Nicholas Bobadilla

Who was Nicholas Bobadilla?

Nicolas Bobadilla was one of the first Jesuits.

He was born in Palencia, Spain, and was educated in his own country and in France. He fell under the influence of Ignatius of Loyola while studying at the University of Paris,and became one of the first Jesuits.

Bobadilla was an effective preacher, for a time attached to the armies of the Emperor Charles V. He spent most of his long career in Germany and Italy, using his formidable intellectual and rhetorical powers against the spread of Protestantism. He sometimes displeased Ignatius, as when he too strenuously opposed the efforts of Charles V to make peace with the Protestants and was for this reason forced to leave Germany.

He died at Loreto, Italy, in 1590.