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Since the 15th century, the term  concordat (from Latin  concordare, “to be of one mind”) has denoted an agreement between the papacy or Catholic episcopate and secular authorities concerning a  res mixta (“common concern”). Since G.W. Leibniz, the same term has been applied retrospecively to the agreements ending the Investiture Controversy of the 11th and 12th centuries.In the medieval concordats, the concerns dealt with were largely limited to the right of appointment to episcopal sees and abbeys together with the associated fees demanded b…

1. Introduction The reciprocal but never symmetrical relationship between Church andState in early modern Europe was the result of a historical development that in some respects remained indebted to the political ethics of the New Testament (Rom 13; Rv 13), while in other respects confronting profound changes in both ecclesiastical and secular political institutions, specifically the emergence of the early modern territorial and nation state. At first, the underlying assumption was that the Europe…