TheActa Sanctorumfounded by Jean Bolland (1596-1665), a Jesuit in Antwerp, are one of the works of early modern antiquarianism which have had the greatest impact. Bolland and his successors processed incredible amounts of text and data, established networks of scholars, conducted controversies with considerable intelligence and effectiveness; all of these qualities make theActa Sanctorum an ideal object for deepening more recent approaches in the history of scholarship and the history of early modern historiography and hagiography.