Wofford College Digital Commons @ Wofford Student Scholarship 5-2018 Iñigo to Ignatius: The pirS itual Foundation of the Society of Jesus Lee T. Holden Wofford College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wofford.edu/studentpubs Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, European History Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, and the Intellectual History Commons Recommended Citation Holden, Lee T., "Iñigo to Ignatius: The pS iritual Foundation of the Society of Jesus" (2018). Student Scholarship. 19. https://digitalcommons.wofford.edu/studentpubs/19 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Wofford. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Wofford. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Iñigo to Ignatius: The Spiritual Foundation of the Society of Jesus By Lee Holden Holden 2 Introduction and Historiographical Note When one thinks of the accomplishments of Ignatius of Loyola, it is hard to imagine that he is, to most moderns, little more than a name. Most people know at least something about the Society of Jesus, often called the Jesuits, but what about its founder? Though he is a canonized saint, he did not apply his own name to his order, as did Benedict, Francis, and Dominic. This, perhaps, tells us more about Ignatius than many scholars could. Following his ‘conversion’ he was a man who relentlessly deflected credit for his doings away from himself. Though he was the de facto leader of his group of companions, he often spoke of their doings as a body, and rarely as individual parts.