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Conventions: Jun 19, 2009

Writing Religion in Early-Modern and Enlightenment Europe

Jun 19, 2009 - Jun 20, 2009,
University of Montpellier Montpellier, Hérault France

In centuries profoundly marked by intense discussion of religious doctrine, putting one’s name to anything could be a hazardous undertaking. The dispatch of a letter, in particular, could be an especially dangerous indiscretion ; entrusted to a carrier, it left the safety of the author’s protection and was vulnerable to interception or misrepresentation, serving as a mute witness to what was construed as (and may indeed have been) deception, treachery or heresy. Often expressing personal commitments that questioned, contradicted or even ridiculed the official positions of governments and churches, letters were often poised uneasily between the public and the private domain. Many different motives were involved in their dispatch.
Letters are therefore key documents for the study of religious communication, feeling and piety in Early-Modern and Enlightenment Europe. This conference will examine epistolary writing from c. 1600-1800, focusing on correspondence in which the writers explore their religious commitments and doubts, and investigating the way letters served as the principal means of communication between the members of the clergy and believers, and between believers and the Churches.

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Conventions: Jun 19, 2009