A fogarasi református eklézsia egyházjogi státusa a 17. században
Ecclesiastical-juridical Status of the Reformed Church in Făgăraş in the 17th Century

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the specifi c ecclesiastical-juridical status of the Reformed Church in Făgăraş. We came to the conclusions, that the three distinctive characteristics of this church, such as the episcopal visitation, the early establishment of the consistory and the supervision of the Orthodox and Lutheran churches of the district can be attributed to several causes. Firstly, it was the juridical status (liber baronatus) of Făgăraş district due to which the hierarchy of Orthodox and Lutheran churches could not exercise their usual jurisdiction, their attributes being partly taken over by the consistory. Secondly, it was the geographical location due to which the church could not be included into a deanery, therefore it has been placed under episcopal and not decanal visitation, and some functions of the partial synod (synodus partialis), such as judging matrimonial cases, were taken over by the divorce court composed by priests and members of the consistory. Thirdly, it was the ethnic and religious heterogeneity, especially the existence of a signifi cant Saxon Lutheran community, due to which the borough’s council could not coincide with the parish’s council.

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