Callahan, William J., David Hiigs. Church and Society in Catholic Europe of the Eighteenth Century. London. Cambridge University Press. 1979
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND AUTHORS
Aside from Callahan and Higgs who wrote the chapter on Spanish and Portuguese church, most of the 7 contributors also specializes on the history of the particular country assigned to them in the book. For instance, the author of the chapter on German church, Gerhard Benecke, wrote other works on German history such as Society and Politics in Germany, 1500-1750, and Germany in the Thirty Years War. Chapter 9 – “The Polish Church” – was written by Jerzy Kloczowski, who produced books such as Religious History of Poland, Poland in the Medieval Church, and A History of Polish Christianity. The same is true for the case of Mario Rosa, author of the chapter on Italian church, who wrote Reformers and Rebels in the 18th Century Religious Italy, Catholicism and Enlightenment in the Eighteenth Century Italy, and The Church and the Italian States in the Age of Absolutism. It is sufficient to note that this is also the case for other contributors such as Olwen Hufton, Jean Berenger, and Bela Kiraly who wrote chapters on French, Austrian, and Hungarian church. Marc Venard, who wrote the special chapter on popular religions is a French historian who is expert on religious history and wrote works such as Protestant and Catholic Reform in the Province of Avignon, Religion in Modern France, and The Confraternities in the City of Rouen in Modern Times.
OVERVIEW & BACKGROUND OF
THE BOOK
The book is originally a proceedings of the conference on 18th
century European Catholicism held at the University of Toronto, and organized
by the university’s History Department. There are some papers presented in the
conference which are not included in the book, and there are also some
additional chapters not originally covered during the conference.
It discussed the state of Catholicism in Europe during the 18th
century in a mosaic style, by presenting its particularities in 8 countries:
France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland. These
countries are the foci of chapters 2 to 9. Chapter 1 serves as an introductory
essay that gives overview on the content of the book. According to the editors
who wrote the chapter, although the essays are focused on specific countries,
they are able to flesh out themes and trends that are generally true throughout
the continent such as the widening of gap between low and high clergy, the
unequal distribution of wealth inside the church, the increasing power of the
state over the church, demographic decline of ecclesiastical vocation, and the
intensification of popular devotions. In chapter 10, a special chapter on
popular religion, the contributor tackles problems of defining the term, gives
a qualitative inventory of important sources on the topic, and mentions some
areas on the study of popular religion that could attract the attention of
future researchers.
Theoretically and methodologically, the book is founded upon the
scholarly heritage of the French historian Gabriel Le Bras whose book Etudes de sociologie religieuse (Studies on Religious Sociology) opened
up new directions for the study of religious history. Aside from the
introduction in chapter 1, all of the contributors who wrote chapter 2-5 and
chapter 10 mentioned the indisputable value of Le Bras’ legacy to the field.
The book itself is a continuing application of the Le Bras approach to
religious history, that is, the study of religious history within the context
of the wider society (hence the book’s title Church and Society…).
CHAPTER BY CHAPTER SUMMARY
The following provides the summary of the book per chapter.
Introduction by William J. Callahan and David Higgs
Before the Second World War, scholarship on the historiography of
church (usually dominated by clerical historians) is limited to the history of
ecclesiastical institutions (e.g. history of monasteries, religious orders,
dioceses, parishes, etc.), which are commonly studied in isolation from the
wider society. A turning point in the scholarship of religious history can be
traced in the publication of the celebrated Études
de sociologie religieuse (Studies on Religious Sociology) by the French
historian-sociologist Gabriel Le Bras in 1955. Le Bras started to deploy the
methodologies of social sciences, particularly of sociology, in studying church
history. He demonstrated how the study of religious history could be more
fruitful if it is placed in the context of its wider society. For instance,
instead of being content with theological explanations on slippage (or why
decline of church membership is occurring) among Europeans, it would be better
to consider various economic, political and social factors which contributed to
the increase of slippage.
Though the essays of the book are focused on Catholicism based on
particular national boundaries, they point towards general trends and themes
which are true in the continental level. First among these themes is the
increasing social divide between the low clergy (parish priests, usually of
secular clergy origin) and the high clergy (bishops, archbishops, cathedral
canons, and some regular clergy). Majority of the church wealth are in the
hands of high clergy, who reside in urban areas. Many members of this group
usually came from aristocratic families and feudal lords, and are educated in
prestigious universities and seminaries abroad (especially in Rome). As the
editors noted, “The church was perhaps more visible in the countryside as
landowner and tithe-gatherer than as dispenser of spiritual comfort.” On the
contrary, majority of low clergy came from commoner and less noble families,
and they are usually less educated. Many of them can be found in parishes located
in rural areas. If they are in urban areas, they usually lack parishes.
Second, and connected to the first theme, there was a continuous
decline in the number of priests during the 18th century. There are
many cases of parishes without priests in several European places, especially
in rural areas. Ironically, civil authorities sometimes complain on the
abundance religious orders in cities, as well as secular priests without
parishes. It seems that secular priests are attracted to cities where there are
more opportunities, and they avoid rural parishes. One reason that could
account for this anomaly is this: sources of wealth (such as tithes), which
could be used to employ parish priests in rural areas, are taken by bishops.
Third, historians also noticed that during the 18th
century, there was an increasing fervor in popular piety and devotions. Belief
in magic and sorcery, and reports of the miraculous proliferates among the
masses. It is common to read laments from church authorities who view popular piety
as mere superstitions. High clergy look down on uneducated parish priests whom
they perceive as tolerating these kinds of spirituality. Reform-minded clerics,
such as those influenced by Jansenism, passionately oppose these devotions as
deviating from orthodox Christianity. They believe that educating the masses in
church doctrines would help to solve this problem. Some in the church hierarchy
saw that one possible solution is the creation of devotions and confraternities
that are controlled directly by the church. Because of this, they encouraged
the proliferation of church-directed devotions such as Sacred Heart, Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, and Stations of the Cross which became popular among the
people. This third theme therefore shows that in the 18th century,
aside from the social divide between low and high clergy, there is also a
widening gap between official orthodox religion of the church hierarchy on one
hand, and the popular religion of the masses on the other hand.
Fourth, unlike in the previous centuries, the 18th century
witness the increasing power of the state over the church. Various kings and
rulers began to appoint clergy to different ecclesiastical positions without
the permission of Rome, impose taxes to the church, confiscate its properties,
and use its clergy in the promotion of public works, education, health, etc.
States tried to create “royal churches”, churches that are more subservient to
the state rather than to the Papacy. One example to illustrate this is the
infamous expulsion of the Jesuits. There were expelled by Portugal, Spain,
France and other kingdoms because of the increasing suspicion on them of
monarchs who perceive their strong papal loyalty as hindrance to their attempt
to build “royal churches.” The following paragraph written by the editors can
be considered not only as a summary statement of the introduction but also the
central thesis of the book:
The decline in vocations, tension
between popular piety and the religion taught by the ecclesiastical elite, the
dominance of a wealthy urban church over an impoverished rural one, the
difficult relationship between papal and national authority, made apparent by
the end of the century that the church had failed to resolve fundamental
problems. On the eve of the French Revolution, the church's place in society
was less secure than it had been a century earlier, and its institutional power
had been diminished by Catholic but reformist absolute monarchs. The expulsion
of the Jesuits and the suppression of the order by a weak papacy revealed how
far the alliance between throne and altar had shifted in the former's favour
(p.11-12).
The French Church by Olwen Hufton
Hufton started the essay by giving a brief preliminary assessment on
the historiographical assessment of French church history. Despite the fact
that the French church did not lack brilliant historians, church historiography
in France was full of stereotypes until the 1950s. It was Le Bras’ work in 1955
that became a turning point to French church history. His questions opened up
many possible areas of investigation in the field. As an offshoot to Le Bras’
legacy, historians began to employ the history of mentality approach in the
religious history of the country. Hufton stated that all historians who are interested
to write a religious history of France must consider all the previous
theoretical and methodological developments in the field.
He proceeded then in assessing the demography of clergy during the 18th
century. There is a decline in the number of lower clergy, especially in rural
areas. One of its causes is the unequal distribution of church wealth,
monopolized by bishops and cathedral canons. There is a stark contrast between
the social status of low clergy and high clergy that caused the growing bitterness
of the former to the latter. Bishops had wide political influence, being owner
of lands, administrators of schools, manager of clerical income, and keepers of
hospitals. Thus, bishops are abled bureaucrats during this period. Canons on
the other hand have lesser things to do in cathedrals than bishops. Canons
usually came from aristocratic families, and they enter religious orders as
preparation in being part of the cathedral canonry. They are wealthier
sometimes than the bishops. The author noted that the canonry is marked by
irrelevancy. One cannot imagine church life without bishops, but it is
imaginable not to have cathedral canons.
But more than the bishop or anyone in the church hierarchy, still the
most important figure in 18th century Catholic church is the parish
priest. Though they are not as rich as the high clergy, they seldom come from a
very poor family. This is assured by the fact that those who aspire to enter
the religious life are required to show a minimum amount of money. Their source
of income are tithes and service fee from the people whenever rituals are to be
done (such as baptism, marriage, and burial). While they have enough salary to
put them above their parishioners, there are many concerns that put their money
in use such as payment to a servant who wash for them, government tax, and
indigency money of the parish that can be used to help needy parishioners in
times of disasters. In fact, the parish priest is the most overworked and
underpaid among all the clergy. This led the lower clergy later on in helping
the people to antagonize the high clergy during the French Revolution.
Hufton then turned his attention to the laity. Generally during the
century, the people has a contractual view of God, that is, his benevolence
will come if the people will be good observers of religious rites, and
malevolence will come if they would do otherwise. For many of them, the parish
priest is their intermediary to obtain God’s favor. Even before the French
Revolution, there is a remarkable decline in the religious observance and
morality of the people. This century is marked by the rise of prostitution,
marital separation, illegitimate births, cabaret drinking, and criminality. Of
course, some of these are due to different factors, not least economic and
social. For instance, the rise of migration from rural to urban areas uproot
individuals from their familiar religious life which gives them strong communal
interactions. In the urban area, the nature of work gives them less interpersonal
environment. This contributed to cabaret drinking as an alternative social
life.
The Spanish Church by William J. Callahan
The chapter revolves around the main thesis that the decline of the 18th
century Spanish church is a very important period, and that we can trace back
to this period the origin of some of the problems of the contemporary church.
After some preliminary notes on the historiography of Spanish church, he delved
on the statistical disparities within the church, both in terms of demography
and distribution of wealth.
Compared with other countries, Spain has lesser population of clergy
as proportionate to its total national demography. The population of regular
priests tend to concentrate in cities, where there are more potential donors of
alms. Even secular priests tend to be drawn to cities, so that there are many
parishes in rural areas that are vacant (while there are many secular priests
in cities without parish). Geographically, there seems to be a great disparity
between churches in the northern part of the kingdom, and churches in the
southern part. The south has only 303 parishes that serves 750,000 population,
while the north has 2738 parishes for the population of 800,000. Despite of
this, majority of church wealth is concentrated in the southern dioceses,
though it has lesser number of parishes compared with the north. No wonder that
many parish and parish priests are poorly supported financially.
The unequal distribution of church wealth is not only geographical but
also hierarchal. The material contrast between parish priests and bishops is
very clear. Unlike in France, bishops in Spain usually come from noble
families, not from the aristocracy (this meant that France has a tighter
alliance between the monarchy and church hierarchy). University education,
family background and linkages are some of the major factors that helps fulfill
the career aspirations of a budding clergy. Some noble families send their sons
to religious orders, that would prepare them for cathedral positions. It is
from the cathedrals that potential bishops are selected. Some of the main
responsibilities of bishops includes management of charities, libraries, parish
visitation, education, and public works.
Bishops and other members of high clergy usually look down upon parish
priests as poorly educated and superstitious. There are few academically
excellent seminaries that are accessible to those who are training to become
parish priest. Bishops tried to improve education by creating more seminaries.
But this did not help in improving the situation of parishes, since the real
problem lies not in education itself but in the unjust distribution of
ecclesiastical wealth.
Unlike the monastic orders (like the Benedictines) which declined
dramatically, regular priests of the mendicant orders like the Franciscans and
Jesuits continue to flourish. Aside from creating educational centers, their
missionary efforts in preaching and encouraging popular devotions brought them
closer to the lower class. In the case of women’s religious orders, unlike in
other countries, religious women in Spain are more contemplative and are not so
active in charitable works like hospitals. So majority of responsibilities in helping
the poor fall in the shoulders of individual citizens, state, and church
hierarchy. Bishops regularly set aside a portion of their income for charity.
Another major development in Spanish church history during this time
is the increasing power of the state over the church. It began assuming the
power of nominating bishops, harassing clerics who oppose the state, using
church funds to replenish state treasury (due to wars), and confiscating some
church properties.
The Portuguese Church by David Higgs
Higgs noted that majority of previous works on 18th century
Portuguese church history focused on church-state relations and theological
controversies. An addition to this problem is that even these kind of writings
are very few. Thus, many scholarly efforts are yet to be accomplished to
advance Portuguese church history as an area of research. A fourfold-division
of the article can be discerned by a careful reader: 1. Prominence of the
church in Portuguese economic system, 2. Ecclesiastical demography, 3. Life of
the clergy, and 4. Life of the laity.
First, based on an estimate of one historian, the church owns 1/3 of
the entire wealth of the kingdom, while 2/3 are in the hands of the king and
the nobility. As Higgs observed, “the church was probably always the major
gatherer of capital in the country” (p.51). The church establishes hospitals
and schools, hire artisans and numerous church workers, and administer
agricultural laborers.
Second, like in almost every country in Europe during this century,
there is also a decline in religious vocation (i.e. number of clergy). There is
a lack of priests in rural parishes though there is an excess of clergy in the
cities. There are many places where no baptism, marriage and mass are
administered to people. It leads to the migration of large number of people
from rural to urban areas. Higgs enumerated some factors that contributed to
the decline of religious vocation: expulsion of Jesuits, influence of French
liberalism, changing attitude of men towards celibacy, and close collaboration
of mendicants with the Spanish occupation. The state favored this trend, for it
could help in their desire to decrease the power of the church. As a matter of
fact, the state also put effort to contribute to this trend by issuing an edict
that require youths who want to enter the religious life to acquire permission
from the government. They also forbid the establishment of new religious orders
in the country.
Third, like in the case of France and Spain, there is a wide gap between
low and high clergy. High clergy are usually graduate from competent
universities and seminaries while low clergy lacks proper education. Secular
priests (who composed majority of the low clergy) also tend to be poorer than
the regular clergy. Because of the excess of seculars in the cities compared
with the number of available parishes there, many seculars are unemployed.
Several secular priests go around asking if any clerical service is needed
(like administering a mass, marriage, baptism or funeral). Contrary to the poor
situation of the seculars, the regulars and high clergy continue to amass great
wealth. Many positions in the church hierarchy are only accessible to those who
came from aristocratic families and religious orders. It is estimated that from
1668 to 1820, 4 out of 5 bishops are aristocratic in origin.
Fourth, another trend in 18th century Portuguese church is
the increasing participation of the laity in church life. One avenue for this
participation is through joining confraternities. These organizations have
democratic recruitment system and welcome people from various occupational
status including tailors, doctors, shoemakers, barbers, prison wardens, etc.
Confraternities organize various activities such as procession, alms giving,
hospital services to name a few. Aside from confraternities, another laity
participation to religious life is done by patronizing popular devotions such
The Infant Jesus and Sacred Heart. These popular devotions add tension to the
increasing clash between popular religion and official orthodoxy. Still another
laity participation is by acting as familiars of the Inquisition. Familiars are
the one who serve as watchdogs over their countrymen on matters of doctrine and
morality. They can induce the arrest of people who are suspected of heresy and
immorality.
The Italian Churches by Mario Rosa
Like the three previous chapters, the author also begun by giving a
short historiographical assessment on Italian church history. According to
Rosa, majority of previous works on the subject are focused on the political
aspect of Italian church history, and reform struggle against ecclesiastical
structures such as Jansenism and Jurisdictionism. This began to change due to
the influence of French new historiographical approaches, especially that of Le
Bras school.
One of the problems in writing Italian church history is that there
was no single Italian to speak of in the first place (like in the sense of a
single Spanish and French church), since there are differences in the
ecclesiastical structures in each Italian states. One of their few
commonalities is that they are all linked to Rome. It can be observed for
instance in the differences among the episcopacies of Naples, Papal states, and
other Italian states. Majority of bishops in Naples and other Italian states
came from aristocratic families, while in Papal states, the percentage of
bishops from the aristocracy dramatically fell (corresponding to the decline of
episcopal recruitment from religious orders). There are also differences in the
level of the parish. In some states, the appointment of curate priests to
parishes are in the hands of the bishops, while in other states it is under the
prerogative of cathedral canons/capitular clergy. But there is a uniformity in
all states in Italy with regards to the lack of seminary training among secular
priests, and the excess in number of priests without parish. The amount of land
owned by the church also differs from state to state. The decline rate of
religious vocation also differs based on the specificities of Italian states.
One major institution that helped revitalize the Italian church during this
century is the rise of missionary activities which emphasize popular preaching.
These missions were headed by religious orders, particularly the Vicentians,
Passionists, and Redemptorists. They became instrumental in the spread of
popular devotions.
In the case of the laity, there was a clash between the
popular/folkloric Christianity of the people and the institutional Christianity
of the hierarchy. Belief in magic, relics, excessive use of holy water,
frequency of flagellation, and other expressions of popular piety abound in
different places in Italy. Even some priests are regarded by their parishioners
as magicians. It is not unusual for bishops to exhort the missionaries to exert
their effort in aligning popular religiosity to the teachings of the church.
The German Reichskirche by Gerhard Benecke
Benecke begin by noting that there is still no existing monographic
literature that tackles the subject of Reichskirche
or Imperial Church in Germany. He defined RK as the “agglomeration of petty
bureaucracies rather like a fragmented latter-day Avignon papacy, Papal States
of Italy but on German soil” (p.79). It is the sum of all church-owned
territories in Germany, each of which aims to become states (specifically,
church-states). Though each has its own government led by ecclesiastical
leaders, together they form a loose unity, like that of a confederation.
In early 18th century, there are 65 ecclesiastical rulers who
control over 14% of the total land area of the whole German Reich (Empire), and
12% of its population. Many rulers of dynastic states were Catholic, and
sometimes they are relatives of Reichskirche
rulers.
Benecke argued that the Reichskirche territories are marked by good governance, contrary to the 19th century stereotypes to it by some German writers. She demonstrated how a cardinal who ruled a particular Reichskirche state managed efficiently the educational system of the land. Benecke wrote, “That the RC should have been effective may surprise later historians” (p.86). The Reichskirche was destroyed by Enlightenment intellectuals and dynastic leaders who advocated a different kind of nation-state. From being a religio-political system, Reichskirche was reduced into religious entity. With the death of Reichskirche and the Old Reich comes the death of the native German federal political practice.
The Austrian Church by Jean Berenger
The author clarified on the outset the space-time coverage of his
paper. His discussion of Austrian church includes the territories of Bohemia,
Moravia, Silesia and the contemporary Austria, while it excludes the Hapsburg
of Vienna. Then he set the timeframe from victory of Austrians against the
Turks in Vienna in 1683 to the death of Maria Theresa in 1780. He picked this
specific temporal demarcation since it is the period of strong Catholicism in
those lands.
Like in any other country during this period, there was a scarcity of
clergy in Austria. For instance, at the beginning of the century, there were
only 6 bishops and 1 archbishop for million inhabitants in Bohemia. In the
whole empire, there are only 1 bishop for every 500,000 people in average. But
the scarcity of bishoprics is compensated by the number of cathedral canons.
Usually these cathedral canons, who came from the aristocracy, study in Rome
then obtain a parish as a preparation for canonry position. Commoners are
excluded from entering the canonry. The election of bishops is in the hands of
cathedral canons. Sometimes they pick a bishop from among themselves. Thus, the
episcopacy is clearly in the hands of the aristocracy. Meanwhile, abbots and
priors of the religious orders came from more democratic selection compared to
the bishops and cathedral canons. They do not restrict themselves exclusively
to nobles. But they also has enormous economic power in the kingdom, for they
own large real estates.
In the level of the parish, the same problem of scarcity is
persistent. In Vienna around 1740, there are only 80 priests for 175,000
people. In other territories outside Vienna, there are many rural parishes
without priests. One reason for this is that high clergy, particularly bishops,
who are responsible for these parishes usurped tithes and land revenues that
could be used to hire parish priests and vicars. The lack of secular priests
was compensated by regulars of religious orders who served in parishes as
replacement to seculars. Yet ironically, later on they became the very reason
for the further decline of the seculars, for the majority of resources were
given to them. It is the Jesuits in particular who became dominant in Austria.
They held all major colleges and universities throughout the kingdom. Many
cathedral canons and archbishops of Austria are graduate of Jesuit-run schools
in Rome.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, other religious orders flourished
such as the Carmelites, Servites and Piarists. Aside from education that serves
the elite, they also reached the masses through missions and popular devotions.
The church in Austria also encouraged the establishment of confraternities to
influence more the people. In 1780. There are 103 confraternities in Vienna
alone.
The church participated actively in the politics of the kingdom. Their
enormous political power was derived from their vast land ownership. In
Bohemia, they owned 12.5% of all taxable lands. There was an agricultural
policy in Austria called “robot” (unpaid labor), wherein peasants are required
to work without payment for a certain amount of time as an act of service to
their landlord. In Lower Austria, the robot is a mandatory 52 days a year,
while in Czech lands its 3 days a week. Required labor could be replaced with
cash payment. This policy enabled the clergy to obtain more wealth from the
people.
Since tithes were largely owned by the aristocratic high clergy,
parish priests depend on service fees from their parishioners for administering
baptisms, marriages, and burials. In many places such as Bohemia, parish
priests do not own land properties. In 1783, Joseph II put a reform, requiring
the church to provide an annual salary of 400 florins to all parish priests.
In the 18th century, there are very few universities in
Austria. Almost all of these, with very few exceptions, lack high intellectual
quality. Most of the aristocratic families and future prelates studied in
Italian universities, particularly in Rome. Austrian schools are mostly
involved in educating youths from modest backgrounds. Education in the kingdom
is dominated by the Jesuits before their expulsion. One of the most capable
universities in Austria during this period is the Jesuit academy of Clementinum
in Prague. It offers courses in theology, philosophy, medicine and law. In
1752, Maria Theresa established a chair to teach history in its law faculty. It
started to change its language of instruction from Latin to German in 1784. In
connection with this vernacularization process, Maria Theresa supported the
project of a regular priest in translating the Bible in Czech in 1780. Aside
from education, the Jesuits also monopolize the authority over the censorship
of books. They prevented in particular the circulation of Protestant works. If
anyone is guilty of possessing illegal books, they will receive corporal
punishment.
In the level of the laity, most people are devoutly observing the
sacraments. Some do pilgrimage, especially in Marian cult sites. Mary became the
most popular saint and object of devotion in the kingdom during this period.
Some saints like St. Roch also became popular because people believe that they
offer protection against plague. Even kings who helped in advancing
Christianity were also made saints.
The Hungarian Church by Bela K. Kiraly
Because of the Ottoman occupation in the previous century, Hungary
became greatly depopulated. One of its result is the great lack of parish
priests in the 18th century. Aside from the war against the Muslims,
a civil war in Hungary also devastated the land. It was only in 1711 that
relative peace was restored. Even then, occasional clash between Catholics and
Protestants still troubled the territory.
It was in the 2nd half of the 18th century that
the demography of clergy and parishioners significantly increased. Monastic
system was also revitalized with the establishment of numerous monasteries. But
parish priests remained poorly supported materially, despite the fact that the
Hungarian church already restored its great wealth around the middle of the
century. The church came to possess enormous political influence on the state.
Many members of the high clergy are also officials in various sectors of the
government. While a bishop has an average annual income of 867,776 forint, the
parish priest only has 200 forint a year. As a response to this, the government
issued a decree appropriating some of its fund into the General Parish Fund.
Bishops and prelates are mandated by the state to set aside a part of their
income for this. Some of the monastic wealth were also channeled into this
fund.
Though Hungary is dominated by the Catholics, it can be considered as
multi-denominational territory, for it has a significant population of
Orthodox, Calvinists, Lutherans, Jews, and Unitarians. Protestants also has
considerable political influence, for some of them are members of the
aristocracy. Catholics tried to contain this influence by issuing a series of
anti-Protestant decrees like prohibiting conversions from Catholicism to
Protestantism, putting some Protestant churches under the jurisdiction of
Catholic bishops, requiring them to observe Catholic holidays, censuring
Protestant books, and mandating all aspiring public officials to invoke the
name of Mary and the saints in their oath of office (thus, excluding
Protestants from public service since this act is unacceptable for them). All
of these decrees were consolidated into what is called Carolina resolution. Despite of all these administrative efforts,
Protestantism still survived at the end of the 18th century.
In the case of the Orthodox churches, the Catholic church invited them
for a reunification. Many of these churches heeded the invitation, and they
were placed under the Catholic archbishops and bishops. As a compromise, they
were permitted to continue some of their rites. But Servian Orthodox resisted
the union and through strong leadership, its patriarch maintained its internal
unity. Meanwhile, there is only one Unitarian diocese with 4 parish that authorities
did not bother to extinguish it.
Like in many parts of Europe, it is also the Jesuits who became the
leading figures in establishing elementary schools, academies, seminaries and
universities in Hungary. To improve education, a royal decree ordered the
bishops to establish a seminary in their respective diocese. After the
expulsion of the Jesuits, an educational reform was set into motion in
secondary schools which enabled them to offer general education subjects like
Latin, history, natural sciences, mathematics, and geography. In 1790,
Protestants were finally permitted to set up their own schools.
There was a tug-of-war between the Hapsburg dynasty who ruled Hungary
on one hand and the Roman papacy on the other hand during the century. Hapsburg monarchs claimed that they have the
right to use the title “apostolic king”, a title given to the dynasty’s first
king St. Stephen, for his defense of Christianity against the Muslims. They
alleged that as successors, they could use this title as well as the privileges
attached to this such as conferment of parishes to priests, and appointment of
clergy to different ecclesiastical positions. Against the will of Rome,
Hapsburg monarchs gradually extend their power over the Hungarian church.
Finally in 1758, Pope Clement XIII willingly gave the title to Maria Theresa.
For his part, Joseph II (successor of Maria Theresa) did not bother to
bear the title, insisting that the king has absolute right that is answerable
directly to God and not to any church leader. This ideology embodied in his
policies came to be known as Josephinism. He was deeply influenced by the
Enlightenment. Under his rule, the state greatly overpowered the church in
Hungary, and gradually loosened its ties to Rome. Due to the intensity of
Joseph’s actions, for the first time in 3 consecutive centuries, the Pope
visited Vienna, hoping to temper the monarch’s policies, but to no avail.
Joseph even dissolved monastic orders throughout the land and confiscated their
properties. He also issued a decree enforcing religious tolerance in 1781,
which gave greater freedom to the Protestants and other non-Catholics.
The Polish Church by Jerzy Kloczowski
The author clarified that the discussion will only be limited to the
period before 1772. This is the year when Poland (which is united with
Lithuania) begun to be partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In
comparison with other European countries, Poland was more rural and less urban.
Aside from Jews who formed isolated communities, the Poland-Lithuania is
composed of Polish, Lithuanian and Russian. In the 18th century,
Poland has weak state but surprisingly strong religious structure. Though it
has some Jewish and Protestant populations, Catholicism was still the
dominating religion. Catholics in Poland are divided into Latin church and
Greek church. Greek church is relatively poorer compared with the Latin church.
It permits its clergy to marry. Latin church also has more political prestige,
since its bishops have representation in the senate. It also has more
population, although the Greek church ironically has more number of parishes.
In terms of land ownership, the church in Poland is relatively weaker
compared with the churches in other lands. It only owned 9% of the land, while
the crown has 13% and the nobility owns 78%. This is partly due to the
Amortization Decree of 1635 which forbids the transfer of real estates to the
church. This was enacted because of the fear of the nobles that the church
could overpower the monarchy. Many bishoprics and cathedral canonry positions
are in the hands of the nobles, and they are the group that appoint priests to
parishes.
The demography of religious orders grew in 18th century.
The growth rate is faster for those orders engage in active roles in society
than those devoted solely to contemplative and strict monastic life. The most
prominent among those active religious orders are the Jesuits, Dominicans and
Franciscans. It is the Jesuits, together with the Piarists, that led the
creation of schools in Poland. Educational reforms led to the offering of
various subjects such as history, geography, mathematics, and physics. Polish
as language of instruction was also strengthened to the detriment of Latin.
Many priests and bishops in Poland were educated in Italian universities. It is
contended that Polish bishops are more educated compared with their
predecessors in the previous centuries. There is also the flourishing of
libraries both in the parishes and monastic houses. Schools in parishes are
created in order to educate the peasantry. To further reach the masses,
religious priests (especially the Vicentians and Jesuits) help missions in
central parishes. Missions could span for a whole week. During these,
missionaries do series of preaching and hear confessions.
Popular Religion in the Eighteenth Century by Marc Venard
This essay is different from the rest of the book. Instead of focusing
on a particular territorial church, it discusses a special topic that was in
fact touched swiftly in every previous chapters: the issue of popular religion.
He started the essay by noting that there is a confusion among scholars in
defining this term. Some historians use popular religion to refer to the
religion of the laity, as opposed to the official religion of the clergy. For
Venard, this definition is problematic since it is not so easy to draw a clear
line between the clergy and the laity. How will those parish priests, who had
very close contact with the people, fit into this categorization? Instead of
using simple ecclesiastical distinctions (such as the clergy-laity categories),
it is important to put into account various factors such as social class (who
are educated and who are not, how much is their income, what is their
occupation?) and cultural considerations (who can read and who cannot, who knew
Latin and who did not?). It will be impossible to study popular religion
without determining first who exactly is this “people”, since it is the beliefs
and behaviors of this “people” that we are dealing with whenever we study
“popular” religion. It is with these considerations that Venard put forward
this suggested definition of popular religion: it concerns the beliefs and
practices of the lower class, those who do not have access to the corridors of
power (whether economic, political, or cultural).
He noted that our awareness of popular religion primarily came from
the lens of the official Christianity of the clergy. It is them who first
observed the beliefs and practices of the people, and noticed that these are
different from the official doctrines and teachings of the church. It is these
beliefs and practices that they labeled as “superstitious.” In the 19th
century, the study of these popular religiosity was transmitted from the clergy
to the folklorists, whose goal (unlike the former) is not to defend the
orthodoxy of official Christianity, but to protect the memory of the people’s
beliefs and practices.
The author then proceeded in giving an inventory of important sources
which would be helpful to the researchers of 18th century popular
religions. First among these are the written sources. The spread of literacy in
the 18th century meant that there are many written sources that
would be of use among researchers. It is necessary to be familiar with the
official texts of the church that embody the official religion, for how can one
study popular religion without knowing the official religion to which it is
contrasted? These official texts may include synodal statutes, episcopal
letters, pastoral handbooks, missionary and confessor manuals, catechisms, and
devotional books. When one wants to know the mentalities of the people, the
researcher might want to look at trial records, records of clerical
visitations, investigation records on canonization and reports of miracles,
death wills, and private correspondence as well as personal account book
written by common people (although these last two are very rare). Despite the
increasing of literacy, majority of the masses during this period are still
illiterates. It is in times like this that the historian learns from
ethnographer the value material culture. It would be beneficial for researchers
to look at church decorations like altars, iconographic materials, and environs
of pilgrimage sites. Direct observation to rituals and testimonies of local
people from isolated regions could also be cited.
In the last part of the article, he listed down some areas in 18th century popular religions which could be possible topics of future researches. Some of these are the following: methods used by the church to popularize official religion; Jansenism’s effect to pastoral techniques; impact of missions to popular devotion; Catholic education of the masses; quantifiable evolution of religious practices (e.g. decline in morals, abstentions to masses and Easter); comparative study on the religious vitality of different places; response of the people in the attempt of reform-minded clergy to “correct” popular religion; “zones of contact” between official and popular religion (how does different perceptions of the clergy and of the people to rituals like Eucharist intersect?); and feminization of popular religion (in 17th century popular religion is dominated by men, but women replaced them in this role in the 19th century. It seems that the 18th century is the key period in understanding this transformation).
SOME ASSESSMENT NOTES
Though the book is a collection of essays written by different
authors, it has a relative uniformity. From chapters 2 to 5, all of the writers
begin with a preliminary historiographical assessment with regards to the
existing scholarship on religious history in the country. Here, they take into
account dominant trends, patterns and directions, and mention some works that
reflect these. All of these authors also give credit to Gabriel Le Bras as the
pioneer scholar that transformed the direction of religious history as an
academic field. This historiographical assessment is absent from chapters 6 to
9. This lack of historiographical assessment (together with the lack of
consideration with existing secondary sources literature) can implicitly tell
the reader that (generally speaking) the religious historical scholarship in
France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy is more advance than in Poland, Austria,
Hungary, and Germany (at least in the case of Catholic church historiography).
Some chapters allude to the current superiority of French religious
historiographical tradition (which must not come as a surprise, after all the
Le Bras school is rooted in French academia).
After the historiographical assessment (in the case of chapters 2 to
5), the contributors go on to discuss topics and themes that are generally
tackled by nearly all of the essays: decline of clerical demography, the
widening gap between low and high clergy, unequal distribution of church
wealth, clash between popular religion and official Christianity, various
economic and political activities of the church in the wider society, and the
increasing power of the state over the church. The chapter on Germany is quite
special compared with the rest of the book. It did not discuss most of the
issues mentioned above. Rather, it focused on one particular topic within
German Catholicism in the 18th century: the Reichskirche as a politico-religious entity that provides a model
for German federalism. While every other chapters are relatively objective in
their assessment on the place of the church in wider society, this chapter on
Germany has quite apologetic nature (that is, the author tries to defend the
memory of the Reichskirche).
Another noticeable thing in the book is its lack of
footnotes/endnotes. It only has a list of selected bibliography at the end of
the book. Though this is understandable since the purpose of the book is not to
assess the church historiography on 18th century Catholic Europe but
to presents its factual sociological state, it still deprives the reader of
immediately knowing the sources of the chapters. On the other hand, this lack
of notes afforded the reader the leisure of continuous and smooth flow of
reading. It generally lacks jargons which are accessible only to specialists
(contributors make effort to explain technical terms whenever they occur).
Thus, it can be assumed that the book is not solely written for technical
academic scholars on the field, but also for general readership.
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