!!!Reformation

Reformation: The term "Reformation" has been used since 1690 to denote 
the religious revolution initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, which 
differed from medieval reform movements in that it did not aim at 
structural changes but at religious renewal. It resulted in tensions, 
schisms and the formation of separate denominations. Catholic revival 
and the  Counter-Reformation sought to prevent the spread of the 
reform movement. In the German Empire, the Peace of Westphalia put an 
end to the war between Catholics and the followers of the Reformation

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The ideas of the Reformation spread quickly in the realm of the 
Habsburgs and found many supporters. The princes at first ruled over 
Protestant majorities but then tried to restore denominational unity 
by re-establishing the old ecclesiastical order. Observance of this 
principle and the great differences between the individual regions 
tend to create the impression that the history of the Reformation in 
Austria was heterogeneous and marked by conflicts, with the result 
that the interrelations between religious and political issues and the 
position of the House of Austria are all but overlooked.

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The reasons for the rapid spread of the Reformation were religious in 
nature and were also due to an increasingly introspective trend that 
was critical of the ecclesiastic system around the year 1500. In 
addition, social ills and emerging ideals of freedom - freedom in the 
sense of a corporate right based on religious grounds - strengthened 
the movement, which the peasantry promoted as a revolutionary 
development ( Peasants' Revolts) and which were also supported by the 
(noble) Estates as part of their political responsibility within their 
realms.

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The development of a landstaendische ("Estatist") form of government 
in an emerging larger state that was militarily threatened by the 
Turks provided the political framework for the successful spread of 
the Reformation movement, and also for overcoming it. After a first 
phase of free movement, which Ferdinand I sought to curb by 
threatening draconian sanctions from 1524 onwards, the period up to 
1550 or thereabouts saw a decline of the traditional system of the 
Church. This was, amongst other things, due to economic causes 
(financial exhaustion of foundations, shortage of clerics, low living 
standards) The Reformation movement was more adaptable than the 
traditional system of the Church so that by 1550 all of the Habsburgs' 
lands other than Tirol had witnessed the establishment of a church 
system that adopted the tenets of the Reformation. In this context, 
considerable importance attached to the massive influence that laymen 
had the right to exercise on the Church from medieval times (church 
patronage).

\\
By 1570 or so a considerable part of the low clergy consisted of 
Protestant pastors, and the Estates called for toleration of their 
Protestant creed. Maximilian II and Karl II, respectively, 
granted privileges to the two Danube countries in 1568 and 1571 and to 
Styria, Carinthia and Carniola in 1572 and 1578. These privileges did 
not stipulate the principle of coexistence for the two denominations 
but left the governance of the Protestant churches emerging in their 
realms to the Estates. While the Estates started to organise their 
church governance (rituals, "Landschaftsschulen" (estate 
schools) in Graz, Linz and Klagenfurt, visitation of churches in Lower 
Austria, construction of churches in places like Klagenfurt, Loosdorf 
and Horn), Catholic quarters were already embarking on the 
Counter-Reformation.

\\
Within the Protestant movement diversification set in on the basis of 
different interpretations of the fundamental tenets of the Reformation 
movement. This conflict ("Flacian controversy", after M. Flacius 
Illyricus) and the conviction that, theologically, obedience to the 
prince of the realm ranked higher than the prince's duty to protect 
his subjects and the religious freedom of the individual weakened the 
position of the Protestant parties vis-à-vis the Catholics, who 
were again gathering strength.

\\
Despite the flowering of Protestant ecclesiastic life and a gradual 
consolidation of denominational positions amongst the population at 
large, the Counter-Reformation succeeded in its fight against 
Protestantism. As regards Inneroesterreich, Protestant churches were 
soon eliminated (1587) in Carniola, where they had failed to convert 
the Slovene and Croat population in spite of considerable efforts to 
overcome the language barrier (translations of the Bible and 
catechism). In Carinthia and Styria Protestant preachers and teachers 
were expelled from the Princes' cities in 1585; the "campaigns" of the 
Counter-Reformation did away with organised Protestant church life. 
This was followed by efforts to re-convert the population, which 
culminated in the expulsion of the Protestant noblemen in 1628. Many 
people remained Protestants at heart, while many others had left the 
country earlier, partly after having pretended to have returned to the 
Catholic fold.

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In the Danube countries the Counter-Reformation was to some extent 
inhibited by the "Habsburg Brothers' Conflict" between Rudolf II and 
Matthias. When the latter refused to implement religious concessions, 
166 Protestant noblemen formed an alliance at Horn in 1608, refused 
allegiance and threatened resistance, whereupon Matthias granted a new 
privilege ("Capitulation Resolution") in 1609, which promised to 
safeguard the Protestants' position but did little to prevent the 
advance of the spirit of Catholicism. Still, a late flowering of 
Protestantism occurred in Upper Austria, particularly in the fields of 
culture and scholarship. Theological dissension had been overcome and 
the Lutheran faith was successfully propagated by excellent preachers.

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When Ferdinand II ascended the throne, the situation changed 
thoroughly: the Estates failed with the tactics which had been 
successful in1608, Ferdinand II prevailed in the ensuing struggle 
with the help of Bavaria (to which Upper Austria was pledged), and the 
Battle of the White Mountain (1620) robbed the Protestants' cause of 
all prospects. Coercive action followed along with bans, the granting 
of patronages to Catholics, the ennoblement of Catholics, forced 
conversions etc. A religiously and politically motivated peasants' 
revolt in Upper Austria was quenched in 1626, and all Protestant 
preachers and school-teachers were exiled. The Peace of Westphalia 
only granted personal religious freedom to the nobility of Lower 
Austria.

!Literature
P. F. Barton, Evangelisch in Oesterreich, 1987; G. 
Mecenseffy, Geschichte des Protestantismus in Oesterreich, 1956; G. 
Reingrabner, Protestanten in Oesterreich, Geschichte und 
Dokumentation, 1981.


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