The Limits of Academia? Gender, Religion and the Production of Knowledge in the Early Modern Period
Organisers: Linde Van den Eede, Claire Morrison, Jarrik Van Der Biest
Click here for the registration form
The goal of this workshop is to introduce Lectio junior researchers and MA-students as well as junior researchers from institutes that are part of the HSHH network to the methodological tools of the history of knowledge through hands-on engagement with primary sources. Participants will explore how the transmission of ideas can be integrated into the history of knowledge, focusing on two key themes: religion and gender. These themes will be examined through three analytical lenses central to the history of knowledge—knowledge actors, circulation, and institutions—providing a structured approach to understanding the complex dynamics of intellectual authority and scholarly traditions.
Programme
9.30-10.00: Registration and Coffee.
10.15: Introduction: Richard Calis.
10:30-12.00: Session 1. Knowledge actors: the persona behind the academic.
This panel explores how the identity of the scholar was culturally constructed and how notions of the academic persona contributed to exclusion within knowledge production. Besides self-identification and representation, we will examine how cultural definitions of the scholar determined who could be considered an academic. Case studies include Helena Taylor’s (Professor of French Literature, University of Exeter) research on the term savante – initially a derogatory label but later reclaimed in Enlightenment France – and Arnoud Visser's (Professor of Textual Culture in the Renaissance, University of Utrecht) forthcoming publication on pedantry, the critique of excessive learning as a vice.
Speakers: Helena Taylor and Arnoud Visser. Moderator: Claire Morrison
12.00-13.00: Lunch Break.
13.00-14.30: Session 2. Circulation: Women and the Production of Theological Knowledge in the Low Countries.
The second session explores the inclusion and exclusion of women in the production, dissemination, and use of theological knowledge in the early modern period. It examines the types of knowledge women engaged with, the barriers they faced in contributing to theological discourse, and the strategies they employed to navigate these restrictions. Elise Watson (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Edinburgh) has demonstrated the role of Catholic women in the interconfessional book trade in the Dutch Republic, thereby shedding light on the importance of books in shaping the Catholic experience. Likewise, Patricia Stoop (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Antwerp) has highlighted the role of female scribes in the transmission of sermons in early modern Brussels. Together, these case studies illuminate how women functioned as both consumers and producers of theological knowledge, revealing the ways gender shaped access to intellectual and religious authority.
Speakers: Elise Watson and Patricia Stoop. Moderator: Linde Van den Eede
14.30-15.00: Coffee Break.
15:00-16.30: Session 3. Institutions - Religion and Natural Philosophy In/Outside Academia.
This session examines the complex relationship between religion and natural philosophy in early modern knowledge production, challenging the conventional narrative that scientific “innovation” primarily occurred outside universities due to constraints imposed by theological orthodoxy. Scholars such as Eric Jorink (Professor of Enlightenment and religion in historical perspective, University of Leiden) argue that religion played a crucial role in the study of nature, often framed as an exploration of God’s work. Similarly, Steven Vanden Broecke’s (Professor of the history of science, UGent) research on astrology highlights how religious thought shaped scientific practices. The session will also explore how early modern religious moralism, which at times cast the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake as sinful, influenced the boundaries of acceptable intellectual inquiry.
Speakers: Eric Jorink and Steven Vanden Broecke. Moderator: Jarrik Van Der Biest
16.30-17.00: Conclusion: Richard Calis.