Workshop "The Influence of Religious Orders on Societies," Dresden, June 15–16, 2026

A workshop as part of the German-Croatian DAAD project“Religious Orders and Societies Entangled: The Examples of the Croatian Historical Lands and the Holy Roman Empire”

The Influence of Religious Orders on Societies – A Comparison between the Holy Roman Empire and the Croatian Historical Lands

Unlike today, religious orders and their members were not only present in the societies of premodern Europe but also highly influential. The German-Croatian DAAD project “Religious Orders and Societies Entangled. The Examples of the Croatian Historical Lands and the Holy Roman Empire” aims to explore the interplay between various religious orders and the respective societies in the historical Croatian territories and the Holy Roman Empire. It aims to conduct a comparative and interdisciplinary examination of how various orders identified themselves as communities distinct from the societies surrounding them. At the same time, however, it will explore the mutual influence between orders and society.

The third workshop will examine the role of monasteries as religious, social, and cultural stakeholders within their respective environments. The focus will be on the relationships between monastic communities and the secular world, particularly questions regarding social networks, mobility, and forms of interaction between religious and secular stakeholders. In addition, the workshop will examine how monasteries shaped their immediate surroundings. Another focus is on the cultural impact of monasteries. Overall, the workshop aims to view monasteries not as isolated religious institutions, but as central hubs of social networking, regional development, and cultural exchange.

You can find the program here