Regional perceptions of religious transformation: The Reformation from the perspective of contemporary monastic chronicling in southern Germany

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Bernward Schmidt
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 566531293

This project focuses on the Reformation as a transformation process in southern Germany and from a southern German perspective. It aims at analyzing the perception and interpretation of the Reformation by Catholic contemporaries. To this end, works of monastic ‘contemporary historiography’ of the 16th century, which were written by educated members of religious orders and have so far received little attention in research on the Reformation, will be consulted and examined in greater detail. The aim of the project is to better understand and comprehend in which categories, with which intentions, with which persuasive strategies and for which readership(s) the historical transformations experienced in their own lifetime were written down, categorized and interpreted by certain contemporary chroniclers, such as Kilian Leib. As current research generally focuses on the Reformation side, the project will make a significant contribution by changing the perspective to the side of potential 'reform losers', by opening up previously unconsidered sources and by consistently locating the project within the history of the region.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants