Reassessing Loyalties: Jan Chądzyński, SJ, and the Jesuits’ Political Allegiance in Early Modern Poland–Lithuania

This paper challenges the dominant narrative about the Jesuits’ political stance in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, particularly regarding the Zebrzydowski Rokosz (1606–7), a major noble rebellion against the Polish king. By juxtaposing the political views of Piotr Skarga, a prominent Jesuit royal preacher, expressed in 1597, with those of a relatively obscure Jesuit Jan Chądzyński from the mid-seventeenth century, I question the prevailing belief that the Polish–Lithuanian Jesuits shifted their political support from the monarch towards the nobility and its privileges following the rebellion. Contrary to this view, Chądzyński’s writings reveal persistent criticism of the nobility’s political dominance among Jesuits. This paper situates these findings within a broader European Jesuit context, demonstrating that Jesuits across the continent shared a vision balancing strong monarchical power with checks against despotism. This contextualization emphasizes the need for historical scholarship that acknowledges the contributions of Jesuits from various regions to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their political ideology.