Converting Bohemia
Force and Persuasion in the Catholic Reformation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9740414 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marc R Forster (0000-0003-4732-1330, Connecticut College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 125 |
| Issue | 513 |
| Pages | 434-436 |
| Publication date | 2010-03-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The English Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ehr/ceq056 |
| OpenAlex | W2030750987 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
Howard Louthan presents a new interpretation of the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia. Hitherto, historians have considered the reintroduction of Catholicism in Bohemia after 1620 as a classic example of the imposition of religious uniformity by force from above. After the Habsburg defeat of the Protestant Winter King at the Battle of White Mountain (November 1620) and the defeat of the Bohemian uprising, Catholic authorities, backed by military force, suppressed various non-Catholic groups, including Calvinists, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Utraquists, and the Bohemian Brethren. Those unwilling to convert were driven into exile and the leaders of the rebellion were executed in 1621 in a dramatic ceremony in the Town Square of Prague. The Bohemian nobility, which had taken a leading role in the anti-Habsburg rebellion, was a particular target of the Habsburg authorities and many of them lost their lands to a group of new Catholic families. Louthan does not ignore the role of violence and coercion in the aftermath of White Mountain. His focus, however, is on the remarkable transformation of Bohemian religious culture in the seventeenth century from a land of great religious diversity to a region known for its Catholic piety. Louthan argues that much of this transformation was the result of a well-thought-out and effective programme of persuasion which reached all levels of society. This programme was multifaceted and varied. Catholic leaders, religious orders, and state officials targeted élites, seeking to convert noble families, control universities and printing, rewrite Bohemian history, and rebuild monasteries, churches, and other sacred sites. As the seventeenth century progressed, they also worked to encourage a sense of Catholic identity in the common people, supporting pilgrimage piety, sending missions to the villages, and publishing collections of sermons and songs for local priests. Although Louthan recognises that it is difficult to estimate the success of this programme, Converting Bohemia shows clearly that, by the early eighteenth century, a strong Catholic identity was in place, as was demonstrated by the loyalty of the population to the public aspects of Catholicism
Ancient history · Battle · Nobility · Persuasion · Piety · Political science · Politics · Protestantism · Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Law · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Religious studies
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |