Surrogate Fathers: The Lazarists as Jesuit Successors in the Eighteenth Century, 1759–1814

Abstract

From 1759 to 1773 rulers throughout Europe deemed the Society of Jesus highly dangerous and began moving against it. This article, however, rather than focussing on Jesuit failings, uncovers an alternative story of the popularity enjoyed by the Lazarists, appointed to be the Jesuits’ successors in many important locations. The Lazarists’ ethos and behaviour provided attractive contrasts to the Jesuits, first winning the patronage of European elites in the pre-suppression era. Yet replacing the Jesuits was tricky, imposing novel demands on the Lazarists’ resources. More ominously, the forces which brought down the Jesuits had not gone into full slumber, seriously endangering the Lazarist succession.