Anisia Iacob

Project title: Crafting the Radical Reformation in Early Modern Transylvania

Project Summary: 

Anisia Iacob is a PhD student in the Knowledge Orders Before Modernity programme, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. She works under the supervision of Dr. Suzanna Ivannic (University of Kent) and Dr. Hannah Murphy (King’s College London). Her project is titled Crafting the Radical Reformation in Early Modern Transylvania. It focuses on how radical anti-Trinitarian ideas entered the Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), were adopted and implemented, and were then reflected in the craftsmanship involved in furnishing Unitarian churches. The project emphasizes the fluid nature of knowledge and how it can be transmitted and shaped through various mediums, moving beyond the idea that knowledge is solely connected to text. By examining representations of flora and fauna within the setting of an early modern Unitarian church, Iacob’s inquiry analyzes a visual vocabulary where the human image is absent. While anti-Trinitarian ideas were still influenced by Humanism, and other confessions resulting from the Reformation continued to use human representations within the Principality, the Unitarian choice appears peculiar. This research sheds light on the relationship between knowledge-ordering, the local natural environment, and the practical know-how of early modern artisans — all shaped by a radical theological worldview. Her investigation offers a new perspective on Unitarian heritage in Central-Eastern Europe while highlighting the intricate web of influences stemming from radical theological ideas, the anatomical discoveries of the Renaissance, natural philosophy, and the political developments surrounding the Principality.