Denis Diderot may not be known to many people, but he is one of my heroes. A cheeky philosopher at the onset of radical thinking in France, he was fearless about publishing a grand opus, the Encylopedie. This was a work that to all outward appearances was a source of knowledge, but its message to those who could afford to buy it was simple, the supernatural explanations for creation and the divine rights of kings and queens were tosh.
He tried to evade the monarch’s displeasure by masking his entries in the Encyclopaedie in subtle language that made use of irony. Who would think that an innocent description of a little known plant would cause any consternation? But his fabricated entry about the Agnes Dei plant poked fun at those who believed in miraculous events such as holy statues that wept blood.
His contributors risked a great deal to provide scientific and artistic entries to a work that was condemned by the crown whose agents destroyed the printing presses of Diderot’s publishers and arrested the owners.
Diderot fled France and was given sanctuary by Catherine the Great the Tsarina of Russia. who was interested in his philosophical concepts.
odespinner 