Łukaszewska-Haberkowa, Justyna (Wydawnictwo Towarzystwa Naukowego Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, 2022)
The objective of the paper is to revise and complete the current state of research into general characteristics of the first generation of the Polish Jesuits. The first part characterizes the 16th century Poland as a country. Then the influence of linguistic and regional relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is depicted and the degree of language knowledge among the Polish Jesuits is presented. The term “Polish Jesuits” applies here both to the members of the Society born in the Commonwealth as well as those coming from abroad to perform their duties there. In the 16th century these Jesuits formed a group which was fascinating in terms of origin and their knowledge of languages. Situation of the Jesuit Society in the period discussed in the present paper was incomparable to that in other European countries and the knowledge of multiple languages among the priests and brothers attests to this fact.
