The Reforms of Emperor Joseph II

During the reign of Joseph II, the Church was reduced and put under state control. From 'Christianity in the Czech Lands' by Jan Royt

The waxing of rationalism in the second half of the eighteenth century had a strong effect on religious thought and observance. The number of religious holidays was progressively reduced, and the spiritual and material power of the Church was limited by the state. In 1773 Pope Clement XIV abolished the Society of Jesus, and its members were subsequently banished from the Czech lands. In the 1780s Joseph II disestablished abbeys that did not do educational or charity work and issued decrees against pilgrimages. Through a 1783 decree he established a general seminary for educating priests that was under state control. (This authority was returned to the archbishopric in 1790 under Leopold II). Joseph's most important decree, however, was the Patent of Tolerance, issued in 1781 (see cat.107). This document legalized Lutheranism, Calvinism, and the Eastern Orthodox faith.

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