Francisco Javier Clavijero, actor and witness of History: writing as an instrument of subversion against the King and the Papacy

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59885/archivoVallejo.2024.v7n14.05

Keywords:

Francisco Javier Clavijero, Jesuits, exile, rebellion, testimony

Abstract

The current study analyses two little-studied works by the Mexican Jesuit historian Francisco Javier Clavijero: a testimony and a letter that discuss the causes of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico and narrate the hardships of European exile. These two speeches have a subversive character, because they question the legitimacy of the king and the pope, and establish an implicit alliance with the people who mutinied against the Jesuit exile. On the other hand, the historian’s deep resentment against the French Enlightenment, which was, according to him, the main driving force behind the expulsion from Europe and America, is revealed. Clavijero uses his testimony and his letter to confront the exceptional power of the king, to judge and condemn the pope, and to argue that it will be posterity that will do justice to the Jesuit religious order. Writing becomes a means of questioning power, vindicating his order, and keeping a memory of these fateful events.

References

Baena, A. (2013). Las reacciones a la expulsión de los jesuitas en Nueva España: conflicto e identidad. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, (26), 147-170. https://doi.org/10.5944/etfiv.26.2013.13627

Clavijero, F. (2018). Relación de los sucesos de la provincia de México desde el día 25 de junio de 1767. En A. Reynoso, Francisco Xavier Clavigero. El aliento del Espíritu (pp. 527-547). Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Clavijero, F. (2001). Carta de N. sobre el juicio que formará la posteridad de la destrucción de los jesuitas. En R. Froldi, Una carta inédita de Francisco Javier Clavijero, en torno a la supresión de la Compañía de Jesús. Revista de Literatura, 63(126), 517-533. https://doi.org/10.3989/revliteratura.2001.v63.i126.221

Mörner, M. (1966). Los motivos de la expulsión de los jesuitas del imperio español. Historia Mexicana, 16(1), 1-14. https://historiamexicana.colmex.mx/index.php/RHM/article/view/1070

Perrone, N. H. (2016). Un recorrido historiográfico sobre la Compañía de Jesús: la bibliografía jesuita y laica sobre las expulsiones, la supresión y la restauración de los jesuitas. Anuario IEHS, 31(1), 149-172. https://ojs2.fch.unicen.edu.ar/ojs-3.1.0/index.php/anuario-ies/article/view/149

Published

2024-10-29

How to Cite

Escalante Adaniya, M. E. (2024). Francisco Javier Clavijero, actor and witness of History: writing as an instrument of subversion against the King and the Papacy. Archivo Vallejo, 7(14), 135–152. https://doi.org/10.59885/archivoVallejo.2024.v7n14.05