«Et questo mi pare quanto agli studij vostri»: una lettera inedita di Juan de Polanco a Pedro de Ribadeneyra (1547) alle origini della pedagogia gesuita

This essay presents an analysis of a previously unpublished letter, sent by Juan de Polanco to Pedro de Ribadeneira on 9 July 1547, now preserved at the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University. The document constitutes a valuable addition to the patrimony of available sources concerning the early history of Jesuit education. The first part of the essay outlines the circumstances of the letter’s recovery, as well as its physical features. It then proceeds to an analysis of the text, which can be divided into two parts: Polanco’s didactic instructions containing a list of specific authors – some of whom appear for the first time among the early sources on Jesuit education — and subjects recommended for deeper study, both to be compared here with similar extant Jesuit documentation from the same period. The second part of the letter, instead, contains spiritual considerations associated with a life of study. The article concludes with some reflections about the significance of this document, and an appendix containing a full transcription of the letter.