Theorising Return Migration
MAX WEBER PROGRAMME EUI Working Papers MWP 2011/24 MAX WEBER PROGRAMME RURAL COMMUNITIES AND THE REFORMATION: SOCIAL DISCIPLINE AND THE PROCESS OF CONFESSIONALIZATION IN MONTBELIARD, 1524-1660 Elise Dermineur EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE MAX WEBER PROGRAMME Rural Communities and the Reformation: Social Discipline and the Process of Confessionalization in Montbéliard ELISE DERMINEUR EUI Working Paper MWP 2011/24 This text may be downloaded for personal research purposes only. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copy or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the working paper or other series, the year, and the publisher. ISSN 1830-7728 © 2011 Elise Dermineur Printed in Italy European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy www.eui.eu cadmus.eui.eu Abstract In the sixteenth century, the dukes of Württemberg, also sovereigns of Montbéliard, enforced Lutheranism as the new faith in the city and its surrounding dependent villages. The dukes sought to convert the French-speaking peasants there to the new religion but stumbled on ancestral traditions, old rituals, local identity and language, part of the peasants’ mentalities, culture and set of social norms. In order to disseminate the new faith, the authorities relied on pastoral visits and teaching in order to convert the faithful, and also established a consistory to make sure social discipline and new moral norms were effectively respected. This paper explores rural communities confronted by the process of conversion and confessionalization in Montbéliard from 1524 to 1660 and intends to demonstrate that peasants adapted somehow to the new faith but kept their own beliefs, rituals and social norms, refusing therefore an acculturation process.
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