Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SOVEREIGNTY (NEGOTIATING SOVEREIGNTY: CHALLENGES OF SECULARISM AND NATION BUILDING IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE SINCE 1780)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2025-02-28
How can the history of the complex church-state relations in 19th- and 20th-century East-Central Europe be understood, taking into account continuities and discontinuities spanning changes of regimes? Does such a research, which examines the conflicts between the Church and the state and the various processes involved in attempts to address these conflicts provide insights that have a wider significance beyond the history of the Church?
In order to answer these questions SOVEREIGNTY uses the oath of loyalty to the state as an analytical tool to examine, from a new approach, the connections between the process of secularization and nation building and the steps taken to enforce the modern state’s claim to sovereignty. Indeed, as a ritual which fell at the intersection of religion and politics (and on the border separating a transnational institution and the modern state), the oath of loyalty to the state required of the bishops, who were considered local agents of the transnational Catholic Church, offers an ideal laboratory for the study of the efficiency of state measures aimed at securing sovereignty in Central Eastern Europe.
The project thus aims to gain insight into the reasons behind the emergence and evolution of oaths of loyalty in the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states between 1780 and 1990. It also seeks to understand how and why this practice became so prevalent until the fall of communist regimes, and to identify its broader significance in the context of church-state relations in Central Eastern Europe and in the modern understanding of state sovereignty.
In order to further an understanding of the functions of the oaths of loyalty and the motivations of the middle-level historical agents involved, the project offers a comprehensive and contextual interpretation of the oaths of loyalty in the context of Josephinism, nation building, and communism and their transformations in the context of the shifting relationships of national, state, and transnational loyalties. Thus, it will provide much needed tools for a longue durée and comparative analysis of state-church relations in Central Eastern Europe, which is a key problem in the region. Furthermore, it will identify patterns of continuity and discontinuity among the church policies of different regimes. Thus, the project will provide valid outcomes to enrich our understanding of the evolution of the present typologies of church-state relations in Europe. Finally, the project examines the complex relationship between national and Catholic identities (a relationship that shifted over time) from the perspective of changes to the oaths of loyalty to the state (both as text and as practice). By offering a synchronic and diachronic examination of the attitudes (essentially, their preferences with regards to their own loyalties) of the middle-level historical agents who were obliged to take the oaths towards the various forms of oath, the project will capture the common and distinctive features of the role of Catholicism in nation building and, in connection with this, the shifting functions of the Catholic hierarchy among the peoples of the Habsburg Monarchy.
In order to answer these questions SOVEREIGNTY uses the oath of loyalty to the state as an analytical tool to examine, from a new approach, the connections between the process of secularization and nation building and the steps taken to enforce the modern state’s claim to sovereignty. Indeed, as a ritual which fell at the intersection of religion and politics (and on the border separating a transnational institution and the modern state), the oath of loyalty to the state required of the bishops, who were considered local agents of the transnational Catholic Church, offers an ideal laboratory for the study of the efficiency of state measures aimed at securing sovereignty in Central Eastern Europe.
The project thus aims to gain insight into the reasons behind the emergence and evolution of oaths of loyalty in the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states between 1780 and 1990. It also seeks to understand how and why this practice became so prevalent until the fall of communist regimes, and to identify its broader significance in the context of church-state relations in Central Eastern Europe and in the modern understanding of state sovereignty.
In order to further an understanding of the functions of the oaths of loyalty and the motivations of the middle-level historical agents involved, the project offers a comprehensive and contextual interpretation of the oaths of loyalty in the context of Josephinism, nation building, and communism and their transformations in the context of the shifting relationships of national, state, and transnational loyalties. Thus, it will provide much needed tools for a longue durée and comparative analysis of state-church relations in Central Eastern Europe, which is a key problem in the region. Furthermore, it will identify patterns of continuity and discontinuity among the church policies of different regimes. Thus, the project will provide valid outcomes to enrich our understanding of the evolution of the present typologies of church-state relations in Europe. Finally, the project examines the complex relationship between national and Catholic identities (a relationship that shifted over time) from the perspective of changes to the oaths of loyalty to the state (both as text and as practice). By offering a synchronic and diachronic examination of the attitudes (essentially, their preferences with regards to their own loyalties) of the middle-level historical agents who were obliged to take the oaths towards the various forms of oath, the project will capture the common and distinctive features of the role of Catholicism in nation building and, in connection with this, the shifting functions of the Catholic hierarchy among the peoples of the Habsburg Monarchy.
Over the past two years, the project has undergone significant developments in a number of areas. Some of these tasks were of a preparatory nature, while others were related to research, writing, and planning activities with the potential for future impact and output. The initial phase of the project involved the formation of an international research team comprising seven scholars from five different countries (excluding the Principal Investigator), selected through an open competition. Moreover, from the outset, regular online and in-person meetings have been held, and continue to be held, by project members to discuss their work on their subprojects and methodological approaches.
In the initial stages of the research, the team engaged in a comparative analysis of the existing state of the art and also compiled a working bibliography, which is updated regularly and published on the project website. Subsequently, field trips were conducted, and researchers engaged in research stays in various locations, including Budapest, Esztergom, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, Krakow, Gniezno, Bucharest, Iași, Ljubljana, Maribor, Zagreb, Belgrade, Rome/Vatican, London and Washington. These endeavours have yielded a substantial corpus of original research material, which has facilitated structured deliberations on the interpretation of primary sources in both internal and open workshops. In this second phase, the initial findings were also presented to the wider academic community at various conferences.
The principal outcomes at the time of reporting are as follows: satisfactory advancement of individual subprojects in regard to the preparation of presentations and manuscripts; and the organisation of two principal events (a workshop and a conference) from which presentations will be processed for future publication.
In the initial stages of the research, the team engaged in a comparative analysis of the existing state of the art and also compiled a working bibliography, which is updated regularly and published on the project website. Subsequently, field trips were conducted, and researchers engaged in research stays in various locations, including Budapest, Esztergom, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, Krakow, Gniezno, Bucharest, Iași, Ljubljana, Maribor, Zagreb, Belgrade, Rome/Vatican, London and Washington. These endeavours have yielded a substantial corpus of original research material, which has facilitated structured deliberations on the interpretation of primary sources in both internal and open workshops. In this second phase, the initial findings were also presented to the wider academic community at various conferences.
The principal outcomes at the time of reporting are as follows: satisfactory advancement of individual subprojects in regard to the preparation of presentations and manuscripts; and the organisation of two principal events (a workshop and a conference) from which presentations will be processed for future publication.
ERC project SOVEREIGNTY does not aim simply to provide a legal-historical account of the oaths of loyalty requested by state authorities from the Catholic hierarchy. Rather, it will demonstrate the necessity of accurate contextual research and interpretive work in order to understand the relationship between the challenges of modern state sovereignty and church-state relations in terms of the history of the oath as practice and institution. Providing analytical tools in this context means identifying common phenomena which can serve to bring out similarities and differences between the historical development spanning the changes of regime in the Central Eastern European countries, beyond schematic frameworks. The interdisciplinary and transnational approach of the project has the potential to contribute to larger discussions and debates, most notably on transition and transformation, nationalism and religion, church and state relations, multiple identities of middle level historical agents, and the challenges posed by transnational structures to state sovereignty.
In particular the reconstruction of the overlaps and divergences in the historical evolution of church-state relations in Central Eastern Europe will further a more nuanced understanding of the present typologies of Church-state relations in Europe and the differences in the prevailing patterns in Central Eastern Europe and in those of Western Europe. The fact that, despite increasing secularization, the state in Central Eastern Europe sought to use the Church hierarchy as a possible means of legitimizing its claim to power played a decisive role in the historical development of the models which emerged (often considered hybrid). Therefore, the hybrid models in the region today date back to church-state models that combined, to a certain extent, the secularization model of the French Revolution and the patterns of Josephine church policy.
In particular the reconstruction of the overlaps and divergences in the historical evolution of church-state relations in Central Eastern Europe will further a more nuanced understanding of the present typologies of Church-state relations in Europe and the differences in the prevailing patterns in Central Eastern Europe and in those of Western Europe. The fact that, despite increasing secularization, the state in Central Eastern Europe sought to use the Church hierarchy as a possible means of legitimizing its claim to power played a decisive role in the historical development of the models which emerged (often considered hybrid). Therefore, the hybrid models in the region today date back to church-state models that combined, to a certain extent, the secularization model of the French Revolution and the patterns of Josephine church policy.