:Conciliation and Confession: The Struggle for Unity in the Age of Reform, 1415-1648

Abstract

Religious conciliators have always faced resistance and critique as they mediate between groups devoted to ideological agendas that leave little room for maneuver and negotiation. From the conciliar to the the normal challenges that peacemakers perennially face were magnified. The church was divided, and there did not appear to be any obvious solution to the crisis that had begun in the late fourteenth century with the Great Western Schism (1378-1415). This volume investigates the activities of those who worked for the restoration of ecclesial unity, first in the conciliar era, then in the early years of the Protestant reformations, and finally during the confessional age, when the theological and cultural characteristics of competing religious groups began to emerge more clearly. Contributors to this volume argue that the significance of conciliation efforts has been neglected in part because it has been absorbed into discussions of toleration, and in part because of the tendency to project contemporary perspectives on the past. More moderate voices of those working to bridge divides were frequently drowned out by the strident cries of their orthodox critics. Confessional accommodation, widely viewed as a mere pragmatic solution to religious conflict, was often a conscious intellectual commitment to theological rapprochement. Throughout, special attention is paid to the religiously diverse communities of central and eastern Europe, an area that has often been overlooked by scholars who have focused more exclusively on Protestant/ Catholic relations in the western half of the continent.