In February, the University of Toronto Press will release This Happened in My Presence: Moriscos, Old Christians, and the Spanish Inquisition in the Town of Deza, 1569-1611 edited by Patrick J. O’Banion (Lindenwood University). The publisher’s description follows:
Using the records of the Spanish Inquisition, Patrick J. O’Banion reveals the life of the small Spanish town of Deza during a period that was complex and tumultuous—not just for Deza, but for Spain, Europe, and the entire world.
The introduction explains the medieval origins of Deza’s Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations and the changing policies toward religious minorities under the Catholic Monarchs and the Habsburgs. The workings of the Spanish Inquisition and of Deza’s local religious and political institutions are clearly described. Helpful pedagogical materials enhance the primary sources: a timeline that interweaves local with national and international events; short biographies of major and minor protagonists; four modern images of Deza; maps; a glossary of Spanish and Arabic terms; discussion questions; and a bibliography. Each set of documents begins with a brief introduction followed by focus questions. Documents are also grouped by theme in an appendix for easy referencing.
On the heels of an extremely lively U.S. presidential election campaign, this book examines the unusually serene relationship between the chief global superpower and the world’s most ancient and renowned institution. The “Catholicization” of the United States is a recent phenomenon: some believe it began during the Reagan administration; others feel it emerged under George W. Bush’s presidency. What is certain is that the Catholic presence in the American political ruling class was particularly prominent in the Obama administration: over one-third of cabinet members, the Vice President, the White House Chief of Staff, the heads of Homeland Security and the CIA, the director and deputy director of the FBI, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top military officers were all Roman Catholic. Challenging received wisdom that the American Catholic Church is in crisis and that the political religion in the United States is Evangelicalism, Manlio Graziano provides an engaging account of the tendency of Catholics to play an increasingly significant role in American politics, as well as the rising role of American prelates in the Roman Catholic Church.