The Concordat of 1855 was a

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

or agreement between the Holy See and the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

as regards the

Catholic Church in Austria , native_name_lang = de , image = Wien_-_Stephansdom_(3).JPG , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. , abbreviation = , type = ...

. The

Austrian Bishops' Conference The Austrian Bishops' Conference (german: Österreichische Bischofskonferenz) is the official assembly of the Roman Catholic bishops of Austria. It is the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, established as a formal body und ...

was established in 1849 and agreed to a Concordat which would grant them greater scope in a variety of areas. They were granted full control over their own affairs, including making appointments. The Catholic church was also placed in charge of 98% of public primary schools, i.e. those nominally Catholic and controlled the curriculum. The Catholic ecclesiastical courts were given jurisdiction over marriages where either or both the couple were Catholic.

International repercussions and abolishment

The Concordat had an impact across

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

stimulating

anti-clericism Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

amongst liberal opinion. During the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

the Austrian soldiers were called "Concordat soldiers". The Austrian defeat in this war forced the

Emperor Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

to grant concessions to German liberals in

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

. Following the

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

, the liberals, in the Josephinist tradition, largely influenced the Cisleithanian constitution of 1867. Article 17 of the constitution designated that "The state shall have the right to superior direction and superintendence over the entire system of education and instruction." The abolishment of the Concordat was formalised in 1870. Originally there were plans to extend the Concordat to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

(the largest part of Transleithania), but these never materialised.

References

{{reflist Catholic Church in Austria