Stări, domeniu seniorial si confesionalizare în Transilvania. Reflectii asupra disciplinării sociale (1550-1650)
Estates, Lords’ Manors, and Confessionalization in Transylvania. Reflections on the Social Disciplinary Measures (1550–1650)

Summary/Abstract: Estates, Lords’ Manors, and Confessionalization in Transylvania. Reflections on the Social Disciplinary Measures (1550–1650) The paper discusses the manner in which the political situation of Transylvania, its internal and external judicial status, the agents of political authority, as well as the structure of landed ownership influenced the confessionalization process in the province. Each of these factors is subjected to a detailed analysis, in a distinct chapter, followed by an investigation of the interactions between the factors in question, meant to highlight the significance of each within the religious life of the Principality. The conclusions of the article indicate that the policies of the princes and the pressure exerted by landowners did not represent a crucial factor in the confessionalization process, contrary to the opinions in this respect found in the specialized literature. Extremely important were the causes generated by the specific structures and politicies associated with the Transylvanian Estates. Nevertheless, the coincidence between a given territory and a judicially-defined group, or indeed an estate, remained more of an exception and had only isolated consequences. The political and denominational status of Transylvania, based on a system of privileged Estates and officially accepted religions, would remain unchanged until the year 1848, thus presenting us with an original model of development in the context of East-Central Europe.

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