"In the Celebrated Land of Provence": Knowledge Migration from Provence to Italy and the Jewish- Hebrew Philosophical Tradition, ca. 1400 - 1600

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Engel
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 551634607

The project aims to investigate the transfer of philosophical works from Southern France to North and Central Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries and to examine their subsequent impact on local Jewish communities. The central hypothesis is that the travel of knowledge had a profound and transformative effect on the thought of Italian Jews, which later was echoed in the development of other Jewish philosophical centers in Northern Europe. It is assumed therefore that the travel of knowledge from Provence to Italy constituted one of the main yet understudied chapters in the history of Jewish philosophy. The project seeks to reconstruct this chapter by employing two main methodological approaches. One is the recreation of the material history, i.e., the reconstruction of the travel of the actual materials from Provence to Italy. Second, to identify, analyze, and contextualize the responses to the corpus, as given expression in the works of canonical Italian authors as well as in the margins of manuscripts by anonymous readers. By employing these methods, which take into account both material aspects as well as aspects concerning Jewish Geistgeschichte, the project will not only add to our body of knowledge but will also help to alter and adjust certain fundamental historiographical biases regarding the history, development, and direction of premodern Jewish philosophy.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Charles Manekin; Dr. Resianne Smidt van Gelder-Fontaine