Antonio Possevino. I gesuiti e la loro eredità culturale in Transilvania. Atti della Giornata di studio, Cluj-Napoca, 4 dicembre 2007 (review)

The extraordinary development of studies of the Society of Jesus in recent years has still not extended to some leading Jesuits such as the Italian Antonio Possevino (1533–1611)—humanist; missionary; secretary of the Society of Jesus; diplomat; and, of course, bibliographer of the Counter-Reformation.

Although many scholars have recently dealt with Possevino in partial investigations, no one has highlighted the depth and range of his multifaceted personality. The main merit of this book—which contains the proceedings of a December 2007 conference in Cluj-Napoca—is exactly the attempt to illuminate, in a limited period and a limited geographical scope, different traits of Possevino's personality and work. Alberto Castaldini describes the early life of Possevino, analyzing the influence of his family (likely of Jewish origin) on his future life and the role of the important Gonzaga family; he tutored Francesco and Scipione, both future cardinals. At that time the presence of heterodox movements in Mantua could have influenced Possevino. Additionally, the alleged Jewish ancestry of Possevino and many Jesuits in the sixteenth century had a remarkable importance in the early history of the Society of Jesus, as shown by Robert A. Maryks's The Jesuit Order as a Synagogue of Jews: Jesuits of Jewish Ancestry and Purity-of-Blood Laws in the Early Society of Jesus (Leiden, 2009).

Marek Inglot, S.J., presents an overview of Possevino's activity from 1578 to 1587 when he was pontifical legate in Sweden and Russia, trying unsuccessfully to convert the kings John III Vasa and Ivan IV "the Terrible" to Catholicism. The real success of his missions was the creation of educational institutions, in particular papal seminaries for Catholics (not only for people who intended to receive sacerdotal ordination) in Eastern Europe.

Vasile Rus describes the commitment of Possevino to missions in Transylvania, considered a strategic ground for stopping the Turkish advance, but also to the conversion of Muslims. Since the years when he was the secretary of the Society, and later when Pope Gregory XIII sent him to Transylvania, Possevino made great efforts to promote the Jesuit missions in this land.

The essay by Luigi Balsamo (which was published in Bibliofilia in 2008) is devoted to the history of the Commentario di Transilvania, the major historical undertaking of the Mantuan Jesuit. Completed by Possevino in 1584 but not published until 1913 by Andrea Veress, the Commentario is a valuable document of Possevino's working method. With this book, the Jesuit wanted to give specific suggestions to the king, Stephen Báthory (who had protected the Catholic minority in Transylvania and called for the presence of the Jesuits there), and to the pope: In Possevino's view, they had to collaborate to spread Christianity throughout Transylvania.

A brief contribution by Ioan-Aurel Pop describes Possevino's interest in the Romanian people. Nicolae Sabău, in a well-documented contribution, examines the project and the construction of the Jesuit Seminary of Cluj (1584), questioning the existence of a "Jesuit style" in architecture.

The final two essays concentrate more generally on the presence of Jesuits in Transylvania: Ionuţ Costea tells the exciting story of the Jesuit College in Cluj, which was the fulfillment of a desire shared by Catholics and Protestants in late-sixteenth-century Transylvania; and Doru Radosav offers a historical overview on the fortune of the Jesuit cultural model in the Banat, an area bordering Transylvania. The appendix offers a selection of the Commentario di Transilvania, which is very useful because of the difficulty in finding the 1913 edition.

Even if the essays are not of equal quality, the volume remains an important contribution to the understanding of the cultural heritage of the Jesuits in Transylvania and of the intriguing...