The Bees’ Honey: Remarks on Students as Agents of Knowledge in Renaissance Europe Through the Case of Simon Clüver (1540–1598)

This article argues that the notebooks produced by students during their stay abroad can become precious documentary evidence of early modern knowledge creation and organization. From the second half of the 15th century an unprecedented availability of paper led students to take notes freely on anything they considered useful or interesting for their education and, more generally, for their future. The case study of the notebooks belonging to a student from Danzig who stayed in Wittenberg in the 1560s, will show how the multi-text documents produced by students contribute to a better understanding of both their educational needs and their original reworking of academic knowledge.