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Acquaviva, Claudio

Born: 14 September 1543, Atri

Died: 31 January 1615, Rome

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Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy
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Abstract

Claudio Acquaviva (1543–1615) was the fifth general of the Jesuits from 1581 until his death. Very gifted in administrative and political issues, by his election he programmed a precise reformation of the Society, culminated with the publication of the Ratio Studiorum in 1586. He faced many controversies, internal and external to his order, and had several clashes especially with Spanish Jesuits, the emperor Philip II, and the popes Sixtus V, Clement VIII, and Paul V. All of them were successfully solved due to his cleverness in politics. He also succeeded in developing the Society in France, the Netherlands, and Flanders. Dead in 1615, he left the Society in its brightest period and contributed to its future survival.

His thoughts and ideas on the governance of the Society are expressed mainly in the two works he personally supervised, Ratio atque institutio studiorum (Romae, 1586) and Industriae pro superioribus eiusdem Societatis: Ad curandos Animae morbos (Romae, 1606).

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References

Primary Literature

  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1583. Lettera del nostro padre generale Claudio Acquauiua. Sopra la rinouatione dello spirito a padri & fratelli della Compagnia.

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1586. Ratio atque institutio studiorum per sex patres ad id iussu R.P. praepositi generalis deputatos conscripta. Romae: in Collegio Societatis Iesu (excudebat Franciscus Zanettus).

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1606a. R.P. Claudii Aquavivae Societatis Iesu Praepositi Generalis, Industriae pro superioribus eiusdem Societatis: Ad curandos Animae morbos. Romae: in Collegio Societatis Iesu.

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1606b. Lettere del R.P.N. Generale Cludio Acquaviva, in Lettere de' prepositi generali a' padri e fratelli della Compagnia di Giesù, 65–302. Roma: in Collegio Romano.

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1612. Lettera del R.P.N. Claudio Acquauiua generale della Compagnia di Giesu a i prouinciali della medesima. Del recitar l'officio, e dir la messa. Roma: per Bartolomeo Zannetti.

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 1613. Lettera del r.p.n. Claudio Acquauiua, preposito generale della Compagnia di Giesu, scritta a pp. prouinciali della stessa Compagnia d'alcuni auertimenti per formare predicatori.

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  • Acquaviva, Claudio. 2016. Accorgimenti per curare le malattie dell’anima. Roma: San Paolo.

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Secondary Literature

  • Broggio, Paolo. 2004. Strategie politiche e religiose nel mondo moderno: la Compagnia di Gesù ai tempi di Claudio Acquaviva, 1581–1615: atti delle giornate di studi/actes des journées d'études, Roma, École Française de Rome, 28–29 ottobre 2002. Roma: Aracne.

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  • Chisholm, Hugh. 1911. Acquaviva, Claudio. In Encyclopaedia britannica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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  • Guerra, Alessandro. 2001. Un generale fra le milizie del papa, la Vita di Claudio Acquaviva scritta da Francesco Sacchini della Compagnia di Gesù. Milano: F. Angeli.

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  • Mostaccio, Silvia. 2014. Early Modern Jesuits between Obedience and Conscience During the Generalate of Claudio Acquaviva (1581–1615). Surrey: Ashgate.

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  • Ricci, Roberto. 2018. Padre Claudio Acquaviva S. J. Preposto generale della compagnia di Gesù e il suo tempo. L’Aquila: Colacchi.

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  • Rurale, Flavio. 2017. The Acquaviva project: Claudio Acquaviva’s Generalate (1581–1615) and the emergence of modern Catholicism. Boston: Boston College.

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Correspondence to Emanuele Lacca .

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Lacca, E. (2022). Acquaviva, Claudio. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14169-5_337

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