Spre o reală toleranţă pentru răsăriteni? Problema concivilităţii în oraşele libere din Transilvania
Towards a valid tolerance for Easterners? Issue of concivility in the free towns from Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: Even if it is not totally missing, approach of civil dimension of Josephine policy of tolerance did not record spectacular results in historical researches dealing with the Transylvanian area. A notable, stimulating exception is represented by the work of Angelika Schaser exploring Edict for concivility issued by Emperor Joseph II and its importance for social life of Sibiu town. From another perspective, interesting suggestions are offered by investigations of local ecclesiastical history, mostly those concerning construction of Romanian churches in free imperial towns – urban environments characterized by the most extensive autonomy. Yet, they necessitate new analyses, more thorough on valorization of informations from primary sources. This study begins from the premise referring to existence of a connection between religious tolerance policy and that of concivility of Emperor Joseph II, which followed this way to supply civil side of tolerance, more difficult to impose in Transylvania. Most favored had to be believers of the Eastern Church, who did not enjoy privileges of the members belonging to “accepted” confessions in the Principality. The purpose of this present action is to notice the extent by which these succeeded to use the offered opportunities (by construction of churches and establishment of own confessional communities). It focuses on the case of free towns, which often reflects tension between official tolerance and local realities, which were much less tolerant more than once.

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