Loyola, Ignatius, St

Loyola, Ignatius, St (1491–1556) Spanish ecclesiastical reformer, founder and first general of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Born into a noble family, he attached himself to the court of Ferdinand II of Aragon. His military career was ended by a leg wound received while fighting for Navarre against France (1521). During his convalescence he underwent a spiritual transformation. He spent almost a year in prayer and penance (1522–23) and wrote the first draft of his Spiritual Exercises, an ordered scheme of meditations on the life of Jesus Christ and the truths of the Christian faith. After a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1523 he attended the University of Paris (1528–35). There he collected a band of like-minded followers, who worked through the Exercises. In 1534 he and six others took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the pope, and Pope Paul III recognized their “Society of Jesus” as an order of the Church in 1540. By the time of his death there were over 1000 Jesuits in nine European provinces as well as those working in foreign missions.