A Sacred Chariot of Triumph: German Children’s Song and the Great Jesuit Canonization of 1622

Abstract

If the Protestant contribution to catechism song has been well studied, relatively less is known about how German Catholics deployed song, especially in the mouths of children, to counter this challenge. By the late sixteenth century, the Jesuits in particular were developing a suitable repertory of song for children, whose processions and plays increasingly shaped urban space in the spirit of Catholic reform. The 1622 canonization of the founders of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, provided an ideal opportunity for the Jesuits to project children into a geography that was now riven by confessional conflict. This article focuses on the little-known songbook Geistlicher Triumphwagen (Sacred chariot of triumph), the contents of which were reportedly sung by Cologne’s classes of catechism children in 1622. My discussion considers the soundscape of Cologne’s triumphal procession, the broader hymnological context of the Triumphwagen, and the role of the global missions in inspiring the use of catechism song in the “alternate India” of Germany in the age of the Thirty Years War.