Physiognomy, Complexion, and Ingenuity: the Management of Talent in the Society of Jesus, 1540–1773

Abstract

The Jesuits’ commitment to paperwork and bureaucracy was a distinctive quality of the Society of Jesus since its foundation in 1540. By examining the catalogues produced in Portugal between 1555 and 1754, we argue that this evaluation of the bodily and spiritual qualities of individual Jesuits, especially of their temperament and ingenuity, left a profound mark in the Jesuits’ way of proceeding and that the compilation of these lists was a means to discern the skills most urgently needed for particular contexts and to make the best possible appointments across the globe. Finally, we show that Jesuit mathematicians in Lisbon taught their students how to calculate the natural complexion with astrological techniques.