Agenda

This book breaks with the view that Spain's Golden Age was an Old Christian cultural phenomenon, arguing that early reform movements were driven by the conversos. Ingram notes that many of Spain’s great early humanists, mystics and evangelists came from converso backgrounds. In contrast to the traditional view, in which Spain' Golden Age was presented as an Old Christian phenomenon, he contends that this period of intellectual fervour and religious disquiet was inspired by a small minority of converso intellectuals who challenged the mores and prejudices of their society.

"Kevin Ingram’s trenchant, persuasively argued book makes a major contribution to the cultural and social history of … Spain … Although there are many works on conversos, the Spanish Inquisition, and related matters, there is nothing out there that draws on the lives and works of so many New Christians and pulls them together in a cogent, compelling and original argument as this does." Mark Meyerson, Ph.D- Toronto University,

Kevin Ingram was born in Sheffield in 1956. He studied History at Sussex University, where he became interested in Spain. On leaving university he wrote a biography of Winston Churchill’s nephew Esmond Romilly who fought with the International Brigades in Spain and later eloped and married Jessica Mitford. It was published in 1985.

After working for a press agency, during which time he also tried his hand at screenplay writing, Ingram, now based in California, entered the University of California to study a PhD in History. He returned to Spain in 1998 to research Spain’s converso intellectuals and their importance to Spanish Golden Age culture. This work led directly to this book. Ingram taught at Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus from 2003 until his retirement in 2023. He is now writing a biography of the painter Diego Velázquez and playing tennis.

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