GESUALDO, ALFONSO. – Archbishop of Naples, born in Naples around 1540 to Luigi, Count of Consue and later Prince of Venosa. Clement VIII appointed him Archbishop of Naples on 25 February 1596; there he displayed multifaceted activity as a shepherd and administrator.
To the 39 parishes existing in the city, which were insufficient for the administration of the Sacraments and the care of souls, he ordered the addition of 15 more. Of combative spirit, he engaged in a dispute with Cardinal Bellarmine, who sought to remove the Island of Procida from his jurisdiction; the Pope, convinced by the documentary evidence presented by G., confirmed his rights. A prelate of exemplary piety and austerity, he worked to reform the monasteries of nuns in Naples but encountered opposition from the city’s noble families, who were jealous of certain prerogatives that G. attempted to curtail. He died at the age of 63, at the beginning of 1603 (or 1605).
JESUITS. – The J. or “Apostolic Clerics of St. Jerome” were founded in 1360 COLOMBINA (v.) and dedicated themselves to a life of rigorous penance and the exercise of works of mercy, especially the care of the sick.
In 1367 they obtained approval for their Order from Urban V in Viterbo. Because they frequently mentioned the name of Jesus in their preaching, they were called J. They wore a white cassock, fastened at the waist with a leather belt, a square white hood, and a grey cloak. Initially, their statutes were roughly modeled on the Benedictine Rule; from 1426 they adopted the so-called Rule of St. Augustine and the constitutions completed by the Blessed John of Tossignano, prior of one of their houses.
The J. experienced notable growth in Italy; in 1425 some of them settled in Toulouse, where they led a hermitical life, similar to that of the Camaldolese. During the frequent epidemics of the time, they distinguished themselves by their extraordinary spirit of sacrifice in assisting the afflicted and burying the dead; they were also specialized in the preparation of medicines and spirits, for which they were also called the Fathers of Spirits. Until 1606, they were all laymen without exception; in that year, Paul V permitted them to be ordained to the priesthood, after which each monastery had one or two priests.
Members of the Order of the J. included the Blessed John of Tossignano, the Blessed Giannetto of Verona, Bianco of Siena (the sweet fourteenth-century mystical poet), Paolo Morigia (d. 1604), author of a History of the Illustrious Men of his Order, and Bonaventura Cavalieri, the noted mathematician.
In the 17th century, as the Order had declined from its original fervor, it was suppressed by Clement IX with the bull *Romanus Pontifex* (6 December 1668).
Around 1367, the Blessed Colombini persuaded his cousin Catherine Colombini (d. 20 October 1387) to establish the Gesuates, or Poor Gesuates of the Visitation of the Madonna, with a contemplative purpose. They observed silence, fasted frequently, scourged themselves twice each night, wore hairshirts, and slept on straw. The Gesuates survived in Italy as a Congregation until 1872.