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Fictions and Ideals of Ecclesial Unity in Enlightenment Germany Ulrich Lehner Marquette University, Ulrich.Lehner@Marquette.Edu Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Theology Faculty Research and Publications Theology, Department of 1-1-2012 The Ghosts of Westphalia: Fictions and Ideals of Ecclesial Unity in Enlightenment Germany Ulrich Lehner Marquette University, [email protected] Published version. "Ghosts of Westphalia: Fictions and Ideals of Ecclesial Unity in Enlightenment Germany," in Man of the Church: Honoring the Theology, Life, and Witness of Ralph Del Colle. Ed. Michel René Barnes. Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock Publishers: Pickwick Publications, 2012: 283-302. Publisher Link. © 2012 Wipf and Stock Publishers. Used with permission. 20 Ghosts of Westphalia: Fictions and Ideals of Ecclesial Unity in Enlightenment Germany• ULRICH L. LEHNER M u eH OF RALPH DEL Colle's work has been devoted to the study of the beliefs and practices that Christian churches share, and it is therefore fitting to reflect on sorne ecumenical projects of the past and the histori­ cal context in which they developed For the purpose of this paper, the period after the Thirty Years War and the Peace ofWestphalia (referred to as Westphalia) is of particular interest because the Holy Roman Empire was a hotbed of ecumenical disputes. I willlook first at a few legal instru­ ments ofWestphalia for obtaining religious peace and emphasize the fact that this "constitution" of the empire entailed the explicit command for a reunification of the churches. These instruments, such as parity and nonsectarian jurisprudence, prepared the way for an irenic approach to theological differences with an eye toward a reunion of faiths. At the same time, however, they also impeded any potenti al reunion because of their political consequences. In the eighteenth century, under the influ­ ence of the academy movement, the time seemed to have come for a new way of approaching a reunion. While the Neuwied Academy conceived such an attempt in a universalist manner that disregarded theological truth daims, the Fulda Academy focused on improving mutual theologi­ cal understanding as the way to overcome differences. 1. First presented at the Notre Dame Institute of Advanced Study, Fall 2010. A Man of the Church THE GHOSTS OF WESTPHALIA: FICTIONS OF RELIGIOUS UNITY The Peace of Westphalia of 1648, consisting of the peace treaties of Os­ nabrück and Munster, not only ended the Thirty Years War but also brought about an armistice between Protestants and Catholics concern­ ing the nature of the true Catholic Church. In order to reinstate order and unity in the realm, the opposing religious parties agreed to regard their confessional differences as unsettled doctrinal conflicts that would no longer fragment the political balance of the empire. What the Empire had acbieved in the treaties was therefore nota tri-confessional nation but a legal, constitutional foundation for a reunion of the churches. Any other conclusion would have meant sacrificing the religious truth claim ofone of the parties. It was only because the Peace ofWestphalia was an instrument for a reunion of the Churches that the severe restrictions on the power of the pope and bishops and the suspension of canon law (e.g., about waging holy war against heretics) were acceptable to Catholic princes.2 1his theo­ logical view of the treaty only disappeared in the eighteenth century, when Protestant scholars of jurisprudence began to see the emergency laws,3 which gave Protestant sovereigns rights over the churches, as settled and perpetually established positive law. Catholics, however, continued to in­ terpret the religious peace as an exterior armistice, which only suspended canon law until all Protestants were once more in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.4 Only at the end of the eighteenth century did Catholic jurists seem to have given up this notion, especially under the influence of Christian Wolff (1679-1754) and the church reforms of 2. Martin Heckel, "Die Wiedervereinigung der Konfessionen als Ziel und Auftrag der Reichsverfassung im Heiligen Romischen Reich Deutscher Nation;· in Hans Otte and Richard Schenk. eds .• Die Reunionsgesprache im Niedersachsen des 17. Jahrhun­ derts: Rojas y Spinola-Molan-Leibniz (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, 1999) 15-38, at 30; Mathias Fritsch, Religiose Toleranz im Zeita/ter der Aufkliirung: NaJur­ rechtliche Begründung-konjessionelle Differenzen (Hamburg: Meiner, 2004) 5· 3· See the excellent book by Thomas Hahn, Staat und IGrche im deutschen Natur­ recht (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012). 4· Heckel, "Die Wiedervereinigung; 33-34; Fritsch, Religi6se Toleranz, s-6. On the duty of holy war against heretics, see Bernd Mathias Kremer, Der Westfiilische Friede in der Deutung der Aujklarung: Zur Entwicklung des Verfassungsverstiindnisses im Hl. Rom. Reich Deutscher Nation vom konfessionellen Zeitalter bis ins spate 18. ]ah­ rhundert (Tübingen: 1989) 40-41; Konrad Repgen, "Der papstliche Protest gegen den Westfiilischen Frieden und die FriedenspoUtik Urbans Vlll," Historisches ]ahrbuch 75 (1956): 94-122; Michael F. Feldkamp, "Das Breve 'Zelo domus Dei' vom 26. November 1648-Ed.ition," Archivum Hi.storiae Pontificiae 31 (1993): 293- 353. Ulrich L. Lehner Ghosts of Westphalia Emperor Joseph II ( 1780-1790). 5 The reason for the existen ce of the state was now seen solely in the welfare of the people without any reference to religion. This new principie also served as legitimization fo r Catholic princes to absorb more powers over ecclesial property.6 The more sover­ eigns controlled church possessions and policy (jus circa sacra). however, the less likely it became that they would reduce sueh precious influence for the sake of Christian unity. Thus, a crucial part ofWestphalia, the demand for a reunion of faiths, had become a fiction nobody paid much attention any more. Another result of the peace treaties that initially appeared to settle religious dispute was that of religious parity. 7 The best example for the parity of religious groups was the Imperial Diet, the Reichstag. where ma­ jority votes on religious topics were suspended. Instead, the two confes­ sional bodies of the Imperial Diet, Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists in the Corpus Evangelicorum) and Catholics (Corpus Catholicorum) were expected to vote on religious issues separately (itio in partes) so that one body could not impose their majority vote upon the other.8 These bod- 5. Kremer, Der Westfiilische Fríede, 2.9. 6. Fritsch, Religi6se Toleranz, 31-53. 7· Kremer, Der Westfiilische Friede, 119-152.; Fritsch, Religi6se Toleranz, 7-12.; Winfried Schulze, "Piuralisierung als Bedrohung: Toleranz als Lósung," in Heinz Duchhardt, ed., Der Westfiilische Friede. Diplomatie-politische Zlisur-kulturelles Umfeld-Rezeptionsgeschichte (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998) 115-140. On parity in the Empire in general, however, with alrnost no material on tbe confessional corpora, see Lothar Weber, Die Paritiit der Konfessionen in der Reichsverfa55ung von den Anfongen der Reformation bis zum Untergang des a/ten Reiches 1806 (Bonn: J. Fuchs, 1961). 8. Kremer, Der Westfiilische Friede, 177; Fritsch, Religiose Toleranz, 8; Martín Heckel, "Itio in partes: Zur Religionsverfassung des Heiligen Romischen Reiches Deutscher Nation," in idem, Gesammelte Schriften, vol 2 (Túbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989) 636-737; idem, "Zu den Anfangen der Religionsfreiheit im konfessionetlen Zeitalter," in Mario Ascheri, ed, lns Wa55er geworfen und Ouane durchquert: Fest­ schrift für Knut Wolfgang Norr (Cologne et al.: Bohlau, 2003} 349- 401 . On majority decisions of the Imperial Diet, see Winfried Schulze, "Majority Decision in the lmpe­ riaJ Diets of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries," Journa/ ofModern History 58. Supplement ( 1986): S46-S63. For the development of the itio In partes, see Klaus Schlaich, "Maioritas-protestatio-itio in partes-Corpus Evangelicorum: Das Verfahren im Reichstag des Hl. Romischen Reichs Deutscher Nation nach der Reformation; in idem, Gesammelte Aufsiitze: Kirche und Staat von der Reformation bis zum Grundg­ esetz, Ius Ecclesiasticum 57 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997) 68-134. Indispensable for the legal background of the two corpora is still Fritz Woltf, Corpus Evangelicorum und Corpus Catholicorum a uf dem Westfolischm Friedenskongress: Die Einfügung der konfessioneUen Stiidteverbindungen in die Reichsverfassung (Münster: Aschendortf, 1966): While the concepts Corpus Catholicorum and Corpus Evangelicorum are not entaüed in the Peace Treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, they are contained in the A Man of the Church ies, however, were not officially and constitutionally recognized as the corporate voices of Protestantism and Catholicism, but were somewhat semi-official. While centuries later the itio in partes has been recognized as a means of keeping religious peace, contemporaries disliked it because it easily be carne an impediment to the regular activities of the Imperial Diet and was therefore only invoked in extreme cases (only ten times between 1672 and 1806).9 The Peace of Westphalia also guaranteed for the fust time that Re­ formed Churches would have equal rights in the Empire's ecclesialland­ scape. Consequently, institutions that were sworn to religious parity had to provide the Reformed Church with an equal number of offices, just like the Lutherans and Catholics. An interesting application of this newly conceived parity was the Imperial Camera! Court (Reichskammergericht), the highest court of the Empire ( to gether with the Imperial Aulic Council in Vienna), where Reformed judges had sat on the bench since 1654.10
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