ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the Enlightenment as a set of sociocultural practices and an educational project directed towards those at the margins of society. Maria Eleonora Sporck and Anna Katharina Sweerts-Sporck engaged in their youth in translating books from French to German for the editorial projects of their father. Franz Anton Sporck was interested in an inter-confessional Christianity and suggested to his daughters the works of Protestant preachers for translation. The ideal of a "true Christianity" was an important feature of men and women who believed in a post-confessional effort to move away from formalized religion towards practised piety and virtue. A change in perspective and a shift of interest from the concept of literature towards textual production as a collaborative social and cultural practice enable us to explore the roles of women as versatile, enthusiastic and highly skilled practitioners of the word.
