This introduction frames the crime at the heart of the book with vignettes of historical and textual background, adding a few additional fragments to the kaleidoscope of murder and its aftermath in late-eighteenth-century Mexico City. It proposes the 1789 murders, which are the topic of this book, as early examples of Mexican True Crime. The introduction also includes select critiques regarding this genre and other comments on the different genres of literature depicting murder in Mexico. This book recreates a paper trail of Enlightenment-era greed and savagery which began with a brutal massacre. The events which took place on the night of October 23, 1789, led to politicized depictions in different fiction and nonfiction writings for the next century.

How did medieval observers imagine kingship to be created? How did they apply biblical, classical and patristic models when writing about the origins of their own communities? The period c. 1000–c.1200 witnessed the emergence of several new realms. They fall into three broad, overlapping categories. Some were forged by conquest (like Sicily, Jerusalem and Cyprus). Some were established communities whose rulers, in the process of converting to Christianity, adopted the language and framework of Christian kingship (Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Poland). In a third group, powerful local or regional rulers assumed or were awarded the title of king (Bohemia, Portugal, Sicily). All faced a similar problem: in some ways, they violated the right order of the world by assuming a title that, in theory, only god could grant. How did contemporaries get around this problem? Chapter 3 answers this question partly by sketching a general pattern of emerging kingship, partly by focussing on two especially well documented case studies: Poland and Sicily. The defining themes in these accounts are virtuous rule, equitable justice, the consent of the ruled, power greater than that of any mere duke or prince and divine backing.

The chapter focuses on Manuel's travels in Western Europe (1399–1402). It discusses at length the political aspects of his presence at the English, French and Italian courts, offering new interpretations of the events. Other topics are Manuel's personal experiences in Europe, and his letters and interactions with prominent European figures of the time. Manuel's use of relics as diplomatic gifts receives further attention. The Procession of the Holy Spirit, a theological treatise penned by the emperor at time, is analysed at length with regard to its literary features, connections to the other treatises of time and Manuel's theological thought. Other shorter writings from the same period are also investigated. The chapter ends with the defeat of the Ottomans by Tamerlane and Manuel's subsequent return to Constantinople.