History of Ecclesiastical Law Sciences in Mainz

From the reestablishment of the diocese until today

The church legal sciences had a long tradition and was of high importance concerning church political issues during the old electoral prince-archbishopric Mainz. The abolition of the old archdiocese, the elimination of educational institutions for the clergy and the new foundation of the diocese, theological college and university under Napoleon led to a new era for that field of study. Bishop Colmar already seemed to apologetically and church politically adopt a different approach in comparison to most of the moderate enlightened episcopates of that time. This also influenced the developments of the canon law in Mainz, not only at the bishopric seminar but also at the university. This development has so far remained largely hidden. The research project aims at the collection of historical findings concerning persons and their teachings and research as well as making them accessible and to evaluate them canonistically. It will be proven if there was a new strand of tradition during the 19th and 21st century or if we deal with single academics that are influenced by different trends.