Conversion and the Politics of Religion in Early Modern Germany

The Protestant and Catholic Reformations thrust the nature of conversion into the center of debate and politicking over religion as authorities and subjects imbued religious confession with novel meanings during the early modern era. The volume offers insights into the historicity of the very concept of “conversion.” One widely accepted modern notion of the phenomenon simply expresses denominational change. Yet this concept had no bearing at the outset of the Reformation. Instead, a variety of processes, such as the consolidation of territories along confessional lines, attempts to ensure civic concord, and diplomatic quarrels helped to usher in new ideas about the nature of religious boundaries and, therefore, conversion. However conceptualized, religious change— conversion—had deep social and political implications for early modern German states and societies.

The Protestant and Catholic Reformations thrust the nature of conversion into the center of debate and politicking over religion as authorities and subjects imbued religious confession with novel meanings during the early modern era. The volume offers insights into the historicity of the very concept of “conversion.” One widely accepted modern notion of the phenomenon simply expresses denominational change. Yet this concept had no bearing at the outset of the Reformation. Instead, a variety of processes, such as the consolidation of territories along confessional lines, attempts to ensure civic concord, and diplomatic quarrels helped to usher in new ideas about the nature of religious boundaries and, therefore, conversion. However conceptualized, religious change— conversion—had deep social and political implications for early modern German states and societies.

Preface

Introduction: The Politics of Conversion in Early Modern Germany
David M. Luebke

Chapter 1. Paths of Salvation and Boundaries of Belief: Spatial Discourse and the Meanings of Conversion in Early Modern Germany
Duane J. Corpis

Chapter 2. Conversion Concepts in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic
Eric-Oliver Mader

Chapter 3. Turning Dutch? Conversion in Early Modern Wesel
Jesse Spohnholz

Chapter 4. The Right to be Catholic—The Right to be Protestant? Perspectives on Conversion Before and After the Peace of Westphalia
Ralf-Peter Fuchs

Chapter 5. Conversion and Diplomacy in Absolutist Northern Europe
Daniel Riches

Chapter 6. Irenicism and the Challenges of Conversion in the Early Eighteenth Century
Alexander Schunka

Chapter 7. Mish-Mash with the Enemy: Identity, Politics, Power, and the Threat of Forced Conversion in Frederick William I’s Prussia
Benjamin Marschke

Chapter 8. Pietist Conversion Narratives and Confessional Identity
Jonathan Strom

Chapter 9. Conversion and Sarcasm in the Autobiography of Johann Christian Edelmann
Douglas H. Shantz

Afterword
Jared Poley

Bibliography
Notes on the Contributors
Index