A Social History of Catholicism in Modern European Society

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26284117
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of Europe and America
• Research Institution: Seijo University
• Principal Investigator: NAKANO TOMOYO 成城大学, 文芸学部, 准教授 (90454470)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 渡邊 千秋 青山学院大学, 国際政治経済学部, 教授 (00292459) ; 勝田 俊輔 東京大学, 人文社会系研究科, 准教授 (00313180) ; 村上 信一郎 神戸市外国語大学, 外国語研究所, 名誉教授 (10305675) ; 長井 伸仁 上智大学, 文学部, 教授 (10322190) ; 前田 更子 明治大学, 政治経済学部, 専任准教授 (30453963) ; 深沢 克己 京都産業大学, 文化学部, 教授 (60199156) ; 寺戸 淳子 専修大学, 文学部, 兼任講師 (80311249)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MIZUSHIMA Jiro 千葉大学, 法経学部, 教授 (30309413) ; KATO Hisako 國學院大學, 研究開発推進機構, 研究員 (10646285)
• Research Collaborator: SAKURAI Kengo ; OZAKI Shuji
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 西洋史 / 宗教 / キリスト教 / 近代ヨーロッパ / 社会史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project explored what role Catholicism played in the formation and the development of modern European society. Our research group came to the following three conclusions.
First, Catholicism, as it continued to be expressed through everyday life and culture, maintained a certain amount of social influence even as Europe was experiencing secularization from the turn into the nineteenth century onwards. Second, though there were differences depending on era and region, Catholicism’s influence was far-ranging, encompassing areas such as education, labor, politics, and welfare. Third, though it rejected many of the basic principles of modern society, Catholicism embraced some of them and hence became one of the driving forces in the formation of modern European society.

Free Research Field

西洋史