Ulrich Lehner

Ulrich Lehner is a Swiss historian and theologian specializing in the history of Christianity, global missions, and early modern theology. He has held academic appointments at institutions across Europe and North America and published widely on topics including missionary encounters, ecclesiastical reform, and confessionalization. Lehner's work connects archives, intellectual history, and transnational networks to reinterpret the role of Christian actors in global contexts.

Early life and education

Lehner was born in Sursee and completed formative studies at the University of Freiburg and the University of Zurich before undertaking doctoral work at the University of Innsbruck. During his formation he engaged with scholars associated with the Pontifical Gregorian University, the École pratique des hautes études, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His dissertation examined intersections between Jesuit practices, Council of Trent reforms, and early modern devotional currents, drawing on sources from archives in Rome, Vienna, and Madrid. He later pursued postdoctoral research connecting themes from the Reformation and Counter-Reformation to global missionary expansion, interacting with researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the Catholic University of Leuven.

Academic career

Lehner's academic appointments have included professorships and fellowships at the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Notre Dame, and visiting positions at the University of Chicago, the Heidelberg University, and the University of Edinburgh. He has participated in collaborative projects funded by organizations such as the European Research Council, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. Lehner has served on editorial boards for journals affiliated with the American Academy of Religion, the European Association for the Study of Religions, and the Catholic Historical Review. He has also lectured at the Harvard Divinity School, the Yale Divinity School, and the Princeton Theological Seminary while contributing to programs at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History and the German Historical Institute in Rome.

Research and major works

Lehner's research integrates methods from historians who have worked on the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Dutch East India Company with scholarship on the Society of Jesus, the Dominican Order, and the Franciscan Order. Major monographs engage topics such as missionary rhetoric, confessional identities after the Peace of Westphalia, and Catholic devotional culture in the era of the Scientific Revolution. His publications converse with influential works by scholars associated with the Annales School, the Cambridge School, and the Princeton Readings, while citing archival collections like the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, the Archivo General de Indias, and the Vatican Secret Archives. Lehner has edited volumes that bring together research on global Christianity, transatlantic encounters, and the role of theology in early modern state formation, dialoguing with scholarship produced at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Historical Research, and the Max Weber Centre. His essays address figures such as Ignatius of Loyola, Francisco de Vitoria, Robert Bellarmine, and Blaise Pascal, and themes intersecting with studies of the Enlightenment, the Counter-Enlightenment, and the Atlantic World.

Awards and honors

Lehner's work has been recognized with fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation, and awards connected to research networks supported by the European University Institute and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. He has received prizes honoring contributions to studies of Christianity and cultural history from organizations linked to the German Historical Association, the American Historical Association, and the International Commission for Comparative Church History. Lehner has been invited as a distinguished lecturer at venues including the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Collège de France, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

Public engagement and media appearances

Lehner frequently engages with public audiences through interviews and commentary on platforms tied to the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and National Public Radio. He has taken part in panel discussions at institutions such as the European Parliament, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Brookings Institution, and contributed essays to outlets associated with the New York Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New Statesman. Lehner has appeared in documentary features produced by BBC Four and collaborated with museum projects at the British Museum, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and the Vatican Museums to contextualize archival materials for broader audiences. He participates in interdisciplinary symposia alongside scholars from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Library, and the Library of Congress.

Category:Swiss historians Category:Historians of Christianity Category:1964 births Category:Living people