LE COMTÉ DE HANAU LICHTENBERG de Pierre Michel ROESER
THE COUNTY OF HANAU LICHTENBERG by Pierre Michel ROESER
The publication is in two parts:
- The establishment of reform in the county (1525-1573)
- The county's administrative institutions in the 17th and 18th centuries
1. The introduction of the Reformation in Hanau Lichtenberg
After a brief description of the situation and mood in the Holy German Empire on the eve of the
Reformation, the author explains how a movement of intellectual clerics revolted by the dogmatic and structural
excesses over the centuries, which denied the legitimacy of the Catholic clergy, unprecedented political and social upheaval, and how the Reformation would ultimately pass through the princes (city magistrates and rural lords), who would be the custodians of the ancient jus episcopalis and thus masters of the bodies and souls of their subjects.
The second part details the development of the Reformation in Hanau Lichtenberg County,
begun under the reign of Philip III and intensified by his son Philip IV. A list of the names of the first
pastors and their dates of installation for the various parishes in the county's bailiwicks is given in the appendix.
2. The county's administrative institutions in the 17th and 18th centuries.
After a few reminders of the feudal system and administrative structure, the author presents the administrative structure of the Hanau Lichtenberg county, which differs little, if at all, from other territorial entities.
the administrative structure of the Hanau Lichtenberg county, which differs little, if at all, from other Alsatian
administrative machinery and the detailed functioning of each post:
Regency, Chamber of Accounts, Consistory, bailiwicks and village communities, specifying the distribution of civil and religious powers.
A very useful index of the German names of the various functions, with their
translation, makes it easy to find the explanation of each term in the text, and helps us to better understand the life
and constraints of our ancestors