Rodolfo Acquaviva, SJ (2 October 1550 – 25 July 1583) was an Italian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary and priest in India who served the court of

Akbar the Great Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor exp ...

from 1580 to 1583. He was killed in 1583 and

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

in 1893.

Family

Rodolfo Acquaviva was the son of Giangirolamo Acquaviva, the 10th Duke of Atri. He was the great-grandson of Andrea Matteo Acquaviva,

condottiere Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

. Rodolfo (also known as Rudolfo) belonged to a powerful and illustrious family of Germanic origin settled in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

since the twelfth century. His mother was Marguerite Pio where on his mother's side, he was a cousin of

Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius de Gonzaga, SJ (; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian people, Italian aristocracy (class), aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the v ...

.D'Souza, Anthony. "Martyrs of Cuncolim." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 3 September 2019

Priesthood

In April 1568, inspired by the example of his uncle

Claudio Acquaviva Claudio Acquaviva, SJ (14 September 1543 – 31 January 1615) was an Italian Jesuit priest. Elected in 1581 as the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, he has been referred to as the second founder of the Jesuit order. Early life and ...

who later became the 5th General of the Jesuits, he too joined the Society of Jesus. He became a novice at Sant'Andrea al Quirinale in Rome together with

Stanislas Kostka Stanisław Kostka, S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice in the Society of Jesus. He was born at Rostkowo, Przasnysz County, Poland, on 28 October 1550, and died in Rome during the night of 14–15 August 1568. He is sa ...

. After completing his studies, Acquaviva was chosen by his superiors for the prestigious and challenging Indian missions, begun by

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...

in the Portuguese territory of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. He then travelled to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, the starting point for the eastern voyage where he was ordained as a priest and sailed for India in 1578.

At Akbar's Court

At first Acquaviva taught at

Saint Paul's College, Goa St. Paul's College was a Jesuit school, and later college, founded circa 1542 by saint Francis Xavier, at Old Goa. It was once the main Jesuit institution in the whole of Asia. It housed the first printing press in India, having published the fir ...

but was then assigned as the leader of a mission to the court of the

Grand Mughal Grand Mughal or Mogul, also Great Mughal (), is a title coined by Europeans for the ruler of the Mughal Empire of India. The Mughals themselves used the title ''Padishah''. The title is especially associated with the third in the line, Akbar the Gr ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

(1542–1605) who had requested missionaries be sent. In his new palace in

Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of the Mughal Empire in 1571 by Mughal emperors, Emperor Akbar, servin ...

Akbar built the

Ibadat Khana The Ibādat Khāna (House of Worship) was a meeting house built in 1575 CE by the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) at Fatehpur Sikri to gather spiritual/religious leaders of different religious grounds (and beliefs) so ...

(House of Worship) where he invited leaders of the Muslim, Hindu and other religions to debate points of religious truth, including Acquaviva and his companion Jesuit António de Monserrate (Antoni de Montserrat in his native Catalan), and their young translator, Francisco Henriques, who spoke Persian. Akbar was interested in founding a new pantheistic religion with elements from different traditions and his new faith was called Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"). Although Acquaviva came equipped with the Bible translated into many different languages, (though not yet Persian) and was the object of Akbar's sympathetic personal attention, the Jesuit felt his efforts were fruitless, one obstacle being the ruler's repugnance to monogamy, and after three years, decided to withdraw, though other Jesuits maintained the mission at the courts of the

Mughal Emperors The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty ( House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire i ...

and in

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

for the next two centuries.

Martyrdom

Upon his return to Goa as part of his missionary commitments, Acquaviva led a mission to the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Kshatriyas Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

of Salcette, south of Goa. This was seen as a provocation by the locals, inciting the Cuncolim Revolt of July 1583. Acquaviva had his throat cut while praying to God.

Beatification

Acquaviva and his four Jesuit companions were

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

in 1893. He is commemorated with the Jesuit martyrs of the missions on 4 February by the order and its institutions.

References

Sources

Daniello Bartoli Daniello Bartoli (; 12 February 160813 January 1685) was an Italian Jesuit writer and historiographer, celebrated by the poet Giacomo Leopardi as the "Dante of Italian prose" Ferrara He was born in Ferrara. His father, Tiburzio was a chemist as ...

, ''Missione al Gran Mogor del p. Ridolfo Acquaviva della Compagnia di Gesu, sua vita e morte'' (1663); Salerno (1998);Googlebook (171

* Sir Edward Maclagan, ''The Jesuits and the Great Mogul'' (1932) * *Teotonio de Souza
''Why Cuncolim Martyrs?''
*Youri Martini, ''Akbar e i Gesuiti. Missionari cristiani alla corte del Gran Moghul'', Il Pozzo di Giacobbe, Trapani 2018, {{DEFAULTSORT:Acquaviva, Rodolfo 1550 births 1583 deaths 16th-century Italian Jesuits 16th-century Indian Jesuits 16th-century Christian saints Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Rodolfo Acquaviva Jesuit missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in India Italian expatriates in India People from Abruzzo Beatifications by Pope Leo XIII