Paper short abstract:

The aim of this contribution is to show the techniques that favoured the diffusion of Andrzej Towiański's doctrine between the first decades of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century.

Paper long abstract:

The Polish mystic Andrzej Towiański (1799-1878) promoted a heterodox Catholic doctrine that was diffused and survived, thanks to his disciples, between the first decades of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century.

Towiański's Messianic thought was able to attract several people mainly among the Polish, French, and Italian intellectual, military, religious, and political classes. Towianism was an elitist phenomenon that involved a restricted number of individuals. Nonetheless, it was opposed by certain members and factions of the political and religious spheres.

The Towianist wanted to gather disciples and spread their Master's doctrine. On the other hand, they had to deal with an opposition that forced them to react.

Two main research questions drive this study. 1) How the Towianists operated in order to diffuse and defend Towiański's teachings? 2) Why the Towianists operated in a certain way in order to propagate and protect their doctrine?

The Towianists mainly acted toward specific individuals or to a wider audience. In their documentation and memoires, numerous instances of private meetings, public acts, printed books and pamphlets, and unpublished manuscripts can be found. Through the study of published and unpublished sources, this contribution aims to explain the techniques of diffusion and survival of a heterodox Catholic doctrine amid the epoch of Romantic nationalism, the establishment of Nation-States, and the progressive dissolution of the temporal power of the Roman Catholic Church.