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Reformation

From the Hussite Reformation at the beginning of the 15th century, there were two recognised denominations in the Kingdom: the Catholic minority and the Utraquist (Calixtin) majority. During the 16th century, the Utraquist Church came under Lutheran Protestant influence.
Recatholicisation after the Battle of the White Mountain (1620) was connected with the victorious House of Habsburg. Protestantism was forbidden. The unification of the Czech lands with the Austrian and other hereditary Habsburg lands followed. The sovereign of this union established the iura maiestica circa sacra. Through this, the Catholic Church lost an essential part of its autonomy.
Josef II published his Letter of Tolerance for his hereditary lands in 1781. 2% of the inhabitants of the Czech lands professed Protestantism: either the Helvetic Confession (the majority) or the Augsburg Confession.

D 12 October 2012    AZáboj Horák

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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