Religion played a major role in everyday life, with the Catholic Church having a major stronghold in Europe with the papacy and the church’s control over governments and monarchies, meaning the coexistence of religions in early modern Europe was very different from how it is now, as countries have adopted a more secular approach. As the Christian faith dominated Europe, life for people who shared the Jewish or Islamic faith was not always easy, as coexistence was rare between the religions, so they depended on toleration for the survival of their faith in Europe, and to hope for tolerance or coexistence. However, tolerance and toleration do not always mean the same, tolerance being more like coexistence, as the eradication of hate; tolerance is coexistence in spite of it, whereas toleration is the willingness to allow something that you do not like or agree with to happen or continue. Due to this, toleration was much more common than tolerance, as coexistence was rare, as in bi-confessional communities it proved difficult, as religion dominated every aspect of life for the vast majority of people. It is clear in early modern Europe that some religions were more tolerant of religious diversity than others, so to examine how tolerant early modern Europe was of religious diversity, understanding the dominant religions is important, which at the time would have been Catholicism, due to the papacy and monarchies in Europe. Therefore, this essay will be assessing to what extent early modern Europe was tolerant of religious diversity, and conclude to say that the continent as a whole was tolerant to a moderate extent.
It could be argued that early modern Europe was more than tolerant of religious diversity, as under Arab Muslim rule, Spanish Catholics and Jews were allowed to practice their faith provided they paid a tax. This leans more toward tolerance than toleration as it consists of a level of coexistence. This continued between the 8th and the 10th centuries when Arab Muslims controlled Spain but ended as the Catholic monarchs Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand began to gain power, the Spanish Inquisition began, and religious toleration ended. Historian Helen Rawlings talks about how the Inquisition was universally synonymous with the intolerance and brutality directed at the crypto-Jewish community of urban Spain, however, this does not account for the treatment of the Islamic community. Spain had remained tolerant of religious diversity for the longest in Europe, as Jews had previously been persecuted and expelled from most other parts of Western Europe. This suggests that before the early modern period, Europe was tolerant and that this came to an end during the early modern period. At this time Catholicism was becoming very powerful in Europe, with the papacy and the rise of Isabella and Ferdinand, which suggests that Europe was becoming intolerant of religious diversity. This can also suggest that it was not necessarily intolerance to religious diversity, but intolerance to Judaism, however as Charles V gave Muslims the ultimatum to convert to Catholicism or go into exile, this is unlikely, making early modern Europe intolerant of religious diversity.
However, parts of Europe did experience lasting religious toleration such as Catholic toleration towards the French Huguenots, as seen in the Edict of Nantes, which was a notion of ‘toleration enforced by the crown’, which lasted up until 1685 when they began to be. The French Huguenots were Calvinists and made up a minority of the French population, which was considered to be Catholic, and so this toleration was towards a branch of Christianity, as both Protestantism and Catholicism were branches of Christianity. This would have made Catholics more tolerant of them, but also means it is less diverse, as it is not technically a different religion, as the same God is worshiped, the main difference is their method of worship. This level of tolerance was not given to the Jews that started to re-enter France in the early 17th century, as in 1625 a new edict was created forbidding Christians from sheltering Jews. However, the decision of King Louis XIV not to expel them shows a level of toleration that continued up until 1683. This shows that for a long period some parts of Europe were very tolerant of religious diversity; however, it was dependent on the religion specifically as well as the monarch, as Henry IV was clearly tolerant of religious diversity within Christianity but not outside of it, which is a different approach to that of his grandson. Historian Ruth Kleinman suggests that this was also influenced by the tides of domestic politics and the relations of France with powers abroad. This also shows that there was a turning point in Europe’s tolerance to religious diversity as toleration seemed to decline for all non-Catholic faiths near the end of the 17th century in France. This means that Europe was tolerant of religious diversity it a large extent, but this started to decline at the end of the 17th century.
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Luther’s change in attitude towards religious diversity and his treatment of the Jewish communities enhances the view that Europe slowly became more intolerant of religious diversity. Historian Betsy Amaru takes the popular view that there was a shift from the positive approach of Luther’s ‘That Christ Was Born a Jew’ in 1523 to the virulent anti-Semitism of his triad of tracts in 1543 in ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’. This shows a shift in the tolerance towards religious diversity from the Christian faith, particularly Protestantism, to intolerance, as Luther urged secular rulers to destroy synagogues and Talmudic schools, burn Jewish books, and raze their houses to the ground. As Luther was a leading figure in the Protestant movement in Germany, this would have influenced much of the anti-Semitism towards Jews and made its way around Europe due to the printing press. Luther once held the view that Jews were ‘blood relatives’ of Christ, so Christians should deal with them in a kind and gentle way, and that they had been concealed from the truth but would eventually convert, but this changed when the Jews did not convert. This shows that Europe was not tolerant of religious diversity and was only tolerant of the thought that religious diversity would decrease, making it seem like Europe was tolerant of religious diversity, when in fact Luther’s change in attitude, and the change in the attitude of Christians as a whole towards the Jews is evidence of this. An example of this is that Christians began to accuse Jews of imaginary religious crimes, showing that Luther’s commands were acted upon by the population, so even if rulers did not act on his words, his followers did, who were based across Europe. This means that Europe was tolerant of religious diversity to an extent, but this ended during the 16th century when the continent started to become more intolerant of religious diversity.
It could be argued that Europe was tolerant of religious diversity as there are many examples of religious toleration throughout Europe during the early modern period. For example, in the Dutch Republic, attendance at the state church was not compulsory. This means that the Dutch Republic was tolerant of its subjects not being accepting Protestantism as their faith. As there was no punishment for this, it could be seen as tolerance, however as Jews and Catholics were not allowed to practice their faith, this makes it toleration, not tolerance, as the Dutch Republic would not allow religious diversity in terms of coexistence. Historians Henk Van Nierop and R. Po-Chia Hsia hold the view that even though religious diversity was welcome in the Dutch Republic, the Reformed were not in favor of this and that they attempted to convert the Jews to Christianity. This suggests that the Dutch Republic was tolerant of diversity within Christianity as Catholics were not sought to convert, but that some aspects of the Dutch Republic gave less toleration towards separate religions. Neirop and Hsia also talk about how tolerance varied from town to town, which means that in some areas, Catholics and Jews would have experienced intolerance from their Protestant counterparts, whereas others would have experienced tolerance and a level of coexistence. However, the historians state that the open toleration of the Jewish community characterized the success of religious toleration, which suggests that even if parts of the Dutch Republic had low levels of tolerance, overall, there was a relatively high level of tolerance and toleration of religious diversity.
Based on the evidence this essay will conclude to say that during the early modern period Europe experienced a moderate level of toleration to religious diversity, however, it declined after Luther’s proclamation against the Jewish communities in Europe. This caused widespread anti-Semitism amongst the common Christians of Europe, which was the majority of the proclamation, meaning intolerance to the diversity that the Jewish community brought to early modern Europe. However, the high level of tolerance, which can be considered as coexistence experienced by many in the Dutch Republic, uplifts the level of religious toleration that early modern Europe received as a whole. During the Arab rule in Spain, Europe experienced a religious amount of religious experience, however, when Catholic rulers rose to power, this decreased, as both Luther and Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain belonged to the Christian faith. This suggests that it was the Christian faith that was intolerant to religious diversity, as Europe was primarily Christian at this time, with little Jewish power, and all major powers being either Catholic or Protestant, such as the Tudor dynasty, the papacy, and Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain and their dynasty. As religion was such a major aspect of life for all, many ordinary people would look to their religious leaders for advice relating to religious tolerance, who seemed to once be tolerant, but then slowly changed to intolerant, such as the change towards the treatment of Jews in France and Germany from a level of tolerance to little toleration and intolerance after Luther’s anti-Semitic propaganda in ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’. This will lead this essay to conclude that early modern Europe was once highly tolerant of religious diversity, but as the period progressed, this declined into a moderate level of toleration towards religious diversity.
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