De la Excludere la Coabitare. Biserici Tradiţionale, Reformă şi Islam în Banat (1500-1700)
From Exclusion to Cohabitation. Traditional Churches, Reformation and Islam in Banat (1500-1700)

Author(s): Adrian Magina
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History, Cultural history, History of Church(es), Local History / Microhistory, Modern Age, Theology and Religion, 16th Century, 17th Century
Published by: Editura Mega Print SRL
Keywords: Banat; ecclesiastical history; Protestant Reformation; early modern period; interconfessionalism;
Summary/Abstract: This historiographical study examines both the regional history of Banat and its ecclesiastical evolution during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Originating from a doctoral thesis on the Protestant Reformation in Banat, the work has been substantially revised and expanded through the consultation of new archival and bibliographic sources made accessible via a research grant. The study emphasizes the coexistence and interaction of Orthodox, Catholic, and Reformed communities in a region shaped by Romanian, Hungarian, German, and Serbian historiographical traditions, each offering divergent interpretations influenced by political and cultural contexts. The analysis highlights the methodological challenges posed by fragmentary sources, linguistic barriers, and the near-total absence of surviving medieval or premodern ecclesiastical monuments. The work reconstructs, as far as possible, the religious dynamics of Banat, including the impact of the Ottoman administration, which acted primarily as a political rather than religious force. By comparing developments in the lowland and mountainous areas—each with distinct ethnic and confessional profiles—the study reveals the uneven spread of Reformation ideas and the differing trajectories of religious communities. Ultimately, the book offers a synthetic interpretation of interconfessional coexistence, conflict, and adaptation, arguing that interconfessionalism was a defining feature of Banat’s early modern identity and a key factor in the region’s subsequent historical evolution.

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