Maria Eleonora Sporck (1687-1717) and Anna Katharina Swéerts-Sporck (1689-1754): Practitioners and Promoters of the Word at the Edge of the Enlightenment
Abstract
By using the Sporck sisters as examples, the chapter shows the importance of the concept of textual practices for gender and women's history as it is more inclusive than the concept of literature and opens up space for those historical actors who were excluded from formal higher education. The author explores Maria Eleonora and Anna Katharina Sporck as versatile practitioners of the word who engaged in a wide range of textual practices ranging from reading, translating books and writing letters to book patronage and book distribution.
The chapter brings to attention the pervasive emphasis on Christianity rather than on Catholicism in the textual production the Sporck sisters authored or contributed to as translators and patrons which can be interpreted as a move away from confessional antagonisms towards a more universal understanding of Christianity. A similar move can be observed in other aspects of textual practices of both sisters (and even more of Anna Katharina who outlived Maria Eleonora by 37 years), such as in the popularization of affective piety or in the use of books for projects of social reform.