Where did St. Ignatius of Loyola go after leaving his family in 1522?

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Engraving by Lucas Vorsterman after Peter Paul Rubens showing St. Ignatius of Loyola with a halo, hands clasped in prayer before a crucifix and open book. — St. Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish theologian who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1534. The Jesuit order received official papal approval in 1540 and became a key player in the Counter-Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries.

After leaving his family in February 1522, St. Ignatius of Loyola traveled to Montserrat, a site of pilgrimage in northeastern Spain. There, he confessed his sins, abandoned his military ambitions by hanging his sword and dagger near the statue of the Virgin Mary, and spent the night in prayer.

Following his time at Montserrat, he traveled to Manresa, where he spent nearly a year living as a beggar and dedicating himself to intense prayer and spiritual reflection. It was during this period that he began sketching the fundamentals of his influential work, The Spiritual Exercises.1