In this collection, Marjorie Plummer and Victoria Christman seek to examine the relationship between ideas of coexistence and the lived reality of religious pluralism. Challenging the traditional assumption that the move towards toleration was one defined by linearity, the ten essays in this volume demonstrate that this progression was anything but straightforward. The emphasis on the lived experience of confessional division in localities across early modern Europe illuminates the variety of responses to the religious changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and argues that, in many places, confessional tensions escalated as a result of religious pluralism. The historiography regarding tolerance and intolerance is becoming increasingly diverse and it is clear that generalisations do not recognise the nuanced nature of confessional coexistence and repression. Indeed, the case studies in this volume demonstrate the methodological difficulties of charting the development of toleration in early modern Europe with each chapter testifying to the complexities of coexistence in local communities. As pointed out in the preface by Benjamin Kaplan, many of the essays question ‘whether tolerance and intolerance should be understood as simple opposites’ (p. 3) and instead encourage the reader to consider the symbiotic relationship between the two concepts.

For scholars of Reformation Europe, this volume is an essential contribution to existing research on early modern concepts and practices of toleration. Collectively, the ten chapters argue that it is not sufficient to limit discourse to abstract theories of coexistence or to draw solely on legal and philosophical treatises to support studies on the development of toleration. Rather, we must explore local responses to confessional division and the lived experiences of ordinary Protestants and Catholics in order to chart more clearly the manifestations of and challenges to coexistence. Essentially, attempting to impose broad meanings of toleration onto communities does not always correlate with the realities of living with confessional division.

The volume is separated into two sections. The first part seeks to define the boundaries of tolerance and intolerance and advances discussions regarding the degree to which local rulers and councils could successfully impose policies relating to religious pluralism. As many chapters in this collection indicate, the transmission of ideas regarding toleration was not necessarily a top-down exchange. For example, in his study of witchcraft persecutions in Bamberg, William Bradford Smith argues that even where there was agreement between learned elites and local communities regarding the persecution of witches, this concord could have been reached independently rather than being unilaterally imposed by the elites. Further, James Blakeley's examination of the Western Swiss Confederation demonstrates that, in Bern, the residents consciously challenged the authorities’ attempts to impose bi-confessionalism, voting to end the practice in 1554. In the Netherlands, Victoria Christman points out that despite the official outlawing of Catholicism in 1573, ‘secret churches’ continued to practise the Catholic faith and authorities turned a blind eye to these activities. In challenging the traditional narratives regarding toleration, this section argues that there is little, if any, linearity in the development of religious tolerance.

In questioning the homogeneity of toleration as a concept and practical reality, this volume engages with theories regarding confession-building and the power of the state in directing religious practices. Timothy Fehler's chapter on coexistence and confessionalisation in Emden draws attention to the complex responses to religious pluralism. He argues successfully that focusing on the legal and political dimensions of Calvinist confession-building detracts from the everyday interactions between a religiously diverse population. In the case of Emden, the complicated political, economic and religious landscapes meant that the church leadership was limited in its efforts to impose a defined religious settlement. David Luebke argues that despite the rejection of concubinage by the Council of Trent, Westphalian inhabitants were more likely to tolerate clerical marriage as long as social norms and behaviours were not transgressed. He suggests that this acceptance may have contributed to priests introducing liturgical adaptations and accepting less doctrinal conformity from their parishioners. These case studies are strong reminders of the limits of state power and the importance of local context when exploring religious pluralism.

The second part of the volume examines how the mapping of memory impacted upon toleration. The five essays in this section draw on case studies to examine more closely discourses regarding toleration and the use of space in developing confessional Churches. Shira C. Weidenbaum examines the ‘strategies for survival’ promoted by Jean de Moncy's Dialogues rustiques. According to Weidenbaum, this text created a community of Christians who were disconnected geographically but were joined together spiritually, and Moncy advocated a pragmatic adaptation to the hostile environment that Calvinists faced in Northern France. Geoffrey Dipple's chapter on Swiss Anabaptists argues that despite their calls for freedom of conscience, Anabaptist contributions to discussions regarding toleration were minor and they were in fact ‘the objects of appeals for toleration’ (p. 172). Emily Fisher Gray's chapter on the use of space and constructs of memory in bi-confessional Augsburg suggests that the civic identity of Protestants and Catholics was separated. Here, coexistence was born of necessity rather than a direct result of political strategy and confessional division was reinforced by the manifestation of differing historical narratives through their annual celebrations and anniversaries which became increasingly polemic over time. Further, David Mayes argues that conflicts between Westphalian clergy were caused because of increasing toleration after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. These disagreements were not rooted in doctrinal division but in jurisdictional concerns and the formation of additional local parish networks. Similarly, Marjorie Plummer's contribution argues that measures designed to reduce conflict between the Lutheran clergy and Catholic populace of Welver in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries actually worsened the situation. These chapters point to the unanticipated intolerance caused by the increased acceptance of religious diversity.

Part of the success of this volume lies in its close examination of the progress of toleration over the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It demonstrates the nuanced nature of toleration across Europe, indicating that both the manifestations of and reasons for coexistence were unique to individual locations and, crucially, that concepts of toleration changed over time. The conclusions force us to question how we understand the development of religious pluralism and its acceptance or its repression. However, there are two specific limitations to an otherwise excellent collection. Firstly, as demonstrated successfully by Benjamin Kaplan in his earlier study on coexistence in early modern Europe, terms such as toleration are deeply problematic. The various forms of coexistence and myriad expressions and definitions of ‘toleration’ mean that we must be careful in our application of such concepts. The chapters discuss ideas including ‘pragmatic toleration’ and ‘procedural toleration’ but these concepts are not explained in any depth, meaning that the reader is left uncertain as to how each reality of toleration was understood by contemporaries and how we ought to understand them in relation to existing terms regarding toleration. The second issue is geographic. The chapters largely focus on the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Given the significance of this volume for developing our understanding of the diversity and non-linear direction of toleration, studies from a broader geographic range would have added further depth. None the less, this volume contributes significantly to the rich and increasingly diverse studies of coexistence whilst illuminating the scale of research yet to be undertaken.