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The Reformation · c. 1547–1558

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus

Ignatius of Loyola · 1491–1556

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What it is

A religious order without choir office, without a habit, and without enclosure, governed centrally and free to be sent anywhere in the world at short notice.

Why it lasted

The most radical redesign of religious life since Benedict, built for mobility, and the organisational reason the Jesuits could act globally.

Where to read it

Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.

These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.

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