Honor Your Fathers. Reform Movements, Catechisms, and the 'Civilising Process' in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany

Samenvatting

Examines patterns of interaction between religious reformers and political authorities that emerged in tandem with the decline of ecclesiastical power in late medieval and early modern Germany. Convinced of the crumbling of the social fabric, reformers of successive generations and various confessions worked to shore up the foundations of society by using tools of education and indoctrination to teach discipline, civility, and deference toward the paternal authority of secular rulers. The study of such tools, primarily catechisms, sheds new light on the role of the Church in what Norbert Elias has called the "civilizing process.". Adapted from the source document.