Mad for God: Bartolomé Sánchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete
What a pleasure to read a book that is so well prepared and has such an engaging story to tell! Mad for God is exceptionally clear, readable, original, and substantial. Nalle interests us in the story of a man with what for his time and place were crazy ideas about God and Catholicism, and in the process teaches us much about sixteenth-century Spanish Catholicism, the Inquisition, contemporary ideas about madness, and the social control of speech and dissenters.(William A. Christian, Jr., author ofLocal Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain)Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history.(Carlos M. N. EireYale University, author ofFrom Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain)