Age of Secrecy

Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400-1800

Jutte Daniel, Riemer Jeremiah

The fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries were truly an Age of Secrecy in Europe, when arcane knowledge was widely believed to be positive knowledge which extended into all areas of daily life. So asserts Daniel Jutte 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, the author relates true stories of colorful "professors of secrets" and clandestine encounters. In the process Jutte examines how our current notion of secrecy is radically different in this era of WikiLeaks, Snowden, etc., as opposed to centuries earlier when the truest, most important knowledge was generally considered to be secret by definition.

About the Author

Daniel Jutte is currently a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and a lecturer in the Department of History at Harvard.

Jeremiah Riemer is an esteemed translator whose most recent translation from German is Michael Brenner's A Short History of Jews.

Reviews

"An important, widely researched, and fascinating contribution to our understanding of both early modern European history and Jewish history" – Natalie Zemon Davis

"This outstanding and in many ways path-breaking work is a remarkable example of careful and detailed engagement with a wide range of scholarship and creative and careful attention to both familiar and little-discussed sources. As such, it will be a valuable resource for scholars in many fields, and it helps to further the study of early modern Jewish history, early modern science, and the culture of the early modern world" – Dean Phillip Bell, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

"Daniel Jutte masterfully reveals a forgotten economy where secrets were prized, prestigious commodities rather than causes of anxiety, suspicion, or outrage. 'The Age of Secrecy' is a major contribution to early modern history, Jewish history, and the history of knowledge" – David Armitage, Harvard University

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