Page 211 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik XVII (2021), številka 34, ISSN 2590-9754
P. 211
povzetki, SYNOPSES, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
reformacije skoraj eno desetletje preživetje omogočala Anina čezkonfesionalna družin-
ska in medsosedska solidarnost.
Ključne besede: medkonfesionalno sobivanje, reformacija, protireformacija, Ana
Totting, Podravje
Confessional Coexistence in Early Modern Podravje:
The Case of Anna Totting’s Protestant School for Girls
during the Counter-Reformation
Based on recent research on confessional coexistence in early modern Europe,
this paper argues that familial, neighbourly, class, and economic relations also enabled
peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Protestants during the sixteenth and seven-
teenth century in the Lower Styrian Podravje region. The article focuses on the prince-
ly towns of Ptuj and Maribor, demonstrating that despite the confessional rift and state
persecution, the burghers in both towns generally maintained peaceful relations with
their “heretic” neighbours well into the first half of the seventeenth century. It seems that
the Maribor parish church was a simultaneum during much of the second half of the
sixteenth century, when the town’s elite was predominantly Protestant. In neighbour-
ing Ptuj, burghers were more equally divided between the confessions, which seems to
have been reflected in the city council as well, with the division of seats between Catho-
lics and Protestants according to “parity”. By the end of the sixteenth century, confes-
sional coexistence in both towns was threatened by the Princely Counter-Reformation,
although it was only under the greatest pressure of the state’s confessionalization efforts
that the local authorities joined in the persecution and proselytization of their Protes-
tant neighbours. However, as the land sovereign was primarily engaged in the political
subordination of the Inner-Austrian Protestant opposition, his recatholization policies
soon lost momentum, especially at the local level. Struggling to maintain their autono-
my and authority, which were jeopardized by princely policies, magistrates tried to keep
their “sectarian” neighbours “secret” to prevent further interventions. The policy in both
towns also stemmed from tolerance, or at least indifference, of most Catholics towards
their Protestant neighbours, which was rooted in various social relations bridging the
confessional gap among the burghers, especially their elite. This impeded the fruition
of counter-reformatory ordinances until the early 1630s, but it could not succeed in the
long run. A prominent example of this nonetheless long-lived “practical tolerance” was
Anna Totting’s Protestant school for girls in the early seventeenth-century Ptuj. Despite
the pressure of the Princely Counter-Reformation, Anna’s interconfessional familial and
neighbourly solidarity enabled the school’s survival for almost a decade.
Keywords: confessional coexistence, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Anna Tot-
ting, Podravje
419
reformacije skoraj eno desetletje preživetje omogočala Anina čezkonfesionalna družin-
ska in medsosedska solidarnost.
Ključne besede: medkonfesionalno sobivanje, reformacija, protireformacija, Ana
Totting, Podravje
Confessional Coexistence in Early Modern Podravje:
The Case of Anna Totting’s Protestant School for Girls
during the Counter-Reformation
Based on recent research on confessional coexistence in early modern Europe,
this paper argues that familial, neighbourly, class, and economic relations also enabled
peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Protestants during the sixteenth and seven-
teenth century in the Lower Styrian Podravje region. The article focuses on the prince-
ly towns of Ptuj and Maribor, demonstrating that despite the confessional rift and state
persecution, the burghers in both towns generally maintained peaceful relations with
their “heretic” neighbours well into the first half of the seventeenth century. It seems that
the Maribor parish church was a simultaneum during much of the second half of the
sixteenth century, when the town’s elite was predominantly Protestant. In neighbour-
ing Ptuj, burghers were more equally divided between the confessions, which seems to
have been reflected in the city council as well, with the division of seats between Catho-
lics and Protestants according to “parity”. By the end of the sixteenth century, confes-
sional coexistence in both towns was threatened by the Princely Counter-Reformation,
although it was only under the greatest pressure of the state’s confessionalization efforts
that the local authorities joined in the persecution and proselytization of their Protes-
tant neighbours. However, as the land sovereign was primarily engaged in the political
subordination of the Inner-Austrian Protestant opposition, his recatholization policies
soon lost momentum, especially at the local level. Struggling to maintain their autono-
my and authority, which were jeopardized by princely policies, magistrates tried to keep
their “sectarian” neighbours “secret” to prevent further interventions. The policy in both
towns also stemmed from tolerance, or at least indifference, of most Catholics towards
their Protestant neighbours, which was rooted in various social relations bridging the
confessional gap among the burghers, especially their elite. This impeded the fruition
of counter-reformatory ordinances until the early 1630s, but it could not succeed in the
long run. A prominent example of this nonetheless long-lived “practical tolerance” was
Anna Totting’s Protestant school for girls in the early seventeenth-century Ptuj. Despite
the pressure of the Princely Counter-Reformation, Anna’s interconfessional familial and
neighbourly solidarity enabled the school’s survival for almost a decade.
Keywords: confessional coexistence, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Anna Tot-
ting, Podravje
419
