The Society of Jesus was founded on a principal of strict obedience to papal authority, yet the turbulent political circumstances in which they operated inevitably brought them into conflict with the Catholic hierarchy. In order to better understand and contextualise the concept of obedience from a theological and practical perspective, this book examines the Jesuits of south-western Europe during the thirty-year generalate of Claudio Acquaviva (1581-1615), a challenging time for the Jesuits, during which their very system of government was called into doubt.