Jesuit

The Jesuits are an order of Roman Catholic men who follow the Latin phrase: Ad majorem Dei gloriam, meaning “for the greater glory of God.” The order’s primary goal has been to spread the teachings of the church, and in doing so it has made lasting contributions in the fields of education and scholarship. Founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 and confirmed by Pope Paul III in 1540, the Jesuits original mission was to travel to the Holy Land and convert all of the Muslims to Christianity, but with the outbreak of war with the Ottoman Empire, the plan never came to fruition. Instead, the order subjected its authority to the will of the Pope and became missionaries wherever they were needed. Missions were established in India and Japan, into the interior of China, and along the coast of Africa. Perhaps the most well known Jesuit missionaries lived and taught in the New World, where they created reductions, village communities under their spiritual guidance and leadership. As many in the order voyaged abroad, scores of Jesuits traveled throughout Europe building communities and doing their best to embolden the Counter Reformation movement, strengthening Roman Catholicism and weakening the growing Protestant threat. By 1740, more than 650 Jesuit universities had been founded across the continent, as well as 200 seminaries and academies of religious study.

From the game's History encyclopedia, AoE3: DE 100.19.18309.