Johannes Gradel

Johannes Gradel is a Researcher at the Department of History, University of Tübingen, specializing in the Global History of the Early Modern Period. He works on the DFG-funded projects Actors, Spaces, Translations: A History of Interactions and Relationships in the Capuchin Mission in the Kingdom of Kongo (c. 1645-1715) and the DFG Priority Programme 2130 Cultures of Translation in Early Modern Times. His research focuses on Early Modern Mission History, cultural interactions in West Central Africa, and the role of translations in knowledge exchange.

His work explores topics such as agency and representation of enslaved women in Capuchin missions, de-centering narratives in early modern Atlantic world encounters, and the epistemological value of African knowledge systems. He has presented at international conferences including the Cambridge-Tübingen Workshops and the Frankfurter Sommerkurs zur Geschichte der FNZ.