All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World - Hardcover

Stuart Schwartz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300125801 ISBN 13: 9780300125801

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2008

Synopsis

It would seem unlikely that one could discover tolerant religious attitudes in Spain, Portugal, and the New World colonies during the era of the Inquisition, when enforcement of Catholic orthodoxy was widespread and brutal. Yet this groundbreaking book does exactly that. Drawing on an enormous body of historical evidence, including records of the Inquisition itself, the historian Stuart Schwartz investigates the idea of religious tolerance and its evolution in the Hispanic world from 1500 to 1820. Focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of common people rather than those of intellectual elites, the author finds that no small segment of the population believed in freedom of conscience and rejected the exclusive validity of the Church. The book explores various sources of tolerant attitudes, the challenges that the New World presented to religious orthodoxy, the complex relations between 'popular' and 'learned' culture, and many related topics. The volume concludes with a discussion of the relativist ideas that were taking hold elsewhere in Europe during this era.

About this title

Review

Winner of the 2008 Cundill International Prize in History, given by the Cundill Foundation at McGill University. -- Cundill International Prize in History Cundhill Foundation "In this superb and strikingly original book, Stuart Schwartz raises an audacious thesis that is sure to excite attention and controversy."-Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Tufts University -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto "This book is a major achievement by a senior historian with a long history of prolific and insightful scholarship. It will become one of those cherished classics that change the way we think."-Teofilo F. Ruiz, UCLA -- Teofilo F. Ruiz "Not many academic histories make you laugh out loud. Schwartz shows ordinary people using vulgarity and humor to convince inquisitors that sex between single people was no sin, and that all sincere believers (Muslim, Christians, Protestants) would be saved-even though they knew such defiance normally led to savage punishments. This is a book you must read."-Geoffrey Parker, author of The Grand Strategy of Philip II -- Geoffrey Parker "Stuart Schwartz widens the road to religious tolerance with fascinating new examples from Portugal, Spain and their American colonies. Tradesmen, farmers, and slaves argue a down-to-earth relativism as independently as any radical scholar. An important book for understanding what leads people to accept difference and a source of hope for our own time."-Natalie Zemon Davis, author of Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds -- Natalie Zemon Davis "Schwartz argues eloquently and convincingly... A flowing narrative that is at once gripping and enlightening... All Can Be Saved should prove to be a very important contribution to our understanding of religious belief, past and present."-Carlos Eire, Books & Culture -- Carlos Eire Books & Culture "... Schwartz is far too good a historian to draw hard-and-fast conclusions ... hitherto forgotten individuals of all categories (to) express their widely ranging views on the human condition afresh. As readable as it is scholarly, his achievement is highly to be recommended." - Count Tolstoy, The Monarchy -- Count Tolstoy The Monarchy "The range of its ambition, the extent of its documentation, and the breadth of its geographical scope make his new book a remarkable achievement."-J.H. Elliott, The New York Review of Books -- J.H. Elliott New York Review of Books Winner of the 2009 John E. Fagg Prize, given by the American Historical Association. -- John E. Fagg Prize American Historical Association (AHA) Winner of the 2009 Leo Gershoy Award, given by the American Historical Association. -- Leo Gershoy Award American Historical Association (AHA) Winner of the Bolton-Johnson Prize awarded by the Conference on Latin American History -- Bolton-Johnson Prize Conference on Latin American History "This richly textured study is full of fascinating material and rewards the reader with accounts and discussion of some inspiring human stories."-Catholic Historical Review Catholic Historical Review "This book represents a far-reaching, thoughtful, entertaining, and provocative study of dissidence and toleration... [It] will remain an important sounding board for future studies that examine the cultural history of ideas of the common folk."-James. E. Wadsworth, The Americas -- James. E. Wadsworth The Americas "Impressively wide-ranging... All Can Be Saved is pathbreaking for its methodology as well as its argument...Schwartz sets a brilliant precedent here for pushing aside the tired boundaries of Iberian historiography to uncover surprising, deeply rooted, and shared societal attitudes of the early modern world."-Karin Velez, Journal of World History -- Karin Velez Journal of World History

About the Author

Stuart Schwartz is George Burton Adams Professor of History and master, Ezra Stiles College, Yale University. He has published extensively on the history of Spain, Portugal, and their New World colonies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0300125801
• ISBN 13: 9780300125801
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320