1st Edition

Conversion to Catholicism in Early Modern Italy

By Peter A. Mazur Copyright 2016
192 Pages
by Routledge

192 Pages
by Routledge

192 Pages
by Routledge

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, conversion took on a new importance within the Catholic world, as its leaders faced the challenge of expanding the church's reach to new peoples and continents while at the same time reinforcing its authority in the Old World. Based on new archival research, this book details the extraordinary stories of converts who embraced a new religious identity in... Read more

Introduction  1. The Catechumen Houses in Italy, 1541-1797  2. Superabundant Charity: The Conversion of Protestants  3. The Jewish Sons of the Holy Roman Church  4. The Strange Tale of the Alpine Turncoat: Johann Heinrich Ruegg and the Roman Inquisition  5. A Mercenary Faith: Conversions of Northern Soldiers, 1600-1750  Conclusion

Biography

Peter A. Mazur is a historian of Italy and Mediterranean in the early modern period who has held academic positions at Northwestern University and at the University of York (UK) and lectured widely at universities in the United States, England, and Italy. He is the author of The New Christians of Spanish Naples: A Fragile Élite, 1527-1661 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and numerous articles on the history of religious minorities and religious intolerance in the Italian Counter-reformation. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome.