Between Scylla and Charybdis: Learned Letter Writers Navigating the Reefs of Religious and Political Controversy in Early Modern Europe

Early Modern letter-writing was often the only way to maintain regular and meaningful contact. Scholars, politicians, printers, and artists wrote to share private or professional news, to test new ideas, to support their friends, or pursue personal interests. Epistolary exchanges thus provide a private lens onto major political, religious, and scholarly events. Sixteenth century’s reform movements created a sense of disorder, if not outright clashes and civil war. Scholars could not shy away from these tensions. The private sphere of letter-writing allowed them to express, or allude to, the conflicts of interest which arose from their studies, social status, and religious beliefs. Scholarly correspondences thus constitute an unparalleled source on the interrelation between broad historical developments and the convictions of a particularly expressive group of individuals.