ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that as the protection for minority religions developed, the idea of freedom of conscience began to centre on preserving singular individual beliefs, independent of a theological standard. Despite the inherent limitations on an individual's moral outlook, a key development that emerged from the religious upheaval of sixteenth century Europe was the recognition of religious liberty. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the necessity of bridging the gap between religions, principally to end warfare, 43 provided for further development of the notion of toleration and assertions of more individual beliefs. Minority religious beliefs continued to receive protection in various bilateral treaties throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A number of fairly broad protections for minority beliefs were instituted following the post-World War One creation of the League of Nations.
