292 A Short History of The World But the shock and stress of these losses produced changes perhaps as profound in the Roman church itself. The church was reorganized and a new spirit came into its life. One of the dominant figures in this revival was a young Spanish soldier, Inigo Lopez de Recalde, better known to the world as St. Ignatius of Loyola. After some romantic beginnings he became a priest (1538) and was permitted to found the Society of Jesus, a direct attempt to bring the generous and chivalrous traditions of military discipline into the service of religion. This Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, become one of the greatest teaching and missionary societies the world has ever seen. It carried Christianity to India, China and America. It arrested the, rapid disintegration of the Roman church. It raised the standard of education throughout the whole Catholic world ; it raised the level of Catholic intelligence and quickened the Catholic conscience every- where ; it stimulated Protestant Europe to competitive educational efforts. The vigorous and aggressive Roman Catholic church we know to-day is largely the product of this Jesuit revival.
