Finding Order in Diversity

"This exemplary book analyzes religious relations among several confessions in key regions of the empire, including Hungary, in the half century before 1848, showing repeatedly how and why the governing conservatives in this period fought hard to maintain the radical principles of Josef II's religious reforms. Scott Berg's wide-ranging study reverses our traditional assumptions about Catholic influence in the half century before 1848, demonstrating that the very idea of an alliance between throne and altar was little more than a convenient myth." —Pieter M. Judson, European University Institute

"Scott Berg offers readers a deeply researched and engagingly written narrative about the long wake of Joseph II's toleration edicts in Habsburg Central Europe. More than this, he shows that Joseph's reforms were actually put into place and worked out after Joseph's death, during an era of supposed reaction and retrenchment. Indeed, in this book, Berg is able to invert our assumptions and offer new ways of understanding the networks of religious difference, tolerance, and—importantly—intolerance in Imperial Austria. This work will stand as a great reminder of the Habsburg Empire's continuing evolution, and its important legal and cultural legacies in the heart of Europe." —John Deak, Associate Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

"In sum, this deeply researched study will be indispensable for those wishing to learn more about the Habsburgs' surprisingly progressive politics toward confessional diversity during the first half of the nineteenth century." —Journal of Austrian Studies

"Finding Order in Diversity simultaneously reverses assumptions about an era in Habsburg history and opens up rich questions for future inquiry." —Journal of Church and State