ABSTRACT
Early modern Transylvania provides abundant material for a wider discussion on the construction and nature of religious identity in east-central Europe. This eastern region of the former kingdom of the Holy Crown of St Stephen was transformed into an autonomous principality by the Ottomans in the middle of the sixteenth century. Although this almost perfect model of a multi-confessional state of estates holds a particular fascination, detailed knowledge about Transylvanian religion remains partial and unsatisfactory. A tendency to understand the Transylvanian Status Catholicus as Roman Catholicism's defensive bulwark against the east can often be observed in works published in Hungary. Roman Catholic Church organization in Transylvania fell apart from the middle of the sixteenth century as the forces of Reformation flourished in the principality. Bajtay's support for a combative Catholic identity in Transylvania was as anachronistic as the activities of Padányi Biró in Veszprém.
