Page - 36 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Introduction36 heritage of the historic, multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Kingdom of Hun- gary. The harmony or disharmony of these four poles—a highly unstable relationship—hugely influenced Hell’s scope of action, the prospects of assert- ing the species of knowledge he represented, and the strategies he chose to achieve this. From a different perspective, Hell’s choices, the development and turning-points of his career, and his movement among these poles throws light on the peculiar Habsburg/Central European version of the unity and diversity of the Enlightenment, together with its cleavages and the possibilities and lim- its of transgressing them. This is because these poles of loyalty roughly corre- spond to, and raise the issue of, Hell’s engagement with the following: (1) bu- reaucratic-governmental Enlightenment, intending to enhance the infrastruc- tural effects and efficacy of the state in permeating the capillaries of society; (2) Catholic Enlightenment, which, as a renewal of the tradition of confession- alization in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, set the same goals with regard to strengthening religious sentiment and loyalty toward the church; (3) mainstream Enlightenment, with universal progress and human solidarity on its banner; and (4) the aspirations of the “national awakening” among the elites of the Habsburg monarchy—in this case, the Hungarian one—to pre- serve and strengthen the status of their leadership through modern knowledge practices. The steadily upward trend in Hell’s early career may be interpreted as being thanks to, and illustrates the relative harmony among, these trends until the 1770s, while his subsequent frustrations, carefully planned or impro- vised attempts at accommodation and adjustment, point to the disruption of this harmony. The successes and failures of his strenuous efforts to maintain and advance himself and the cause of Jesuit science by moving among, even simultaneously existing in “life worlds” that can be described as local, regional, imperial, and global, and especially exploiting and transferring the capital of recognition and connections accumulated between them, throw a uniquely interesting light on the dynamics of power and knowledge, continuity and change, metropolis and provinces in Central Europe in the era of enlightened reform.