The 24 essays in this volume explore the formation of clerical and confessional identities in early modern Europe from three angles. The first part of the book focuses on education and theological training, the second on the interpretation of Scripture and preaching, and the third on the construction of clerical and communal expectations and self understandings. The interdisciplinary discussion intersects with the confessionalization debate and proceeds from comparative perspectives, confessionally, geographically, and dimensionally, local and (inter)national. What is especially innovative is the rich portrait of the complexities of identities and the sources used to determine them. An extensive introduction offers a detailed, systematic overview and lays the foundation for discussions of the volume’s refreshing findings. A book review section is annexed.

Contributors include: Raymond A. Blacketer, Wietse de Boer, F.G.M. Broeyer, Robert J. Christman, Kathleen M. Comerford, Stefan Ehrenpreis, Riemer A. Faber, David Fors Freeman, Leendert F. Groenendijk, Wim Janse, Gary W. Jenkins, Karin Maag, Ellen A. Macek, Emily Michelson, Andreas Mühling, Patrick J. O’Banion, G. Sujin Pak, Barbara Pitkin, Rady Roldán-Figueroa, Jason Sager, Robert E. Scully, SJ, Margo Todd, Sven Tode, and Gerrit Voogt.