The Age of Secrecy : Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400†"1800 / Daniel Jütte (Jutte).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jütte (Jutte), Daniel, Author.

Contributor:

Riemer, Jeremiah

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Colorni, Abraham, approximately 1530-.

Colorni, Abraham.

Occultism--Europe--History.

Occultism.

Secrecy--Religious aspects--Judaism--History.

Secrecy.

Secrecy--Religious aspects--Christianity--History.

Mystery.

Jewish magic--History.

Jewish magic.

Alchemy--Europe--History.

Alchemy.

Jewish alchemists--Europe--History.

Jewish alchemists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (444 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries were truly an Age of Secrecy in Europe, when arcane knowledge was widely believed to be positive knowledge that extended into all areas of daily life, from the economic, scientific, and political spheres to the general activities of ordinary people. So asserts Daniel Jütte in this engrossing, vivid, and award-winning work. He maintains that the widespread acceptance and even reverence for this "economy of secrets" in premodern Europe created a highly complex and sometimes perilous space for mutual contact between Jews and Christians. Surveying the interactions between the two religious groups in a wide array of secret sciences and practices-including alchemy, cryptography, medical arcana, technological and military secrets, and intelligence-the author relates true stories of colorful "professors of secrets" and clandestine encounters. In the process Jütte examines how our current notion of secrecy is radically different in this era of WikiLeaks, Snowden, et al., as opposed to centuries earlier when the truest, most important knowledge was generally considered to be secret by definition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface to the English Edition

One. The Age of Secrecy

Two. Masters of the Arcane and Their Métiers

Three. Zones of Interaction: The Case of Magic

Four. Trading in Secrets and Economic Life

Five. Abramo Colorni, Professor of Secrets

Six. The Culture and Crisis of Secrecy

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

Other Format:

Print version: Jütte, Daniel, 1984- Age of secrecy : Jews, Christians, and the economy of secrets, 1400-1800.

OCLC:

908253628