Japan, India, or China? The Uncertain Steps of Sabatino de Ursis's Mission to Asia

This contribution presents an analysis of the texts and contexts (plus transcriptions) of two documents relating to the vocation, evaluation, and appointment of Sabatino de Ursis to the overseas missions. These documents reflect the flexible process behind the selection of de Ursis to travel east. At the same time, they illustrate a definite policy and practice on the part of several members of the Jesuit leadership in Italy to appoint a specific type of missionary to the region, characterised above all by intellectual capabilities, personal maturity, and spiritual strength. It will be shown, finally, how the system that resulted in sending Italians such as de Ursis to his eventual destination, China, shaped the mission in a number of ways, most notably, in giving form to the so-called policy of accommodatio.