Sixteenth Century Studies Conference 2003 Session 15: Society & Religion in Bohemia: New Directions of Research. Sixteenth Century Studies Society.
Reviewed by James Palmitessa (Department of History, Western Michigan University)
Published on H-German (December, 2003)
The Crown Lands of Bohemia, which consisted of Bohemia proper, Moravia, and Silesia, provide numerous case studies of the interrelated changes in society and religion that took place throughout Europe between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, which we have come to conceptualize under the paradigms of Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Catholic Renewal, Confessionalism, and Confessionalization. Two such interesting case studies were presented in this panel by Stefan Samerski and Joerg Deventer of the "Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas e.V." (GWZO). The GWZO is a research institute, affiliated with the University of Leipzig, which is funded by the <cite>Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft</cite>, the <cite>Volkswagenstiftung</cite> and other foundations. The <cite>Gruendungsdirektor</cite> of the GWZO is Winfried Eberhard, a scholar of late medieval and early modern Bohemian history. At the GWZO Drs. Samerski and Deventer work on a research project entitled "Konfessionalisierung in Ostmitteleuropa 1500-1700: Identitaetsbildung und kulturelle Modernisierung im multikonfessionellen Bereich." <p> Dr. Deventer introduced the experiences of Glogau and Schweidnitz, two Silesian cities, which today are in Poland, but in the early period were under the Bohemian crown. Whereas in Schweidnitz Lutheranism spread quickly and smoothly and by the middle of the sixteenth century had been adopted by the ruling elite and the city's residents, the spread of Lutheranism in Glogau brought about clashes between the citizenry, the majority of whom had gone over to Lutheranism, and the city council, which was dominated by Catholics. This conflict, in turn, limited the council's sphere of authority, which opened the door for attempts by the Bohemian Crown to exert influence in the city's affairs. In the turbulent years following the Revolt of the Bohemian Estates in 1618 and the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, Schweidnitz's Protestant ruling elite adopted a policy of "flexible response" to avoid a conflict with the new Catholic king and Emperor, Ferdinand II. In Glogau, the Catholic victory of 1620 brought about a complete turn-around, restoring the Catholic majority to the city council. Dr. Deventer argues that the implementation of royal authority and confessional homogeneity was a process more negotiated than imposed, and that it ultimately did not succeed, leaving both cities de facto multi-confessional. <p> Dr. Samerski introduced his study of the changes in the function of the major patron saints of Bohemia. According to Dr. Samerski, medieval Bohemia did not have a single major patron saint that created sacral unity and legitimized the ruling dynastic house, as Ireland had with St. Patrick and France with St. Denis. Rather, until the late Middle Ages, Bohemia had a small group of "institutionalized" patron saints: SS. Veit (Vit), Adalbert (Vojtech), Wenzel (Vaclav), Ludmilla, Prokop, Iwan, Norbert, Cyrill and Methodius, and Jan Nepomuk. However, these saints did not serve as a unifying force in all of the Bohemian Crown Lands over a long duration. But in the Confessional Age (1550-1650), Dr. Samerski argued, a specific interest developed in these saints as figures of identification, and their number grew and their function changed. <p> In my commentary, I noted how I was struck by the differences that existed between the experiences of Silesia and the Bohemian heartland of the Bohemian Crowns Lands. While Bohemia is often put forth as an example of the complexity that existed within the Holy Roman Empire (as are the Low Countries), Silesia, in turn, shows the complexity that existed even within a territory of the Empire. Before evaluating the Silesian experience, it seemed important to clarify the distinctive features of Silesia, and I asked Dr. Deventer to say more about the linguistic, ethnic and religious situation in the region. (In his response Dr. Deventer explained that Glogau and Schweidnitz were "royal cities," a legal designation that was similar to that of the <cite>freie Reichstaedte</cite> in the German-speaking areas of the Empire; and that they were primarily German-speaking and did not have any Utraquist presence.) I also noted that the role of the Bishop of Breslau (Wroclaw), the Jesuits, and the Capuchins did not seem to have played as central a role in developments in these two Silesian cities, as the Archbishop of Prague did in the Prague cities. In Dr. Samerski's paper I found the concept of "institutionalization" of the saints interesting. I also questioned whether the Bohemian Reformation (i.e. the Hussite legacy) had a greater influence in the disappearance and resurgence of these cults than Dr. Samerski described in the paper. (In this response, Dr. Samerski agreed that this would be useful to explore in future studies.) <p> The session was well attended by scholars representing a wide variety of interests from North American and Europe. The session generated a lively discussion on the differentiated assessment of the Catholic victory at White Mountain; Silesia's contribution to Prussia, which it later became a part of; and "confessionalization," a topic that has generated much interest in the history of the German-speaking lands of the Holy Roman Empire, which has been recently debated by Marc Forster in <cite>Catholic Revival in the Age of the Baroque. Religious Identity in Southwest Germany, 1550-1750</cite> (2001). <p>
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Citation:
James Palmitessa. Review of , Sixteenth Century Studies Conference 2003 Session 15: Society & Religion in Bohemia: New Directions of Research.
H-German, H-Net Reviews.
December, 2003.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=15277
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