Cartesianism between Northern Europe, Germany, and the Medici Court : Charting a New Map

This essay is dedicated to the cultural infrastructure of Cartesianism, and to the archival practices that accompanied its dissemination, within disciplines such as medicine, biology, and much beyond. It also represents a first attempt to draw a more inclusive map of the European reception of Descartes, by focusing on some neglected evidence that documents the spread of key textbooks, and especially the conversation they spurred. The analysis proceeds by triangulating book trading and academic practices together with courtly culture. After a review of the center-periphery in Cartesian intellectual history, subsequent sections try to answer these questions: what was the relation between the Low Countries and Medici Florence in the 1660s and 70s? How open-ended was Cartesianism, outside of that milieu? Did competition with the Galenic and scholastic legacy made Cartesian medicine more prone to accommodation? The conclusion recaps avenues for new research.