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Cosas y cartas : Scribal Production and Material Pathways in Jesuit Global Communication (1547–1573)

This article analyzes some of the social mechanisms and material processes involved in Jesuit global communication in the first decades of the Society’s history. The exchange of administrative correspondence, news-sheets ( quadrimestres ), and edifying letters from the overseas missions was coordinated by the Society’s Roman secretary, Juan Alfonso de Polanco. Communication made significant material demands on both Rome and key transmission nodes on the Jesuit network. In 1560, a decentralized system of scribal production of news and letters was established. Particular pressure was placed on Lisbon, a crucial communications hub for exchanges between Jesuits in Europe and the overseas missions. The last part of the article examines the experience of the Jesuit procurator in Lisbon, charged with managing the exchange of documents between Europe and Jesuits in Asia, Africa, and Brazil. The case of Lisbon, though exceptional, reflects many of the everyday realities of Jesuit communication during the Society’s formative period. Several documents are published in an appendix.

The growth of the Society of Jesus in the early decades of its existence was dependent upon the continuous intake of personnel, the rapid proliferation of colleges, and firm direction from Rome. Clear channels of written communication were key to the early Jesuit endeavor. At the same time, managing the flow frequency of communication followed a sliding scale, with colleges in closer proximity to Rome reporting more frequently than those further afield. The high frequencies of exchange initially established within the Society would further tax the Jesuit network.
This article explores the material environment of Jesuit communication in the period 1547-1573. These years span the rule of the first three Jesuit superiors general: Ignatius of Loyola (1541-1556), Diego Laínez (1558-1565), and Francisco Borja (1565-1573). They also coincide with the tenure of the indefatigable long-term secretary of the order, Juan Alfonso de Polanco (1517-1576).3 It was Polanco who established norms for reporting to Rome and who managed the rising tide of documentation that flowed through the Society. Though the order was unambiguously centralized, communication depended upon channels of connectivity across the Jesuit network that not only linked the Roman center with peripheries, but brought together Jesuits across Europe and across the globe. As it was put in the Constitutions, the regular exchange of letters facilitated "the union of souls" and provided "mutual consolation and edification." Letters united the disparate parts of the Jesuit corporate body both with one another and with the Roman "head."4 The corporeal metaphor employed in the Constitutions serves as a reminder that communication is never a disembodied process. A variety of social actors and the configuration of the physical topology of the Jesuit network shaped the manner in which Jesuit written instruments were produced, transmitted, and received.
Much activity crucial to the workings of Jesuit communication in fact occurred far from Rome. The documents published as an appendix to the present article illuminate the material demands maintaining information flows placed upon the Jesuit network. In particular, several documents highlight the important role played by Lisbon in the Society's global communications. In 1554, a procurator was appointed in Lisbon to coordinate activities between Rome, Portugal, and the overseas missions in Asia, Africa, and Brazil. When the missions to Spanish America began in earnest in the late 1560s, the Portuguese experience informed practice in Seville, the hub for Spanish (and Jesuit) contact with the New World. It is from this episode that the words quoted in the title of this article have been taken. From Rome came the suggestion that a procurator be appointed in Seville to oversee "las cosas y cartas que van y vienen" ("the things and letters that go and come").5 Procurators provisioned the missions with personnel, material goods, and funds. They prepared embarking missionaries for the voyage and equipped Jesuits overseas with everything from clothing and tools to books, images, and relics. They also managed the exchange of letters, instructions, and other documents. 6 The formulation cosas y cartas invites us to view Jesuit instruments of communication not only as tools of governance, administration, and spiritual consolation, but also as material objects located in space and time. As we shall see, the exchange of information within the Society operated within an organized system of scribal production. It also required coordinated mechanisms for the transmission and dissemination of hand-written letters, news-sheets, and other documents along designated material pathways. It is these processes and practices that are examined in the following pages. 7 The rhythm of Jesuit communication was regulated by a battery of instructions, memoranda, and written rules. The increased reliance upon paper instruments as tools of long-distance administration and governance is a wellknown feature of the early modern world.8 Jesuit protocols for writing and Nelles journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 421-450 12 On the genesis of the quadrimestres see Nelles, "Chancillería en colegio," 55-58. On the pastoral functions of edifying letters, see Federico Palomo, "Corregir letras para unir espíritus. Los jesuitas y las cartas edificantes en el Portugal del siglo XVI," Cuadernos de Historia Moderna. Anejos 4 (2005): 57-81; Palomo, "De algunas cosas que sucedieron estando en misión. Espiritualidad jesuita y escritura misionera en la península Ibérica (siglos XVI-XVII)," in A companhia de  Intended first as summaries of news items included in routine correspondence, news reporting soon took on a life of its own. Written by every Jesuit college with the exception of a handful of smaller establishments, the letters were meant to contain only significant, edifying material. They were sent out at the beginning of January, May, and September each year and were commonly referred to as nuevas or nuove. They were sometimes called lettere di edificationi or cartas de edificación, at other times letras de cuatro mese. The Latinized sobriquet quadrimestres was the more usual form.12 Jesuits from the overseas missions wrote annual, and typically longer, letters due to the schedule of the Portuguese fleet. In principle the letters from overseas included material similar to that found in the quadrimestres, though their exoticism meant they rapidly acquired a certain caché both within the Society and among a broader public.13 Edifying letters from overseas were commonly referred to as "news from the Indies" (las nuevas de las Indias, nuove dell'India) or simply annuas. Whether from Europe or overseas Jesuit news-sheets included material on pastoral activities (preaching, confessions, conversions, peace-making initiatives, and the like) and the academic life of the colleges. Unlike most other forms of correspondence and reporting, they circulated throughout the Society as a whole. The idea was that each Jesuit house and college receive news from every other Jesuit establishment. Though Jesuit news had little direct bearing upon governance or administration, the scale and manner in which they were produced and circulated had a disproportionate impact upon the operations of the Jesuit network. A variety of social actors were involved in the physical transfer of written instruments. Travelling Jesuits, church officials, merchants, and other mobile agents were frequently entrusted with correspondence. Documents were also carried by ordinari, commercial couriers departing from major centers at regular intervals.14 The early modern postal system connected important political centers within Europe, structured along a north-south axis linking Rome and Brussels and an east-west axis connecting Madrid and Vienna. In Italy, a highly efficient network of postal couriers connected Milan, Genoa, and Venice in the north with Rome and Naples.15 Jesuits tended to use the post at the regional rather than the transnational level. The case of Lisbon is no doubt typical. Commercial couriers were avoided whenever possible. The bulk of correspondence was sent either through royal or ambassadorial dispatches or via trusted intermediaries ("otros amigos"). This was not only more secure, it was claimed, but reduced costs. Use of the commercial post was limited to communication with Castile. 16 Letters and bundles of documents (plichi, emboltorio) were transferred between colleges located strategically across the Jesuit network. Thus, for example, documents from Rome bound for Spain were first sent to the college at Genoa, either by sea via Civitavecchia or overland transiting through colleges at Florence, Bologna, and Modena. In Genoa, sea passage was secured to Barcelona. The rector of the Barcelona college then dispatched materials to colleges elsewhere in Spain, where they were either copied or simply read and relayed to the next college.17 Lisbon served as a crucial node in connecting Rome with the Jesuit missions in Asia, Africa, and Brazil. Communication depended upon the annual sailings of the Portuguese fleet. In the case of Asia, ships normally departed Lisbon in March or April and arrived in Goa in September. Jesuits travelling further east could expect to reach Macao the following July, and Japan almost a year later. Ships returning to Portugal normally sailed from India in late December or early January, arriving in Lisbon sometime between June and September. Nor was communication within Europe always easy. It could take anywhere from two weeks to two months for documents to travel between Rome and Lisbon. In Rome, dispatches destined for Asia were normally sent in January in order to make the sailing of the Portuguese fleet. In practice this meant that a response could not be expected until the summer or fall of the following year, and frequently later. In the case of Japan, the process took over four years.18 Unsurprisingly, maritime routes dominated in linking Lisbon with Jesuits elsewhere in Europe. Letters bound for Sicily and Naples were sent directly to Messina, Palermo, or Naples. Those for France were sent to Toulouse (likely first travelling by sea to Bordeaux) or Paris. Didaco Páez, a Jesuit resident in Antwerp, served as an intermediary for letters bound for Lower Germany. Letters for the Italian provinces were to be sent through Genoa. For Upper Germany and Austria letters could either be routed through Rome or sent directly via the imperial court at Vienna. It was clearly expected that in the latter case, diplomatic channels would be used (doc. 4,3). While these mechanisms were not failsafe, they worked well enough to provide a normally reliable method for the exchange of letters and documents within the Society.19 Adjustments to the communications system came in 1560. See Appendix, doc. 2,6 and 2,11. The question was obviously in flux. The instruction for rectors (2,6) bears witness to an adjustment, likely for Portugal, to an increase in frequency to once a month ("Parecío que cada mes"). In this same year Jerome Nadal recommended that rectors within the same province write to one another every month rather than every two months, further indication of the unsettled nature of the matter; Epp. Nadal 4:526-28. 25 Ibid., 179v.
(docs. 1 and 2). For the most part the Ratio scribendi clarified the structure of communication sketched in the Constitutions. Yet there are also signs that the intensity of communication within the Society increased. New instructions for consultors illustrate the complex manner in which communication pathways were organized.21 Consultors were advisors who provided non-binding counsel to college rectors, provincials, and regional commissaries.22 Though they had no defined authority, they nonetheless functioned autonomously; they were appointed from above and reported centrally. Each rector was assigned four consultors, each of whom reported to their provincial three times a year in monthly rotation. A report was thus received every month. Each consultor also reported annually to Rome, again in rotation, fixing a pattern of quarterly reporting. A similar system was established at the provincial level. Each of four provincial consultors reported to Rome in rotation three times a year, establishing a rhythm of monthly reporting.23 The sense of an increased volume of communication within the Society is amplified by additional instructions sent in 1562 which advised provincials to write to one another every four months. Rectors within the same province were to do the same. Some within the Society thought that the frequency of such exchange should be once a month.24 The most significant change made in 1560 concerned the production and circulation of quadrimestres. As we have seen, the news-sheets were sent out every four months. Originally, among colleges in the same province or region (so, in the case of Sicily and Naples for example, or the Iberian provinces), they were copied and circulated locally. For more distant provinces a copy was sent to Rome, where additional copies were made for circulation through the rest of the Society. In 1560, it was announced that Rome would no longer copy quadrimestres. 25 Polanco described the new procedure. Writing to Antonio de Araoz (1515-1573), the provincial of Castile, he explained how until now the Roman curia Nelles journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 421-450 had taken it upon itself to relieve the provinces of the labor of copying quadrimestres (doc. 1). Copies made in Rome had been sent to the provinces in conformity with the procedures set out in the Constitutions. With the continued expansion of the Society, however, the undertaking had become too much, despite all best efforts. The decision had therefore been taken to share the labor of copying, with each college now responsible for producing the required number of copies (1,1).
While the burden of scribal production was now shifted away from Rome, it did not reduce the overall volume of newsletters flowing through the system. In total, thirteen copies were needed from each college in Castile, five in Spanish and eight in Latin (1,1). Araoz was provided with detailed instructions on how to manage circulation. Rome would receive both a Latin and Spanish copy of each quadrimestre. The remaining Spanish-language copies would circulate within Castile and the other Iberian provinces (Aragon, Andalusia, and Portugal). Spanish provincials were to send Araoz two Latin copies for transmission to Jesuits in Paris, whence one would be forwarded to Louvain. The five remaining Latin copies were distributed among the three Italian provinces, Sicily, and the Upper German province (1,3). Polanco advised Araoz to select an apt location from which to manage everything. The secretary suggested either Medina del Campo or Valladolid, likely because the colleges there were larger and the best positioned geographically (1,4). (Medina del Campo was eventually chosen.) Polanco informed Araoz that if any of this seemed onerous, he should consider how much more difficult it was to produce the requisite number of copies in Rome, where every four months thirteen copies of every quadrimestre from each college were made. He then urged that the letters should be neither too long ("no need to write lengthy histories") nor so short as to descend into generalities. Better, he wrote, to touch briefly on both the general and the particular of matters of note. "And for the love of God," he continued, "be careful that what has been written has been carefully reviewed. Do not imagine that they will be corrected here as they have been until now." After review, copies were to be made and collated against the original (1,4). Araoz was further instructed to make copies of the Ratio scribendi describing the new procedures for each house and college in the Castilian province (1,5).
The change was abrupt and a certain amount of confusion ensued in routing the news-sheets. Basic procedures were soon established for clearly flagging circulation patterns. Polanco instructed that after being folded and addressed each quadrimestre should be clearly labeled with the college's name and the date. Provinces to which copies had been sent directly should be identified, so that the remaining copies delivered to Rome could be forwarded appropriately (3,1). There were additional problems with content and style. Previously, Polanco and his assistants had wielded a certain amount of editorial control when copying quadrimestres in Rome. This too now needed to be exercised locally. Polanco emphasized that discretion was to be used when reporting news so as not to offend anyone who might read the news-sheet in the same town or region. Circumspection was particularly required in reporting anything gleaned from confessions. In many places this had not been done. Letters had been written by individuals lacking judgment, and had not been reviewed properly. Either the provincial himself or a trusted deputy should review and revise each quadrimestre. In composition, needless amplification was to be avoided; the trick was to fully edify without exceeding the bounds of truth. After being transcribed, copies were to be collated against the emended original and dispatched according to instructions (4,1). Polanco bluntly summarized what was expected: the letters were to be reviewed with an eye "to things, words, and script" (3,3). The measures of 1560 sought to redistribute the labor of scribal production while maintaining established frequencies. Though Rome no longer copied quadrimestres, the continued expansion of the Society led to ever-increasing volumes of communication. Further changes soon followed. In 1564, Polanco explained that the frequent exchange of letters within the Society had served its purpose. Though initially sustainable, with the growth of the Society it had now become intolerable, particularly in Rome. To continue on the same path would impede the Jesuit pastoral mission and be detrimental to the good of the Society. All benefit gained by communication would be lost. Frequencies of exchange would therefore need to be curtailed.26 Further reductions in frequency followed in 1565. Communication between college rectors and Rome was initially reduced to once a month in Italy and once every two months for Jesuits elsewhere in Europe. In 1565 the frequency of response was further diminished to every three months for Jesuits everywhere. As for routine administrative communication sent from Rome, in 1564 it was explained that Rome would respond to Jesuits in Italy every two months, and every three months to Jesuits elsewhere. The following year this was reduced to every six months, regardless of location. Provincial superiors, including those in Italy, now reported to Rome once a month.28 The frequencies established in 1565 would remain in place until the suppression of the Society in 1773.29 Even more dramatic were modifications to the system of writing and circulating quadrimestres. Ultimately in 1565 the circulation of news-sheets was reduced to an annual basis, though not before a period of deliberation and experimentation. One preliminary set of instructions, while never implemented, underscores the preoccupation in Rome with the material demands of news circulation (doc. 6). The document makes plain the strain placed upon both those writing and reading quadrimestres. The cost of postage was also a consideration. At the same time, concern was expressed with losing the fruit of "the continual communication of letters" and there were reservations about modifying the Constitutions. It was suggested that each college continue to write its own quadrimestre every four months, and that this be sent to the local provincial. The provincial would then draw up a single letter for the entire province. It was this provincial news-sheet, rather than individual quadrimestres from each college, that would circulate through the Society. The labor of copying the "carefully collated" letters would be shared among the colleges, or colleges might offset the cost of copying at a centralized location (6,3). Nonetheless the idea of a separate newsletter from each college was not abandoned. Every January an annual letter was to be written and copied for each province. Duplicates would be sent to Portugal for circulation to Brazil and India (6,4). For brevity's sake, minor matters already reported upon need not be included. Letters should focus upon edifying material, and avoid prolixity and extraneous detail (6,6). The plan's appeal no doubt lay in its adherence to constitutional requirements to report news every four months, while at the same time reducing the number of quadrimestres in circulation. Further experiments followed. In 1564, the decision was made to reduce the frequency of quadrimestres to twice a year. In addition, rather than individual letters from the various colleges, a single newsletter for each province would be compiled under the direction of the superior provincial, with each college or house within the province accorded a separate chapter or section.30 And finally, in the wake of discussions held during the second General Congregation of the Society in 1565, frequency was reduced to an annual basis. Nonetheless the 1564 plan to compile provincial letters was discarded. Instead, each college would continue to compile and circulate its own annua, as the letters were now known. Polanco compensated by staggering the release of news on a quarterly basis. Portugal and the Spanish provinces were instructed to dispatch their letters between January and March, other provinces between April and July, and so on.31 In order to relieve the strain of copying, it was also decided to share one copy between two provinces. Delays in circulation must have been considerable, as within a few years a separate copy for each province was again mandated, together with the habitual exhortation to brevity.32 In 1571, the scale of news circulation was reduced even further when the congregation of Jesuit procurators reprised the 1564 plan to circulate a single letter from each province.33 The new schedule was soon implemented.34  Up to this point we have traced the complex changes made to the Jesuit network in the 1560s. While Rome dictated the rhythm of information flows, the production and circulation of news-sheets, letters, and other documents occurred at multiple nodes across the Jesuit network. By way of example, we can now turn to the role of Lisbon, the single most important Jesuit communications hub outside Rome in this period. All exchange between Jesuits in Europe and the missions in Asia, Africa, and Brazil moved through the city. Due to the perils of sea travel, documents were normally sent in at least three or four copies using different ships or vías. Through the 1540s and early 1550s, the college at Coimbra copied letters, instructions, and quadrimestres for Jesuits overseas. This meant several copies for each of the overseas missions. In addition, letters from the missions written in Portuguese were translated into Spanish and copied for circulation to colleges in the Iberian peninsula. Spanish and sometimes Latin copies were normally also sent to Rome.
As we saw earlier, a procurator had been appointed in Lisbon in 1554. Housed in the Jesuit casa professa of São Roque, the procurator coordinated relations with the Portuguese crown and provisioned Jesuit establishments in Portugal and the overseas missions.35 He also managed the flow of documents between Rome, Lisbon, and the missions. The changes to Jesuit communications that are the subject of the present article created tensions in Lisbon that led to a protracted exchange involving the Lisbon procurator, the Portuguese provincial, and Rome. This fissure in the operations of the Jesuit network affords a close-up view of some of the social mechanisms and material practices of Jesuit communication normally hidden from view.
Changes to the distribution of quadrimestres in 1560 required each college to send a single copy of its letter to Portugal. In the Ratio scribendi, Polanco had recommended that one or two Jesuit brothers in Portugal be assigned to copy quadrimestres destined for India, Brazil, and Africa.36 The new instructions had been received in Lisbon by July of 1560.37 By early 1561, concerns were journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 421-450 38 L. Torres to Polanco, 22.3.1561, arsi, Lus. 61, 7r: "De las primeras assí de nuevas como las màs se hizieron copias treplicadas como hizimos los años passados por segurar que llegen allá, y aun assí algunas vezes no llegan aun que es raro, lo mismo hizimos de las reglas (embiando a demás las impressas) y de modo de scrivir, y de todas las otras cosas comunes que tenemos de Roma se embiaron agora y se embían siempre a la India y al Brasil y a Angola copias duplicadas y treplicadas hasta que entendamos que van a sus manos, excepto de algunas de las quadrimestres porque como son muchas no se pueden copiar tantas." 39 "Informação dos ofícios do P. Francisco Henriques," 8. voiced about the amount of copying required, particularly in producing quadrimestres for the overseas missions.38 Later that year, the Lisbon procurator, Francisco Henriques, sent a lengthy description of his duties to Rome, most likely in order to petition for the assistants recommended by Polanco. Henriques protested that his assistants fell under the jurisdiction of the local superior and were habitually assigned other tasks. As a result, they were unable to devote themselves full-time to their copying duties, to the considerable detriment of both business and writing.39 He made it clear that he simply did not have the resources to fulfill his duties as both procurador general (his term) and secretary to the Portuguese provincial.
To make his point, Henriques described the range of his duties. He handled the Society's legal affairs, including litigation and official transactions with the crown, the Cardinal-Infante, the papal nuncio, and civil authorities. Provisioning Jesuit establishments involved arranging transactions and purchases not only in Lisbon, but also in the Low Countries, France, Spain, Africa, the Algarve, and elsewhere. He collected and disbursed funds granted to the Society by the king and donations in kind such as sugar and spices. He kept registers of accounts and copybooks of important documents issued by crown and other officials. As secretary, he handled both the provincial's internal and external correspondence. He composed summaries of letters received and kept copybooks of letters sent. Henriques read aloud to the provincial any correspondence addressed to him, common secretarial practice in the period. He distributed all other incoming post and arranged for outgoing letters to be dispatched. Careful to display conformity to Polanco's instructions of 1560, Henriques explained that he reviewed all quadrimestres, cartas de nuevas, and routine correspondence, adding and subtracting whatever was necessary before copies were made for distribution throughout the Society. Letters to Rome were sent by at least one vía, additional copies were made for each of the European provinces, three or four copies were sent to India, as many again to Brazil, and two to Angola. He also drew up instructions and letters patent for Jesuits sent on mission. In addition, everything was transcribed into copybooks.40 Henriques's detailed enumeration of his day-to-day activities conveys the complex manner in which material goods, money, and documents passed through the procurator's hands. He painted an image of a bustling chancery and an ever-expanding archive. Evidently Henriques's pleas did not go unheard, as the following year Polanco attempted to alleviate some of the pressures on Lisbon (doc. 3). Two additional copies of all quadrimestres, Polanco decreed, were to be sent to Lisbon by the European colleges. To obtain the extra copies, Naples and Sicily would share a single copy between them, while Rome would receive a vernacular version alone ("we read Spanish here," Polanco commented drily). "And thus without increasing the number of copies," the secretary explained, "consolation will be given to our brothers in India and Brazil" (3,2). Jesuits in Sicily soon complained. The delay of news was blamed on the bottleneck at Naples, and they requested that they be sent quadrimestres directly.41 Polanco responded by increasing the number of copies produced at the local level (doc. 4). In instructions sent to the Portuguese provincial in 1563, it was made clear that every college would now be responsible for producing quadrimestres for each of the Society's fourteen European provinces (4,4), an additional two or three copies for India, and the same again for Brazil (4,5). Taking the annual rhythm of communication with the missions into account, colleges had the option to send either a single annual newsletter or multiple quadrimestres to Jesuits overseas (4,2 and 4,5). It was thus not only in Lisbon that Jesuits were put to work. At this point each college was expected to produce some twenty copies of each quadrimestre, some in the vernacular, others in Latin.
Despite these adjustments, the situation in Lisbon appears not to have improved. A 1563 memorandum (doc. 5) from the Portuguese province, no doubt the work of Henriques, once again reminded Rome of the labor Jesuits in Lisbon expended in scribal production: -copies of rules and other documents for the overseas missions sent from Rome and the Iberian commissary; -copies of routine administrative correspondence between Rome and the overseas missions, copied on the same scale as quadrimestres; -the same letters copied into the register in Lisbon; -letters from the Portuguese provincial to Jesuits overseas, copied both into the register and for transit overseas according to the requisite number of vías; -thirteen copies of all edifying letters from Asia, Brazil, and Africa for distribution to the European provinces; -all overseas mission letters also copied into the registers; -presentation copies ("de buena letra") of the mission letters for the queen and the Cardinal-Infante; -copies of the quadrimestres of the Lisbon college itself; -copies of newsletters (cartas de nuevas) from European colleges for overseas.
Henriques's intention was to underscore the sheer volume of documentation produced in Lisbon. He vividly conveys the degree to which communication within the Society depended upon the coordinated replication of material practices of writing far from the Roman center. Though Rome was well-aware of the situation, earlier efforts to alleviate the amount of copying undertaken in Lisbon fell by the wayside with the shift to annual news-sheets in 1565. Rome may well have judged that the reduced volume of letters in circulation offered adequate compensation: Portugal would now receive only two copies of each annua, one copy for Brazil, the other for India.42 The abrupt change in the distribution of scribal labor triggered a minor crisis in Lisbon. In early 1566 the Portuguese provincial, Leão Henriques (1522-1589), suggested that Rome order each college to send five or six copies of its annual letter. Rome flatly refused, pointing out that the two copies sent to Portugal could first circulate within the province before being sent to India and Brazil.43 The provincial persevered, explaining that Jesuits in India had requested letters to be sent on four or five different ships, as even when sent in triplicate occasionally none arrived. What with the numerous copies of other documents Jesuits in Lisbon were required to make, he continued, it was a struggle to produce even the usual three copies. The provincial urged that despite the cost, as many copies as possible should be sent overseas. As for the two copies now sent by the European colleges, those not lost in circulation within Portugal arrived in Lisbon worn and in poor shape. "To then copy them here would be impossible due to the number of copies needed."44 The reply from Rome was unambiguous. Though it would be ideal to have more copies sent to India and Brazil, it was simply too much work. It was recommended that when making copies in Lisbon, only the most salient parts of the annuas from the European colleges be copied. It was further suggested that letters from different provinces be dispersed among separate ships so that even if some were lost others would arrive safely.45 The dissemination within Europe of letters from overseas could also be problematic. In 1569, a plea came from the college at Évora to designate someone "capable and diligent" to copy letters at São Roque, complaining that due to delays in copying it took five months for letters to reach Évora from neighboring Lisbon. The following year the Portuguese provincial suggested that Jesuits in India and Brazil make copies of their own letters for circulation in Europe. 46 In response to these and other challenges, the position of procurador de la India y Brasil was created in 1573.47 The new procurator was responsible for the missions alone. Much as before, the procurator was instructed to secure material provisions for the overseas missions and "with diligence and faithfulness dispatch the letters and other things that are sent from Rome or elsewhere."48 He was additionally responsible for copying ("in a good clear letter") annuas from overseas for distribution to the European provinces and letters from the European provinces destined for the missions.49 The first Jesuit to hold the position, Alessandro de Valla (c. 1529-1580), had spent several years in the missions in India and Japan. Though ill-mannered, unpopular, and chronically unwell, he was well-aware of the value of news and took the work of copying seriously. In 1574, he found the time to complain to Rome that he had received no letters from the European provinces to send overseas. Copia de algunas cartas que los padres y hermanos de la compañía de Jesus, que andan en la India, y otras partes orientales, escrivieron a los de la misma compañía de Portugal (Coimbra: Joan de Barrera, 1562), [2]r: "Como desta provincia de Portugal se ayan de embiar por todos los colegios y casas de nuestra compañía, las cartas que de la India, Japón, China, y otras partes orientales nos escriven cada año nuestros padres y hermanos made copies of ten separate annuas for India, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and Angola, all in triplicate for each location. At one point he produced sixteen copies in three days in the shadow of the imminent departure of the Portuguese fleet. Valla nonetheless lamented that some letters had not arrived in time.50 The example of Lisbon illustrates the manner in which the scribal production of letters and documents was organized across the Jesuit network. While letters from the overseas missions were occasionally printed, print complemented rather than replaced the dissemination of hand-written news. A handful of letters were printed at Coimbra in the early 1550s, and sporadic use of the printing press was made thereafter.51 Nonetheless it was the very effectiveness of Jesuit scribal publication that necessitated the turn to print. Even after the appointment of a procurator in Lisbon, the college at Coimbra continued to be involved in translating and copying letters from the missions.52 In 1554, the Portuguese provincial informed Rome that letters were being prepared for the press "to relieve us of the great labor of copying."53 In a similar vein, Manuel Alvarez, rector of the college at Coimbra, explained to readers of the Copia de algunas cartas in 1562: This province of Portugal is required to send to all the colleges and houses of our Society the letters from India, Japan, China, and other places in the east written each year by our fathers and brothers occupied there in the conversion of the pagans. As we would not be able to satisfy the wishes of all were they to be copied by hand due to the great number required and our other habitual duties, it seemed fitting to print some of the many that have arrived since the last printing.54 Nelles journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 421-450 que allá andan ocupados en la conversión de la gentilidad. Y no se pueda satisfazer a los desseos de todos si se oviessen de tresladar de mano, por el número ser grande, y por otras ordinarias ocupaciones, pareció en el señor ser conveniente imprimir algunas de las muchas que han venido despues de la postrera impressión." It is undeniable that print allowed Jesuit mission letters to reach a broad European reading public. Nonetheless print was suspended within disciplined, if occasionally creaky, processes for the production and circulation of handwritten documents.
Though the Society of Jesus was centralized and hierarchical, the transmission of written instruments between Jesuit establishments relied upon the operation of social mechanisms and material processes far from Rome. The colleges had been actively involved in the mechanics of Jesuit communication from the beginning, particularly in the exchange of news-sheets and edifying letters. The production, transmission, and dissemination of hand-written letters and other documents necessitated the standardization of material practices of writing throughout the Society. Routine communication also required coordinating activities with the commercial postal service and with a number of other social actors. Diplomatic, mercantile, and maritime networks all intersected with Jesuit communication at key points. The adjustments made to mechanisms of production and transmission studied here reveal the complex material organization of the Jesuit network. The experience of Lisbon, though exceptional, nonetheless reflects many of the everyday realities of Jesuit communication during the Society's formative period.
Only new information to be included in personnel catalogues through the year. The January catalogue to be more complete.