The Capuchin friar Lawrence of Brindisi (1559–1619), Catholic saint (1881) and doctor of the church (1959), is an extremely fascinating personality, though little is known about him in the English-speaking world. A correct historical understanding of this religious figure has been particularly hampered by the centuries of hagiography written about him. The aim of Andrew Drenas's book is to examine the role played by Lawrence of Brindisi and the Capuchins in the mission of re-Catholicizing the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. In this regard, the author situates Lawrence within the experience of early modern Catholicism.

Lawrence was born Giulio Cesare Russo in Brindisi. After moving to Venice, he joined the order of the Friars Minor Capuchin in Verona in 1575 at the age of fifteen, taking the name Lawrence of Brindisi. He studied logic, philosophy, theology, and holy scripture, and it appears he also learned Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek while drawing special attention to himself as a preacher. Ordained as a priest in 1582, Lawrence performed various governance functions in the convents and provinces of the Capuchin order: for example, he was provincial of Venice (1594–97) and Switzerland (1598) and definitor general (1599). In 1599 he was appointed commissar of the mission—a post he held at various times—finally becoming vicar general of the order (1602–05).

Drenas traces a life in which Lawrence's passion for preaching and converting no doubt was of fundamental importance: he preached to the Jews in many cities in Italy, including Rome, where he demonstrated his vast erudition by reading the Old Testament in Hebrew. It should be remembered that Lawrence also played an important role in the parallel diplomacy that saw the Capuchins as protagonists. In particular, in 1609, he acted as mediator between the Catholic League headed by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, the court of Phillip III of Habsburg, and the Holy See concerning the question of financing the German Catholic alliance. In 1619 the friar was sent by the city of Naples to the Spanish court to lobby for lower taxes and to oppose the policies of the viceroy, the Duke of Osuna. Having traveled to Lisbon, where the court was located at the time, he died as a guest of the Marquis of Villafranca who was so convinced of Lawrence's holiness that he had his corpse embalmed and sent to the convent of the poor Clares of Villafranca del Bierzo.

Lawrence worked intensely to set up a network of Capuchin establishments in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire that were under the direct control of the Habsburgs (Bohemia, Austria, and Styria) and were marked by deep confessional divisions between Catholics and Reformers. Contrary to what is usually believed, organizing a mission was a quite complex undertaking that had delicate political and religious implications. This explains why, between the request submitted by the archbishop of Prague and the departure of twelve friars from Rome in 1599, a period of as long as two years transpired. When they arrived in the Bohemian capital where a large number of Calvinists were living, the Capuchins were subject to ridicule and acts of hostility. In addition, the various sites offered to them to found their monastery turned out to be unsuitable, thus forcing the friars into negotiations with the archbishop and the emperor's secretary that dragged on for several months. In 1600 Lawrence went to Vienna to attend to the foundation of the new convent there and then to Graz. These were very busy years for Lawrence, who became the first commissar of the order in Bohemia, Austria, and Styria, which became a new province (1618) with 194 friars in twelve convents.

The second half of the book is devoted to a close study of Lawrence's preaching and his participation in theological disputes. He preached in many places both to Catholics and Protestants and used a vivid, theatrical, emotional style, which was typical of the Capuchins and Jesuits, with the aim of proclaiming the truth of his faith. Many of the book's pages are devoted to theological disputes with the Protestants, particularly with the Lutheran theologian Polykarp Leyser, who came to Prague in 1607 in the entourage of the elector of Saxony. Following the printing of Leyser's sermons, Lawrence wrote the Lutheranismi Hypotyposis, a polemical work aimed at the Lutherans, which, in spite of efforts to publish it immediately, did not appear until the 1930s, for reasons that are not quite clear. Another obscure point has to do with Lawrence's proficiency in the German language: Drenas states that “Lawrence knew German and surely made ample use of it as he journeyed through the empire” (91), but in another place he states that the friar “had to call upon the assistance of a translator to understand the booklet” of Leyser (176–77).

This book represents an important contribution to knowledge about Lawrence of Brindisi in the Holy Roman Empire and his activity as a preacher and polemicist. He is a figure who certainly warrants further study.