Confessionalization

Confessionalization ( German die Konfessionalisierung ) - social processes that took place in the class society of Europe in the XVI-XVII centuries. This period in some studies and somewhat differently: The Age of Confessionalism ( Zeitalter des Konfessionalismus ); The formation of denominations ( Konfessionsbildung ), etc. The term "confessionalization" was tabulated ^{[ unknown term ]} in the studies of H. Schilling and W. Reinhard, in which the religious factor was applied to politics as much as politics and religion.

The idea of ​​a connection between confessionalization and secularization is not without discussion. It is periodically asserted that the discrepancy that has begun between secular power and the church has called into question its functional essence. H. Schilling, in particular, writes the following about this: “... the increase in the difference between the secular and the church manifested, first of all, in the collapse of first imperial and then church universalism, appears as a process of secularization, which resulted in the formation of modern states, on the one hand as opponents, and on the other, as supporters of religion ” ^[1] . A similar position is shared by a number of other researchers, for example, W. Schulze and R. Wolfail. The latter noted: “... The Reformation, one way or another, led to the separation of people from religion, thereby contributing to secularization” ^[2] . V. Schulze, in turn, developing this idea, emphasized that confessionalization led to the question of political coexistence in the context of the secularization process ^[3] . V. Reinhard mentioned above in assessing the relationship between politics and religion, refuting the assertion about the pragmatic approach of state power to the religious issue ^[4] , notes that the actions of the German territorial sovereigns depended not only on political calculation, but also on religious and social orientation and on social -cultural process reflected in confessionalization. In addition, he did not distinguish between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation into opposite phases, believing that it was a parallel process. The researcher speaks of their sufficient typological homogeneity, noting a combination of modernization and conservative trends in these processes. The results of both the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Renovation, on the one hand, were the birth of new church and confessional structures, and on the other, an influence on political processes. In particular, W. Reinhard writes: “The religious factor of time also extended to politics, and, on the contrary, politics was interfaced with the church and religion. The formation of the early forms of the modern state could not follow in this way regardless of confessional problems ” ^[5] .

The final phase of all these processes is considered the middle of the XVII century. For example, H. Schnabel-Schüle believes that the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 as the final chord of the confessional era should be carefully considered ^[6] . Chronology of H. Schilling is widespread. He proposed dividing the period of confessionalization into four stages:

1. end of the 40s - 70s XVI century This is the time of the relative intra-imperial world;
2. the turn of the 70s - 80s XVI century., The so-called "harbinger of religious contradiction." At this time, there is a fusion of Protestantism and already of Trident Catholicism with territorial-princely forces and the formation of estate-religious groups, which puts the inner-imperial world at risk;
3. The 1580s-1620s, called the "highest point of confessionalization";
4. end of the 40s XVII century - XVIII centuries. ^[7]

At first glance, such periodization is acceptable for the topic we are considering, since the situation in However, there are other options for periodization of this period. For example, H. Klutingom expanded the scope of the confessional era, taking 1525 as the reporting point. ^[8]