The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Random House Inc
- Publish date: 07/01/1998
Description:
Bologna: nightfall, June 1858. A knock sounds at the door of the Jewish merchant Momolo Mortara. Two officers of the Inquisition burst inside and seize Mortara's six-year-old son, Edgardo. The reason for his abduction: the boy had been secretly "baptized" by a family servant. According to papal law, the child is therefore a Catholic who can be taken from his family and delivered to a special monastery where his conversion will be completed.
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Beginning with this terrifying scene, prize-winning historian David I. Kertzer tells the true story of how one boy's kidnapping helped bring about the collapse of the Vatican as a secular power. The book details the rhythms and restrictions of daily life in a Jewish ghetto while also exploring the revolutionary campaigns of Mazzini and Garibaldi to establish Italy as a modern nation-state. Moving and informative, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara reads as both a historical thriller and an authoritative analysis of how a single human tragedy changed the course of history.
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