Saeva Scientia: Polemics and Defamation in Early Modern Scholarship

Early modern scholarship was no refuge for the sensitive or faint-hearted. Rather, it was a literary battleground in which participants contended with one another not only through scientific argument but also through polemic and invective. This is hardly surprising, given that the period is broadly characterised by persistent political and religious conflict. At the same time, a host of new discoveries challenged long-established convictions, often overturning them altogether. The contributions to this volume demonstrate the literary means through which these debates were conducted and the ways in which they shaped early modern scholarship.