Dissertation
Roman-Catholic reactions to Protestant 'moderns' in the Netherlands, 1840-1870
Ineke Smit defended her thesis on 17 September 2019
- Author
- Dr. Ineke Smit
- Date
- 17 September 2019
- Links
- Leiden Repository
A widespread debate in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century was that on the new Protestant theology which arose around 1840, called 'modern', 'modernist' or 'liberal'. In this discussion, involving many different parties, brochures (pamphlets) formed an important polemic tool.The focus in the dissertation is on two of those parties: the modern Protestants and the Roman Catholics, and on the external aspects of the discussions between them. What images did modern Protestants have of the Roman Catholics? And vice versa? What specific arguments were used? Can qualitative brochure research throw new light on traditional assumptions? These questions are investigated on the basis of a selection of some 540 contemporary titles from the brochure collection of the Leiden University Library that reflect this 'paper war'. This selection has the form of a reasoned catalogue, the Leidse Lijst, available online as part of the dissertation but also as a separate booklet.The main conclusion is that the brochures can be held largely responsible for the rapid spread of Protestant modernism between 1840 and 1870.
Supervisor: prof. dr. E.G.E. van der Wall, supervisor: dr. J.W. Buisman