confessionalisation
Confessionalisation is a term used in early modern history to describe the process by which religious identity and practice became deeply intertwined with political authority, legal order, and social life. It refers to how Protestant and Catholic confessions were mobilized to structure states, societies, and governance, turning doctrinal differences into frameworks for public life.
Key features of confessionalisation include the establishment of territorial churches aligned with the state, obligatory schooling
Geographically and historically, confessionalisation is most often associated with the Holy Roman Empire and other parts
Scholarly reception of confessionalisation as an analytic framework has evolved. It originated in German historiography, with