Ateismo, Naturalismo e Clandestinità: il Colloquium Heptaplomeres di Jean Bodin e la sua fortuna in Francia e Germania (XVII - XVIII secolo)

This doctoral project investigates the reception and circulation of Jean Bodin’s thought in France and Germany from the late Renaissance to the early eighteenth century, with particular attention to the fortune of the Colloquium Heptaplomeres. The dissertation is structured in three parts, each devoted to a distinct phase in the dissemination and interpretation of Bodin’s intellectual legacy. The first part reconstructs the initial two phases of Bodin’s reception. The first period, from 1577 to 1613, is marked by accusations of ambiguity and heterodoxy leveled against Bodin by French and Italian Catholic theologians. The second, between 1627 and 1683, begins with the discovery and circulation of the Colloquium, which helped to consolidate Bodin’s role in debates on freedom of conscience, the relationship between religion and politics, and criticism of Christian dogma. The second part focuses on a philosophical analysis of the Colloquium, examining its structure and content while highlighting its affinities with libertine and anti-Christian currents of early modernity. This analysis reveals a consistent alignment with the concerns raised by Bodin’s critics, given the presence of numerous heterodox elements and an orientation that borders on atheism. The third and final part explores the third phase of Bodin’s reception, triggered by the publication of De naturalismo (1683) by Johann Diecmann, a prominent Lutheran theologian in the German academic context of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Although conceived as a refutation, Diecmann’s work contributed to the dissemination of the Colloquium in Germany. His inclusion of several excerpts from Bodin’s dialogue in De naturalismo sparked the curiosity of readers and increased the demand for new manuscript copies. This dynamic encouraged further – albeit unsuccessful – attempts at publication, ultimately reinforcing the Colloquium’s reputation as a clandestine and controversial text.