The Edict on Idle Institutions was one of more than 10,000 ordinances issued by
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
pertaining to religious issues. Promulgated in 1780, it outlawed contemplative monastic orders. The act permitted only monastic orders that dealt with teaching, nursing and other practical work within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. The number of monks (whom the Emperor called "shaven-headed creatures whom the common people worship on bended knees")
[By Frank Tallett and Nicholas Atkin, ''Priests, Prelates and People: A History of European Catholicism Since 1750'' (London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2004), 12. ] dropped from 65,000 to 27,000. The
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
also expropriated the monasteries and took their money to pay ordinary priests more.
The edict fits in with Joseph's ecclesiastical reforms, in which he sought to control the church in Austria and the Empire and saw it as an arm of the state.
References
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Catholic Church in Europe
Christianity and law in the 18th century
18th-century Catholicism
1780
Idle Institutions