A Companion to the Catholic Enlightenment in Europe

Ulrich L. Lehner, Ph.D. (2005) in Theology, is Assistant Professor of Theology at Marquette University, Milwaukee. He has published extensively on Early Modern Religious History, including Kants Vorsehungskonzept (Brill, 2007) and Enlightened Monks (Oxford, 2010).

Michael Printy, Ph.D. (2002) in History is a visiting scholar in history at Wesleyan University. He specializes in eighteenth-century European intellectual and religious history. He is the author of Enlightenment and the Creation of German Catholicism (2009).

Historians of Early Modern Europe and Catholicism, intellectual historians and those interested in the Enlightenment.

"I cannot praise this collection and its bibliographies highly enough."
Trent Pomplun, Loyola University-Baltimore, in Nova et vetera, 2012, pp 882-885

"Den Anspruch auf sorgfältige historische Kontextualisierung löst der Band mit Bravour ein. Es entsteht ein facettenreiches Panorama des 18. Jahrhunderts"
Reinald Becker, München, in Historische Zeitschrift, 2012, pp 194-196

"The editors have succeeded in publishing a volume full of facts, perspectives, and insights along with extensive footnotes and bibliographies that will be helpful for further study of what, overall, can be called the Catholic enlightenment."
Rick Kennedy, Point Loma Nazarene University. In: Church History, May 2012, pp 462-464.

"Es gereicht der renommierten Reihe Companion(s) to Christian Tradition des Verlagshauses Brill zu Ehre, mit dem vorliegenden Band die weltweit führenden Fachleute ihrer Materie versammelt zu haben, um dem Phänomen geistig-theologischen Lebens des 18. Jahrhunderts nachzugehen und dieses in einer verständlichen, umfassenden, wissenschaftlich reflektierten und dabei dennoch stets gut lesbaren Form einem interessierten Publikum darzubieten." Josef Johannes Schmid, Francia-Recensio 2012.

"The essays are in-depth, up to sixty pages long, frequently with extensive footnotes and references, which allow for considerable analysis as well as the presentation of illuminating examples. Both primary and secondary sources are utilised, and methodological questions are not ignored. […] The contributors do not always agree with all the conclusions drawn by their colleagues in the project, but far from detracting from the value of this Companion, this “discordant harmony” adds to the subtlety and depth of the book as a whole."
Paul Shore, Brandon University. In: Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 133-134.

"This volume is a highly valuable mapping of a poorly known movement in religious history that should be of major interest to both historians and theologians."
Peter Steinfels, Fordham University, New York. In: Theological Studies (2012), pp. 222-224.

"This is a distinguished collection of essays, which can claim to “serve as a recovery of a forgotten episode” (p. 166), of a time when the Catholic Church was in many respects a broader church than it was to become in the nineteenth century after it was confronted by revolution."
Derek Beales, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In: The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 97, No. 4 (October 2011), pp. 822-824.

“Co-edited by Ulrich L. Lehner and Michael Printy, A Companion to the Catholic Enlightenment in Europe includes substantial contributions from nine distinguished international scholars. The collection draws on a vast range of primary sources and synthesizes several decades' worth of scholarship in multiple languages.”
Brad S. Gregory, University of Notre Dame. In: The Thomist, Vol. 75 (2011), pp. 461-75.

"Den beiden Hg.n ist es [...] gelungen, einen in zweifacher Hinsicht bemerkenswerten „Begleiter“ ins katholische 18. Jh. vorzulegen: Er bietet viel solide Information und Überblicke für Leser, die handbuchartiges Wissen suchen, dazu reichhaltige Literaturverweise zur weiteren Lektüre. Er spiegelt damit aber auch den Stand und die Vorläufigkeit der Forschung und wird so für alle, die sich forschend mit der Epoche befassen, zu einem ergiebigen Repertorium von Informationen und neuen Fragestellungen."
Bernward Schmidt, RWTH Aachen University. In: Theologische Revue, Jg. 107, Nr. 6 (2011), pp. 483-484.

“[…] le livre propose des synthèses utiles sur un sujet largement méconnu aussi bien par les historiens des Lumières que par ceux du catholicisme” […] “un excellent instrument de travail.”
Yves Krumenacker, Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3. In: Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, Vol. 106, Nos. 3-4 (July-December 2011), pp. 748-751.

"In the Holy Roman Empire especially, severe intellectual competition and even strife informed and influenced the debates about enlightenment philosophy. This clearly makes for a difference in comparison with those countries where Catholicism was the only confession. Michael Printy’s contribution is thus particularly useful and ought to be singled out as an exceptionally insightful piece of work."
Peter Schröder, University College London. In Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 63, No. 3 (July 2012), pp. 631-632.

1. General Introduction: Ulrich L. Lehner
2. France: Jeff Burson
3. Holy Roman Empire: Michael Printy
4. Austria and the Hapsburg Countries: Harm Klueting
5. Italy including Papal States: Mario Rosa
6. Spain: Andrea Smidt-Sittema
7. Portugal: Ana Araujo
8. Ireland: Douglas Palmer
9. Poland: Richard Butterwick
10. Malta: Frans Ciappara