Enlightenment underground

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The online supplement, "Mulsow: Additions to Notes drawn from the 2002 edition of Moderne aus dem Untergrund," features nearly 300 full notes that were truncated in the print edition, available on H. C. Erik Midelfort's website. Martin Mulsow's groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Enlightenment's origins in Germany has garnered awards and acclaim in its original German edition. Midelfort's translation now makes this influential work accessible to English-speaking audiences. Mulsow reveals that even in the late seventeenth century, some German thinkers expressed dangerous ideas within a secret underground. By examining manuscript collections across northern Europe, he uncovers the writings of radical jurists, theologians, historians, and dissident students advocating for the secularization of knowledge in legal, political, social, and religious spheres. These works often circulated anonymously or were clandestinely published. As a philosophical microhistorian, Mulsow identifies covert radicals linked to young German scholars connected with the radical cultures of the Netherlands, England, and Denmark. He highlights how radical ideas emerged from various groups, including Socinians, Jews, and political theorists, and illustrates how misinterpretations of humorous or ironic works led to unintended skeptical and politically charged interpretations of Christianity. This landmark work challenges conventional views of the early Enl