Catholic enlightenment

The Catholic Enlightenment is a phase in the Age of Enlightenment , in which the power of the Church in the Catholic territories of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation was curtailed. Rulers who were shaped by enlightened absolutism rearranged the clerical power structures in their territories and carried out reforms in various ecclesiastical and secular areas. Within the church, one turned against the omnipotence of the Pope ( Febronianism ), decimated and renewed Catholic communities such as monasteries and monasteries. Clerics conveyed an understanding of religion that, beyond popular belief, produced an individual religiosity under the influence of Jansenism and Protestant Enlightenment theology. The state elementary and higher education system was reorganized. Attempts have been made in jurisprudence to abolish torture and witch trials. In the state administration one used the cameralistics . Some Catholic theologians, teachers, and princes referred to tolerance of the censorship of absolutist and clerical power centers. Literature and journalism developed in the spirit of a moderate Enlightenment. The main idea was Josephinism, which goes back to Emperor Joseph II . The first beginnings of the Catholic Enlightenment go back to the middle of the 18th century. Its end is difficult to date, but it is at the beginning of the 19th century, when the secularization of the clerical principalities initially contributed to the introduction of further educational projects in 1803 . The turning points were the emergence of Catholic Romanticism and the re-admission of the Jesuit order in 1814.

Historical background

In the second half of the 18th century there was a change in all areas of social life. The emergence of bourgeois self-confidence, the reshaping of the social order and the development of the bourgeois public as we know it today were part of this upheaval. While tradition, custom and religion have been the focus of life up to now, the spirit of the age of the Enlightenment has now called for reason, criticism and expediency.

In the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, compared to the rest of Europe, several factors came together that particularly shaped the Enlightenment. The empire was sectarian divided into the Catholic and the Protestant camp. In addition, it was not a nation-state , rather it was designed very differently from region to region without many common imperial institutions. In addition, at the end of the 17th century the scholars and princes did not conduct their business and concerns in German, but in Latin and French.

The process of enlightenment also affected questions of faith. The ideas of the Enlightenmentists met a worldview that was previously defined by God. The relationship between church and state in the Catholic countries in the empire was long determined by Rome and the Jesuits . As a result of literacy , which had spread especially in the cities since the middle of the 18th century, the Catholic pastors were confronted with believers whose newly acquired knowledge could no longer be reconciled with the circumstances that had prevailed up to now. They began to doubt the given circumstances, to question things and to no longer take their rights and duties for granted, but to examine them in terms of their necessity. Many enlightenment figures were not unreligious, but they turned against the baroqueization of Catholicism practiced by Rome, which was associated with ostentatious and superstitious forms of representation . The development was accompanied by the profound restructuring of the European social order. In the Catholic areas of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the imperial nobility ruled at this time . Since the middle of the 18th century, however, new social classes emerged that found no place in the absolutist social system and overwhelmed the system.

The Catholic Church had a special position in the empire because it had been part of the imperial constitution since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. She stood on the side of the state on an equal footing. The tasks of the German bishops included not only spiritual but also secular obligations. As they were secular princes with equal rights, they owned not only their dioceses but also secular territories, comparable to the papal state of the Pope. The spiritual electors of Kurmainz , Kurköln and Kurtrier elected the emperor together with five secular princes. So you had a significant share of power. That is why one speaks of a “special path” of the Catholic Enlightenment in the German Reich, for example towards France. For in the empire the Catholic Enlightenment did not take place against theology and the church, but with and through them.

The origin of the Catholic Enlightenment lies on the one hand in Jansenism , on the other hand in the Protestant Enlightenment . Jansenism encouraged the development of a religious individuality. It was directed primarily against the Baroque Catholicism published by the Pope. First and foremost, he set himself up for a reform movement in Austria. For the Empire and the Catholic Enlightenment, Jansenism created the basis for the state church reforms. The second origin of the Catholic Enlightenment lay in the Northern German Protestant Enlightenment, which was spread in various ways from Northern Germany to the Catholic countries. On the one hand by southern German and Austrian Catholics studying in northern Germany, for example at the University of Göttingen , which was considered the center of the Protestant Enlightenment. On the other hand, the Catholic educational institutions adopted the philosophical teachings of the North German Enlightenment since the middle of the 18th century.

The aims of the Catholic Enlightenmentists and currents such as Jansenism, Episcopalianism , Febronianism and Josephinism were to improve pastoral care, reorganize church services, reduce processions and pilgrimages, eliminate traditional popular piety, monastery reforms, reforms of the understanding of the law, the reorganization of the female order and practical reforms. Basically the Enlightenment aimed at the separation of the bishops from the Pope, the abolition of the noble privileges within the imperial churches and the establishment of regional churches.

Periodization

According to Harm Klueting, the Catholic Enlightenment can be divided into three phases. Its first phase lasted from around 1740 to 1770. It resembled a preparatory period during which Catholics began to criticize the theological teaching practiced up to that point. The criticism was directed primarily against the Jesuits, who were responsible for leading many chairs at the universities. It was called for the modern philosophy of Christian Wolff to be taken into account in church teaching in order to renew Catholic teaching and to accommodate the modern zeitgeist. The universities in Würzburg , Salzburg and Trier were particularly affected .

The second phase began with the abolition of the Jesuit order by Pope Clement XIV in 1773 and lasted until around 1780. The abolition was particularly noticeable in higher Catholic education, as secular scholars now took over the chairs of the universities. In the course of the dissolution of the Jesuit order, the universities of Münster in 1780 and Bonn in 1786 were founded.

Anton von Maron : Portrait of Emperor Joseph II (1775)

1780 marked the beginning of the third phase. It was characterized by Josephinism , which was introduced by Emperor Joseph II in Austria and the Habsburg territories. At that time, regional churches were founded in Austria that had existed in Protestant countries since the Reformation. Josephinism aimed for independence from the Pope in areas such as education, social affairs and finance. In the spirit of enlightened absolutism , Joseph II pursued a stronger state church policy and promoted state church reforms, which also influenced the Catholic Empire.

The time of the end of the Catholic Enlightenment is difficult to determine. The secularization of 1803 represented a turning point. The reform movements were only accepted by the Catholic population after this break and were able to prevail. However, counter-movements set in at the same time, such as the Catholic Romanticism. In 1814 the Jesuit order was re-admitted and subsequently returned to Germany. At the end of the 19th century, Pope Pius IX. At the first Vatican Council, in addition to the abolition of freedom of expression, religion and science, the Pope's infallibility. In 1910 Pope Pius X finally established the so-called anti - modernist oath , which all clerics of the Catholic Church had to take and which was directed against the teachings of modernism . Only the second Vatican Council brought contrary developments again. It was decided to renew the Catholic worship service to encourage more active participation by the faithful. In addition, it was decided to participate in the ecumenical movement, called for cooperation with other religions, and religious freedom was recognized again.

Mixed denominational education in Germany

Enlightenment in Germany was decisively determined by the denominational division of the population. This special constellation was - apart from Switzerland - unique in Europe. The interactions and connections with the Protestant Enlightenment within the German territories gave the Enlightenment process a special character. The existence of two confessionally differently colored cultures, the intellectual exchange between them, significantly characterized the process of the Catholic Enlightenment. At the same time, the Catholic Enlightenment was not only shaped by the Enlightenment impulses and developments of Protestant culture, but also by forerunners in other Roman Catholic countries in Europe.

Above all, it is controversial to what extent the Catholic Enlightenment is a transfer of the principles of the Protestant Enlightenment to Catholic territories, a retrospective intellectual modernization process or a phenomenon that is based on its own spiritual traditions.

In addition to the undeniable formative influences and impulses from the Protestant Enlightenment that preceded it and its spiritual centers, the Catholic Enlightenment had its own roots and characteristics. The territories in which spiritual and secular power coincided were exclusively Catholic. In the Protestant states, the rulers had already established regional churches that were subject to secular power. In this respect, the Catholic Enlightenment was based on completely different prerequisites and conditions. In Germany, the Catholic Enlightenment was largely shaped and shaped by the Church and its dignitaries, which gave it a relatively moderate and system-stabilizing character.

The representatives and dignitaries of the Catholic Church adapted their territories to the requirements of the time, but could not have any interest in fundamental changes. In contrast, in France , where the Enlightenment was determined not only by its clearly church and religion critical appearance but also by a strong political and social impetus, which ultimately led to the French Revolution . The foundations of the spiritual and secular system of rule were never shaken in Catholic Germany. The fact that the Enlightenment in Catholic Germany towards other European states and also towards Protestant Enlightenment movements was delayed may also explain its moderate character.

Protestant enlightenment existed primarily at the universities and intellectual centers in the Protestant parts of Germany such as the universities of Halle , Göttingen, Koenigsberg , as well as the major cities of Berlin and Hamburg . The protagonists of the Catholic Enlightenment, on the other hand, were mostly prince-bishops or exposed secular rulers such as Joseph II. Unlike the Protestant forerunner, the Catholic Enlightenment did not have its effective publicity and representation in journalism and literature.

What is specifically German about the Catholic Enlightenment is perhaps the multitude of fields of reform and foreign influences that give it a certain singularity. The phenomena of the Catholic Enlightenment included the confrontation with the Pope and his baroque piety as well as the resulting turning away from strict dogmatics and popular piety. Internal church reforms that affected the Catholic faith and its practice concerned, for example, the restriction of pilgrimages. The changed theological interpretation of the Catholic faith at the universities, so far mainly in the hands of Jesuits loyal to Rome, was just as characteristic as the strengthening of the local parishes and the upgrading of practical pastoral care compared to a dogmatic interpretation of the faith. The confrontation with the influential and powerful orders and their disempowerment were of central importance in the Catholic Enlightenment.

The Catholic Enlightenment in Germany was always characterized by the confrontation with Enlightenment processes in Protestant parts of the country. As a German specific, it took place here against the backdrop of a Protestant variant. Attempts to overcome denominational boundaries have not stopped since the Reformation. The plans put forward during the Enlightenment, especially by the Catholic side, for the establishment of a unified German national church, formed another German peculiarity.

Overall, however, there are more similarities than differences with educational processes in other Catholic countries in Europe, such as in pragmatic Italy , where the development was similarly moderate.

theology

Starting position and introduction

“It means clearing away the various covers and blankets in front of the eyes, making room for the light in the mind and heart, so that it enlightens and warms the former, and enters the areas of truth and order, where the destiny of man, true happiness enthroned. ”This is how the Munich clergyman, publicist and historian Lorenz von Westenrieder defined his conception of the Enlightenment in 1780. Three years after him, Immanuel Kant presented his answer to the question, which is much quoted to this day : What is Enlightenment? in front.

But in Catholic Germany at that time, von Westenrieder was more of an exception and pioneer. In the second half of the 18th century, the Enlightenment was difficult, restricted and relatively short (approx. 1770-1815) to gain a foothold in Catholic theology. (Catholic) theology and the Enlightenment seemed to contradict each other too much: While the Enlightenment sought the truth in the light of reason , theology fathomed the truth in a divine revelation , in faith. In addition, the church and theology were unsettled by the anti-clerical features of the French and English Enlightenment philosophy (cf. Deism and Atheism ). In the ecclesiastical usage of the time, “philosophy” even stood for the destruction of the church and godlessness.

In addition to all these moments, which prevented, delayed and limited the discussion of the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers in theology, the poor state of Catholic theological studies was added. Only after the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773 could theology study be reformed - for example at the University of Dillingen , in Würzburg and Bonn. Because up to this point the Jesuits were the determining factor in the theological faculties, in their connection with medieval scholasticism and their rejection of free thought.

In preparation for the theology of the Catholic Enlightenment, the anthropocentrism of Baroque theology , which paid special attention to “natural people” and productivity, and Jansenism with its antimystical and intellectually determined spirituality, worked.

Theologians of the Catholic Enlightenment

For the theology of the Catholic Enlightenment, the relationship between reason and revelation was in the foreground. Except for very few radical theologians who were critical of the Bible and who propagated a religion of reason , no contradiction was seen between reason and revelation, but efforts were made to harmonize both. The ratio should be understood as a "gift from God". One was downright obliged to use the ability for ever greater knowledge and perfection. Some theologians integrated the church into enlightened theology as a “divine educational institution”, others rather disputed the church's claim to power and placed their trust in the independent knowledge of Christian truths by the individual - all these theologians had in common that they did not interpret their religion alone related to reason. Outside of the Catholic Enlightenment stood the early radical enlightener Abbé Jean Meslier (1664-1729), who clandestinely propagated enlightened atheism, but continued to work in the church.

One of the first Catholic theologians who reacted to the ideas of the Enlightenment after the abolition of the Society of Jesus in 1773 was the dogmatist Benedikt Stattler (1728–1797). In Ingolstadt he dealt with contemporary philosophy , dealt with the scholasticism, which he rejected as “rotten and out of date”, and represented an Irish stance towards Protestant theology . The Church responded to his reformist zeal by withdrawing his professorship (1782) and indexing his major works (1796). Stattler's pupil, the later Bishop of Regensburg, Johann Michael Sailer (1751–1832), continued to examine Kant's thinking . Like Lorenz von Westenrieder, Sailer can be characterized as a more moderate enlightener. He neither reduced believing existence to ethics and popular education, nor did he make reason absolute. Rather, it tied in with a late medieval reform movement, the “Devotio moderna”, anchored the ratio in theology and at the same time founded it “in the piety of the heart and in believing feeling”. Through reason, be man in the image of God . Jesus Christ also brought "light" into the world and was thus an enlightener. Sailer and his numerous students worked far beyond the Bavarian region. One of these students, Lucerne professor Alois Gügler (1782–1827), understood the understanding of faith as a hermeneutical problem, carried on the ideas of the Enlightenment and paved the way for the theology of Romanticism .

End of Enlightenment theology and its impact on Catholicism

With the re-admission of the Jesuits in 1814 and the political restoration from 1815 onwards, a reactionary movement in the Catholic Church emerged with great effects on theology. A school of “ neo-scholastics ” was formed, who viewed Enlightenment theology as a decline and a flattening out and went back to the time before the Enlightenment. Especially Pope Pius IX. took a stand against the social changes, the independent use of reason and against him and many other contemporaries driven too far rationalism . The authority in the teaching and direction of the faithful, and especially that of the Pope, should again be absolute and unchangeable. This attitude was formative for the entire 19th century. Only the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) recognized the central ideas and approaches of Enlightenment theology and implemented them in reforms. Although Catholic theology did not deal with the Enlightenment until twenty years later than Protestant theology and lost - after it was able to establish itself to some extent against much opposition - all influence, but it had a great effect on the theology of the 20th century.

Episcopalian and Febronianism

The imperial church episcopalism was a movement at the time of the Enlightenment . She got the papalism or the curialism diametrically opposed. The aim was to restrict papal rights and strengthen the bishops and the episcopal council. This was justified by the fact that the episcopal jurisdiction was given directly by God and not conferred by the Pope. Thus, the episcopal council would be hierarchically above the Pope and would be the final decision-making body. Its consent would be essential for the legal validity of a papal decision. In contrast to the state church or Josephinism , episcopalism was not about the claims of the secular, but of the ecclesiastical Catholic princes in the 18th century.

The roots of the imperial church episcopalism go back to the late Middle Ages (14th / 15th century). There was already a church reform movement here, called practical episcopalism, also directed against papal claims. These demands were recorded in writing in the Basel decrees of 1439; however, it was not implemented.

The Catholic Church experienced a profound turning point through the Reformation . The Council of Trent (1545–1563) expressly recognized the leading position of the Pope and at the same time gave him the opportunity to exert an intense influence on the life of the Church as a whole. Initially welcome as a supportive aid, the papal supremacy encountered resistance in the course of the Counter-Reformation and was again called into question. The demand for an amended constitution of the Church was loud. This should - similar to the constitution of the empire - consist of monarchical and aristocratic elements, that is, transferred to the church from papal and episcopal rights and duties.

While episcopalism did not pose a great threat to the papacy in terms of power politics, it did theologically. With the publication of the book De statu ecclesiae et legitima potestate Romani Pontificis liber singularis ad reuniendos dissidenes in religione christianos compositus (1763) written by the auxiliary bishop of Trier, Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim , the episcopalism of the imperial church reached its climax. From this time on, it is also known as Febronianism , traced back to the pseudonym of Trier's auxiliary bishop Justinus Febronius. His work was banned by the Pope soon after it was published. Hontheim alias Febronius advocated a reduction in papal power in favor of a strengthening of the prince-bishop's power in the interests of church reform and the spiritual states. He advocated severely limited leadership power for the Pope and instead called for the establishment of a general council, consisting of a large number of autonomous national churches, as the highest ecclesiastical organ. At the same time he advocated the independence and coexistence of state and church with regard to the common goal, which he saw in the salvation of souls and the protection of religion. He was guided by the medieval order of empire and sacerdotium . A complaint program under imperial church law and church policy was drawn up in Koblenz in 1769 on behalf of the three clergy electors, the Koblenz Gravamina . The imperial church episcopalism also found written implementation in the Emser punctuation of the four German archbishops from 1786. Ultimately, the imperial church episcopalism failed due to the disagreement of the German church princes, the resistance of the curia, the lack of support from the emperor, who gave his promised support because of his own State church plans failed, and not least because of the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution .

It is disputed in research whether the imperial church episcopalism wanted to strengthen the state church or was originally contrary to it and was later influenced by Jansenist and Enlightenment ideas. It is clear, however, that both episcopalism and the state church and the accompanying Josephinism pursued the same goals, namely to push back the supremacy of the pope in favor of strengthening the prince and the empire. The spiritual princes were primarily concerned with securing imperial church rights and freedoms and with a more differentiated delimitation of papal and episcopal rights with regard to the dual function of the spiritual princes, who also functioned as secular sovereigns.

State and church reforms

In the ecclesiastical states, reforms in the judiciary, economics, administration, education and science were initiated in the second half of the 18th century. A change took place in the empire that the spiritual principalities could no longer ignore. Reforms responded to the new demands of the time. Church institutions such as monasteries and monasteries , individual orders and the overarching ecclesiastical authority were particularly affected . In addition to the promotion of the education system, the reorganization of Catholic institutions and the realignment of spiritual versus state authority, there was a pastoral aspect. The pastors should pay more attention to better care for their parishes.

In the legal field, violence was transferred from the church to the state. Torture and the associated dungeons were abolished. The nuncio , the Pope's ambassador to secular governments, was deprived of legal power.

The educational reform was of great importance. It seemed important to educate the common population, but also to change the conditions of learning for everyone. To this end, particular efforts were made to expand the higher education and teaching system; There was also a reform in elementary schools and the training of school teachers should be improved. There was still a close connection between the church and the school system, since the lower school system was subject to the supervision of the local pastor. School lessons were often a sideline for the sexton . This lack of qualified teaching staff should be addressed. One wanted to withdraw teaching from the clergy so that Enlightenment ideas could gain a foothold in educational institutions. Teacher seminars were created with the aim of training professional, enlightened teachers. They also wanted to counteract the too great differences in individual schools in terms of teaching content, number of hours and students. Overall, the level of elementary education should also be raised and clear structures created for the various types of school. The principles of the Enlightenment were at the center of the educational reforms. A new enlightened spirit should find its way into educational institutions.

Since the existing training facilities, especially the universities, did not yet meet these new needs and, for example, aristocratic sons were often sent to Protestant areas, where better and more contemporary training was expected, one had to react quickly. The year 1773 deserves special mention, in which the Jesuit order , which was no longer up-to-date and held too tight to old traditions, was abolished. With the Jesuit fortune that had come to them, the sovereigns were able to invest in a more modern educational policy adapted to the Enlightenment.

However, the Jesuits, who had previously provided most of the teaching staff, were not so easy to replace. Even in the newly founded universities, they still had to be used for some time to fill the chairs. At the universities, despite the reforms, Catholic scholars held on to the Latin language in writing and speaking for a long time, which meant that education was initially only available to a part of the population.

Overall, the reforms in education are difficult to assess. The often large discrepancy between theory and practice was problematic. The acceptance of the innovation depended on the living conditions of the people at the time. In the country people insisted on old, Catholic traditions. Because child labor was still widespread, the children were unable to take part in elementary education either before or after the reform, so their opportunities remained limited. Members of the wealthy, educated classes could and wanted to take advantage of the new opportunities.

At first, many were critical of the innovations, as the positive effects of the reform work could not yet be assessed. From today's point of view, one can say that the quality of the education system has increased significantly as a result of its modernization. This was an important first step towards a modern education system.

Another fundamental change was evident in the Catholic communities. The number of clergymen was limited as it seemed necessary for the pastoral care of the area for which the monastery was responsible. The number of monasteries was reduced. Monasteries without charitable, pastoral or educational tasks were considered useless and were closed. The reduction in the number of monasteries was subsequently extended to other religious orders. Numerous Catholic brotherhoods , whose customs were judged to be superstitious and fanatical, were dissolved.

Many monasteries were converted into secular knights and ladies' pens or educational institutes for secular priests . Nuns either had to devote themselves to female youth, the sick, or a contemplative life . The religious clergy was reformed, e.g. B. through the regulation on the taking of solemn vows not before the age of 24, provisions on the stay of members of a Catholic order outside the monastery and the abolition of the monastery dungeons. The aim was to achieve independence from episcopal and papal power.

Cultural aspects (literature, science, journalism)

literature

The German-language literature of the Enlightenment can be subdivided according to regions into Northern German Protestant idealism and Catholic creationism of southern Germany.

The Josephinian literature written during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. - one of the most important representatives of enlightened absolutism - from 1765 to 1795 in the ancient kingdom . The often strongly anti-clerical tendency of their polemics , satires and pamphlets did not ignore their attachment to rhetorical techniques and forms of expression, which were based on a baroque Catholic origin. The authors emphasized their Catholic origins as a reaction to the accusation made by colleagues from Northern Germany that they are only backward Catholics. Characteristics of this enlightened, yet Catholic-influenced literature of the old empire were a creationist, anti-idealist worldview as well as the striving for "objectivity" to enable a representation of reality. In contrast, in North German literature u. a. a subjectivist tendency as it was to be found in the Sturm und Drang and in the romanticism of Berlin and Jena.

science

University reformers asked themselves the question of the compatibility of the Enlightenment and religion. In the sciences and universities, a debate began on reforms and new ways of educating people. In the course of this, science gradually gained the earlier dominance of theology. The reformers of Catholic universities intended to raise the level of science in Catholic areas of the empire based on the Protestant model and to promote it in the sense of national “happiness”. The greatest successes were achieved in Würzburg . An essential part of the scientific discipline was to question church traditions and to integrate enlightenment ideas. However, this led to a conflict with the state, which was based on the existence of the church as a factor in securing rule.

The theological faculties continued to be part of the university canon in the 18th century. They retained a scientific say, although they had to give up their priority position. Science should become an important factor in the state. The Protestant models of Reformed universities were initially Halle and Göttingen . Renewed jurisprudence (jurisprudence) was assumed as a leading science alongside cameralistics and medicine. The Kameralistik be considered for the common nature to be extremely useful as they set new standards for revenue and expenditure policies and economic to new insights and led agrarian nature. Scholars presented new subjects in textbooks. This is how a literary dialogue between the sciences emerged.

The new closed system of science became the model at Protestant and Catholic universities. The advancement of science changed the way of thinking in the old kingdom.

Journalism

Until the end of the 17th century, ecclesiastical theological publications were usually written in Latin and only intended for a small, educated group of readers. Only at the beginning of the 18th century did the increasingly German-language magazines become a mass phenomenon and an essential medium of the Enlightenment. The market was initially dominated by the Moral Weekly Papers , which based on English models were soon published throughout the empire. In addition, so-called review organs gained in importance. They gave an overview of new publications from all areas of knowledge.

Parnassus boicus, 1722

One of the first educational journals in the Catholic area was the Parnassus Boicus . The publication appeared from 1722 to 1740 in Upper German and was brought out by three Augustinian monks. Their declared aim was the "introduction and promotion of the sciences and the arts in the Bavarian regions" and thus the overcoming of the baroque worldview. The Bavarian Academy of Sciences emerged from the group of editors of Parnassus Boicus in 1759 .

In the prince-bishopric of Bamberg, the review organ The Franconian audience appeared from 1772 . It was directed specifically “to the greater part of Catholic Germany”, as it says in the preliminary report of the first issue. The aim was a periodical publication “for the best of literature and good taste”. Essentially, the paper offered reviews of writings by Catholic authors in the fields of fine arts, philosophy, and mathematics. Separate articles were also published. In doing so, the editors also gained recognition in the Protestant north. The Erfurtische Gelehre Zeitung in 1775 praises the fact that the publication from Bamberg has made a contribution to “spreading useful knowledge in the Catholic provinces”.

One of the great review magazines of the Late Enlightenment was the Oberdeutsche Allgemeine Literaturzeitung . It was published in Salzburg and Munich from 1788 to 1808. Their aim was to record and comment on the publications in Catholic Germany as completely as possible. In doing so, the authors felt obliged to Kant's philosophy and were in lively discussion with the idealism of Schelling , Fichte and Hegel . The literary newspaper published by the Catholic Enlightenmentist Lorenz Huebner is considered "the most intellectually significant organ of the German Catholic Enlightenment." It was continued until 1812 under the name Neue Oberdeutsche Allgemeine Literaturzeitung .

Regional characteristics

Austria

In the Habsburg Monarchy , Empress Maria Theresa was the first representative of enlightened absolutism . Her son Joseph II and some of her advisors, such as Count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz , Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz and Gerard van Swieten , were even closer to the Enlightenment . The canon lawyer Josef Anton von Riegger also had a considerable influence . They took the view that the state should practice religious tolerance and that witch trials , torture and the death penalty should be abolished. The Catholic Enlightenment, which emerged in Europe in the 17th century, became practically effective in Austria in the 18th century and continued into the 19th century.

The Enlightenment is based on the idea that all people are equal, but that they have to free themselves from dependencies. In Austria the ideas of the Enlightenment were disseminated less through philosophy than through cameralistics (modern bookkeeping , characterized by the exclusive listing of inputs and outputs), law, medicine and natural science; they were mainly taken up by civil servants and the upper middle class. The Enlightenment had particular practical effects in legal and political theory , whose main representatives Karl Anton von Martini and Joseph Freiherr von Sonnenfels shaped the following generation of civil servants in this sense. With these legal principles reforms of the times of Maria Theresa and Joseph II were founded.

Joseph II transferred these ideas to many areas of the state: through Josephinism , the Catholic Church in Austria was completely subordinated to state sovereignty and non-Catholics - Lutherans , Reformed and members of the Greek Orthodox Church , and shortly afterwards also the Jews in Vienna - with the tolerance patents 1781/82 private religious practice and civil rights granted. In a broader sense, Josephinism is an intellectual attitude determined by the reform ideas of the enlightened absolutism and the Catholic enlightenment, which shaped the Austrian civil service well into the 19th century and was a root of liberalism .

The Enlightenment has with the General Civil Code of Austria valid after-effects up to the present. This also essentially applies to the successor states that were split off from Austria at the Trianon Conference in 1919.

Education was one of the main concerns of the Enlightenment. The reform of the elementary school in 1774 by Abbot Johann Ignaz von Felbiger was carried by this spirit and characterized by a dense network of state schools, compulsory schooling from 6 to 12 years of age, class instruction instead of individual instruction , Religious instruction, the establishment of seminars for teachers and the creation of new curricula. The Enlightenment had a great influence on literature, which was primarily intended to be educational and instructive, but also to be critical. Authors such as Cornelius von Ayrenhoff , Aloys Blumauer and Johann Baptist von Alxinger worked in this direction. The Enlightenment shaped the state in many areas in the second half of the 18th century, but was pushed back again due to the effects of the French Revolution in Austria.

Switzerland

The latest research shows that in the second half of the 18th century, in addition to exposed Catholic clergy like Bernhard Ludwig Göldlin , various conventuals of Einsiedeln Abbey , especially under Prince Abbot Marian Müller, positively received typical postulates of the Catholic Enlightenment, implemented them in theoretical writings evolved. Her main fields of activity were education, general welfare, natural sciences, history and ecumenism. This shows that not only - as previously assumed - the political elite in urban centers such as Solothurn and Lucerne were affected by the ideas of the Enlightenment (e.g. Joseph Anton Felix von Balthasar , Josef Rudolf Valentin Meyer von Schauensee or Karl Müller -Friedberg ), but also rural areas such as central Switzerland. The fact that this has so far been considered to be decidedly anti-Enlightenment is primarily due to the ultramontane defense rhetoric of the 19th century.

Bavaria

Reign of Maximilian III. Joseph

In Bavaria reforms began in the sense of Catholic education with the reign of the Elector Maximilian III. Josef from 1745 to 1777. He had inherited the electorate from his father Karl Albrecht in an extremely poor condition, which the country had gotten into due to the outcome of the War of the Austrian Succession . Above all, the state budget debts were extremely high at over 30 million guilders and required drastic changes in the Bavarian state.

In the area of ​​administration, the cumbersome authorities that arose in the 16th and 17th centuries had to be centralized and their internal structures and tasks as well as the distribution of competencies and cooperation between them clarified in order to be able to meet the much more extensive requirements of the mercantilist era . In this regard, the reforms under Maximilian III remained. Josef only fragmentary. The classic administrative structure with collegially managed authorities was retained; the court councilor responsible for legal affairs and policey was confirmed in its antiquated organization in instructions of June 2, 1750. Owing to Bavaria's economic problems, the main focus of the reforms was on the Hofkammer , the central economic and financial authority. To solve the problems, various commissions and colleges were created inside and outside the Chamber; they became independent or again subordinated to the Chamber. Overall, a lot has been tried out, and not always successfully; there were no fundamental cuts.

The administration of justice was more consistent. In the 18th century there was legal uncertainty in all territories of the empire, caused by a juxtaposition of legal sources of Roman and German law, written and unwritten , reinforced by the large number of individual sovereign provisions. The Chancellor of Elector Baron von Kreittmayr took on the task of creating a uniform summary and commentary on the applicable Bavarian law . Over a period of 20 years, the Codex Juris Bavarici Criminalis appeared on October 7, 1751 on criminal law, the Codex Juris Bavarici Judiciarii on December 14, 1753 on the order of procedure and the constitution of the courts, the Codex Maximilianeus Bavaricus Civilis on January 2, 1756 on civil law and 1769 the Outline of general German and Bavarian constitutional law and finally in 1771 the collection d. newest- u. strange churbayer. Generalia et al. State ordinances on administrative law. The educational content of Kreittmayr's works is extremely moderate. In addition to groundbreaking innovations at the time, such as the abolition of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina of 1532 or the equality of men and women in court, there are still parts that are strongly rooted in tradition, for example provisions against heretics and witches as well as the continuation of torture. However, the Chancellor's primary intention was never to be active in the field of enlightenment, rather he wanted to collect the law systematically in his own language and carefully adapt it to the needs of the time. At least for the church reform he laid the constitutional basis.

For the comprehensive church policy of spa Bavaria under Max III. Josef can be given various reasons and motives. In financial terms, the establishment of a state church was particularly promising, as over half of the Bavarian land was owned by the clergy, who traditionally enjoyed the privilege of being exempt from taxes. In addition, eight dioceses - the Archdiocese of Salzburg including the Diocese of Chiemsee , the Hochstift Freising , the Diocese of Regensburg , the Diocese of Passau , the Archdiocese of Bamberg , the Diocese of Eichstätt , the Diocese of Augsburg and the Diocese of Konstanz - ruled over the Bavarian territory. After the extinction of the Bavarian Wittelsbach line and with it the loss of the dynastic influence on the monasteries became foreseeable, one wanted either to integrate them into the state or to force them out of the territory. The basis of the reforms from 1757 to 1766 were several papal permits for extraordinary taxation of the church (the decimations) and, since the Seven Years' War, a renewed ban on the acquisition of real estate by spiritual institutions, the so-called amortization law. In addition, there were the more radical Enlightenment theses of the director of the clergyman, Peter von Osterwald , which appeared under the pseudonym Benno Ganser as a text by Veremund von Lochstein and were indexed by the church.

This was followed by a whole wave of laws and mandates, again inspired by Peter von Osterwald, the so-called reform mandates. The ecclesiastical council was reorganized (August 20, 1768), the number of occupants in the monasteries was regulated (1st monastery mandate September 29, 1768), foreigners were excluded from local spiritual benefices (mandate December 20, 1768) and a church-independent censorship authority was established (February 16 1769). The marriage was subjected to secular jurisdiction (sponsorship mandate July 24, 1769), the orders placed under stricter control (2nd monastery mandate November 2, 1769) and separated from foreign superiors and provinces (3rd monastery mandate December 30, 1769). Last but not least, popular processions and the traditional Oberammergau Passion Play were banned (March 31, 1770) and church ordinances made subject to the reservation of a state place (placetum regium April 5, 1770).

At the same time, the measures against the Bavarian dioceses were tightened. Further demands were contained in an anonymous letter from Enlightenment circles in Munich, in which the establishment of own regional dioceses and the secularization of all church property was demanded. This open attack on the imperial church and the imperial constitution alarmed the Bavarian bishops. They met in Salzburg in 1770/71 for the Salzburg Congress and drafted a counter-program in line with episcopalism . Given the unanimity of the bishops, Max III. Joseph gave in and came to an agreement with the Pope. He weakened the reforms that had already been implemented, in return received renewed permission for extraordinary taxation of the church (decimation) and benefited considerably from the dissolution of the Jesuit order on July 21, 1773. Compared to the strong alliance of curia and elector, the Salzburg conference fell apart, and thus the strongest opponent of a further territorialization of Bavaria at the expense of the dioceses.

The reign of Karl Theodor

The reforms received new impulses with the rule of Karl Theodor (1777–1799), a representative of the Palatinate line of the Wittelsbachers and Elector of the Palatinate. In addition to the still existing motives for the procurement of new financial resources for the state budget and the further territorial characteristics of Bavaria, the individual states ( Kurbayern , Kurpfalz , Jülich-Berg , Oberpfalz , Neuburg and Sulzbach ) of the ruler were to be integrated into an overall complex. However, the latter failed in a comprehensive form due to the resistance of the estates in the individual territories, and partial customs unions remained a partial success. The strength of the estates was explained by the financial dependence of the ruler on them, so the peasant exemption of 1779 was severely restricted and the central calibration of weights and measures was prevented. In accordance with their claim to power, they saw themselves as “representatives of the entire Bavarian nation” and intervened more and more in Bavarian domestic politics, and since the French Revolution also in foreign policy. After the armistice of Pfaffenhofen on September 7, 1796, the influence of the Bavarian estates had reached its peak. For the electorate, two estate representatives led the peace negotiations with the French. With the withdrawal of the French, this last high phase of the estates in Bavaria ended. He created an important basis for the constitutional movement of the next few years.

In the area of ​​administration there were some reforms under Karl Theodor. The overburdened senior colleges were reduced to their essential areas of responsibility, the court council only retained judicial matters, the court chamber responsibilities for finances and a few economic issues. The remaining fields were transferred to the new Supreme State Government, which had all the powers of an interior, culture, labor, economy and agriculture ministry. Karl Theodor's reformers also took on the middle administrative level. Here the pension offices were transformed into pure camera pension deputations with a more uniform structure; their competencies were limited to the area of ​​finance; Justice and Policey were affiliated centrally in Munich with the Upper State Government. The will to reform also referred to the lowest level of the state, since up to two thirds of the regional courts were in the hands of clergymen and nobles and the office of regional judge was often inherited by the resident families, whose administrators and subordinates were corrupt and for their duties were not trained. On the one hand, the further sale of sovereign rights to patrimonial forces was prevented, on the other hand, several mandates from the years 1779 and 1781 aimed at ending the idle administration and the corruption of those working there. However, these reforms had to be largely reversed because of the resistance of the estates.

There was a change of course in state church policy because, unlike his predecessor, Karl Theodor again needed a church welfare institution for his illegitimate children and the later sons of the Bavarian nobility. This was to be provided by the establishment of a Bavarian tongue of the Order of Malta , for which the support of the Curia was necessary. Compared to the time of Max III. Josef a closer alliance was established between the sovereign and Rome. It represented the essential line of Bavarian church policy in the late 18th century. The order of Malta was to be financed by orders of prelates based in Bavaria . During the planning the idea came up to put all monastery property in the financial disposal of the state. This plan could not prevail; It was finally agreed to use the goods of the dissolved Jesuit order to finance the Order of Malta and, in return, to have the higher education financed by the order of prelates, so that the Bavarian tongue of the Order of Malta could be founded on December 14, 1781.

The most important success of Karl Theodor's church policy was the establishment of a nunciature on June 7, 1784 in Munich. Here, too, were the good relations with Pope Pius VI. , who paid a visit to the Elector in April 1782, of outstanding importance. The advantages for Bavaria were great, all the more since Giulio Cesare Zoglio , the first nuncio in Munich, was financially dependent on the Bavarian ruler. Violent reactions followed. The emperor, the Reichstag and the imperial church withdrew their recognition of the new nunciature, the ecclesiastical imperial estates tried to form against it. The so-called nunciature dispute that developed from this brought about a new national church reform program for the imperial church, but in the end it had no consequences in principle and especially for spa Bavaria.

The downside of this partnership with the Curia was the withdrawal of some church political reforms. This included the introduction of church chants in German, the repeated ban on public holidays and processions, and the renewed reorganization of the Spiritual Council. The measures taken against opposing enlighteners, the Illuminati Order (ban on June 22, 1784) and national church currents were both in view of the Pope and in their own domestic political interest. Karl Theodor could no longer achieve the goal of breaking up the imperial church organization in southern Germany and setting up his own regional dioceses in Bavaria, even if he was able to set it on the path. With the new nunciature in Munich he was able to act much more powerfully against the surrounding dioceses; in addition, he was supported by the Pope's permission for decimation. So docile bishops could be installed in Regensburg and Freising. Parts of the Salzburg Metropolitan Association were separated in order to establish the Munich court bishopric . Karl Theodor experienced a big step towards secularization in the last year of his life, when Pope Pius VI, already a prisoner of Napoleon on his way into exile, gave the elector a seventh of the Bavarian church assets on September 7, 1798 to cover the war burdens - according to the estimated sum the so-called fifteen million project - allowed to move in.

Spiritual states

In cleric territories had Prince Bishops both held the religious and the secular power. In the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , these spiritual states were dissolved in the course of secularization in 1803. Kurköln and Kurmainz , along with Kurtrier, were the most important spiritual states. The Catholic Enlightenment was particularly pronounced here. Würzburg , Bamberg and Münster stand for some of the many smaller Catholic enlightened spiritual states.

Electorate of Cologne

In the Westphalian part of the country, the Catholic Enlightenment had started relatively early under Maximilian Friedrich Reichsgraf von Königsegg-Rothenfels . During his reign from 1761 to 1784, his minister Franz von Fürstenberg developed exemplary educational reforms and the Münstersche Kreis was formed . In the rest of the Electorate of Cologne , which consisted of a Rhenish and a Westphalian part of the country around 1750, the time of the Catholic Enlightenment did not begin until Archbishop Maximilian Franz of Austria took office in 1784. The Prince-Bishop himself paid little attention to the Catholic Enlightenment and the government of his electorate. He left this to his Prime Minister Caspar Anton von Belderbusch , who was responsible for founding the Academy in Bonn, the forerunner of today's Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität . This academy, which was committed to the idea of ​​enlightened Catholicism, stood in contrast to the scholastic University of Cologne .

Maximilian Franz of Austria was a son of the enlightened monarch Maria Theresia von Habsburg and her husband Emperor Franz I Stephan . His eldest brother later became Emperor Joseph II, to whom so-called Josephinism goes back. On May 8, 1785 Maximilian was officially ordained bishop by Archbishop Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony of Trier and was ordained a priest .

During his tenure as Elector of Cologne, he strongly advocated an enlightened spiritual state and carried out numerous reforms. Among other things, he improved the school system by giving teachers better training. He tried to simplify, disentangle and accelerate the complicated and not clearly regulated judicial system of the spiritual state. He also forbade further admission of new members to the mendicant orders , whose way of life he regarded as outdated. In addition, he set up a seminary at the Bonn Academy, as he disliked the conservative training of priests at the University of Cologne, which enabled him to better monitor and influence the training of his priests.

At the same time he was a supporter of episcopalism, which was clearly evident in his disputes with the papal nuncio in Cologne and in his participation in the Ems Congress in 1786 together with the bishops of Mainz, Trier and Salzburg. The enlightened Maximilian Franz of Austria also ruled personally and partially performed his church duties himself instead of sending a representative. He often donated the sacraments himself and was known for a modest way of life.

With his death on July 26, 1801, the last elector of Cologne died and at the same time the last prince-bishop of Münster. Only in 1824 did he get an official spiritual successor, Archbishop Ferdinand August von Spiegel, who was rooted in the Enlightenment . He appointed personalities of the Catholic Enlightenment to the University of Bonn such as Georg Hermes (theologian) and Clemens-August von Droste zu Hülshoff from Münster .

Electorate of Mainz

When Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein was elected Archbishop of Mainz and Elector of Mainz on April 22, 1743 , a new era began in Kurmainz . Because Archbishop von Ostein was the first Mainz bishop to incorporate enlightened thoughts into his government policy. In particular, his first Minister of State, Anton Heinrich Friedrich von Stadion , excelled with enlightened reforms. During the reign of Archbishop von Ostein, the school system in the Electorate of Mainz was reformed, among other things the education of girls was promoted, the Kurmainzer Landrecht was renewed in 1755 and the university was further promoted and expanded.

After his death in 1763, Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim was elected Elector of Mainz. In 1768 he also became Bishop of Worms . He continued the reforms of his predecessor and also excelled in expanding poor welfare, which made him very popular with the people. In addition, he promoted the internal church reform process by limiting public holidays and developing the school system. He founded a teachers academy and thus improved the training of teachers. He rearranged the monastic system. So he disempowered the Jesuit order in Mainz and reformed the university. He was also a follower of episcopalism and rebelled against excessive paternalism from the Pope.

With his death in 1774, the Catholic Enlightenment came to a standstill in the Electorate of Mainz. His successor Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal initially filled many offices with conservative and restoration- minded men. But even he could not ignore the Enlightenment within the spiritual states and reformed the country school system during his tenure, had hymn books published in German and dissolved monasteries in favor of the University of Mainz. Like his predecessor, he spoke out against the papal nuncios and took part in the Emser Congress .

In 1792 the French occupied the Electorate of Mainz, which in fact sealed its downfall.

Principality of Würzburg and Bamberg

Prince-Bishop Friedrich Karl Reichsgraf von Schönborn-Buchheim, around 1730

The Catholic Enlightenment began in 1729 in the prince-bishopric of Würzburg with Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim , who was also prince-bishop of Bamberg . Under his leadership, the first early enlightenment reforms in administration, justice and economy were carried out. He also promoted research into medicine and the natural sciences at Würzburg University .

Another representative of the Enlightenment on the bishopric of Würzburg and Bamberg was Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim from 1755 to 1779 . He tried to reform the economy in his financially troubled electoral principalities and in 1762 introduced compulsory schooling. He also made the previous Academica Ottonia in Bamberg a university and promoted the musical arts. His direct successor, Franz Ludwig von Erthal, pursued his educational course further by reforming the training of priests and further promoting the university. In contrast to his predecessor, Franz Ludwig von Erthal lived rather modestly. With his death in 1795, the last Würzburg Prince-Bishop Georg Karl von Fechenbach took office, who abdicated as secular ruler in 1802.

Principality of Münster

In the Principality of Münster (Hochstift Münster) there was no strong polarization between religion and the Enlightenment. Dialogue, openness and political, personal and religious tolerance were the dominant ideas of the duchy. Around 1770 the Munster Circle was formed in the house of Princess Amalie von Gallitzin . In her salon , men met as school reformer Bernhard Heinrich Overberg , the brothers Droste-Vischering , Johann Georg Hamann , Count Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg and the poet and lawyer Anton Matthias Sprickmann , the parents of the poet Annette von Droste-Hulshoff and the Dutch philosopher Frans Hemsterhuis . They looked for the synthesis of their faith with the new philosophical-pedagogical currents of the time and tried to combine traditional Catholicism, the enlightened spirit of improvement and early romantic sensitivity. The driving force behind the district was Franz Freiherr von Fürstenberg (1729–1810). He belonged to the cathedral chapters of Münster and Paderborn and in 1763 took over the office of first minister, which he had to resign after 17 years. In 1780, not Fürstenberg, but Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria was elected coadjutor , who in 1784 also became Archbishop of Cologne and at the same time Prince-Bishop of Münster. Fürstenberg received his dismissal as a minister, but kept the vicariate general and school management until 1807 . After the Seven Years' War he was heavily involved in the reconstruction of the city, created new administrative structures and reformed the health system as well as the library, printing and publishing sectors. As a member of the Munster circle , his first interest was education. In 1776 the school regulations he had drawn up were issued in the prince bishopric, and a philosophy of education and a plan for individual subjects were also published. These school rules made him known throughout Germany. He also tried to train teachers. At his instigation, the Münster seminary was founded in 1776 and the University of Münster in 1780 .

From about 1816 to 1830 the bishop, the vicar general and the local clergy imposed numerous pilgrimage bans and restrictions on processions in terms of number, duration and design, supported and promoted by the Prussian authorities. At the theological faculty of Münster the clergy had undergone an education marked by enlightened piety and began to rationalize the forms of prayer, partly against the resistance of the church people.

Remarks

1. ↑ Learned journals and newspapers of the Enlightenment , Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen
2. ^ The Franconian audience , 1772. Bavarian State Library online
3. ↑ The Franconian audience , Volume 1, 1772. Digital Library Munich
4. ↑ cit. according to Literature of Catholic Germany , Vol. 1, 1775
5. ↑ Oberdeutsche Allgemeine Literaturzeitung , Harald Fischer Verlag online
6. ↑ Manfred Brandl: Huebner, Lorenz . In: Neue Deutsche Biographie, 9, 1972, pp. 721f
7. ↑ Thomas Fässler: Awakening and Resistance. Einsiedeln Monastery in the area of ​​tension between the Baroque, Enlightenment and Revolution. Egg 2019.
8. ^ Manfred Weitlauff : Osterwald, Peter von in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (1999), p. 622f
9. ↑ Werner Freitag : Popular and elite piety in the early modern period. Marian pilgrimages in the Principality of Münster. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1991, ISBN 3-506-79572-4 , pp. 351-357.

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