The great ports of the Low Countries have long served in the international commerce of ideas as well as goods. In these 13 essays contributors examine how issues of faith from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries informed religious scholars and forces in the area. Topics of essays include Bible translation, Protestant converts in the Catholic Reformation, the fates of biblical picture books, Justus Lipsius's treatise on the Holy Virgin, Abraham Ortelius's religious thought, the tensions of the Dutch Reformed and Catholic churches, Dutch reactions at English wonder stories, the reactions of the Dutch republic to questions of faith, the influence of two remarkable women martyred in different ways, and reactions of the region to its being a religious crossroads. Essays include references, and the volume includes an index of names. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)