Megan Armstrong's latest book represents a new addition to the field of studies on Catholicism in the Holy Land during the early modern period. Structured in six chapters, the book covers a long period, from the early fifteenth century to the early eighteenth century. The avowed aim of this study is to demonstrate the development of Catholicism in this area and the problems that it experienced during two crucial centuries of change and conflict.
The first chapter examines the context in which the Custody of the Holy Land had been founded and how it operated vis-à-vis the Catholics and the Ottomans. This chapter also begins to explain how and to what extent the Custody acted as a shared gateway between the western and the eastern world. The second chapter illustrates how the Custody was embroiled in the harsh disputes which unfolded between the Catholic Latin communities and the Greek Orthodox communities over the control of altars in the Holy Places. It also assesses how and to what extent the Custody was a particular institution which had to mediate Catholic access to places under Ottoman control.
In chapter iii Armstrong explores the meaning of the Holy Land to early modern Catholics by focusing on the role played by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Through the lens of their writings the author demonstrates how the image, and the legacy of the Holy Land still had a central role in the thorny Reformation debates on the efficacy of pilgrimages. The fourth chapter explores the involvement of the French monarchy and its subsequent conflict with the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Land over the administration of the Custody. It unveils how French plans to rule this institution were part of a broader strategy which aimed to confirm France as the main protector of Catholic orthodoxy.
The fifth chapter investigates the relations which developed between the Franciscans and the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, founded in 1622 to oversee missionary activities in non-Catholic and Protestant areas. Using the congregation's archives, Armstrong sheds light on Propaganda's efforts to contrast and weaken the friars’ power in the Holy Land with the key aim of strengthening the global role of the Holy See.
In the last chapter the author looks at how the Franciscans were involved in a harsh struggle with the reformed branches of the Franciscan order, like the Capuchins, Recollects and Riformati, who progressively began to arrive in the Holy Land. Even in this case, the book uses such disputes as an avenue to demonstrate the crucial importance of the Holy Land for the Franciscan order.
Though the book is well-organised and well written, there are some gaps. Indeed, the author has neglected to use the material preserved in the Archives of the Holy Office, and the General Archives of the Order of Friars Minor. Both repositories contain a number of sources on the Custody of the Holy Land and its relations with the Curia as well as with the various branches of the Franciscan order. Moreover, the Archives of the Holy Office have a remarkable number of files on the thorny theological disputes which hampered the activity of the Franciscans and the different orders that operated in that area. A further gap in the bibliography is the omission of Cesare Santus’ Trasgressioni necessarie which has unveiled the practical and theological problems faced by Catholic missionaries in the Ottoman Empire. Despite these shortcomings, Armstrong's book is an admirable effort at understanding the multi-layered facets of Catholicism within the context of the complex and entangled area that was the Holy Land during the early modern period.
