This book focuses on the missionary work of the Society of Jesus in colonial Brazil from 1549 to 1760. The Jesuit missionary project continued medieval traditions of Christian mission since the Crusades and the German Slavic mission through the mendicant orders. On the other hand, the early modern Brazilian mission of the Jesuits was part of a long series of global civilizing projects of a similar nature, such as the English conquest of Ireland, the Spanish mission in Mexico, or the Portuguese presence in the Kingdom of Congo. With the emergence of Baroque art in the 16th and 17th centuries, these missionary projects created the first worldwide cultural phenomenon in religion, art, architecture, and literature. In the age of electronic mass media, early modern missionary projects gain a striking relevance to the present.