Page - 204 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 4204 administer the sacrament to Catholic soldiers. In a letter to the Jesuit superior general, Hell explains that he was indeed willing to meet the request, since the Catholic bishop count [Franz Joseph] von Gondola [1711–74], Vicar Apostolic for entire Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, had provided me already before my departure from Vienna with a patent giving me all episcopal rights and freedoms, as well as holy oil and other necessities for a three-year period. I added, however, the condition that this practice of our religion had to constitute no infringement of our royal assignment nor be displeasing to the magistrate or bishop of Trondheim.100 General von der Osten assured him that the bishop had no jurisdiction what- soever over the soldiers at the fortress. Thus Hell and Sajnovics prepared a hall for services on military property, and already on the fifth day upon their arrival they celebrated Mass and started taking confessions. This early morning activ- ity was—on Hell’s own testimony—not frowned upon by any of the many Trondheim citizens with whom they interacted. Instead, “the entire town of Trondheim, including the non-Catholic priests, held us in great esteem and revered us as unusual persons of a stature almost on the same level as bishops.”101 As mentioned, the government had expected Hell and Sajnovics to spend the winter in Trondheim. The expeditionists themselves, however, had other plans. They insisted on reaching their destination the same autumn, in order to have sufficient time to construct a proper observatory and conduct various scientific tasks, including meticulous measurements of the geographical lati- tude and longitude of the observation site. This change in schedule meant that everything needed to be prepared in great haste, since the season of the fierce autumn storms was fast approaching. Besides hiring a ship equipped with a crew of sailors that were supposed to hibernate together with Hell and his team in Vardø, the magistrates managed to assist them in securing warm furs and provisions of food and wine sufficient for a whole year, and even hire a cook that knew how to bake bread.102 Embarking on August 22, a seven-week coastal voyage—considerably be- yond Gunnerus’s optimistic prediction of twenty-eight days, or the thirty-four days they were told by the captain of a ship arriving from Vardø to Trondheim 100 Hell to the superior general of the Society of Jesus in Rome, dated Vardø, January 15, 1769 (draft, wus). 101 Hell to the superior general of the Society of Jesus in Rome, dated Vardø, January 15, 1769 (draft, wus). 102 Pinzger, Hell Miksa, 1:76–77.