Fragile: Feeling Peace in the German Reformations
This project explores the German Reformations through the lens of fragility. Religious conflict did more than divide communities. It heightened the political, social, and environmental vulnerabilities that were already part of everyday life. Peace was widely desired, but rarely secure. It depended on fragile political agreements, social relationships, and material conditions that required constant negotiation and maintenance. These uncertainties shaped not only how people lived alongside one another, but also how they understood and experienced peace. Drawing on textual, visual, architectural, and material sources, the project examines how communities navigated these overlapping vulnerabilities. Moving beyond traditional histories of religious conflict and toleration, it considers what peace meant to those who experienced it. In doing so, it places fragility at the heart of the Reformations, showing how peace was not simply achieved, but continually made, maintained, and experienced in everyday life.
