Anti-Jesuit Discourse in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1576–1632)

Arguments, Tropes, Figures

Series: 

Author:
Wojciech Ryczek
What do Jesuits have in common with spiders, flies, chameleons, owls, hawks, or Sirens?

Discover the provocative arguments, tropes, and figures that pervaded the anti-Jesuit literature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1576–1632). Anti-Jesuit Discourse in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth examines the structure and functions of these discursive elements, often reinforced by vivid metaphor, elaborate allegory, or malicious irony, through the lens of rhetorical strategies suitable for controversy, polemic, dispute, or parody. This dual focus, both structural and functional, enables the identification of the images, stereotypes, clichés, and legends associated with the Society of Jesus, many of which fueled and continue to fuel anti-Jesuit sentiment worldwide.
Copyright Year:
2026
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-72856-1
Publication:
04 Nov 2025
Paperback
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-72854-7
Publication:
13 Nov 2025
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About MyBook
Wojciech Ryczek, Ph.D. (2013), is an assistant professor at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków. His research focuses on the history and theory of rhetoric, with a special regard to figuration, old Polish literature, and neo-Latin poetry. He has published extensively on literature in early modern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.  
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviated Anti-Jesuit Texts
 1 Introduction
 2 Advocates of Free Education
 3 Antichrist’s Servants
 4 Arrogant Thrasos
 5 Artists of Equivocation
 6 Bad Shepherds
 7 Bad Sons of Good Mother
 8 Blind Owls
 9 Brood of Vipers
 10 Cloaked Sirens
 11 Cohort of Soldiers
 12 Constructors of Fortresses
 13 Cunning Gibeonites
 14 Defenders of Regicide
 15 Devious Sophists
 16 Devotees of Admonitions
 17 Disruptive Moles
 18 Disturbers of Public Peace
 19 False Prophets
 20 Ferocious Snakes
 21 Fickle Chameleons
 22 Foreign Operatives
 23 Forgeries of Coins
 24 Guardians of Secrets
 25 Hunters of Widows
 26 Ignatians
 27 Intrusive Flies
 28 Kidnappers of Youth
 29 Loyolites
 30 Masters of Grammar
 31 New Apostles
 32 New Catones
 33 New Jesuates (Jesuatae)
 34 New Religious of the Roman Court
 35 Powerless Spiders
 36 Predatory Hawks
 37 Rabid Dogs
 38 Ravening Wolves
 39 Scourges of Jesus (Jesumastigae)
 40 Successors of the Teutonic Knights
 41 Thersites’s Followers
 42 Undefined Hermaphrodites
 43 Wasps and Hornets
 44 Whitewashed Tombs
 45 Conclusion
 Bibliography
 Index
The book is essential for scholars and students of cultural and literary history, particularly those interested in early modern literature, Jesuit studies, discourses of propaganda, and religious polemics.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
x, 132 pp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/b10635

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