Abstract
The reputation of Ignatius of Loyola (c.1491–1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, as a miracle-worker grew during the 1590s, which included his aid in childbirth through handwritten relics. This article examines obstetric miracles associated with Ignatius in the early modern world prior to his canonization in 1622. Through his letters and signature, Ignatius rescued women and their offspring during dangerous and near-fatal deliveries; delayed certain neonatal mortalities long enough for a baptism to occur; and allowed the delivery of a dead fetus to save the mother’s life. While the claims had no bearing on the official declaration of his sainthood, the attributed miracles are emblematic of the concentric and transoceanic nature of his cult. Information and material pathways contributed to the promulgation of the founder’s sanctity in the confines of women in labor and childbirth that had their own patron saints for centuries.
Greenwood, Jonathan E