The legacy of exile and the rise of humanitarianism 1

Abstract

The memory cultures of the Reformation are intrinsically connected to stories of migration. This is true in the sense that religious tensions sparked the movement, either voluntary or coerced, of thousands of dissenters across early modern Europe. The Reformation has even been blamed for causing the fi rst European ‘ refugee crisis ’ . 2 Yet the linkage of the Reformation and migration is also true in the sense that migratory experiences generated powerful memories that would shape the confessional mentalities of the following generations. As Johannes Müller has argued, memories of persecution, fl ight and displacement stimulated a ‘ narratisa-tion ’ of the concept of exile and diaspora among various denominational groups and became a popular tool of religious expression in post-Reformation Europe. 3 Just like martyrs ’ tales and conversion stories, migration histories de fi ned the rival confessional canons of Protestants and Catholics alike. Memories of migration, and the notion of exile in particular, served particular purposes in early modern Europe. First, they provided a frame of reference that could be invoked to address the challenges of the times. When, for example, large numbers of Huguenots left France during the 1680s, Protestant audiences else-where in Europe were duly reminded that the Huguenot diaspora was just the latest example of a well-known history of Catholic tyranny. 4 Second, memories of persecution and fl ight were used to underpin calls for action in the present. In his study of the Thirty Years ’ War, Ole Grell has noted that the military con fl ict in the German Empire triggered large-scale relief e ff orts and church collections in surrounding countries. Many of these built on transnational refugee networks that had emerged in the sixteenth century and employed a rhetoric of exile history with which many Protestant communities could identify. 5 The ‘ cult of exile ’ in post-Reformation Europe has received some attention in recent scholarship, but a cross-confessional analysis