ABSTRACT

The nineteenth century witnessed one of the great transformations of western history: the loss of a privileged place for religion in almost all European countries. Christian churches had their state subsidies, control over education and charity and legal powers severely curtailed. Simultaneously, large sections of society, especially many in the urban lower classes and the cultural élite, effectively disassociated themselves from religious faith and practice. Even religious groups which had survived earlier persecution —Jews, Protestant Dissenters and Catholic minorities-were weakened by the forces of secularization.1