Sources for the Religious History of the Habsburg Military Border

Osteuropäische Geschichte, (Wintersemester 21/22)

Date and time: Fridays, 12:00 – 14:00h (starting on 22nd of October 2021)

Instructor: Mario Šain, M.A.

Course Description:
This course examines the history of religion and confessional entanglements in the Habsburg
Military Border during the early modern period (16th-18th centuries). The class will focus on
the analysis of primary sources related to confessional relations between different religious
groups and the state. Geographically, the course examines the area of Tripex confinium -
intermediate borderlands between Ottoman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and the Republic
of Venice, with a special focus on the Habsburg side of the border. The introduction part of
the class will cover a general overview of confessional politics of the Habsburg state and a
discussion about political, theoretical, methodological and social concepts of confessionalism
in the Borderlands. The practical part of the class will cover the classification and
examination of the primary sources essential for the study of religious relations in the
Borderlands. A central focus will be on state sources regulating confessional relations in the
Borderlands. Moreover, we will deal with the sources of major religious institutions in and out
of the Borderlands, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Sacred
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, and the Greek-Catholic Church.
Therefore, the practical part of the class includes analysis of original manuscripts written in
Latin, German (Gothic alphabet), Italian, and Serbian (Cyrillic alphabet), with a specific focus
on Latin and German texts. 

Form of teaching:
Lectures of the course will be presented in problematizing the main concepts of religion and
practical work with students on sources and original manuscripts.

General and specific competencies:

The course aims to give basic knowledge about the confessional problematics of the
Habsburg Military Border. Furthermore, to enable students to transcribe and transliterate
original manuscripts essential for scholarly research of religion in the Early Modern period.

Targeted group:
Students of history, religion, political and social sciences with an interest in working on
primary sources and manuscripts.
Course prerequisites:
Participants should have basic knowledge of the German and Latin languages (preferably
Italian or Serbian). The advantage is to have basic knowledge in palaeography.

Evaluation:
At the end of the class, students will be subjected to an examination in the form of a short
essay and a transcription of the given text.

Literature and lecture plan:

In preparation.