the Spanish army in its fight against the
kingdom of Navarre and was severely
wounded while defending the city of Pam-
plona against a siege in 1517. While recov-
ering from his injuries, he dedicated him-
self to the church and became a solitary
devotee of the Virgin Mary. He resolved to
establish a religious order that would be
organized much like an army, and fight to
defend the authority of the pope. He wrote
theSpiritual Exercises, a book of medita-
tions, and used this work to proselytize for
his new order. Attending the University of
Paris, he earned a master’s degree in theol-
ogy and gathered a small group of follow-
ers who together proclaimed the founding
of the Society of Jesus in the Church of
Saint Mary in Paris in 1534. The order
won the approval of Pope Paul III and was
soon sending its members to build new
schools and seminaries throughout Catho-
lic Europe. The Society’s goal was to edu-
cate the young, carry out missionary ac-
tivities, and stamp out Protestantism; it
was organized according to Loyola’sJesuit
Constitution, which commanded complete
obedience to the pope.
SEEALSO: Reformation, Catholic
Lucca ...............................................
An independent city of Tuscany that pro-
duced many renowned Renaissance artists,
scholars, and musicians. The Roman town
of Lucca became the capital of a duchy in
the sixth century, and then in 1162 an in-
dependent commune. Lucca prospered as
a center of textile industries, the silk trade,
and banking. It enjoyed the privilege of
coining its own money and remained in-
dependent of Florence, the strongest power
of Tuscany, although it also experienced
periods of rule by tyrants. A condotierre
named Castruccio Castracani took power
in Lucca in 1316 and made the city a wor-
thy rival to the military and economic
power of Florence (later Niccolo Macchia-
velli would commemorate Castracani’s rule
in his writings on able political leaders).
The city was seized by kings of Bavaria
and Bohemia, and sold to and from aris-
tocrats of Genoa, Parma, and Verona. In
1628 an oligarchy took power, which man-
aged to keep the city independent until its
conquest by Napoléon Bonaparte in the
early nineteenth century.
The Cathedral of San Martino served
as the center of religious life in Lucca since
it was first constructed in the sixth cen-
tury. The building underwent construction
throughout the medieval period. Its inte-
rior chapels hold several significant works
of Renaissance art, including paintings by
Domenico Ghirlandaio and Tintoretto,
and a carved sarcophagus by Jacopo della
Quercia. The latter artist also created an
altarpiece for the Basilica of San Frediano.
Lucca is also known for an impressive
set of walls that have survived intact to
the present day. The city was surrounded
by strong walls since its time as a Roman
colony. High towers were also raised
throughout the city to serve as defensive
strongholds for aristocratic families. In
1544, with Florence menacing Lucca with
conquest, the walls were strengthened with
a series of bastions, ditches, underground
rooms, and ramparts—a project that took
more than a century.SEEALSO: FlorenceLuther, Martin ................................
(1483–1546)
A German monk, scholar, and writer, and
leader of the Reformation that brought
about a new Protestant church. Luther was
born in Eisleben, in the kingdom of Sax-
ony. His father was a mine operator whoLucca