Page - 185 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

185The North Beckons 2 The Invitation from Copenhagen: Providence and Rhetoric One thing must have been clear to the Copenhagen government: Denmark– Norway should seize the opportunity offered by the publicity surrounding the upcoming transit and arrange for a qualified observer to be stationed some- where in far northern Norway. Vardø was as good a choice as any. For ages, a fortress and a garrison had been stationed there, signaling the strategic impor- tance of this northeasternmost village in Norway.39 As for selecting the man who would be up to the challenge, the exact reasons why the Copenhagen court cast its eyes on Vienna in search of an astronomer of international repu- tation to observe the transit of Venus are not spelt out in the available sources. From a strictly internal point of view, by the mid-1760s Hell’s credentials as a key figure in European astronomy and an expert specifically on the transits of Venus had been firmly established, so generally speaking he was a fully eligible candidate. Hell being a Jesuit, confessional scruples could have been a hin- drance. However, on the eve of the dissolution of the Society of Jesus, anti-Jesuit sentiment was a more live issue in Catholic than in Protestant countries. While the letter of the law strictly forbade the presence of Jesuits on Danish and Nor- wegian soil,40 by the eighteenth century it was long since the Reformation had triumphed and consolidated its positions in Scandinavia. Effective measures were still in place to prevent Catholicism from taking root, yet various prag- matic accommodations were in place, such as the tolerance of resident Jesuits in Copenhagen offering services to foreign diplomats and mercenaries.41 In any case, the Viennese astronomer was going to stay in the realm for only a 39 On the historical significance of the military presence at Vardøhus, see, e.g., G.I. Willoch, ed., Vardøhus Festning 650 år. Jubileumsskrift (Oslo: Generalinspektøren for Kystartilleriet, 1960); Randi Rønning Balsvik, “Pomorbyen Vardø og Russland,” in Pomor: Nord-Norge og Nord-Russland gjennom tusen år, ed. Einar Niemi (Oslo: Gyldendal, 1992), 99–116; Rune Blix Hagen, “Vardøhus som sentrum for dansknorsk statsmakt i nord 1550–1738,” in For- post mot øst: Fra Vardø og Finnmarks historie 1307–2007, ed. Randi Rønning Balsvik and Jens Petter Nielsen (Stamsund: Orkana forlag, 2008), 45–60. 40 In the Danish and Norwegian Codes (Kong Christian den Femtes Danske Lov and Kong Christian den Femtes Norske Lov)—both in effect since the 1680s—the following regula- tion is found (book 6, chapter 1.3): “Every monk, Jesuit, or member of the catholic clergy, is forbidden, under pain of death, to inhabit or to make any stay in the Danish domin- ions.” Translation in Report from the Select Committee: Appointed to Report the Nature and Substance of the Laws and Ordinances Existing in Foreign States, Respecting the Regulation of Their Roman Catholic Subjects […] ([London]: House of Commons, 1816), appendix, 433. 41 For an analysis of the religious aspect of Danish–Norwegian state politics in the early modern period, see Sølvi Sogner, “Fromhed styrker rikene,” in Norsk innvandringshisto- rie, ed. Knut Kjeldstadli (Oslo: Pax forlag, 2003), 1:240–58; English summary in Grete