The Bible as norma normans

Project management: Prof. em. Dr. Luise Schorn-Schütte

Sacred texts have always been used as legitimization and justification clauses for certain political decisions. They thus served as a comprehensive framework from which the concrete political and social decisions of early modern societies in Europe, for example, derived their claim to supra-temporal validity. Examples of this include the use of certain biblical passages from the Old and New Testaments to describe the character of good rule, to present certain constitutional forms as valid beyond time, to legitimize the use of force, etc.
In this project, the use of biblical passages as an inescapable norm, as norma normans, was analyzed on the basis of specific source groups and in a comparative denominational and supra-regional perspective.
In this way, the project was able to contribute to an understanding of how sacred texts legitimize fundamental norms and how corresponding justification narratives function socially. In particular, the project also provided new insights into the historical dating and emergence of basic rights as fundamental norms of modernity.

The rites of passage in early modern Christianity, in particular baptism, marriage (between members of the various Christian denominations as well as members of Christianity and Judaism or Islam [= members of “unequal cults”]) and the rituals associated with death (consolation rites in the event of death, funeral service) were examined as the key to analyzing the inter-confessional/inter-religious conflicts. The research was based on the rich source material in the Vatican archives.

Their analysis confirmed that the common horizon of these controversies is always the scholarly interpretation of the Old and New Testaments and that it is always and exclusively about the extent to which the Bible functions and is recognized as a norma normans both in theological justification and in its practical effect in the world. On the basis of the source findings, the project was also able to show that the emergence of fundamental rights can be traced back to the European XVIth century. With the help of an extensive database, the argumentative use of certain biblical passages (New and Old Testament) in the conflicts to be analyzed, including those concerning the rights of women and religious minorities, was systematized. In this way, it was possible to investigate the extent to which there was a norm-setting competence of “conscience”, of practical tolerance, or how such a norm-setting competence was established or changed and expanded.

The most important publications in this project:

*Schorn-Schütte, Luise: The Reformation. Prehistory, course, effect , C.H.Beck: Munich, 7th revised edition, 2017.

*Schorn-Schütte, Luise: God’s word and the rule of man. Political-theological languages in early modern Europe , C.H.Beck: Munich 2015.

Cristellon, Cecilia and Luise Schorn-Schütte (eds.): Die Bibel als norma normans – zur Entstehung und Praxis von Grundrechten im Europa der Frühen Neuzeit, Göttingen: V&R unipress, ed.

*Cristellon, Cecilia: “Due fedi in un corpo. Matrimoni misti fra delicta carnis, scandalo, seduzione e sacramento nell’Europa di età moderna”, in: Quaderni storici 1/2014 (April), special issue “Corpi familiari”, ed. by M. Lanzinger, D. Rizzo, pp. 41-70.

Cristellon, Cecilia and Silvana Seidel Menchi: “Religious Life”, in: E. Dursteler (ed.): A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2014, pp. 379-419, (Cristellon, pp. 379-398).

The most important events in this project:

International Workshop: Fundamental Rights and Religion in Early Modern Europe, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, November 27-28, 2014.

International conference: Religious contacts and conflicts in the rites of passage: European and extra-European perspectives on the Early Modern period, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main (funded by the Max Weber Foundation), July 3-4, 2014.

people in this project:

Project management / contact person

Schorn-Schütte, Luise, Prof. em. Dr.

Project staff

Cristellon, Cecilia, Dr.