Gabriele Malagrida (1689–1761)

Gabriele Malagrida (1689–1761) was a Jesuit missionary in Brazil and later became royal confessor at the Portuguese court. He was one of three Jesuit fathers who were explicitly accused of complicity in the assassination attempt against King Joseph I and subsequently became a key figure of the Portuguese press campaign against the Jesuits. Anti-Jesuit authors made Malagrida the impersonation of the regicidal Society of Jesus, and numerous caricatures circulated throughout Europe showing him brandishing his dagger. In 1761, he was burnt as a heretic in an auto-de-fé.

Gabriele Malagrida (1689–1761), etching, France c. 1759, unknown artist; Source: Bibliothèque de Port-Royal, Paris, Est. 731.