The greek-oriental Religious Fund of Bukovina 1783-1949

A comprehensive secularisation process in the course of the Josephinian reforms led to the dissolution of monasteries and ecclesiastical sinecures throughout the entire Habsburg Empire and to a complete restructuring of church assets. The Bukovina, as a young province of the Habsburg Empire, was at this time under direct military administration from Vienna. Moreover, the Orthodox Church dominated this country by far but here too, monasteries were dissolved. An essential part of the imperial political strategy, however, aimed at adjusting and orienting this church on the new territorial situation of the Habsburg Empire. As early as 1783 a Greek-Oriental Religious Fund attributed to the Bukovina was established. In stark contrast to the general Viennese Religious Fund, this institution was not only set up for a different denomination but also with a clear regional allocation from the start. Its growing economic role as the largest land owner in the Bukovina and the increasing influence of its bodies made this institution a major factor in the development of the region. It kept this important position until its eventual dissolution in the course of socialist restructuring of Romania in 1949. The monograph presented therefore focuses on analysing, for the first time, comprehensively and on the basis of historical sources, the Religious Fund in its significance for the formation, development and religion-led identity politics of the Bukovina region during its time as part of the Habsburg Monarchy (1774-1918) and during its time as part of Greater Romania (1918-1949).