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RgRechtsgeschichteZeitschri des Max-Planck-Instituts für europäische RechtsgeschichteJournal of the Max Planck Institute for European Legal HistoryRechtsgeschichteLegal .de/rg24Rg24 2016171 – 189Laura Beck VarelaTranslating Law for Women?The Institutes du droit civil pour les dames in Eighteenth-Century HelmstedtDieser Beitrag steht unter einerCreative Commons cc-by-nc-nd 3.0
AbstractInstitutes du droit civil pour les dames is the title ofa unique piece of work printed in 1751 in the smalltown of Helmstedt. Its author, a little known jurist,Johann Heinrich Kratzenstein (1726–1805), closeto the Pietistic circles, composed an abridgedFrench translation in 48 pages of Justinian’s Institutes, one of the most widespread texts in European legal history. It was written as a birthday gi for a noblewoman, Regina Charlotte Topp, wifeof an influential law professor of the University ofHelmstedt. This short essay examines this rareattempt to translate and adapt Latin juridical textsfor a female audience. What legal topics did Kratzenstein choose? What kind of legal knowledge didhe consider »suitable« for the »other«, the femalereadership? What kind of reader did he »construct«, and what motivated him to engage in sucha singular project? How was his work received?Could jurisprudence find a place among the new»popular« scientific and philosophical genres, promoted in certain enlightened circles, especially onthe bookshelves of the so-called FrauenzimmerBibliotheken (the specially designated ladies’ libraries)?To answer these questions about Kratzenstein’stranslation, I discuss a topic that has so far beenneglected by mainstream legal history, which istraditionally centered on legal scholarship: thevivid early modern debate on women’s education(the so-called querelle des femmes) and its impact onthe field of jurisprudence in the eighteenth century.
Fokus focusLaura Beck VarelaTranslating Law for Women?The Institutes du droit civil pour les dames in Eighteenth-Century Helmstedt*I.Introduction»It is unforgiveable not to enable the beautifulsex to study certain sciences rendered in alanguage that he understands. For it is clear thatthis study will be of great advantage to women,preventing them from harming themselves frequently due to lack of better instruction. Imean, for example, the study of Law, or at leastof some parts of jurisprudence. None has tried itso far. I hope to succeed in this attempt. I willmention here only the legal topics that a womanmust necessarily know«.With these words, Johann Heinrich Kratzenstein (1726–1805), a fairly unknown jurist, openedhis Institutes du droit civil pour les dames, printed inHelmstedt in 1751, in a small octavo format. 1Presented as an abridged translation in 48 pagesof Justinian’s Institutes, it is certainly a uniquepiece, or at least of an extremely rare kind. Kratzenstein wrote it as a birthday gi for a woman ofaristocratic descent, Regina Charlotte Topp (1714–1786). 2 She was the daughter of Johannes Justusvon Vieth, a member of the Prussian royal war* I thank Ben Kamis and BartoloméClavero for the careful reading andsuggestions. This contribution wasdeveloped within the HICOES research project, directed by MartaLorente (Spanish Ministry of Economy, nr. DER2014-56291-C3-1-P).1 »Il est impardonnable de ne pas faciliter au beau sexe l’étude de certainessciences en les lui donnant dans unelangue qu’il entend, puis qu’il estcertain, que cette etude lui seroit evidament d’un très grand avantage etqu’il eviteroit souvent par là de sefaire tort à soi même faute d’êtremieux instruit. Je veux dire parexemple l’etude du Droit ou au moinsde quelques parties de la Jurisprudence. On ne s’est pas encore aviséd’en faire l’essai, voïons si j’y reussirai.Je n’ai qu’à alleguer ici les points deDroit, qu’une femme doit necessaire-council (Preussischer Kriegs- und Domänenrath) andthe wife of a law professor at the University ofHelmstedt, Johann Konrad Sigismund Topp(1692–1757), who was Kratzenstein’s patron. 3A study of Kratzenstein’s singular work wouldnot prima facie suit a special issue dedicated to lawand translation. This essay does not deal with theusual »transfer« of legal institutions, works orauthors from a source legal system to a foreignone. Nor are the Institutes du droit civil pour lesdames the usual »translation« of a text in themodern sense, even if the author presented it tothe readership as a sort of translation – putting lawin a language that »the beautiful sex« understands.Like most translators and authors in the earlymodern republic of letters, Kratzenstein used Justinian’s text as a guide, an authoritative repertoirefor the selection of the topics he needed, not as asacred text he felt obliged to follow or translateword for word. Early modern readers were familiarneither with the »hierarchies that have subordinatedtranslation to a concept of originality« 4 nor with theidea of authorship as individual ownership protected by copyright rules. To write in jurisprudence, as well as in theology, sciences or letters,ment savoir«. K (1751) 9.I am transcribing the accents andorthography of the original, which donot correspond to modern Frenchorthography. Kratzenstein used masculine forms when referring to thefemale reader, according to a common language use in the eighteenthcentury. For the sake of clarity, I haveused also neutral and feminine formsin the English translations throughout this essay, indicating the originalFrench passages in the footnotes.2 She was born on 10 May 1714, according to the information found inthe funeral molds for her tomb (seethe file NLA WO 9 Slg. Nr. 6 in theregional archive NiedersächsischesLandesarchiv Wolfenbüttel). She probably met Kratzenstein a er moving toHelmstedt in 1748, when her husband was appointed to a chair at thelaw faculty. They had been marriedsince 1731, and six of their childrenwere still alive when Topp died in1757. From 1760 to 1770 she lived inher father’s house in Golßen in LowerLusatia, then in Braunschweig and,finally, from 1773 on in Wolfenbüttel, where she died on 8 July 1786,Z (1894). Her daughterHedwig Charlotte married JohannBenedict Carpzov IV, professor inHelmstedt and Leipzig, descendent ofthe famous theologian of the samename. A (2004) 45.3 Kratzenstein refers to Topp as hisGönner (patron or benefactor), forinstance in the Trostschreiben, whichwas dedicated to Regina Topp a erher husband’s death. K (1757).4 C (1988) 325.Laura Beck Varela171
Rg24 2016was to write within a tradition and always includedan important »reproductive« element. The literaryvalue relied on clarity, style or on a new arrangement of someone else’s materials. Authors andcompilers presented the potential »novelty« oftheir works as the rescue of pre-existing argumentsand loci that had been forgotten and were alreadyavailable in the treasure trove of the juridicaltradition. 5Yet I am dealing with translation as a complexprocess of negotiation between two differentworlds of experience, as Homi Bhabha definedit. 6 In this case, the negotiation occurs betweenthe world of the learned jurists and that of potential female readers, who at that time did not haveaccess to formal higher education. Thus, ratherthan an inquiry into the work’s scientific value orthe translator’s fidelity to the original source-text ofJustinian, I will focus on the complex process ofcultural exchange that is always present in any act oftranslation. As with any cultural exchange, it depends on how the other is conceived in a certaincontext. 7Why did Kratzenstein, as a mediator betweenthese different worlds, select certain topics and acertain language to address his audience? Whatkind of legal knowledge did he consider »suitable«for the »other«, the female readership? What kindof reader did he »construct« and what motivatedhim to engage in such a singular project? How washis work received?5 I have developed these ideas in B V (2013) 64 ff.6 For a discussion on the various metaphors of cultural translation, seeF (2015).7 F (2015).8 There are several studies on the querelle des femmes, which by that timehad become an academic subject andgenerated a considerable corpus ofliterature dedicated to discussingwomen’s nature and role in society.See, among others, K (1984);F (1996); M (2005);F (2013) 9–23.9 Roderich Stintzing offered an overview of the so-called »popular« legalliterature of early modernity, , manyof which were addressed to the socalled »pettifoggers« (Rabulisten inGerman, rábulas and leguleyos in theSpanish and Portuguese speakingworld): S (1867). The peda-172Translating Law for Women?To answer these questions about Kratzenstein’s»translation«, I discuss a topic that has been so farneglected by mainstream legal history, which istraditionally centered on the history of legal scholarship: the vivid early modern debate on women’seducation (the so-called querelle des femmes 8) andits impact on the field of jurisprudence in theeighteenth century.Could jurisprudence find a place among the»popular« scientific and philosophical genres promoted in certain enlightened circles? There wasindeed an old tradition of »popular« and »pragmatic« legal pieces addressed to non-professionalscholars, 9 but could jurisprudence join the bookshelves of the so-called Frauenzimmer-Bibliotheken(the specially designated ladies’ libraries)? 10The Institutes du droit civil pour les dames was onemore reaction to the ongoing debate on the education of women. It was produced among manifold cultural and religious trends of the early German Enlightenment, such as Pietism or the philosophical ideas of Christian Thomasius (1655–1728)and Christian Wolff (1679–1754). Kratzensteinwas impressed by the notoriety achieved by a fewlearned women of his time, such as the mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), whoheld a position at the University of Bologna, 11and Johanna Charlotte Ziegler (1725–1782), author of a philosophical book for women. He waswell aware of the growing corpus of literature byand for women in the German territories. 12 Krat-gogical writings known as »Modos depassar en derechos« established a cleardivision between two different pathsof legal training: an official one forlaw students who wanted to obtainthe license (licentia docendi) and anabbreviated one for »practical« usersof jurisprudence (such as practicallawyers, church and royal officers,clergymen etc.). See A (1997).I analyze this genre in B V (2013) 262 ff.10 The popular genres dedicated to thefemale readership usually addressedboth women and the amateurs, thosewho were not professional scholars(Gelehrte). The title of the work ofAugust Batsch (1761–1802) illustrates clearly this neat distinction, sotypical of the Enlightenment culture,between scholarly production andthe unprofessional, popular field ofknowledge: Botanik für Frauenzimmerund Pflanzenliebhaber, welche keineGelehrten sind (»Botany for Ladiesand Plant Lovers Who Are not Professional Scholars«).11 Together with the physicist LauraBassi (1711–1718), Maria GaetanaAgnesi was one of the first women tohold a university position. SeeC (2000); C (1997).12 Ziegler’s Grundriß einer Weltweißheitfür das Frauenzimmer (Towards Universal Wisdom for Ladies), published in1751 and reprinted in 1767, was oneof the most important attempts of»popularizing« philosophy for women. See S (1991) 80 f.;P (2011) 139. On the Frauenzimmer-Bibliotheken see the seminalstudy of N (1976) and the severalcatalogs of notorious women andnew literary genres for womenexamined by S -K (2014). For a comparison with the
Fokus focuszenstein wished to contribute to it with this singleattempt of translating law for women.II.The Translator: Johann HeinrichKratzenstein’s Life and Works betweenLaw and PedagogyNew school systems, university reforms andpedagogical theories were topics frequently discussed by many »Enlightenment families« duringthe eighteenth century. Pedagogical concernsshaped the very definition of the Au lärung (»Enlightenment«) as a new age of autonomy andemancipation. 13Johann Heinrich Kratzenstein’s life had developed, since his youth, in a pedagogical environment between two lively peripheral centers of theHoly Roman Empire. He was born on 6 July 1726in Wernigerode, as the son of Thomas AndreasKratzenstein (1684–1765), a schoolteacher, andMaria Elisabeth Manneßen (1690–1760), both ofhigh social status. He died on 20 November 1805in Helmstedt. 14Italian context, see Francesco Algarotti’s Il Newtonianismo per le dame(1737), a popular explication ofNewton’s optics, translated into German in 1745, and Elena Barbapiccola’s abridged translation of Descartes’philosophy, I Principi della filosofia diRenato Descartes tradotti dal francese colconfronto del latino , published inTurin in 1722. For Barbapiccola’sreaction to the criticism on her attempt of »popularizing« Descartes’philosophy: M / F (2005) 56–58. On women and scienceoverall, see: F (1995); R (2003). According to Ceranski, besides basic abridgements there werealso demanding works of science directed at women: C (2000)293.13 For the most recent discussion onPocock’s thesis on local Enlightenments, see: I (2016). On thebirth of pedagogy in the eighteenthcentury, see: K (1992) andM (2006b).14 There is scarce information abouthim in the various dictionaries andprotobibliographies of the time:H -M (1797), 254; . (1810), D (1791) 131–132,1516171819Descending from a family of scholars, ThomasAndreas Kratzenstein was not only a teacher andmember of the city’s administration, later becoming a member of the city council and mayor, but healso published biblical works for children. 15 Johann Heinrich attended the Latin school, 16 as hadhis elder brother, Christian Gottlieb (1723–1795),who achieved distinction as a natural scientist andinventor a er having studied at the University ofHalle. The two brothers seem to have maintained aclose relationship throughout their lives. 17 JohannHeinrich published his first work in 1748 under apseudonym, Zweysporn, 18 defending ChristianGottlieb’s theories against his opponents and inpublic disputes. 19 Speaking of the two brothersKratzenstein, the abbey Denina, in La Prusse littéraire, remarked that from the small town of Wernigerode came »an incredible amount of wise men«. 20The noble family of Stolberg-Wernigerodeplayed a significant role in the famed erudition ofthe city. Thanks to Count Christian Ernst vonStolberg-Wernigerode (1691–1771), who ruled inthe city from 1710 to 1771, the religious movement known as Pietism persisted longer in Werni-W (1781) 431, K (1856)91. There is some confusion about thedates of birth and decease. Here Iadopt those proposed by A (2004) 134. See also S (2007)and K (1979). He marriedWilhelmine Lademann, the onlydaughter of a high justice officer ofthe royal council of Prussia. An homage written by Andreas HeinrichKratzenstein dates their marriage to1777: Viro illustri, consultissimo S. l.1777 [note of the University of Hallecatalog, shelfmark 78 M 493, Kapsel(8): Hochzeitsglückwunsch auf JohannHeinrich Kratzenstein, Jurist, 15. April1777]. They had one son, Carl, bornin 1793, S (1954).Thomas Andreas Kratzenstein, Biblisches Spruchbuch der vornehmstenSprüche auf alle Sonn- und Festtagedurchs gantze Jahr second enlargededition, Wernigerode 1738, quotedby R , M (2011) 173.K (1856) 91.See the most recent survey on his life:S (2007) 49.H (1906) 320.For details, see S (2007) 49,94–98. Apparently, Johann Heinrichhad written a defense of his brotheragainst Georg Erhard Hamberger(1697–1755), and Johann FriedrichKessel (?–1754) answered with another piece published in 1751. J. H.Kratzenstein reacted with the publication of Vertheidigung des Hrn. Hofr.Hambergers gegen den Jenaischen LandMed. J. F. Kessel in puncto plagii (1752),which is quoted in Haller’s correspondence. B et al. (HallersRepertorium, 2002, Nr. 573, 287).20 D (1791) 131–132.Laura Beck Varela173
Rg24 2016gerode than it did elsewhere. 21 In 1762, JohannHeinrich published a greeting poem 22 in celebration of the wedding anniversary of Count Christian Ernst and Countess Sophie Charlotte (1695–1762), who also belonged to a pietistic family, theLeiningen-Westerburg. 23Pietism was a religious movement of socialreform, committed to the spread of Christianvalues in the entire society, such as the salvationof the soul and renunciation of the »worldly life«.It had a strong pedagogical mission and was concerned with women’s education. 24 As the works ofone of its main exponents show, the Halle professor August Hermann Francke (1663–1727), thePietistic project encompassed not only pedagogicaltheories but also the creation of a complete systemof schooling, echoing the station-oriented societyof the time. The Waisenhäuser (orphanages, orboarding schools for the poor, such as the prototypical one founded in Halle in 1695, which waswidely known also for its important printingoffice) were one of the central pieces in Francke’sschooling system. 25However, Pietism was also related to an increasingly conservative view about women’s education, 26 as it advocated a more traditional roleof women in the household. Christian Thomasius held a different position, promoting feminine participation in public life in the context ofhis philosophy based on tolerance, worldly wisdom (Weltklugheit) and independence from theChurch. 27 Thomasius’s support of women’s education and of the diffusion of philosophical andscientific knowledge contributed to the growth of»popular« genres in the German literary panorama,including those directed at women. The work21 B (1995) 347. See also R ,M (2011) 173. For a recentsurvey on the impact of Pietismus inthe princedom of Wolfenbüttel, withvarious references to Helmstedt andits university, see J -T (2015). On their daughter, the eruditeCountess Ferdinande Adriane vonStolberg-Wernigerode (1717–1787),an active supporter of Bible readingcircles in which women were encouraged to participate, see W (1998) 128.22 K (1762).23 B (1995) 346–347.24 The »familia pietistica« also promotedoverseas missions and received Prot-174Translating Law for Women?published in Leipzig in 1720 under the pseudonymof Clisander, entitled Die Einleitung zu der WeltWeißheit oder Philosophie eines galanten Frauenzimmers (Introduction to the Universal Wisdom orPhilosophy of a Gallant Lady), was immediatelyattributed to the school of Thomasius. 28A proposal analogous to Clisander’s was Johanna Charlotte Ziegler’s Grundriß, published in1751. 29 The Zieglerin, who was later known as theUnzerin a er her husband’s name, was influencedby Siegmund Jacob Baumgarten (1706–1757), oneof the leading figures of Pietism in the theologicalschool of the University of Halle. Baumgarten hadattempted to conciliate pietistic principles withChristian Wolff’s philosophy in spite of strongdisputes between Wolff and the pietists. 30 Wolffhimself had also contemplated writing a philosophical book for ladies, 31 and his ideas had inspired La Belle Wolfienne, a romance on his philosophy in six volumes, written by Jean Henri SamuelFormey between 1741 and 1753 (translated partially into German in 1741–42 as Die schöne Wolfianerin).Ziegler’s Grundriß was one of the direct influences of Kratzenstein’s Institutes du droit civil pourles dames, as he himself declared 32 and as a reviewerin the Göttingische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachennoted. 33 Kratzenstein and Johanna Ziegler probably met at the gatherings of the Deutsche Gesellscha , a society for the study of German languageand literature founded in Helmstedt in 1745. 34The Zieglerin belonged to this society as an honorary member. 35Kratzenstein became familiar with Wolff’s
neglected by mainstream legal history, which is traditionally centered on the history of legal schol-arship: the vivid early modern debate on women’s education (the so-called querelle des femmes8) and its impact on the
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