Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach-Bürresheim und die Katholische Aufklärung in Kurmainz

The Archbishop of Mainz, Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach-Bürresheim (reigned 1763-1774), ranks amongst the ecclesiastical princes of the Imperial Church most profoundly shaped by Enlightenment ideas and is regarded as a significant reformer of the archbishopric of Mainz. During his eleven-year tenure, he pursued extensive reforms in the spirit of the Enlightenment that affected central spheres of ecclesiastical and political life. The contributions in this anthology examine the reign and enlightened reform policies of Emmerich Joseph and derive from a conference organised by the Institute for Mainz Church History in 2024 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the prince-archbishop's death. They focus on his manifold reform activitiesranging from administration and ecclesiastical governance to architectural and artistic policies, as well as his tenure as Bishop of Wormsalongside contemporary perceptions in funeral literature. Simultaneously, the contributions illuminate the development of the Enlightenment in the Electorate of Mainz beyond 1774: from the Isenbiehl affair to the disputes concerning the introduction of a new hymn book in the 1780s.