The Relations and Jesuit Mentalities: 1635–1660

Through the annual reports (Relations) of the mission superiors, this chapter evaluates the development of Jesuit attitudes expressed in a more public medium than the letters sent to the superior general of the Society. In these reports, the Jesuits reveal their preconceived notions of Syria and how local factors were as important in the representation of Syrians as their ideologically driven stereotypes. It includes analysis of the embellishment of stories when compared to the more detached letters of the mission superiors, the Relations included narrative of their hopes, anxieties, and their interpretations of the heterogeneous world of Syria. They portrayed the indigenous population, specifically Muslims, in an image that fit the prevailing European discourse on the Islamicate World. Jesuit ethnographic writing shows the complex nature of Syrian society, its heterogeneity, and the political disorder that at times engulfed all members of society. In addition, the chapter reveals the worldview of several of the mission superiors, specifically Rene Poirresson who still maintained beliefs in prodigies.