied to the papacy, and too autonomous. [2]
• In France, multiple influences contributed to the anti-Jesuit climate, including Jansenism, free-thought, and prevailing impatience with the Ancien Régime. [2]
• Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus with his papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor on 21 July 1773. [2, 4]

Still open

• The sources do not specify the exact weight or primary catalyst among the multiple cultural, philosophical, and political factors influencing the various European nations to demand suppression.

Where to go next

• whoWho was Pope Clement XIV?
• how it workedHow did the Society of Jesus survive underground in Russia?
• whenWhen was the Jesuit order restored?
• the bigger pictureWhat role did the Society of Jesus play in the Counter-Reformation?
• a case in pointHow did the expulsion unfold in the Spanish Empire?
• an unexpected connectionHow did the Society of Jesus continue operating under Catherine the Great?Despite the papal suppression by the Catholic Church, the Protestant ruler of Russia permitted the Jesuits to maintain a novitiate and continue underground operations.

Sources

• [1]suppression of the Society of Jesus (Wikidata Q477324) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Suppression of the Society of Jesus · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Jesuits · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Pope Clement XIV · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Society of Saint Pius X · CC BY-SA 4.0