Ignatius of Loyola

About Ignatius of Loyola

Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) was a Spanish Basque Catholic priest and theologian who founded the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits. His historical significance stems from his pivotal role in the Counter-Reformation, where the Jesuit order became a vital, highly disciplined instrument of the Catholic Church for missionary work, education, and resisting the spread of Protestantism. This profound religious and educational impact secures his place at rank #555 on MIT’s Historical Popularity Index.

Despite this high historical standing, Ignatius receives a modest 485K Wikipedia pageviews in 2025. This level of attention translates to an Attention Gap of approximately 1x, suggesting his modern internet visibility is in line with his historical ranking, though perhaps below expectations for a figure of his magnitude. To provide contrast, the contemporary religious figure Ruhollah Khomeini, ranked lower at #679, garners over 2.4 million views, showing a significant disparity in digital engagement between the two.

Encouragingly for the founder of a globally influential religious order, Ignatius's profile is experiencing a slight positive trend, with Wikipedia views showing an 8.2% year-over-year increase. However, short-term interest seems to be waning slightly, as evidenced by a 4% drop in momentum between the first and third quarters of 2025.