In the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups... Show moreIn the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups were among the most controversial and consequential policies of early modern states. There was therefore a genuine interest in news about religious persecutions among different strata of society, and writers and publishers were keen to meet this demand. Especially in the Dutch Republic, numerous newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals flowed from the presses to confront news consumers throughout Europe with the plight of foreign communities. To reach and affect their audiences, opinion makers had to answer a fundamental question, which we still grapple with in our own times: Why should we care about distant suffering? This dissertation investigates, first, which arguments were used to communicate religious persecution ca. 1650-1750, a period that is often approached in terms of political secularization. Second, it identifies which stakeholders were engaged in the international production of topical persecution literature, and examines who they saw as their audience. Finally, tying in with the nascent historiography of early modern ‘public diplomacy’, this study explores the role which topical persecution literature played in domestic and international politics. Show less
