16-17세기 초 콘스탄티노플을 둘러싼정치, 종교 집단들의 갈등 -예수회를 중심으로

Abstract

The missionary work of the Company of Jesuits towards the Eastern Mediterraneancould not be defined as a pure love of mankind and a self-sacrificing spirit exclusivelyfrom the point of religion. They accommodated themselves more or less to worldly powers, being subsidized economically by Roman Popes and French kings. Thesituations are proved from the fact that the feuds between the Jesuits and the Venetians,and between the Catholics of the Vatican, French and the Company of Jesuits on the onehand, and the Protestants of England and Holland on the other, were due for the mostpart to the conflict for usurping worldly initiatives, exploiting military power. The foundation of the Company of Jesuits and its succeeding transition reflect theenvironments of contemporary European society after the 16th century. Created as a sonof the age, the Jesuits as the ‘Societas (Company),’ which referred to the designation ofmilitary union, stood in the vanguard of militaristic missionary work for in interest ofthe Catholics of Western Europe, instead of striving for the peace of genuine spirit ofChristianity. And, practising absolutely ‘obedience like a corpse’, the private liberty offaith which had been principally endorsed by the creed resulted in missing. Furthermore,they tended to ignore diversity and enforce unilaterally their own religious belief notonly to themselves but to others. The missionary work of the Jesuits, while it persisted tenaciously in the hardships ofthe 16th and 17th centuries, declined in the 18th century. The Vatican and the Frenchkings themselves who supported the Jesuits were not much interested in them. In 1762after the death of Louis XIV (1638-1715), the French congress prohibited the Companyof Jesuits. In succession, in July 21, 1773, Roman Pope Clemence XIV interdicted theJesuits by issuing the circular, 'Dominus ac Redemptor'. On the other hand, theOrthodox Church also restricted generally the activities of Latin priests. The decline of the Jesuits was, it can be said, mostly due to the transition of thepolitical and military structure of European countries. Pushing ahead propaganda, thecatholic church as well as each sect of monks, even if seeking after hegemony, stillfollowed the traditional decentralization in the structure of power. Especially the Jesuitsamong them had a more strong tendency of cohesion, and were more closely related tothe political and military power of worldly interest. On the other hand, not only the merchants of Venice but the Protestants of Hollandand England advanced to the Eastern Mediterranean in the phase of dispersed,decentralized system of power, and did not have yet any unified political power ororganized military which could embody intensive aggression. However, with the advance of modern state based on the more or less centralized political and organizedmilitary power, the independent operations of various medieval religious group, cities,and the merchants gradually came to an end. Accordingly the Company of Jesuits alsodeclined to lose its independent initiatives.