Viera vo verejnom priestore. Štátna regulácia verejného praktizovania viery pravoslávneho obyvateľstva v habsburskej monarchii v 18. Storočí (s presahom do 19. storočia)

Delić, Nino and Točanac Radović, Isidora (2024) Viera vo verejnom priestore. Štátna regulácia verejného praktizovania viery pravoslávneho obyvateľstva v habsburskej monarchii v 18. Storočí (s presahom do 19. storočia). In: Historické štúdie 58; Súkromný a verejný priestor v mestách v ranom novoveku. Historický ústav Slovenskej akadémie vied; Veda, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, Bratislava, pp. 73-88. ISBN 978-80-224-2080-8; ISSN 0440-9515

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Abstract

The Orthodox population in the Habsburg monarchy were provided with privileges by Emperor Leopold I in the late 17th century. They gave them a high level of religious freedom, including the right to practice their faith in public. One of the most important rights allowed the Orthodox Church to construct temples without any specific limitations. Still, as non-Catholics, the Orthodox were not considered to be equal to the "state religion" but rather were tolerated. Due to the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy, religious statesman and bureaucrats, their right to practice their religion in public and build temples became more and more restricted through the 18th century. New regulations prohibited the Orthodox population to build temples in areas of mixed religion without imperial permission, which was not easy to obtain. The conditions that would lead to granting permission to build a temple were rather demanding and further restrictions from the local (Royal Hungarian) legislative and administrative bodies also hindered construction. Orthodox temples were not allowed to have towers or bells or a main entrance from a street or square. Some kind of barrier had to be installed between a street or square – the public space and the temple entrance or its walls, for example: a fence, stone wall or door etc. This was required so that the Catholic population would not be disturbed by the appearance of "non-believers" during the liturgy or some other religious procession. During Catholic festivals the Orthodox population was obliged to remain calm, stop their work, close their shops and sometimes even participate in rituals. On the other hand, the Catholic population had no such obligation during Orthodox holidays, not even if they were only a small minority in the area. As a consequence, Orthodox religious practice was rarely seen in public and this section of the population was basically isolated from the Catholics who were freely able to influence public life in an area through the public practise of their customs. General permission to build towers, use bells and construct temples with direct access to a street or square was granted in 1787 and 1789 and the situation changed quite quickly

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