"Raget von Plant, Bürger zuo Chur, hat das Buoch zu Genff koufft": Buchhandel, Buchdruck und Reformation in den Drei Bünden

Abstract

Until 1798, the Three Leagues were an independent state with its own subject lands. This region has a unique confessional history within Europe, which is revealed particularly well through book history and its importance for the breakthrough of the Reformation. While the Landolfi printing press in Poschiavo, founded in 1547, was crucial for the propagation of Reformation books in the Italian valleys (Val Mesolcina, Val Bregaglia, Valchiavenna, Valtellina, Val Poschiavo) and the Engadin, the interest in books and education in the northern valleys of Grisons had to be facilitated by the import of books. Luckily, the geopolitically excellent location of Grisons created favorable conditions for reaching this goal. Last but not least, interest in reading was sustainably promoted from the 1550s onwards, especially in the protestant region, which led to the development of two different educational concepts in the Three Leagues.