The Results of the Edict of Toleration in the Southern Austrian Province of Carinthia During the Reign of Joseph II
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1990 The Results of the Edict of Toleration in the Southern Austrian Province of Carinthia During the Reign of Joseph II. Barry Royce Barlow Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Barlow, Barry Royce, "The Results of the Edict of Toleration in the Southern Austrian Province of Carinthia During the Reign of Joseph II." (1990). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4895. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4895 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9104112 The results of the Edict of Toleration in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia during the reign of Joseph II Barlow, Barry Royce, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1990 Copyright ©1991 by Barlow, Barry Royce. All rights reserved. 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 The Results of the Edict of Toleration in the Southern Austrian Province of Carinthia During the Reign of Joseph II A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Barry Royce Barlow B.S., Louisiana State University, 1972 .Div., Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1980 May 1990 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is deeply indebted and exceedingly grateful to a number of individuals and institutions that made the writing of this project possible. It has been an enriching experience to work under the direction of my Doktorvater. Professor Karl A. Roider, Jr., who by virtue of his ongoing research, writing, and teaching, has been an outstanding example and has provided valuable guidance and encouragement. I also appreciate the criticisms of Professors Gary Crump, Edward Muir, Thomas Owen, Thomas DiNapoli, and Kevin Cope, who have read all or part of this manuscript. In addition, I owe a special word of thanks to Mrs. Peggy Seale, who introduced me to the wonderful world of WordPerfect. I have received generous financial assistance for travel and research expenses from the Fulbright-Hays Commission, the Austrian government, and the History Department of Louisiana State University. During my stay in Austria, the archivists at the Allgemeines Verwaltung3archiv and the Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat A. B. in Vienna and the Kaerntner Landesarchiv and Archiv der Dioezese Gurk in Klagenfurt were ii particularly helpful. I am also grateful to retired Bishop Oskar Sakrausky, who has dedicated his life to serving God in the Lutheran church and to writing its history in the Austrian provinces. His insights and suggestions were of major importance. Equally significant to the completion of this work has been the generous hospitality of and rich fellowship with Friedrich and Gertrude Schauer in Vienna and the Persson family (Peter, Celeste, Birgitte, and Nikolas) in Klagenfurt. I especially appreciate the support of my parents, Roy and Ruth Barlow of Ponchatoula, through the years that I have been in the Ph.D. program. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................... ii ABSTRACT ........................................... v INTRODUCTION ....................................... vii Chapter I. PROTESTANTISM IN THE HABSBURG MONARCHY FROM THE REFORMATION UNTIL THE EDICT OF TOLERATION .................................. 1 II. THE EDICT OF TOLERATION ..................... 40 III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF CARINTHIA ................................... 72 IV. CATHOLIC REACTION TO THE EDICT .............. 104 V. CONVERSIONS TO LUTHERANISM AND PROBLEMS IN THE EARLY YEARS .......................... 137 VI. PROTESTANT PASTORS MOVE INTO CARINTHIA ...... 166 VII. THE FIRST PRAYER HOUSES AND SCHOOLS ......... 202 VIII. ACATHOLIC LITERATURE ........................ 233 IX. TRANSMIGRANTS, BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS, AND FUNERALS .................................... 267 X. ANNUAL REPORTS FROM CARINTHIA— 1786 AND 1790 .................................... 299 XI. PROTESTANTS IN THE HABSBURG LANDS IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES CONCLUSION .................................. 331 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................... 352 VITA APPROVAL SHEETS iv ABSTRACT Historians have debated whether the radical reforms of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II (1780-1790) were motivated by the spirit of Enlightenment or simply by Realpolitik. The purpose of this work is to go beyond the legal and philosophical discussion surrounding this debate; to examine the effects of one piece of legislation, the Edict of Toleration, as the government interpreted and applied it in the southern province of Carinthia; and in so doing, to provide a clearer picture of the person of the Emperor and his bureaucracy. While today's conception of toleration includes an equal recognition and respect for all rights, opinions, and practices, religious toleration as set forth by the Emperor was enacted by authorities who believed that they belonged to the only true religion and had no hesitation about placing limits on it. Key stipulations in the general edict, published in October 1781, permitted Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Greek Orthodox to call pastors and teachers and to build churches and schools when they had one hundred families or five hundred persons in a congregation v and to be considered for advancement in civil and academic posts based on merit rather than confession. Even though Protestants were 3till considered second- class citizens under the toleration legislation, their legal status was vastly improved over earlier conditions. While Catholic religious leaders strongly opposed the toleration, government officials in Carinthia often treated non- Catholics fairly and even compassionately. However, the greatest threat to the Protestants establishing their churches came from among their own people. Educated Protestant pastors, who emigrated from schools in Germany and Hungary, encountered illiteracy, immorality, and poverty on a large scale among people who were often unwilling to change long-held traditions and who quarreled over meager resources. Because the non-Catholics in Carinthia never accounted for more than five percent of the population of the province, they were neither a threat to the Catholics nor much of a support to the Emperor. Without the regular attention of Joseph II and his bureaucrats, the Protestant church there, in all likelihood, would not have survived. INTRODUCTION Historians studying the Habsburg Monarchy at the end of the eighteenth century have debated at length whether Emperor Joseph II (1780-1790) was motivated to introduce his radical reforms by the spirit of Enlightenment prevalent in the Europe of his day or simply by the necessities of Realpolitik- Upon the advice of some of her leading statesmen, Joseph's mother and predecessor on the Habsburg throne, Maria Theresa, had undertaken some major changes in governmental administration in order to ensure the survival of the monarchy. Joseph greatly expanded upon these measures issuing literally thousands of new laws (over six hundred alone regulating the Catholic Church) in what amounted to a considerable invasion into the lives of his subjects. These measures, which dramatically altered the traditional relation of the Habsburg Monarchy to the Catholic Church, included the Edict of Toleration. The general version of the edict issued in October 1781 was the most significant advance in the status of non-Catholics in the Habsburg lands since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Written