Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Confessionalism
(1,131 words)

1. Definition and history

The term confessionalism is commonly treated as roughly synonymous with confessionalization (“Age of Confessionalism” for the Confessional Age or the Era of Confessionalization), usually with negative connotations; it serves to denote modes of behavior and attitudes that champion confessional positions, claiming their contemporary validity to a degree felt to be improper, anachronistic, or ecumenically unacceptable. The German term Konfessionalismus wa…

Cite this page
Kaufmann, Thomas, “Confessionalism”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022495>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



▲   Back to top   ▲