Compiled by Rev. Dr Ozzie Mascarenhas SJ in 2012 at AIMIT
[See also St. Ignatius Loyola: Letters and Instructions, edited by Palmer, Padberg and McCarthy (2006), pp. xv-xx]
Ignatius was born in Loyola, October 1491, youngest of thirteen children. The same year, Henry VIII of England was born, and Ferdinand and Isabella sieged Granada.
1492: Marks the end of Moorish Kingdom in Spain; Columbus discovers America, and Alexander VI (Borgia) becomes Pope.
1498: Girolamo Savonarola (born 1452), Italian Monk, religious and political reformer, is burnt at the stake for heresy, at age 46.
1500: Future Holy Roman Emperor (1519-1556) Charles V is born in Spain.
1502: Spanish translations of Ludolph of Saxony’s Life of Christ.
1503: Julius II elected Pope. Desiderius Erasmus (born 1466?), a humanist, scholar, and theologian, publishes Enchiridion of the Christian Soldier. His next book Praise of Folly would be published in 1511. These books might have influenced Ignatius, especially before and during his conversion (1506-1521).
1504: Martin Luther (born in 1483), a German scholar joins the Augustinian Order.
1506: age 15, Ignatius enters service at Arévalo, Spain, as page with Juan Velásquez, treasurer of Ferdinand the Catholic. Construction of St. Peter’s Basilica begins in Rome. Michelangelo will be painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling during 1508-1512.
1509: John Calvin, the future Protestant Reformer, is born in France (as Jean Caulvin). Henry VIII becomes King of England.
1513: Leo X (of the House of Medici, the wealthy Florentine Family that dominated Florence during the 15th and 16th century) is elected Pope.
1515: Teresa of Avila and Philip Neri are born.
1516: Charles I becomes King of Spain in 1516, and later on as Holy Emperor is called Charles V. Erasmus’s Greek and Latin New Testament is out. Thomas More publishes Utopia. Nicolo di Bernardo Machiavelli (1469-1527), a Florentine Statesman and writer publishes The Prince.
1517: At the age 26, Ignatius enters service with the Duke of Nájera, Viceroy of Navarre. (The same year, Martin Luther defects from the Church after pinning 95 theses on the Cathedral door in Wittenberg).
1518: We have the first extant letter of Ignatius written to Charles I of Spain on December 20.
1520: Luther is excommunicated. Alcalá Polyglot (i.e., multilingual) Bible of Cisneros is out.
1521: At the age 30, Ignatius is wounded in the Siege of Pamplona, and hence, returns to Loyola. Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566) becomes the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire; with the Turks he takes Belgrade.
1522: At the age 31, Ignatius is at Aranzazu, Montserrat, and Manresa. Adrian VI, the reform Pope, is elected, the last non-Italian pope until 1978. He reigns only one year.
1523: At the age 32, Ignatius is in Barcelona, then in Venice, Rome, and in Cyprus on way to Jerusalem. Clement VII (Medici) elected Pope.
1524: At the age 33, Ignatius begins to study Latin in Barcelona. The Order of Theatines is founded.
1525: The Order of Capuchins is founded.
1526: At the age 35, he studies at Alcalá and later (1527) is arrested by Inquisition on suspicion of being an Alumbrado. [Alumbrado (Spanish: “Enlightened”) Italian Illuminato, plural Illuminati, is a follower of a mystical Christian movement in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries].
1527: At the age 36, Ignatius transfers to Salamanca for studies and is arrested there again.
1528: At the age 37, Ignatius arrives in Paris. Studies at Collège de Montaigu.
1529: At the age 38, Ignatius meets and rooms with Pierre Favre and Francis Xavier; the latter were studying in Paris since 1525. Ignatius studies at College Sainte-Barbe, Paris. Xavier received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1529.
1530: Charles V is crowned emperor. Lutheran “Confession of Augsburg.” King Henry VIII breaks away with Rome.
1532: At the age 41, Ignatius receives Bachelors of Arts (philosophy) from the University of Paris. Calvinist reformation begins in France.
1533: At the age 42, Ignatius receives Licentiate degree. Begins study of theology in Venice.
1534: In January and February, Favre makes the Spiritual Exercises. Xavier finally makes the Exercises too. Favre is ordained priest on May 30, 1534; he celebrates his first Mass on July 22, 1534. Three weeks later, June 1534, Montmartre, Vows of the first companions; Ignatius, Favre, Xavier, Lainez, Salmeron, Bobadilla, and Rodrigues. Favre celebrated Mass for the First Companions. Paul III elected Pope. Michelangelo begins the Last Judgment (will continue till 1541).
1535: At the Ignatius receives MA diploma in theology; leaves Paris for Spain because of ill health, leaving Favre charge of the group. In Paris, Favre receives Broët, Codure and Jay among the Companions. This completes the First Ten Companions who will later constitute the nucleus of the Society of Jesus. Thomas More and John Fisher martyred.
1536: At the Ignatius studies in Venice, while giving the Exercises.
1537: Ordination of the Companions at Venice. Ignatius has vision at La Storta on way to Rome with Favre and Lainez.
1538: All ten companions are in Rome in ministries. Ignatius celebrates his first Mass. Charles Borromeo is born.
1539: The “Deliberation” by the First Companions on the foundation of SJ.
1540: The Society of Jesus is founded upon approval of Pope Julius III. Xavier departs for Portugal on way to the Indies. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines, dies.
1541: Ignatius is elected superior general. First solemn professions. Ignatius begins work on Constitutions. May 1541, Xavier docks at Goa, India.
1542: Three established Jesuit houses: Rome, Paris, Lisbon.
1544: Ignatius is ill. Begins to write the first part of extant “Spiritual Diary.”
1545: Last part of “Spiritual Dairy” written. Nadal enters the Society. Isabel Roser and two companions take Jesuit vows in Rome. Council of Trent opens.
1546: Jesuits (Lainez, Favre, Salmeron and Jay) are sent to Trent by Paul III. Martin Luther dies. Favre dies in Rome before reaching Trent. Francis Borgia secretly enters the Society while still remaining Duke of Gandia. Isabel Roser and women companions released from vows.
1547: Polanco becomes Secretary of SJ. Peter Canisius enters SJ. Henry VIII, King of England, dies at age 56. On May 7, 1547, Ignatius addresses the fathers and scholastics of Coimbra, Portugal, the “Letter of Perfection” urging them to advance toward perfection as per the vocation and gifts they have received from the Lord, avoiding undue excesses.
1548: Paul III approves the Spiritual Exercises; they are printed for the first time. Ignatius is ill again. Suarez is born.
1549: Xavier in Japan. Ignatius ill.
1550: Julius III elected Pope. The Pope formally confirms the Society of Jesus. Ignatius is gravely ill.
1551: Roman College is founded. Meeting in Rome on first version of Constitutions. Crisis in Society in Portugal. Ignatius ill.
1552: Ignatius completes “Autograph” (Text B of Constitutions). Xavier dies off the coast of China. German College founded in Rome.
1553: March 26, Ignatius composes the “Letter of Obedience” to the Members of the Society in Portugal; it was written in the context of crisis and split in the Jesuit Province of Portugal, polarized between supporters and opponents of the former Provincial, Simão Rodrigues, and the tension brought by his successor, Diego Miró. Even an official visitor sent by Ignatius, Miguel de Torres, could not reconcile the groups. About thirty men left the Jesuits during this restless period. Ignatius begins to dictate the so-called Autobiography.
1554: Nadal elected Vicar General of SJ. Construction begins on Jesuit Church in Rome, initially entrusted to Michelangelo. Ignatius often ill. Ignatius admits Juan of Austria, daughter of Charles V, secretly as a Jesuit.
1555: Gonçalves de Camara writes his “Memoirs” of Ignatius.
1556: Ignatius ill much of the first half of the year. He dies on July 31, 1556. Lainez appointed Vicar General. Charles V abdicates throne as Holy Roman Emperor. Palestrina composes Missa Papa Marcelli. Ignatius writes his last letter to the Rectors of Italy. Between his first and the last letter, during 1518-1556, we have 6,740 extant letters and instructions of Ignatius that provide valuable information regarding him and Jesuit governance. These are preserved in 12 volumes and published in a series Monumenta Historica Societatis Jesu. Some 73 others were discovered later. Others have undoubtedly disappeared. That total of more than 6,800 letters makes it the largest collection of the sixteenth century. It is larger than the collected letters of Erasmus and larger than the combined collected of Martin Luther and John Calvin.
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