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Confession and Authority in Post-Westphalian Alsace, 1648-1789

2016; Brill; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1163/15700658-12342481

1570-0658

Stephen A. Lazer,

Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

This article evaluates the confessionalization and multiconfessionalism theses through the context of early modern Alsace after the French conquest in 1648. Multiconfessionalism, the political recognition of two or more confessions coexisting in a territory, has arisen as a challenge to confessionalization, yet both remain important analytical tools. France could not completely Catholicize the Protestant parts of Alsace, here represented by the lands of the dukes of Pfalz-Zweibrücken. Instead, the monarchy supported Catholic settlement and required that the dukes appoint Catholic officials. In short, France used confessionalization to create a politically-advantageous yet multiconfessional landscape. The dukes used confessional strategies to blunt French incursions into their authority and to reduce confessional tensions, traditionally the reason for multiconfessionalism. In short, the situation in early modern Alsace turns the traditional outcomes of confessionalization and multiconfessionalism on their heads, and makes it clear that they are really two sides of the same coin.