My primary research interests relate to the Sidney circle, the genesis of Philip Sidneyʼs (1554-1586) poetic project based on their communication with intellectuals on the continent. Last year, I finished the translation of Michal Slavataʼs Hussite speech with a contextual introduction with my team for the Reformation journal and also contributed to a special issue of the Sidney Journal “Penshurst and Beyond” (edited by Alison Findlay and current Philip Sidney) thus continuing in my research in Durham (Barker Fellowship) (UK) and in Munich (Lyrik Kabinett). Besides my research interests and teaching, my first poetry collection will be published soon.
My Wolfenbüttel project focuses on the almost forgotten figure of Michal Slavata (1554–1575/1577), Baron of Chlum and Koschumberg, who appears several times in Philip Sidney’s correspondence with Hubert Languet. Slavata was a talented youth: during his studies in Wittenberg (ca. 1569-1573), he became a rector of the German students there, held two public speeches in Latin (both were later published, one of the versions possibly with Sidney’s financial support). I will examine Slavataʼs hypothetical involvement in Francis Walsingham’s intelligence network, his stint in Wittenberg, his “Grand Tour,” and his speech on laws (Oratio de legibus). An additional line of the research intended to be implemented in Gotha, Halle, and Wolfenbüttel also encompasses an investigation of Philip Sidneyʼs interest in continental emblem books and how it could play a part in the genesis of his poetry project.
https://zcu.academia.edu/MartinaKastnerov%C3%A1
ORCID: 0000-0002-0142-3924
