The imperial expansion of Europe across the globe was one of the most significant events to shape the modern world. Among the many effects of this cataclysmic movement of people and institutions was the intermixture of cultures in the colonies that Europeans created. Protestant Empire is the first comprehensive survey of the dramatic clash of peoples and beliefs that emerged in the diverse religious world of the British Atlantic; including England; Scotland; Ireland; parts of North and South America; the Caribbean; and Africa. Beginning with the role religion played in the lives of believers in West Africa; eastern North America; and western Europe around 1500; Carla Gardina Pestana shows how the Protestant Reformation helped to fuel colonial expansion as bitter rivalries prompted a fierce competition for souls.The English—who were latecomers to the contest for colonies in the Atlantic—joined the competition well armed with a newly formulated and heartfelt anti-Catholicism. Despite officially promoting religious homogeneity; the English found it impossible to prevent the conflicts in their homeland from infecting their new colonies. Diversity came early and grew inexorably; as English; Scottish; and Irish Catholics and Protestants confronted one another as well as Native Americans; West Africans; and an increasing variety of other Europeans. Pestana tells an original and compelling story of their interactions as they clung to their old faiths; learned of unfamiliar religions; and forged new ones. In an account that ranges widely through the Atlantic basin and across centuries; this book reveals the creation of a complicated; contested; and closely intertwined world of believers of many traditions.
#1069541 in Books University of Pennsylvania Press 1980-01-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .73 x 5.98l; 1.14 #File Name: 0812211030312 pages
Review
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Essential materialsBy PQuincyThere is nothing else available like this collection of original sources from the Middle Ages on the theory and reality of heresy and its persecution. Peters presents foundational texts; well-chosen and diverse in character: not just theoretical tracts and official pronouncements; but also court records; popular stories about saints; and other material. The commentary that Peters provides is very limited. For an area of knowledge where there's an awful lot of myth and rumor and gossip -- Templars; witches; underground cults; the like -- this collection is sober and solid. We need to understand the idea of heresy and what it meant (and means): this book is an important resource for doing that.11 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Good for what it isBy GregThis book is most certainly good for what it is meant to be. It provides primary texts with a minimal amount of analysis. I am reading this for a college course on Heresy and Dissent in Medieval Europe and it provides the basis for the entire class.0 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Somebody needs to write a new book on this subjectBy kmlllloThis book is really hard to read. It is comprised of documents written in medieval times and the language is difficult to understand.
