Looking Beyond the Paradigm: Reformation and Religious Diversity Across Borders and Cultures in Central and Southeastern Europe

The study of the early modern era, with a particular focus on the Reformation, has been influenced by the principles of comparative historiography. This has resulted in the introduction of several methodological innovations that have transformed the previously well-established landscape of Reformation studies into a complex field characterised by a plurality of perspectives. This plurality will undoubtedly activate ambiguities, discontinuities and relativity in terms of historical knowledge. It will establish the genuinely entangled character of the research. Interpreting the Reformation as a historical phenomenon in the twenty-first century appears to be the equivalent of a radical renovation and reinvention of research practices, methods, and narratives. Accordingly, under the impact of comparative historiography, the application of transregional perspective rearticulated some of the basic rules of historical reconstruction, thus early modern time and space delineated or sometimes imposed new regions and chronologies on the European Reformation.

This volume offers a selection of the papers given at the Budapest international conference 2023. In general it deals with I. The Reformation as Heritage, II. Periphery versus peripheral, III. the Covert Episodes of The Reformation and IV. The Reformation on Stage – in a wide geographical range, including the Ottoman sphere and its centre.

Ulrich A. Wien, RPTU Kaiserslautern Landau; Angéla Ilic, IKGS München; Zsombor Tóth, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Budapest, Hungary.