This fascinating collection of sixteen articles (twelve in German and four in English) explores religious and cultural exchanges between Hungary and the rest of Central Europe. One theme of the collection emphasises the role of different linguistic communities as conduits of diverse cultural exchanges. Xénia Golub discusses surviving Orthodox icons from churches in Hungary both before and after waves of Serbian migration northwards in 1690 and during the late 1730s. While paintings completed before 1690 reflected long-standing traditions of representation, some later works by artists resident in Hungary suggest some Western stylistic influences. Several essays focus on the role of German-speakers and German-speaking communities. Péter Lőkös assesses the sense of identity of the Saxon community in Transylvania. Ludolf Pelizaeus considers the role of the Eltz family who built a Baroque residence at Vukovar (in modern Croatia) on lands acquired by Philipp Karl of Eltz, the archbishop-elector of Mainz. Barnabás Guitman focuses on the largely German-speaking towns of Upper Hungary (in eastern Slovakia today). These towns had long-established trading links and social connections with Lesser Poland, Silesia and Saxony. These channels of communication proved efficient at spreading Lutheran ideas during the middle decades of the sixteenth century. Generations of Lutheran pastors who then served parishes in this region were educated at Wittenberg and at other Lutheran universities in the Empire. Judit Bogár's essay highlights the intellectual formation and varied interests of pastors from the Buchholtz family of Kežmarok. The impact of Lutheran centres of education and print also reached far beyond German-speaking families and communities. Articles by András Vizkelety, and by Zoltán Gőzsy and Szabolcs Varga, point out that the provision of pastoral care in Hungary had always been and continued to be impacted by the need for many clergy to work in multi-lingual contexts.

Other essays in this collection focus primarily on Catholic religious life and explore mutual influences between Hungary and neighbouring lands. The networks that emerged between elite Catholic clergy reflected their shared educational experiences and were sustained by institutional connections and by involvement in politics (as discussed by István Fazekas). Fascinating insight is provided into Hungary's native religious order of the Pauline Fathers in essays by Maria-Elisabeth Brunert and Gábor Sarbak (while an article by Klára Berzeviczy analyses the Cistercians). From the thirteenth century Pauline houses spread across Hungary and beyond. Gergely Gyöngyösi compiled rules for the order around 1520 while prior of the Paulines at the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome (later also the site for the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum). The place of the Paulines in Hungary was greatly weakened by the impact of Ottoman invasion and later by the monastic reforms of Joseph ii. However, in the late fourteenth century a duke of Opole who served as an advisor to Louis i (king of Hungary and then also king of Poland) had brought Pauline Fathers to the monastery of Jasna Góra. This base for the Paulines thrived as a site of pilgrimage due to the presence of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. The duchy of Opole was later held by Jan Casimir, king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the Swedish invasion in 1655. The successful defence of the monastery of Jasna Góra against the Swedes encouraged Jan Casimir to commit the Commonwealth to the Virgin's protection and to proclaim Mary as queen of his lands. A growing devotional focus on Mary was not only a feature of Pauline spirituality and of growing significance in Poland. András Szilágyi's essay notes the use of an emblem depicting Mary as Hungary's patron saint on the title-pages of texts by György Káldi and by the archbishop of Esztergom, Péter Pázmány (a convert from Calvinism whose reputation is discussed in an essay by Emil Hargittay). A shared Marian devotion among Catholics across Central Europe retained distinct resonances in different contexts. Promoting Mary as Hungary's patron saint in the seventeenth century was part of an effort to challenge Protestant narratives about the country's history. While Protestants suggested that the path of religious reform was necessary to counter Hungary's manifest spiritual and political ills, Catholic patriotism transferred the blame for Hungary's problems to the spread of heresy and rehabilitated Stephen i's dedication of his realm to the Virgin Mary.

A final theme on cultural transfer that recurs throughout the volume relates to the impact of Hungary's long experience of religious diversity. Lutherans in the towns of Upper Hungary were bolstered by the support offered by their coreligionists in the Empire to defend their exclusive religious rights against incursions by Catholics, Calvinists or anti-Trinitarians. Péter Tusor examines the reports sent to Rome by the bishop of Eger, György Lippay, seeking help to fund a new seminary at Uzhhorod (in Ukraine today) to advance the Catholic cause in his diocese during the middle decades of the seventeenth century. However, Hungary remained a place where many religious cultures flourished or at least survived. These cultures were shaped not only by their own internal dynamics (either within Hungary or in international contexts) but also by the presence of rival religious cultures. Some prominent figures discussed in this volume had shifting and unclear religious loyalties (András Dudith), while some converts clearly carried a good deal of baggage with them as they moved across confessional divides (Péter Pázmány). The question as to how best to understand the notion of conversion in this period remains worthy of further attention. András Forgó helpfully illuminates here the significant case of another convert who became archbishop of Esztergom, Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz (who in turn instructed the Saxon Elector August before his conversion to Catholicism to take up the Polish crown). As Arno Strohmeyer writes in the introduction, the overall image that emerges from this volume is of complex patterns of cultural differentiation, exchange and adaptation, and essays in this collection offer valuable insight into the diverse character of Hungary's religious cultures during the early modern period.