Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that Catholic authorities in Rome aimed to take a longer view, and that some gypsies’ apparent embrace of Catholicism caused them to be seen as a group ready for conversion and assimilation – a local victory that would prove a universal truth. It offers case studies of some key individuals whose capacious theologies allowed them to think more positively about Islam and Judaism, and whose reputations in diplomacy, learning, commerce, and politics allowed them to become public advocates for a broader civil toleration. The book considers the fate of Protestants in particular, and explores whether ghettos were ever an option for them. It looks at the work of the first-generation Hispanic-descended creole Bishop Alonso de la Mota y Escobar to show the contexts and complexities around religious encounter and expression in the Spanish Americas in the early seventeenth century.