Aufbau und Intensivierung kirchlicher Verwaltung im Erzbistum Köln im 17. Jahrhundert: An Beispielen aus der Amtszeit des kölner Generalvikars Paul von Aussem (review)

In the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne are preserved 159 volumes of the records of the General Vicariate of the archdiocese for the years between 1662 and 1825. In this thesis presented for the Staatsexamen at the University of Düsseldorf, Hülser analyzes the volume for 1675 under the vicariate of Paul von Aussem. Focused narrowly on the institutional and administrative development of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Hülser argues that the institutional history of the Catholic Church in Cologne was characterized by the continuous jurisdictional disputes between different institutional organs. Her major conclusion is the expanded task and competence of the General Vicar, who grew in administrative importance in the process of implementing the Tridentine decrees. The role of the Episcopal Official, the senior ecclesiastical officer for jurisprudence, lost importance relative to this new development. The records of the General Vicariate document numerous jurisdictional disputes between the General Vicar and the Official, and between the Archdeacon and the rural deacons. This continuous friction between different organs of the archdiocese reflected the tenacious resistance to Tridentine reform and its concomitant centralization of power at the central episcopal administration. Some two-thirds of all matters recorded in the 1675 protocol involved jurisdictional disputes and marital dispensations, demonstrating that the implementation of the Tridentine decree Tametsi was far from completed.