History of the Church Service in the Protestant Reformed Churches of German-Speaking Switzerland in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Responible

Alfred Ehrensperger

Goal

The presentation of a history of church services in the Swiss Confederation, the majority of which adopted the Reformation in the 16th century, has so far been a desideratum of liturgical research. The planned project aims to close this gap. A series of books is planned in which the individual volumes will each present a specific center of the Reformation from the point of view of its preconditions, its development and the corresponding source documents. This is to take place with the inclusion of Reformation and re-catholicizing literature (sources and secondary literature) on worship in the 16th and 17th centuries. Restriction to the German-speaking places.

Key aspects

1. General description of the various phases of the development of worship and the people and events involved.
2. Prerequisites and information on the worship situation before the beginning of the actual Reformation movement.
3. Presentation of writings and source material on liturgy and worship practice in the 16th and 17th centuries (writings relating to liturgical processes, agendas, catechisms for worship practice, singing, etc.).
4. Reception of reformed forms of worship by the respective authorities, the clergy and the people, also under the socio-political conditions of the time and with regard to Catholic reactions.
5. First phase of the history of the impact of Reformation liturgical reforms up to around 1700.

Project setup