Black Robes in Paraguay: The Success of the Guarani Missions Hastened the Abolition of the Jesuits (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: communist revolt, Marquês de Távora, thirty missions, Black Robes, Buenos Aires, South America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Jesuit reductions in Paraquaria were probably the most successful missionary enterprise in history, a fact still very present in the region. However, this success contributed to the downfall of the founders, and for the general reader this book impressively tells that story, little known to the English-speaking world. --W. Michael Mathes, Professor Emeritus, University of San Francisco; El Colegio de Jalisco

This remarkable story of the 17th and 18th century Jesuit missions in Paraguay is set in the midst of the religious rivalries between the cross and the crown in distant Europe. A great read for all Christians and others of good will. --William T. Dentzer, Jr., Former Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States

This sweeping story of a barely known slice of history, solidly placed in the context of world events of the times, is well-researched and entertaining replete with colorful background events involving missionaries struggling with cannibals, slavers, man-eating jaguars, fire-ants, plagues and the machinations of monarchs, politicians and prelates. I learned a lot the primary purpose of good history. --Kenneth Veit, former President of Aetna International, Inc. and current chairman of the Phoenix Arizona History Book Club --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

This historical saga of love, savage violence, and betrayal reads like fiction. While it is a Roman Catholic story, it is written for armchair historians of all beliefs including Catholics, Protestants, Jews, agnostics and secular humanists. In colonial South America the Jesuits established missions among the Guarani. As the Portuguese and Spanish slavers descended on Paraguay, the Jesuits sought to protect stone-age Indians in their missions. Their resistance efforts added to political problems of the church with Catholic monarchs back in Europe. Under pressure from the monarchs a frightened Pope abolished the Jesuit order. In the long, tortured history of European colonization of the Americas, these Jesuit Black Robes in Paraguay stood out as a breed apart, even from their fellow Jesuits elsewhere. Leaders of the anti-Catholic, anti-Jesuit Enlightenment such as Voltaire and Raynal rallied to the side of these extraordinary Paraguay missionaries. Raynal wrote that never has so much good been done for mankind with so little evil. Ironically, the heretic monarchs of Russia and Prussia invited hundreds of the former Jesuits to run their colleges. In doing so, they inadvertently saved these outcasts to become the nucleus around which a reinvigorated papacy would re-establish the Jesuit order forty years after its abolition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Kirk House Pub (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933794100
• ISBN-13: 978-1933794105
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,839,915 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #59 in

  Books > History > Americas > South America > Paraguay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black Robes and Brazilian Bandeirantes, October 29, 2008

By	Pablo "Pablo" (Asuncion Paraguay) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Robes in Paraguay (Paperback)

I recently moved to Paraguay and wanted to obtain some historical context before venturing out to explore the reductions.

In the first half of the book, I found the author's explanation on the origins of the Jesuit Society informative, details regarding the division of the New World between Spain and Portugal useful, and his vignettes regarding life in the missions illuminating- but I never felt he penetrated the psyche of the Jesuits themselves. Perhaps more extensive use of actual Jesuit correspondence would have helped better reveal their thoughts, struggles, and unvarnished sentiments regarding the Guarani.

The second half of the book provided the necessary, but at times tedious, description of the political machinations that ultimately gave rise to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Europe and the Guarani Republic. No detail was spared in the author's vivid description of the horrific torture of ¨conspirators¨ and Jesuits at the hands of Portugese Marquis Pombal.

Overall, a very informative and entertaining read that is certain to sharpen the contrast when I finally make my way to the reductions strewn across the borders of Brazil, Argentina, and modern Paraguay.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down, September 30, 2008

By	William R. Burrows (Cortlandt Manor, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Black Robes in Paraguay (Paperback)

Jaenike gives the reader a real treat in this book. It's a tale well told in a book that's hard to put down. The author has a capacity to tell exactly the right story to bring home signficant points, bringing into relief both saints and villains. He goes back and forth between what is happening in Paraguay between Jesuits and the Guarani on the one and, but just as importantly, on the other hand, giving the story of events in Europe that will ultimately lead not just to the demise of the Guarani missions but of the Jesuit order itself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting history of an interesting time, April 22, 2008

By	Kenneth Veit "Ken" (Phoenix) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Black Robes in Paraguay (Paperback)

It is refreshing to read a history written by someone who is not a professional historian that is so well researched. Here is a book on a little visited corner of the world that touches on a relatively obscure chapter in history, but manages to entertain and capture its reader's interest by relating it all to the larger issues of the world stage over an extended period. While this is a book about the controversial Catholic order of Jesuits, it is not just for Catholic readers. In fact, the author bends over backward to present a balanced and nuanced narrative that should appeal to those who are more interested in historical machinations than grubby religious conflict.