Orthodox Canonists and Politicans from the Austrian Empire

During the 19th century orthodox canonists from the Austrian Empire highly contributed to the scholarly elaboration of orthodox canon law. An education according to the Middle-European standards of their time enabled J. v. Zhishman, who is in the centre of this project, as well as N. Milaš, M. Potlis and A. v. Saguna to treat their subject with a modern methodology as it was developed by western scholarship. Their work became the basis for the scholarly treatment of orthodox canon law, and it has further influenced orthodox legal practice in a significant way until now. Another common feature of the orthodox canonists from the Austrian Empire is their immediate political impact. Their scholarly work combined with (ecclesiastical) political ambitions and active political commitment to the church-policy linked national movements of the 19th century in various ways. In spite of their high significance for the political transformation of 19th century Europe as well as their new significance for the topical transformation-process where the Orthodox Churches and their law do play an important role again, the activities of orthodox canonists from the Austrian Empire have not yet received full appreciation by academic research. A solid bio-bibliography of J. v. Zhishman (in the context of common history and linked to the already existing scholarship concerning M. Potlis and A. v. Saguna) will be the first step of the project. The evaluation of the scholarly estate of the examined person as well as the formulation of desiderata for a scholarly elaboration of orthodox canon law from todays perspective will be the second step. At the same time, the evaluation of the political activities of J. v. Zhishman is planned. Topical questions of (church)policy such as the basic question of the European integration of countries with strong orthodox traditions, jurisdictional questions within the European Orthodox Churches and the renewal of orthodox theological formation will form the frame-work for research in this field. The activities of J. v. Zhishman as counsellor of the Emperor will be of particular interest. His influence will be compared to the activities of those canonists who figured as active politicians themselves (M. Potlis, A. v. Saguna) or had to realise their canonical ideals of church-order as bishops (N. Milaš, A. v. Saguna).

The examination of the estate of Joseph von Zhishman (1820-1894), the first professor for Oriental Canon Law at the Juridical Faculty of Vienna has been successfully completed. Further material about the scientific work and reception of Zhishman has been found in several archives and libraries. The review of Zhishman`s sources has met the expectations in every respect. Of particular interest are his papers with expert opinions written on request of the ministry of education and religious affairs. They clearly outline the impact of Zhishman`s activities on church policy in Bukovina. Of importance and worth to be edited are also documents which refer to Zhishman`s students who later became professors in Czernowitz. The material in Zhishman`s estate includes manuscripts from lectures as well as his own collections of sources on legal, historic and theologic issues of the Orthodox Churches. The provisional edition of the sources of criminal law will be further analyzed by Prof. Spyros Troianos. Historically, Zhishman`s mentorship and, in this particular context, his academic work helped Orthodox theology to get established - not only in Austria but throughout Europe - within the academic world in the course of the founding of the Czernowitz university. These achievements stand out among the many activities he pursued during his lifetime. Plenty of information about the Orthodox theological faculty that - to this date - research has paid little to no attention to has been found. The project`s second objective is to search the sources for information about Nikodim Milaš (1845-1915), Serbian Orthodox canonist and bishop of Dalmatia and Istria. Some relevant documents were found in Vienna`s archives, further archive materials in Belgrad and Czernowitz and a lot of secundary literature. The project has not only a great historical, but also a current significance. In this context it is necessary to mention the efforts to reorganize Orthodox theological education, but also the questions of the role of the Orthodox churches in the present time, of the relationship between churches, state and nation as well as the problems of territorial church structures. The project`s publication is planned for 2006. It will contain a detailed biography and bibliography of Zhishman, an article about Orthodox criminal law, a biographical study and bibliography of Milaš as well as other small contributions concerning the Orthodox canon law in the 19th century.