Religion, Culture, and Identity Formation in the Habsburg Monarchy

On behalf of the Ludovika University of Public Service and the Sapientia College of Theology of Religious Orders, we warmly welcome you to the international conference Religion, Culture, and Identity Formation in the Habsburg Monarchy. This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars to explore the complex and multifaceted role of religion and religious institutions in shaping education, culture, and identity within the Habsburg Monarchy from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. The Monarchy’s diverse confessional landscape provides a particularly rich framework for examining how religious traditions interacted with political authority, social structures, and cultural practices across Central and Eastern Europe. Special attention is devoted to the ways in which confessional education and ecclesiastical institutions, while operating within an imperial framework, also offered meaningful spaces for the preservation, negotiation, and development of national, linguistic, and religious identities. By addressing these dynamics from comparative and transregional perspectives, the conference aims to contribute to a deeper historical understanding of identity formation in a multiethnic and multi-confessional empire. The programme includes a plenary lecture and thematic sessions that encourage dialogue across disciplinary boundaries. Through scholarly exchange, we seek to foster respectful and productive cooperation among academic, ecclesiastical, and cultural institutions, and to strengthen existing international research networks. We are grateful to all speakers and participants for their commitment and contributions, and we hope that the setting of Budapest and the historic environment of the Piarist Order will provide a stimulating context for intellectual exchange. We wish you a rewarding and inspiring conference.