
Forced Baptisms
Histories of Jews, Christians, and Converts in Papal Rome
Marina Caffiero(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 1. December 2011
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-520-25451-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book makes use of newly available archival sources to reexamine the Roman Catholic Church's policy, from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, of coercing the Jews of Rome into converting to Christianity. Marina Caffiero, one of the first historians permitted access to important archives, sets individual stories of denunciation, betrayal, pleading, and conflict into historical context to highlight the Church's actions and the Jewish response. Caffiero documents the regularity with which Jews were abducted from the Roman ghetto and pressured to accept baptism. She analyzes why some Jewish men, interested in gaining a business advantage, were more inclined to accept conversion than the women. This book exposes the complexity of relations between the papacy and the Jews, revealing the Church not as a monolithic entity, but as a network of competing institutions, and affirming the Roman Jews as active agents of resistance.
Reviews / Votes
"This absolutely splendid research is destined to be a hallmark of scholarship in years to come." Catholic Library WorldMore details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-25451-0 (9780520254510)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Marina Caffiero is Professor of History at the University of Rome "La Sapienza." She is the author of many books and editor of Sources for Women's History. Lydia G. Cochrane has translated many books for university presses.
Content
Preface 1. Negotiated Relations: Popes, the Church, the Jews 2. Favor fidei: The Birth of a New Jurisprudence 3. Offerings of Jewish Infants to the Catholic Faith 4. Cruel Grandparents 5. Denunciations and Retractions 6. Baptisms, Doctrines, Rites, and Symbols 7. Plural Identities: Neophytes Male and Female Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index