On the surface, Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance is the engrossing tale of how an arranged marriage caused its participants years of turmoil. Underneath that surface, one sees that money may be the greater tale. If the great motivators in life are power, sex and greed, it seems that one thesis of this book is that money rules them all.
What an interesting twist to a microhistory, ostensibly about "a case of transatlantic bigamy:" that it could also be a microhistory about the role of money in motivating the behavior of the participants in this transatlantic world. Money concerns created Francisco's arranged marriage, dreams of money sent young Francisco to the Americas, in Peru, Francisco subjugated the indigenous peoples to extract money, Francisco's new wealth attracted a second wife and the attention of his spurned wife, and Francisco spent the rest of his life fighting to keep his money. Even the King of Spain rose and fell on the issue of finances, which filtered down to affect Francisco. The resolution of the bigamy charge, so contested for so many years, was ultimately paved over with a modest amount of money. Francisco envisioned that he could create a legacy for himself with promises of money to the church. Ironically, greed for his ill-gotten gains destroyed the chapel containing his and dona Catalina's remains, and proved divisive for his heirs. Historians, always follow the money!
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