Communities of the Living and the Dead in Baroque Bohemia. Catalogue of Religious Confraternities 1620–1783

Religious confraternities played an important, yet often overlooked, role in spiritual life during the Baroque period in Catholic environments. These were voluntary associations of laypeople led by clergy that organised their members' religious lives with the aim of saving their souls. In doing so, they formed a link between the worlds of the living and the dead. They were also institutions of great importance for the social life of the time. This book presents the author's findings from their long-term research on this topic. It consists of three parts.

The first part introduces the nature of religiuos confraternities and their development in the Kingdom of Bohemia from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It also provides an overview of their existence during the Baroque period, detailing which confraternities existed in Bohemia, where they were based and what their financial resources were. The second part of the book is a catalogue of the 927 confraternities that existed in the period between the Battle of White Mountain and the Josephine reforms, when they were abolished. For each confraternity, basic information about its existence and main sources is provided. The publication concludes with a richly illustrated overview of the primary sources on religious confraternities. These include various documents, such as privileges, founding charters, membership registers and cards, and accounting materials, as well as material remains of Baroque confraternities (including chapels, altars, statues, paintings, and etc.)

This book is intended for experts and a wide range of readers interested in post-White Mountain society, the nature of Baroque piety and church history. It provides previously unpublished information on how religious life developed in the various regions and municipalities of the Kingdom of Bohemia during the Baroque period. To this end, it also includes maps of individual regions with marked locations, where individual confraternities operated.