Political Agents and Cultural Mediators: Jesuit Procurators in a Globalizing World (16Th-18Th Centuries)

This volume traces the complex, global-scale circulation of procurators as non-state cosmopolitan agents, along with the movement of goods and knowledge, across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, on a scale that was, for the first time, truly global. The provincial congregations and their respective procurators (procuratores provinciae) emerged as key figures within the complex administrative structures of the Society of Jesus, operating between Rome and the provinces, particularly in overseas territories. Their activities at the Roman curia challenged the traditionally centralized and hierarchical vision of the Jesuit order, as these procurators positioned themselves as influential diplomatic agents in key decision-making processes.