The controversy surrounding Martin Luther, which began in 1518, is the focus of Prof. Dr. Bernward Schmidt's research. The current project aims to examine the journalistic forms of the dispute and shed light on the contexts and backgrounds that influenced the formulation of theological positions by Luther's opponents. The specific field of investigation is the Albertine Duchy of Saxony during the reign of Duke George (until 1539), which included such important places as the residential city of Dresden, the university and trading city of Leipzig and the episcopal see in Meissen. The specific questions investigated are

• the influence of the theologically educated duke on the theological controversies
• the effects of late medieval discourses on the anti-Lutheran discourse
• the networks of Luther's opponents
• the journalistic forms and a problematization of the term "controversial theology"
• the possibilities of analyzing the dispute about Luther with the help of modern sociological approaches

Based on this research, a monograph is being developed that is intended to shift the focus of research on anti-Lutheran controversial theology from the personal approach of past decades to a structural approach.

The First Vatican Council was opened 150 years ago: an event that church history cannot ignore in 2019. Especially in the light of the changes that the Second Vatican Council (1963-65) brought about in the church, the First Vatican Council appears to be the anti-modern council that wanted to establish the Catholic Church as a "parallel society". The demarcation from the emerging modern age, the dogma of infallibility, the definition of the primacy of jurisdiction - all of this still has an impact on Catholicism today. The Chair is therefore producing a monograph that will provide an overview of the Council and its intellectual world for a wider audience interested in theology: What theological, social and political backgrounds influenced the Council and its definitions? How did the Council proceed? Why and in what way was the position of the Pope in the Church strengthened? How did contemporaries perceive the Council? What were the consequences of the Council? What role does it still play today?

The Chair offers regular seminars in the field of research-based learning for advanced students. These courses are usually implemented in cooperation with other institutions, e.g. museums, archives and libraries. In the 2018/19 winter semester, for example, a seminar led by Irene Banzer was dedicated to the topic of "The Catholic Church and National Socialism in Eichstätt". Further events are being planned.