Ignatius of Loyola
Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola entered the world inside a stone fortress in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa. His parents belonged to the minor nobility of the Basque region. Don Beltrán Ibáñez de Oñaz y Loyola and Doña María Sáenz de Licona y Balda fought in the Basque war of the bands. Their manor house stood on land that King Henry IV ordered demolished in 1456. The king expelled Íñigo's paternal grandfather to Andalusia for crimes committed against the local population. Íñigo was the youngest of thirteen children born into this turbulent family. His mother died shortly after his birth. Maternal care fell to María de Garín, the wife of the local blacksmith. A seven-year-old boy returned to Casa Loyola years later. Anticipating an ecclesiastic career, his father had him tonsured.
At age seventeen, Íñigo joined the army with a desire for fame and chivalry. He patterned his life after stories like Amadís de Gaula. He strutted about with his cape flying open to reveal tight-fitting hose and boots. A sword and dagger hung at his waist during his service. In 1509, he took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera. His diplomacy earned him the title servant of the court. On the 20th of May 1521, a French-Navarrese expedition force stormed the fortress of Pamplona. A cannonball ricocheting off a nearby wall fractured his right leg. He underwent several surgical operations without anesthetics in his father's castle. The bones were set and rebroken multiple times. The final result left his right leg shorter than the other. He would limp for the rest of his life. His military career ended abruptly on that battlefield.
While recovering from surgery, Íñigo asked for romances of chivalry but found none in the castle. His sister-in-law Magdalena de Araoz brought him lives of Christ and saints instead. The religious work that struck him most was the De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony. This book took forty years to complete and quoted Church Fathers like St Gregory the Great and St Augustine. It inspired him to devote himself to God and follow Francis of Assisi. He experienced desolation when romantic heroism dreams ended, yet saintly dreams brought joy and peace. In March 1522, he visited the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat. There he confessed past sins and gave fine clothes to the poor. He wore a garment of sack-cloth during an overnight vigil at the shrine. He hung his sword and dagger at the Virgin's altar before walking toward Manresa.
In September 1523, Íñigo made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the aim of settling there. Franciscans sent him back to Europe after twelve days. He returned to Barcelona and attended a free public grammar school at age thirty-three. He studied theology and Latin from 1526 to 1527 at the University of Alcalá. Three devout women called alumbrados began experiencing ecstatic states while he preached on the street. One fell senseless, another rolled about on the ground, and another shuddered in convulsions. The suspicious activity took place while Íñigo had no degree in theology. He was singled out for interrogation by the Inquisition but later released. He moved to France to study at the University of Paris. He arrived during anti-Protestant turmoil that forced John Calvin to flee. Ignatius gathered six companions around him as fellow students at the university.
On the morning of the 15th of August 1534, Loyola and his six companions met in the chapel of Saint Denis. Only one of them was a priest at that time. They took solemn vows of their lifelong work together. Ignatius gained a Magisterium from the University of Paris at age forty-three in 1535. In 1539, with Peter Faber and Francis Xavier, he formed the Society of Jesus. Pope Paul III approved the order in 1540. He became the first Superior General invested with the title Father General. A Jesuit college opened in Messina proved so successful its rules were copied elsewhere. In a letter before departing for India in 1541, Ignatius used the Latin phrase Ite, inflammate omnia. It means Go, set the world on fire. The Jesuit Constitutions created a centralized organization stressing absolute self-denial. Their motto perinde ac cadaver meant as if a dead body regarding ego.
By 1553 Ignatius's health began to fail significantly. He dictated a testament of his life to Louis Gonzalez. This work later published as an autobiography in 1555 recounted events from the 1520s and 1530s. Ignatius died in Rome on the 31st of July 1556. He likely suffered from Roman Fever, a severe variant of malaria endemic to the city. An autopsy revealed kidney and bladder stones causing abdominal pains in later life. The anatomist Matteo Colombo described results showing nephrolithiasis and cholelithiasis. Stones appeared in veins suggesting thrombosed hemorrhoids. Those found in the colon and lungs suggested malignant growth with metastases. His body was dressed in priestly robes and placed in a wooden coffin. He was buried in the crypt of Maria della Strada Church on the 1st of August 1556. In 1568 the church was demolished and replaced by the Church of the Gesù. His remains were reinterred in the new church in a new coffin.
Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V on the 27th of July 1609. Pope Gregory XV canonized him on the 12th of March 1622. His feast day is celebrated annually on the 31st of July. Numerous institutions across the world bear his name including many educational establishments. Loyola University Maryland became the first university in the United States to carry his name in 1852. Other American universities include Loyola University Chicago and Loyola Marymount University. A Spanish biographical film titled Loyola, the Soldier Saint starred Rafael Durán in 1949. A Filipino film named Ignacio de Loyola portrayed him as Andreas Muñoz in 2016. The Saint Ignatius de Loyola Catholic Church opened in El Paso, Texas in 1905. Loyola College in Chennai was founded in 1925 by Francis Bertram. The Oñaz shield features seven maroon bars going diagonally from upper left to lower right. These colors represent the official family colors granted by the King of Spain for bravery.
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Common questions
Where was Ignatius of Loyola born and what was his family background?
Ignatius of Loyola entered the world inside a stone fortress in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa. His parents belonged to the minor nobility of the Basque region and fought in the Basque war of the bands.
How did Ignatius of Loyola's military career end and what physical injury did he sustain?
A cannonball fractured his right leg on the 20th of May 1521 during the storming of the fortress of Pamplona. The final result left his right leg shorter than the other and he would limp for the rest of his life.
What religious experience led Ignatius of Loyola to change his life path after his injury?
While recovering from surgery, his sister-in-law brought him lives of Christ and saints instead of romances of chivalry. This inspired him to devote himself to God and follow Francis of Assisi.
When and how did Ignatius of Loyola found the Society of Jesus?
On the morning of the 15th of August 1534, Loyola and six companions met in the chapel of Saint Denis to take solemn vows. Pope Paul III approved the order in 1540 and Ignatius became the first Superior General invested with the title Father General.
What caused the death of Ignatius of Loyola and when was he buried?
Ignatius died in Rome on the 31st of July 1556 likely suffering from Roman Fever which is a severe variant of malaria endemic to the city. He was buried in the crypt of Maria della Strada Church on the 1st of August 1556.