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.

This book provides a comprehensive study of the institutions and strategies that the Italian clergy developed during the Counter-reformation to attract and educate converts to Catholicism.

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