Jesuit Ratio Studiorum

Timeline

1. 1584–1586Rome · RomeSuperior General Acquaviva convened six senior study officials from various provinces in Rome to review the constitutions of colleges and university statutes, and in 1586 a trial printing was issued for provincial evaluation, addressing the lack of a unified system of studies after the rapid expansion of Jesuit colleges.
2. 1591–1598Jesuit college network in Europe · ItalyThe trial edition of the Ratio Studiorum published in 1591 was sent to colleges everywhere for trial implementation; Rome condensed and simplified the rules based on feedback, preparing the way for the definitive text, which compressed the rules and removed the theoretical introduction.
3. 1599Rome · RomeOn January 8, 1599, secretary Giacomo Dominici, on Acquaviva's orders, distributed the definitive text to all provinces, making it the unified system of studies that all Jesuit educational institutions were required to follow and completing the institutionalization from local experience to a global code.
4. 1600–1773Jesuit global colleges · MexicoIn the 17th century the Society of Jesus enforced the code in its colleges in Europe, Spanish America, India, and East Asia: lower grades centered on Latin, Greek, and rhetoric, upper grades taught philosophy and theology, and public disputations and college dramas became standard elements of elite education, until the suppression of the order in 1773 interrupted this global system.