Friendship and religion in the Republic of Letters; the return of Justus Lipsius to Catholicism (1591)

Machielsen, Jan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8492-0263 2013. Friendship and religion in the Republic of Letters; the return of Justus Lipsius to Catholicism (1591). Renaissance Studies 27 (2) , pp. 161-182. 10.1111/j.1477-4658.2011.00773.x

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The return of the Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) to the Spanish Netherlands and his reconciliation with Catholicism (1591) have defined his image for posterity. Debates about the sincerity of Lipsius' religious beliefs have continued to the present day. Scholars have presented Lipsius' departure from Leiden as the result of external pressure, as effortless, and conducted in secret. By contrast, this article shows that Lipsius' public engagement in the Republic of Letters was instrumental in enabling his reconciliation with Catholicism. Lipsius employed both published and private letters and the rhetoric of friendship to win support for his return to the Southern Netherlands. After his arrival, Lipsius' correspondence and friendship with the Flemish-Spanish Jesuit Martin Delrio (1551–1608) served as a public platform on which the humanist acted out his reconciliation. The article concludes with a discussion as to why Lipsius only published a fraction of his letters to Delrio.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN:	0269-1213
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2022 10:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/86404

Citation Data

Cited 6 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item