A shared biblical past has long imbued the Holy Land with special authority as well as a mythic character that has made the region not only the spiritual home for Muslims, Christians, and Jews, but also a source of a living sacred history that informs contemporary realities and religious identities. This book explores the Holy Land as a critical site in which early modern Catholics sought spiritual and political legitimacy during a period of profound and disruptive change. The Ottoman conquest of the region, the division of the Western Church, Catholic reform, the integration of the Mediterranean into global trading networks, and the emergence of new imperial rivalries transformed the Custody of the Holy Land, the venerable Catholic institution that had overseen Western pilgrimage since 1342, into a site of intense intra-Christian conflict by 1517. This contestation underscored the Holy Land's importance as a frontier and center of an embattled Catholic tradition.

'Recommended.'

T. M. Izbicki Source: Choice Magazine

‘Armstrong’s monograph deals with a very large number of topics and offers the most detailed history of the Custody available as well as uniquely meticulous and sensitive discussions of the history, geography, layouts, and even decorations of the holy Christian sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Based on research in archives in Jerusalem, Rome, Venice, Paris, and Madrid, and on careful reading of hundreds of documents, from legal privileges to pilgrims’ diaries, The Holy Land and the Reinvention of Catholicism has much to offer scholars of the Middle East and of the Christian presence there, as well as … scholars of early modern France, whether they are interested in its diplomatic, commercial, or religious history.’

Moshe Sluhovsky Source: H-France Review

‘A book about the complexities of identity in early modern Catholicism. Both the failures of the Catholic Church (the Reformation or the Ottoman conquests) and its successes (papal revival, global expansion) created ever more points of contest and ambiguity … Armstrong is very sensitive to the ways this cultural power was transmitted, contested, and appropriated. She casts a wide net for her sources, though she is clear that this is a study seen from the West, particularly from Roman archives and from a European print discourse in which Protestants remain largely offstage.’

Jotham Parsons Source: Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme