Katherine A. East
Newcastle University, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Department Member
- Fondation Hardt pour l'Étude de l'Antiquité Classique, Classical Antiquity, Department MemberUniversity of Innsbruck, Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut fuer Neulateinische Studien, Department Member, and 4 moreadd
- See https://katherineaeast.wordpress.com/ for more details. My research seeks to illuminate the role of the classical... moreSee https://katherineaeast.wordpress.com/ for more details. My research seeks to illuminate the role of the classical tradition in the formation of early modern political and religious ideas. To this end, I have two primary, interrelating areas of interest: the history of the transmission of Latin texts in early modern Europe, and their reception in the subversive works of early modern England, works which sought to challenge authority and tradition through the development of discourses centred around political radicalism and heterodoxy. The impact of the processes of transmission on the text - editorial practices, textual criticism, commentary, translation, and so on - on the subsequent interpretation of that text is often underestimated in studies of the classical tradition. The possible impact of editorial techniques on the Latin text is the subject of my first monograph - The Radicalization of Cicero: John Toland and Strategic Editing in the Early Enlightenment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), - which relates the editorial practices of the subversive intellectual John Toland to his efforts to legitimise his representation of Cicero as an exemplary radical.
I have also published articles in this area examining the use of Cicero to formulate and articulate the radical ideologies of Pantheism, anticlericalism, and Freethought in early-eighteenth-century England. My current Leverhulme project is extending this research to examine how Cicero’s sceptical philosophy was understood and deployed by both orthodox and heterodox writers, exploring from the publication of Herbert of Cherbury’s De Veritate in London in 1645, to the publication of David Hume’s Dialogues concerning Natural Religion in 1779. The focus of this project is primarily on the use of Cicero's De Natura Deorum and De Divinatione by Enlightenment writers, and consequently the transmission of these texts is also the subject of this inquiry. This research has also led to the development of a reading group with colleagues at Newcastle and Sunderland Universities into the idea of civil religion in the early modern period, encouraging investigation of this topic from a variety of perspectives, including how it related to its ancient forebears.edit
This book uses a previously overlooked Neo-Latin treatise, Cicero Illustratus, to provide insight into the status and function of the Ciceronian tradition at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and consequently to more broadly... more
This book uses a previously overlooked Neo-Latin treatise, Cicero Illustratus, to provide insight into the status and function of the Ciceronian tradition at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and consequently to more broadly illuminate the fate of that tradition in the early Enlightenment. Cicero Illustratus itself is the first subject for inquiry, mined for what its deliberately erudite and colorfully polemical passages of scholarly stratagems reveal about Ciceronian scholarship and the motives for exploring it within the context of early Enlightenment thought. It also includes an analysis of the role played by the Ciceronian tradition in the broader political and radical movements that existed in the Enlightenment, with particular attention paid to Cicero’s unexpectedly prominent position in major political and philosophical Republican and Erastian works. The subject of this book together with the conclusions reached will provide scholars and students with crucial new material relating to the classical tradition, the history of scholarship, and the intellectual history of the early Enlightenment.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper explores the role of the Ciceronian tradition in the radical religious discourse of John Toland (1670–1722). Toland produced numerous works seeking to challenge the authority of the clergy, condemning their ‘priestcraft’ as a... more
This paper explores the role of the Ciceronian tradition in the radical religious discourse of John Toland (1670–1722). Toland produced numerous works seeking to challenge the authority of the clergy, condemning their ‘priestcraft’ as a significant threat to the integrity of the Commonwealth. Throughout these anticlerical writings, Toland repeatedly invoked Cicero as an enemy to superstition and as a religious sceptic, particularly citing the theological dialogues De Natura Deorum and De Divinatione. This paper argues that Toland adapted the Ciceronian tradition so that it could function as an active influence on the construction of his radical discourse. First, it shows that Toland championed a particular interpretation of Cicero's works which legitimised his use of Cicero in this rational context. Then, it shows the practical manifestations of this interpretation, examining the ramifications for how Toland formed three important facets of his campaign against priestcraft: his identification of priestcraft as a superstition; his argument for a rational religion in which priestcraft could play no role; and his portrayal of anticlericalism as a service to the Commonwealth.
Research Interests:
The aim of this conference is to expand on this revived appreciation of the classical influence in early modernity by looking specifically at the role played by the ancient world in that sphere from which it has most usually been... more
The aim of this conference is to expand on this revived appreciation of the classical influence in early modernity by looking specifically at the role played by the ancient world in that sphere from which it has most usually been excluded: subversive literature. The idea that the texts, philosophies, and exempla of the ancient world might have served as significant tools for those who sought to undermine and challenge political, religious and cultural authority stands in direct opposition to the traditional role assigned to the classics in this period. Emphasising an interdisciplinary approach, this conference will draw scholars together to build a coherent picture of how the classical tradition functioned as a tool for subversion, illuminating a previously neglected aspect of the ancient world in the early modern thought.
