This is another very welcome translation of a major work by one of the leading Italian scholars of early modern Italy. It is a significantly expanded and updated translation of Irene Fosi's Convertire lo straniero. Forestieri e Inquisizione a Roma in età moderna (Viella, 2011) and follows her excellent translated book, Papal Justice. Subjects and Courts in the Papal States, 1500–1750, translated by Thomas V. Cohen (Catholic University of America Press, 2011), which I reviewed (in Journal of Modern History 84, no. 3 [September 2012]: 746–748). This new study benefits from Fosi's very extensive knowledge of archival and library resources in Rome, notably the Archivio di Stato, Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede (ACDF), Archivio Apostolico (until recently titled Archivio Segreto Vaticano), and the Biblioteca Apostolica, as well as smaller archives and libraries in Rome in addition to the British Library and libraries in Marburg and Tubingen. (Declaring an interest: our fruitful acquaintance started decades ago when Irene Fosi gave me excellent advice on some State Archive records.) This book benefits considerably from her being, unlike many Italian and Anglophone scholars of the period, happy with German writings as well as English and French. This means we learn a considerable amount about Germans resident in Rome, or travelling to and fro, and also about relations between the Papacy and German states and princes. While focusing on foreigners in Rome, we hear much about those moving through Italy and their experiences elsewhere, such as in Milan, Bologna, Leghorn (Livorno), or Naples, via reports about them written by Nuncios, inquisitors, or spies.

In the first chapters, we read about a whole range of northern foreigners (ultramontani) recorded in Rome, whether as brief visitors or as resident merchants, artisans, or prostitutes, rich and poor alike. Arrivals could be welcomed and, if staying, integrated into society by “nation” communities (German, English, Flemish, French, and so forth) based on particular churches, with national confraternities offering philanthropic as well as spiritual support. Attitudes toward ultramontani from church leaders and native Romans were ambivalent. Many were feared as open or disguised heretics, but genuine Catholic pilgrims could be good for Rome's image and its economy. Incomers were spied upon in attempt to check on religious affiliations and beliefs. Conversion also became a major papal enterprise, targeting especially those social elites, merchants, and scholars who might return to northern countries and bolster the Catholic cause there. A key role was played by the Chigi pope Alexander VII (1655–1667), who had spent years in German states involved in international diplomacy. Back in Rome, he is seen by Fosi as undertaking “a cultural conversion project” (see chapter 7 especially). Aided by Jesuits like Pietro Caravita and Cardinals Virgilio Spada, Giovan Battista Scanaroli, and Sforza Pallavicino, he stimulated “caressing” philanthropy for foreign visitors in Rome, notably through the Congregation de iis qui sponte veniunt ad fidem (started by Clement VIII in 1600 and developed into the Ospizio dei Convertendi of 1673) and the Congregation Propaganda Fide (launched in 1622). German princes and nobles were enticed and pampered with carezze e cortesie so they “should leave this city satisfied by the kindness and prudence of the pope's ministers” (164), taking back souvenir golden papal medals and improving literature. Throughout the period, conversion as well as philanthropic policies and activities were encouraged by the Confraternity of Spirito Santo (which began in 1575 with the intent of converting Jews and infidels), the medieval English College (redeveloped from 1579, which also involved Scots), and Cardinal Protectors of the various nations and confraternities. Cardinal Philip Thomas Howard was an important Protector of the English College in the eighteenth century. The Inquisition, both the Congregation of the Holy Office and tribunal court, could facilitate conversions or a return to the Catholic fold, as well as pursue unapologetic heretics.

Central chapters provide fascinating case studies of three long-term foreign converts resident in Rome—of their contacts, favorable and unfavorable experiences, and their roles as converters. We have a prominent German goldsmith Cristoforo Gaspare Fischer (d. 1626), physician and papal herbalist from Wurzburg Johannes Faber (d. 1629), and French writer and pamphleteer Guillaume Reboul. Fischer had many native supporters, made money, and helped conversion policies, but suspicions of heresy led to some imprisonment by the Inquisition. On his death, the Inquisition seized his assets and prevented remittance to suspect family members in Germany. Irene Fosi uses well and quotes from an extensive correspondence surviving in a Fondo Faber, showing Faber's contact with Germans and Italians, his central position in the German nation in Rome, the help he provided for impoverished students, his assistance with conversions, his surveillance of dubious visitors, and his deep involvement in papal circles and with Oratorians like Cardinal Cesare Baronio. Faber was also involved with both Fischer and Reboul. The latter, a convert from a Calvinist family in Nîmes, converted in 1595 and settled in Rome after traveling in the German states and receiving welcome in Avignon. In 1597 he became a writer, a researcher on history, and then a notorious pamphleteer. The Roman Governor's court imprisoned him for possessing dubious French books. Additionally, Reboul's contacts with the French crown, which led to troubles with various French ambassadors, made him suspect. Finally, a pamphlet against James I led to another arrest by the Governor and Reboul's execution in the Tor di Nona prison in 1611 despite Faber's attempt at mediation. Irene Fosi stresses that policies could be confused and inefficient given the ambivalent views on ultramontani—whether they were heretics, dangerous deceivers, or beneficial converts. Inquisitors and their agents seeking genuine converts could conflict with the Governor and secular agents, who might avoid undue scrutiny in the interests of the economic benefits of pilgrims, traders, and Grand Tour notables.

This wide-ranging, fascinating book is best on the German, English, and Scottish personages involved, and very good for understanding Rome's social composition as well as papal foreign relations through foreigners. Greek Orthodox, Jews, and New Christians from Iberia hardly feature. Letters, inquisitorial and personal, are extensively quoted, though their dating is not always clear. At times it is hard to detect which of many Congregations is involved, especially between the Holy Office, Propaganda Fide, and those dealing with conversion. The index could be fuller and less confusing in some headings.