Description

In Canceled, historian Steve Weidenkopf (author of The Real Story of Catholic History), explores the controversial lives and legacies of Catholics whose reputations have been severely distorted and unfairly maligned. He examines prominent historical figures—such as Christopher Columbus and Marie Antoinette—who have become symbols of wrongdoing in popular culture, their names so closely linked to crimes and injustices that history has effectively “canceled” them and erased any positive memory. Worse still, their alleged evils have often been leveraged as weapons against the Catholic Church as a whole.

Weidenkopf reveals that these individuals have frequently been the victims of a deliberate, long-running campaign of misinformation and character assassination, orchestrated by anti-Catholic forces including Enlightenment thinkers, Protestant reformers, secular critics, and even dissidents from within the Church itself. He probes what traditional history narratives have gotten wrong about figures such as Torquemada and Pope Pius IX, and investigates why public perceptions of “Bloody” Mary Tudor and Guy Fawkes have drifted so far from reality.

Through careful historical analysis and archival research, Weidenkopf separates fact from fiction and clarifies deep-rooted misunderstandings that you may even have accepted as truth. Thoughtful and informative, Canceled does not attempt to excuse or ignore flaws and mistakes, but instead provides a much-needed challenge to popular myths and anti-Catholic prejudice dominating public discourse. More than simply defending historically misunderstood Catholics, Weidenkopf presents a well-researched and compelling defense of the Church itself.