Acknowledgments
This book is an adaptation of my 2021 doctoral thesis at the University of York. I was privileged to undertake my research under the supervision of Simon Ditchfield, whose scholarly insight was only matched by his human care for me. Charles H. Parker, under whose mentorship I earned my M.A. at Saint Louis University, not only has never ceased to support me since then, but also was the one who introduced me to Simon and to the University of York, for which I am particularly grateful. Emilie Murphy read drafts of chapters of my thesis at regular intervals during my doctoral research: her incisive critiques often led to more research, and always made my work better in the end. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful conversations I had, and research and writing advice I received, from Mark Jenner, Bill Shields, Irene Fosi, and Camilla Russell.
The now-deceased Jesuit historian John Padberg, S.J. welcomed and supported me as a fellow Jesuit historian from the moment we met—even when I had very little right to claim to be such. Paul Begheyn, S.J. embraced me as a fellow scholar of Peter Canisius and opened the wealth of his knowledge and resources to me, giving me, among other things, a deeply moving tour of Canisius’s Nijmegen. Mark Lewis, S.J. offered insight into Jesuit history at both early and late stages of this project, pointing things out to me that I surely would have missed without his shrewd companionship. Tom Lucas, S.J. sparked my interest in Peter Canisius, and convinced me from the start that Canisius had far more to say than that which historians had hitherto allowed him.
I would also like to thank the Jesuit communities that supported me during the various stages of this project. I was a part of the Manchester (U.K.) Jesuit Community for my first two years of doctoral research, and so it was Brendan Callaghan, Peter Scally, Geoff te Braake, and Jim Crampsey who had to bear with me as I figured out how to research and write a doctoral thesis. I finished the project at the Jesuit community at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, with a large and supportive group of Jesuits around me, among whom Mario Prietto and Jerry Wade deserve particular mention for their unfailing support, care, and interest in me and my project.
My parents, Sarah and Philip Flowers, read every chapter of my thesis at least twice, helping me to catch typos and clarify matters when my arguments got muddy. Being the son of parents who met while doing graduate work in history at the University of California has both its privileges and its delights.
Finally, in undertaking work on Peter Canisius I stood on the shoulders of two fellow Jesuits and fellow historians for whom I only grew in admiration the deeper I dove into their research and insight: James Brodrick and Otto Braunsberger. They were both long dead before I had even heard of Peter Canisius, and yet my kinship with them is rich and real. Brodrick dedicated his monumental biography of Canisius to the memory of Braunsberger. And so, echoing the words of his dedication, I offer my own to him with great gratitude:
Bonae atque illustri memoriae Jacobi Brodrick, S.J., principis narratorum Societatis Jesu