Dr. Thomas Wallnig (1975) is Privatdozent for Modern History, teaching and conducting research projects at the University of Vienna. He has worked on the Republic of Letters, Catholic Scholarship, the Habsburg Monarchy and Digital Humanities.

• Preface: How to Read this Book1 “Germania Benedictina”1.1 Layers of Time – Between Trent and the Enlightenment1.2 Layers of Space: “Benedictine Europe”1.3 Layers of Knowledge: Religious Communities in Early Modern Central Europe1.4 Layers of Demography: Being a Benedictine monk1.5 On Sources, Bibliography, and Terminology1.6 Summary2 Multiple Perspectives – On the Same Object?2.1 Introduction2.2 “Die Forschungszentren der deutschen Benediktiner” and the “Katholische Frühaufklärung”2.3 “Enlightened Monks” – and “Monastic Humanism”2.4 Making Monks Enlightened: The Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries2.5 Benedictine Tradition(s)2.6 Looking Ahead from 1700: The Making of “Enlightened Monasticism” in the 18th Century2.7 Looking Back from 1700: 1200 Years of Prehistories for Benedictine Scholarly Practice2.8 Summary3 Knowledge, Institution and Conflict in the Benedictine Context3.1 Introduction3.2 The Inner Circulation of Knowledge: Congregation, University, or Academy?3.3 German and French Benedictines3.4 The Protestants: Res publica literaria and Germania3.5 Knowledge, Required: The State, the Church – and the Aristocracy3.6 Diverse Publics, Diverse Censorships3.7 Conflict and Dissent in the Benedictine Context3.8 Conclusion: On the Institutional and Epistemological Implications of Knowledge Change4 Tropes and Metaphors of Monastic Knowledge 4.1 Introduction4.2 “Reform”, “Revolution”, and the “Old-New”4.3 Four Exemplary Ambiguities: “Aufklärung”, “Light”, “Learned Nuns”, “Monkish Fables”4.4 “Criticism” and “Scholasticism”4.5 Conclusion5 A Reclassification of Knowledge? 5.1 Introduction5.2 Philosophy5.2.1 Challenges, 1: Benedictine Thomism – Unsuccessfully Contested5.2.2 Challenges, 2: The Assimilation of Christian Wolff5.2.3 Trends, 1: Mathematics, Nature and Observation5.2.4 Trends, 2: Moral Philosophy5.3 History and Criticism5.3.1 Challenges, 1: (Multiple) Proof – and (Individual) Taste5.3.2 Challenges, 2: On Historicity5.3.3 Trends, 1: The “Order” as Framework5.3.4 Trends, 2: “Germany” – and “Austria” as Frameworks5.4 (Canon) Law5.4.1 Challenges: The Negotiable Status of Monastic Rules and Habits5.4.2 Trends: “Germanized”, “Naturalized” and “Historicized” Canon Law5.5 Theology5.5.1 Challenges: Scientia Media, Peccatum Philosophicum5.5.2 Trends: Positive Theology, Mystical Theology – or Practical Theology?5.6 Summary6 Conclusions, Inheritances, Limits, Confessions6.1 Introduction6.2 Should We Speak of a “Monastic Enlightenment”? And if so, What Came before It?6.3 On MethodologySources and BibliographyIndex