The term "Catholic (pre-)Enlightenment" has frequently been used
in 20th-century intellectual history to describe reform-oriented
currents in 18th-century Catholic Europe. It is usually
connected with the implication that an "Enlightenment" already
existing elsewhere was adopted and adapted in the Catholic
regions; for Austria, the three traditional narratives concern
the transfer of "Reform Catholic" ideas from Italy (Muratori),
of "Jansenism" from France and the Netherlands (Emperor Francis
Stephen and his circle), and of "Enlightened" ideas from France
and northern Germany. The devaluation or even the complete
disappearance of the receiving intellectual culture is usually
part of these narratives. For the final third of the 18th
century, and primarily for the sphere of political ideas, the
work of Harm Klueting and others has recently succeeded in
establishing a satisfactory terminological clarity. Much
reflection is still needed, however, concerning the history of
the term "Catholic Enlightenment" itself