The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe: From Inquisition to Inquiry, 1550–1700

"How did theology, medicine, law, natural science, exegesis and literature respond to the rising demand for credibility and truth? All nine essays in this volume adopt an approach we could call case-based, a <em>CHOICE</em> that renders the individual articles particularly intriguing."

Vincenzo Lavenia, Università di Bologna, Journal of Jesuit Studies

“Barbara Fuchs and Mercedes García-Arenal have distinguished themselves, not only as gifted scholars but also as notably successful collaborators and editors of collections of essays. Their previous volumes of essays demonstrate a consistently high quality of scholarship and a coherence of thematic focus. The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe: From Inquisition to Inquiry, 1550–1700, is a worthy addition to this corpus.” Gretchen Starr-LeBeau, Principia College, Journal of Modern History

"The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe is a very well-conceived volume containing essays of a uniformly high standard by authors who are leading authorities in their respective fields. I have no doubt it will quickly establish itself as a significant point of reference not only for historians of religious history but also for those of literature, science, and intellectual history more generally."

Simon Ditchfield, Department of History, University of York

"The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe is a truly outstanding collection of studies featuring an extraordinary bounty of archival and textual sources. Chapter after chapter, it turns what might otherwise have been dry theological debates into fascinating glimpses into the lives and works of theologians wrestling with what to do when faced with uncertainty. I have honestly never been as interested in issues of casuistry, probabilism, and jurisprudence as I have when reading the pages of this book."

John Slater, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Davis