For the Jesuits of Zaragoza, 1555 was a challenging year. According to one chronicler, the “religious orders in the city ... gathered together against ours and no limit was set to their complaints, threats and false accusations”. At one point, we’re told, “the monks and pastors marched through the whole city”, chanting curses and holding aloft “a crucifix facing backwards, covered with a black cloth”. “This business stirred up an amazing hostility, and the crowd was so excited ... that everything was full of shouting and some horrible things were said against .”