The desire for Jerusalem: Historical Considerations of Ignatius of Loyola’s Desire to go to the Holy Land

Abstract

Ignatius of Loyola’s convalescence is well-known as providing the occasion of his spiritual conversion. Inspired by two great religious texts, he decided to embark upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The interpretation of his decision to travel to the Holy Land, almost exclusively based on the Autobiography, tends to focus on his spiritual movements and his appropriation of the religious and spiritual content of what he was reading. Such an interpretation, though not mistaken, leaves out important considerations from his context. This article seeks to recover aspects of that context.
The broad historical horizon of his conversion shows Jerusalem as occupying a considerable place in the Spanish religious imagination. Specifically, this study will consider the messianic aspirations attached to King Ferdinand as well as the conquest of Oran spearheaded by Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. The literature surrounding both suggests the deep imbrication between Spanish religious thought and the Holy Land. In short, a historical critical analysis of sermons, songs, poetry and chronicles connected to these two significant historical figures points to the great currency of the desire for Jerusalem in early sixteenth century Spanish society.
That desire, unquestionably nuanced and diverse, appears as a sign of the times, and as such, it forms the background of Ignatius of Loyola’s convalescence and conversion. This broad social and religious desire, though it does not explain Ignatius’s choice to make a pilgrimage, makes his election to travel to the Holy Land to follow Christ eminently plausible. For as spiritual and affectively motivated as he was to follow Christ, Ignatius was not at the margin of his history. Nor can Ignatian historiography and spirituality remain at the margin of important historical considerations to understand that the soldier who became a pilgrim was realizing a recognizable Spanish desire: he was journeying to the Holy Land for Christ.