A “Jansenist case for translation”: Religious reform and translation practices in 18th-century Italy

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In late 18th-century Tuscany, an attempt at wholesale religious reform was carried out by the bishop of a relatively small diocese, Scipione deʼ Ricci, with the explicit support of the enlightened monarch he served, Peter Leopold. This article aims to observe and characterize, from the standpoint of translation history, the entanglements between the discourse of translation and that of societal, religious, and political reform within this Italian context. It argues that both the practice and reflection of translation played a central role in mediating a specific devotional culture and religious sensibility, pioneering new uses of vernacular languages for religious communication, and advancing a cultural policy driven by an explicit political and ideological commitment.