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*? v HISTORY
OF THE
?ROTESTANT CHURCH IN HUNGARY,
THE BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION TO 1850;
"WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TRANSYLVANIA.
TRANSLATED BY
THE KEY. J. CRAIG, D.D.,
INTRODUCTION
J. H. MEELE D'AUBIGNE, D.D.
PRESIDENT OF THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF GENEVA, AND
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETE EVANGELIQUE.
LONDON:
JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.
MDCCCLIV.
19>
/ ^v
*ft
CONTENTS,
JTtrst IPmoti.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TILL THE PEACE OP VIENNA,
A.D. 1608.
CHAPTER I.
CONSTITUENT PARTS \ ORIGINAL INHABITANTS ; FIRST TRACES OF
CHRISTIANITY, TILL THE TIME OF STEPHEN THE FIRST, . . 1
CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER THE KINGS
OF THE LINE OF ARPAD, FROM STEPHEN TILL THE DEATH OF ANDREW
THE THIRD— 997-1301, ..... 6
CHAPTER III.
STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER RULERS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES, FROM 1301
TO 1540. THE HUSSITES.
John Huss — His Death— Jerome of Prague— His Death — Doctrines of
the Hussites — Spread and Persecution of these Doctrines in Bohemia,
Hungary, and Transylvania, . . . . .16
CHAPTER IV.
DECAY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND MORALS AMONG CLERGY AND
LAITY LN HUNGARY PREVIOUS TO THE REFORMATION, . . 25
CHAPTER V.
FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY TILL THE
BATTLE OF MOHACS, 1526.
Simon Grynaus and Vitus Viezheim, Professors in Ofen — Queen Mary
and her Chaplain John Henkel as friends of Luther — Contemporary
Movements in Hermannstadt — First Reformers of Transylvania — Am-
brosius and George summoned to Gran — Marcus Pempflinger, Count of
Saxony — The Pope attempts to crush the Reformation — Ludwig II. —
Cardinal Cajetan — Royal Decree against the Lutherans— Hungarian
Students at Wittenberg — Burning of Luther's Books at (Edenberg —
General Council in 1525— Louis II. writes to (Edenberg — Battle at
Mohacs, . . . . . .31
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
BATTLE OF MOHACS, AND ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS ON THE EEFOEMATION
Df HUNGAEY.
Death of Louis II.— Death of the Archbishop— The Cardinal Legate flies,
and is overtaken — John Zapolya remains inactive— The Turks take
Ofen, and burn the Carvinian Library— Consequences of the Battle in
the spread of the Gospel, .....
CHAPTER VII.
FEEDINAND I. EULES ALONE. 1540-1564, ... 58
CHAPTER VIII.
Confession of Faith of the five towns of Upper Hungary on this side the
Theiss — Activity of the Gospel Preachers — Temesvar — Stephen Kis of
Szegedin — Peter Petrovitsh, Count of Temesvar — Stephen Losontzy —
Szegedin banished— Temesvar conquered by the Turks— Death of
Losontzy, . . . . . .64
CHAPTER IX.
An Evangelical High School in (Edenberg — The Town Bela reformed —
Letter of the Archbishop Nicolas Olah— Threats — Firmness of the
Protestants — The Magnates of Hungary, with the exception of three
Families, all Protestants — Introduction of the Jesuits, . . 71
CHAPTER X.
Death of Leonard Stockel and Thomas Nadasdy— Printing of the New
Testament in Croatian — Bishop Dudith's Beport from the Council of
Trent — Covenanting Soldiers at Erlau, . . .76
CHAPTER XI.
Diet of Presburg — Synod of the Evangelical Church at Tarczal — Gabriel
Perenyi — Close of the Council of Trent — The Cup granted to the Laity
— Ferdinand's Medal — Provincial Synod of Tyrnau — Ferdinand's De-
cease— Beview, . ..... 80
CHAPTER XII.
Maximilian I. is made King — Communion in both kinds in Hungary —
The Celibacy of the Clergy — Organisation of the Beformed Church, and
Separation from the Lutherans — Unitarians in Transylvania — Pastor
Lucas — Lazarus Schwend — Confession of Czenger, . . 84
CHAPTER XIII.
Jehoiachim Brandenburg— Death of Gabriel Perenyi, Bishop of Csanad —
Synod of Kremnitz — The twenty-four Zips Towns and their Confession
— David Chytraus, . . . . .87
CONTENTS. Vll
CHAPTER XIV.
Diet at Presburg — John Kurber— Tyrnau— James Wolf— Death of Ser-
pilius and Szegedinus — Formal Separation from Rome, . . 90
CHAPTER XV.
Peter Bornemissa — Stephen Beytha — Michael Starinus — The Pastors of
(Edenberg — Caspar Zeitvogel — Nicolas Telegdy appeals to the Pope —
Maximilian's Death— His Character, . . .93
CHAPTER XVI.
RUDOLPH II., FROM 1576 TO 1608, IN HUNGARY | DIED 1612.
His Education and Manner of Life — Archduke Ernest, Governor of
Austria— Opitz and Scherer — The Concordia in Hungary — Roman
Tactics, ......
CHAPTER XVII.
Roman Catholic Synod at Steinamanger— Bishop Telegdy — Gregorian
Calendar — Banishment of the Protestant Clergy of (Edenberg — Dras-
kowitsh is made Cardinal — Adoption of the New Calendar out of respect
to the King— Banishment of the Jesuits from Transylvania— Death of
Draskowitsh, ...... 102
CHAPTER XVIII.
Caspar Dragonus — Protestant Synods — Peter Berger — Hungarian Stu-
dents banished from Wittenberg — The Formula Concordise — Roman
Troops sent to Hungary — Basta in Transylvania — Destruction of the
Evangelical Church in Styria and Carinthia — The Roman General Bar-
biano in Kasha w and Leutshaw — The Magistrates of Leutshaw and the
Bishop of Raab, . . . . . .106
CHAPTER XIX.
Diet of Presburg, 1604 — The famous 22d Article — Persecution of the Pro-
testants— Stephen Botskay's Rebellion — The Peace of Vienna, . 112
CHAPTER XX.
The Peace of Austria — Botskay's Objection to the Terms — Peace ratified
— Botskay dies of Poison — Conditions of the Peace violated — Matthew
summons a Diet — Matthew becomes King of Hungary, . . 116
Vlll CONTENTS.
g>eccnli pertoiu
FROM THE PEACE OF VIENNA TILL THE CONTENTION OF
SZATHMAR, 1608-1711.
CHAPTEE I.
Presburg Church — Stephen Esterhazy — His Death — The Jesuits — George
Thurzo, Palatine — Synod of Sillein, .... 121
CHAPTER II.
The Archbishops protest against the Synod of Sillein — Answer — Peter
Pazmany — Protestant Princes turn to Popery — Synod of Tyrnau — John
Moschovinus — The "Women of Hricsow — King Matthew gives an un-
favourable Decision respecting the Peace of Vienna. '. . 127
CHAPTER III,
Peter Pazmany's Work — Christopher Thurzo returns to the Protestants
— Oppression— Grabriel Bathyani and the Treaty of Tyrnau — Writings
of the Protestants— Quarrels of the Reformed and Lutheran Clergy —
Jubilee of the Reformation — Ferdinand made King — Siegmund Forgacs
—Death of Matthew, . . . . .132
CHAPTER IV.
FERDINAND II. FROM 1619 TILL 1637-
Ferdinand's critical Position — His fanatical Vow — War with Bethlen
— Bethlen conquers Presburg, and takes the Crown — Diet at Neusohl —
Bethlen refuses to accept the title of King, . . . 138
CHAPTER V.
Reformed Synod at Hedervan — Death of Emerich Thurzo the Palatine—
Bethlen again takes the Sword — Peace of Nikolsburg — Synod of Shin-
taw — Numbers of exiled Protestants — Margrave George of Brandenburg
— Diet of GMenberg — The Legate — Tumult at the Diet — Coronation of
Ferdinand III., . . . . . .143
CHAPTER VI.
Ferdinand II. nominates the Virgin Mary Generalissimo of his Army —
Bethlen declares War again — Is joined by the Germans — Peace of Pres-
burg— The Widow of Palatine Forgacs raging against the Protestants —
George Rakotzy — Gustavus Adolphus — Conversion of several Mag-
nates to Popery — Persecutions — Jesuits in GMenberg — Death of Fer-
dinand II., . . . . . .147
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER VII.
FERDINAND III. 1637-1657. page
Death of Pazmany — Emerich Lasy, Archbishop of Gran— Diet of Pres-
burg — New Persecutions — Deliberations at Kashaw — Deputation to the
King— Torstenson in Moravia— Death of the Archbishop — George Lip-
pay his Successor — George Rakotzy of Transylvania — Banishment of
the Protestant Clergy from the Island Schutt— Robert Douglas— Death
of the Palatine Nicolas Esterhazy, .... 152
CHAPTER VIII.
The Peace of Lira — Protest of the Popish Clergy — The King's Firmness
— The Diet of 1647. The Protestants obtain Ninety Churches restored
— Penal Laws against the Religious Persecutors — Bishop Szelepcsenyi —
Bishop Draskowitsh — The King's Liberality, . . . 157
CHAPTER IX.
New Persecutions of the Protestants in Hungary — Diet of Presburg in
1649— Paul Pallfy, Palatine— Fruits of the Diet— The Jesuits in Tran-
sylvania— Death of the young King of Rome — Leopold crowned King
of Hungary in 1655— Troubles— Death of Ferdinand, . . 162
CHAPTER X.
1657-1670.
Leopold's Education — He favours the Jesuits — The Synod at Tyrnau —
Hungarian Diets, and Grievances of the Protestants — The Diet of 1662
— The Protestant Deputies demand back the Churches and Schools —
Petitions to the King — Specification of the Persecutors — Persecution in
Transylvania — More Petitions — The Protestant Deputies leave the
Diet— Its Close, . . . . . .170
CHAPTER XI.
Effect of the Departure of the Protestant Deputies on the Patriots — Their
Dissatisfaction — Diet of Neusohl — Leopold and the Divan — Attempt to
Poison the King — The Procurator of the Jesuits disappears — Paris von
Spantkaw — Imprisonments — The Malcontents in Kashaw — Assembly
at Neusohl — Trial and Punishment of the Insurgents — Nicolas Drabi-
cius — Renewed Persecutions — Presburg — Its banished Clergy — A new
Insurrection crushed — Persecution still continues — The Archbishop
resigns his Viceroyalty, . . . ... 181
CHAPTER XII.
First Citation of Protestant Pastors to Presburg — The Charge — The
Judges — The Trial — Archbishop's Declaration — Count Illyeshazy treats
with the Pastors — The Pastors are prepared to go into Exile — The Con-
ditions of Pardon — Attempt to gain the Pastors to the Popish Church
—Suhajda— Stephen Fekete, . . . . 197
I
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE XIII. PAGI
The New Citation of the Evangelical Preachers — Condnct of the Pasha—
The Trial — The Sentence — Separate Sentence on the Pastors of Bbsing,
Modern, and St George — Two hundred and thirty-six sign their Deed
of Resignation — The rest refuse — Treatment — Separation of the Luther-
ans and Reformed — Firmness of the Reformed Pastors — Imprisonment
— Treatment in the Prisons — The Jesuit Nicolas Kellio— Petition to
the Emperor — Condemnation to the Galleys, . . . 204
CHAPTER XIV.
Treatment of the Prisoners in the other Fortresses — Journey to Trieste —
Hopes of the possibility of Ransom — Ten join the Church of Rome —
George and Philip Weltz — Appeals to Germany — Charles II. of Eng-
land— The Vice- Admiral of the Dutch Fleet — Hopes of Delivery, and
Disappointment— Admiral Ruyter — The Galley-slaves set free, . 214
CHAPTER XV.
General View of the State of the Protestant Church in Hungary and
Transylvania at the time the Pastors were released — The Pastors in the
Woods and Caves — Cunning of the Priests in attempting to find them —
(Edenberg a favoured City — Princess Eggenberg — Insurrection of the
Hungarians — Tokely — Attempts to make Peace, . . 220
CHAPTER XVI.
Diet of (Edenberg, 1681— Election of the Palatine— Petition to the King
— Memorial of the Roman Catholics — The Petitions of the Protestants
without effect — George Gerhard's Motion — The Roman Catholic Deputy,
Gabriel Kapy — Struggle of the Clergy — The Roman Catholic Magnates
and Nobles assist the Protestants — The Imperial Decree — Further
attempts of the Protestants — Close of the Diet,. . . 226
CHAPTER XVII.
Conduct of the Roman Catholic Clergy after the Diet — The Recorder of
(Edenberg — War with Tokely — Vienna beseiged by the Turks — Re-
lieved by the Poles — The Prince of Transylvania joins Leopold against
the Turks — Ofen retaken after a hundred and forty-six years' Posses-
sion by the Turks — General Karaffa — The Court of Assize at Debrecsin
and Eperjes, . . . . . .239
CHAPTER XVIII.
I'KOM THE YEAR 1688 TELL LEOPOLD^ DEATH ES" 1705.
The Royal Commissioners and their Excesses — Banishment of Pastors
Sextius and John Bury — Stephen Fekete a Persecutor — Bishop Mat-
thew Rhadonai — Rakotzy's Imprisonment and Escape — Civil War —
Rakotzy Conquers Hungary, and is elected Prince of Transylvania —
Treaties of Peace — Foreign Intervention— Leopold's Death, . 247
CHAPTER XIX.
JOSEPH I. FROM 1705 TO 1711.
Election of Superintendents — Quarrels between the Pastors and the Lay
Office-bearers in the Church Courts — Pastor of Presburg banished by
Kollonitz — Charles XII. founds Scholarships — Synod of Rosenberg —
Diet of Onod — Rakotzy Excommunicated — Rakotzy and the Jesuits —
Joseph favours the Protestants — Death of the King — Peace of Szath-
mar, ....... 258
CONTENTS. XI
Cfjtrfi IPetuto,
FBOM THE PEACE OF SZATHMAB TO THE DEATH OP
LEOPOLD II, 1712-1792.
CHAPTER I.
CHARLES VI. 1712 TO 1740. PAGi
Rakotzy's Retirement— Coronation of Charles in Presbnrg— New Perse-
cutions— The King protects the Protestants — The Diet — The King still
favourable to Impartial Justice — Renewal of the Acts of 16S1 and 1687
—Quibbles— Proposed Oath to exclude the Protestants— The Protes-
tants placed entirely in the hands of the King, . . .265
CHAPTER II.
The Difficulties of the King's Position — The Roman Catholics seize the
Protestant Churches in the newly-conquered Lands — Jesuitical Justifi-
cation of the Acts — The Churches of Komorn, Wesprim, Papa, and
Lewens — The Tithes — Presumption of the Priests — Attempt to reduce
the Number of Preachers— Petitions to the King, and his Reply, . 271
CHAPTER III.
THE PESTH COMMISSION, . . . . .274
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION, . . . . .279
CHAPTER V.
THE RESOLUTIONS OF CHARLES, . . . . .287
CHAPTER VI.
STATE OF THE PROTESTANTS IN TRANSYLVANIA UNDER CHARLES VI., 299
CHAPTER VII.
The Protestants summoned to Rebellion — Misfortunes of the Imperial
Army — Disgraceful Peace — Death of the King, . . . 303
CHAPTER VIII.
MARIA THERESA. FROM 1740 TO 1780.
Dangerous Position of the Queen — She is delivered by the Hungarians —
Fruitless efforts of the Protestants to obtain their Religious Freedom —
Forbidden to present Petitions in Corporate Capacity — Extracts from a
Petition to the Queen — Effects of this Petition— Examination of the
Pastors respecting Baptism — The Resolutions of Charles VI. of 1731
renewed — Sorrowful Consequences — Persecutions — The Protestant
Schools, ....... 305
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX. PAG1
Ecclesiastical Visitations — Bishop Biro — Processions — Mixed Marriages
— Children taken from the Parents— Countess of Szent-Ivany — Perse-
cution of the Protestant Pastors— Matthew Bohil, . . 315
CHAPTER X.
Imprisonment of Bohil — Cause — Escape — A Jewish Rabbi — Persecution
of the Friends of Bohil — His Wife's Escape — Bohil's Works on the Eccle-
siastical State of Hungary — The Papal Nuncio Camil Paulati and the
Societies of St Joseph and St Stephen— Duties of Members— Banish ■
ment of Professors, . . . . . 321
CHAPTER XL
United Petition of the Protestants— Martin Biro's Pamphlet — Dealings
of the Court — Appeal to Foreign Powers — Letter of Frederick the
Great to the Archbishop of Breslau, Cardinal Schaffgotsch — His
Appeal to the Pope— The Protestant Prelate Sweetmilk — The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury interferes — The British Ambassador — Effects of
the Interference — Gabriel Pronay, . . * . 326
CHAPTER XII.
The Queen's Promises — The Chapels of Ease taken away — General Per-
secution of the Protestants — Biots at Vadosfa — Imprisonment of the
Superintendent and forty-four of his Church Members — The Seven
Years' War with Prussia — Peace, and Diet at Presburg — The Death
of the Queen's Consort, Francis I., . . . 334
CHAPTER XIII.
The Chancellor's Court — John Dourjan's Pamphlet — Provision made for
Hungarian Students at Tubingen — Continued Persecutions, . 339
CHAPTER XIV.
Travels of the Emperor Joseph — He meets with the Protestants, and
receives their Deputations — The Superintendent of Debrecsin — The
Emperor's dislike to the Jesuits — Letter to the Duke of Choiseul —
Letter to Earl Aranda, Minister of Spain — Suspension of the Jesuits
in 1773, ....... 342
CHAPTER XV.
Erection of new Bishoprics — The Protestants begin to breathe more freely
— The Filial Churches freed from the Priests — Petitions to the Empe-
ror and Empress — The Emperor's Journeys — Development of Religious
Freedom, . . . . . .346
CHAPTER XVI.
LIMITATIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME, . . . 349
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN TRANSYLVANIA, . . .351
CONTENTS. Xlll
JFmirfJ) Period
FROM JOSEPH II. TO FRANCIS JOSEPH L, 1780-1849.
CHAPTER I. pAGE
General View of the Emperor's Position — His wonderful Letter — Edict
of Toleration, . . . . . .359
CHAPTER II.
First Fruits of the Edict of Toleration : Thanks of the Protestants;
Protest of the Priests of Hungary and some of the Counties — Efforts
of Cardinal Migazzi-rThe Minister Kaunitz — The Confessor's Explana-
tion—Pope Pius VI. comes to Vienna— His Efforts fruitless— His
Master of Ceremonies — The Pope's Departure — The Leave-taking —
The Emperor's Present, .....
CHAPTER III.
Benefits of the Edict of Toleration — Freedom of the Press — The Em-
peror popularly charged with Heresy — His Reply, and his Decree
founded on it — The Six Weeks' Instruction of persons leaving the
Church of Rome — Church-building in Hungary — The Commissions of
Inquiry and the Homo Diocesanus — The Spirit of the Viceregal Court,
and of some of the Counties — Extracts from the Petition of the Sister
Churches to the Emperor, ..... 370
CHAPTER IV.
Reform in the Schools — The Protestants Distrust the National Schools —
Relief in Church -building — The Church Registers — Organisation be-
yond the Danube — Abuse of the Six Weeks' Instruction — Poisoning of
the Abbot Rautenstrauch at Erlau — Persecution of those who wish to
leave the Church of Rome, .... 376
CHAPTER V.
Removal of the Bishops from Civil Offices — Application of the Religious
Funds — School System — Farther evidence of Joseph's love of Justice
— War with the Porte — Revolution of the Netherlands — Serious State
of Hungary — The Emperor's Health gives way — Recall of his Reforms
■ — The Crown sent back to Hungary — The Emperor's Death, . 382
CHAPTER VI.
State of the Protestants under Leopold II., from 1790 to 1792 — Leopold's
Arrival — Petition of the Protestants referred to the Diet — Royal "Re-
solutions" and their Consequences — The Diet — The Seventeen Articles
of the United Synod — Deputation of the Synod to the Cardinal Primate
of Hungary— Sudden Death of the King, . . . 385
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
PART FIRST, FROM 1792 TO 1800, . . . . .393
CHAPTER VIII.
A GLANCE AT THE INWARD LIFE OF THjf CHURCH IN HUNGARY,
1792-1800, ....... 404
CHAPTER IX.
Fruitless Petitions of the Protestants — John Arban imprisoned — The
command to keep Roman Catholics out of the Protestant Churches-
Confiscation of London Bibles — Little Warfare of the Priests — A Depu-
tation to Vienna — The Palatine Joseph's Audience in Vienna — Met-
ternich and the Ministry, » 407
CHAPTER X.
The Inner Life of the Church — Attempts to improve the State of the
Schools — The Famine — Legacies— Support of the Preachers — Ecclesias-
tical Authority and Order decay^Attempts to get up a School Fund
and a Periodical — The Bible Society — Preparations for the Reforma-
tion Jubilee, ...... 414
CHAPTER XL
FROM THE REFORMATION JUBILEE TO THE DEATH OF FRANCIS I.
The Jubilee Celebrated only by the Lutherans — Fruits — Students For-
bidden to Study Abroad — Register of Mixed Marriages — Children
Separated from their Parents — Deputation to Vienna — Persecution of
the Protestants in Puchow — The King in Hungary — Report of Ladis-
lausTeleky, . . . . . .418
CHAPTER XII.
The Theological Institution at Vienna — Prohibition of Bible Importation
— The Roman Catholic National Synod — Hohenegger's Signs of the
Times— Diet of 1825-27, . * . . . .425
CHAPTER XIII.
The General Archives — Catechisms and School-books — Military Chap-
lains' Clerical Dress — The Summer Schools — The Unauthorised
Teachers — The Diet of 1830 — Pastoral Letters of the Bishops — Count
Butler's Conversion — Country Churches, their Attachment to the
King — Death of the Emperor — Universal Mourning, . . 428
CHAPTER XIV.
FERDINAND V. FROM 1835 TO 1848.
The Old Ministry— The Diet of 1836— The Roman Catholic Deputies-
Pastoral Letter respecting Mixed Marriages — Payment of " Priests'
Dues "—Royal Present to the Pastors of the Valley of Puchow — Diet
of 1840, . . . . . . .431
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XV.
REFOEMS WITHIN THE CHURCH. PAGi
Plan for Church and School Reform — Protestant Soldiers in Italy — The
General Archives — Theresa Szirmay's Foundations — Founding of the
Hungarian Church at Pesth — Peace in the Church — Attempts at
Union, ....... 434
CHAPTER XVI.
DIET OF 1843-44.
Royal Resolutions of 5th July — Dissatisfaction of the Protestants and the
Bishops — Debates at the Table of Magnates — Petition to the Palatine
and the Diet— Wonderful Declaration of the Palatine, . . 437
CHAPTER XVII.
Calling of the Professors to Zay-Ugnacs — Coarse of Instruction — Popish
Holidays — Provision for the Instruction of the Soldiers — Accusations
— Death of the Palatine — Foundation of the Protestant Church in
Ofen— Archduchess Maria Dorothea goes to Vienna — Archduke Stephen
as Deputy-Governor— Diet of 1847-48, . . .442
CHAPTER XVIII.
diet OF 1847-48, ... ... 445
CONCLUSION, ...... £52
APPENDIX.
I. List of the Scholarships and Foundations for the Benefit of Hungarian
Students at Foreign Universities, .... 457
II. Population of Hungary, ..... 458
III. Petition of the Protestant Clergy of Hungary, assembled in 1851, near
the Danube, and addi'essed to the Emperor Francis Joseph I., . 459
IV. Address to Her Imperial Highness Maria Dorothea, . . 462
INTRODUCTION.
During the course of a tour in Germany in the year
1846, a number of documents, both printed and in
manuscript, relating to the history of religion in Hun-
gary, were kindly submitted to my consideration. The
Christian friends who had bestowed so much care and
pains in forming this collection, at the same time ear-
nestly requested me to make use of its contents, for the
purpose of writing a History of the Reformation in Hun-
gary. They thought that such a narrative, while bring-
ing to the notice of evangelical Christendom in the West
many instructive facts which had been hitherto unknown,
would at the same time evince to the Protestants of
Hungary that the great principles of the Christian faith
had been endeared to their forefathers, and had formed
the groundwork of then own Eeformation in the six-
teenth century. I recall to mind the place where this
request was made to me, and the many interesting cir-
cumstances that attended it, together with the persons
who were the bearers of it, whom I shall probably never
see again. That epoch of my life is associated in my
memory with ineffaceable feelings of respect and love.
It soon, however, became evident to me that these docu-
ments did not so much appertain to the history of the
XV111 INTRODUCTION,
Reformation in Hungary as to the general history of that
country from the first introduction of Christianity, and
more particularly to the period after the Eeformation. For
this reason I considered it impossible to give up writing
the history of evangelical religion in the first half of the
sixteenth century, which I could with difficulty accom-
plish, to enter upon an entirely new work. I was there-
fore compelled to decline the request which had been
made to me ; but at the same time I mentioned the
names of several writers, both in Germany and the French
cantons, whom I thought quite capable of performing the
honourable task that had been proposed to me.
I heard no more of the work in question until lately
(July 1853), when I learnt that the book had been com-
pleted^ and I was requested to edit it, or at least intro-
duce it to the Christian public by writing a preface.
The friend who asked me to do this urged as a motive
for my compliance, that it would be for the sake of the
gospel and of suffering Hungary. " The Lord," said he,
" will, I hope, shew you plainly that the demand comes
less from man than from God." Though I felt that there
were other Protestant authors more capable than myself
of making this work known to the public, still I did
not feel justified in meeting this second request with
another refusal, and therefore replied in the affirmative.
I wish, therefore, in accordance with this desire, to
recommend the narrative to the notice of all friends of
the Protestant faith. "No complete history of the Church
of God in Hungary has yet been published ; and the
period intervening between the reign of Maria Theresa
and the present time especially, has been hardly sketched,
save in a few detached fragments. The work that we
INTRODUCTION. XIX
now offer to the public ought, therefore, to be considered
worthy of attention, were it only for its novelty, but more
particularly so on account of the labour that has been
bestowed on its composition. The author is a man pos-
sessed of enlightened piety, sound judgment, integrity,
faithfulness, and Christian wisdom — qualities well calcu-
lated to inspire perfect confidence. He has obtained his
materials from the most authentic sources. Government
edicts, convent protocols, visitation reports, and official
correspondence, have all been consulted with scrupulous
attention, as is proved by the numerous quotations which
he cites. He has thus sought to place the authenticity
of his book on an indisputable basis, and at the same time
to render it impervious to the shafts of hostile criticism.
It remains for the future to prove how far he has suc-
ceeded. While bearing honourable testimony to the
care that has been expended in the production of this
book, I do not mean to affirm that, as a historical com-
position, it is without faults. But I am writing an intro-
duction, and not a critique. I think that in some parts
the History might have been fuller and more detailed;
but the author sought to be brief, and this is a merit
that certainly possesses its own advantages. However
that may be, I cannot help thinking that this volume
will be read with interest, for it fills up a chasm that has
long existed in the history of Protestant Christianity ;
it unfolds a page in the annals of martyrdom that has
been hitherto unread ; it opens up to the Protestant
Christian the view of a suffering and oppressed Church ;
and it makes known a nation, distant, it is true, but
brought near to us by its faith, and which has ever
become to those who have lived within it an object
XX INTRODUCTION.
of warm and sincere affection. " Open thy month for
the dumb, in the cause of all such as are appointed to
destruction/' said the mother of King Lemuel to her son
(Prov. xxxi. 8). This book obeys that ancient precept.
It tells of wicked persecutions, and pronounces in favour
of the oppressed party, while it brings to light the
intrigues of their oppressors. The Christian, when he
reads it, will surely be led to pay more attention to the
cause of his suffering brethren in the east of Europe ; to
intercede with Heaven in then behalf; to undertake their
defence ; " to do justice to the afflicted and the needy "
(vei\ 9) : for " if one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it" (1 Cor. xii. 26).
^ow, although this book is well calculated to interest
us — the Christian people of Western Europe — it also
reads a useful lesson to those who suffer persecution in
Hungary, as well as to those who inflict it. I wish to
address a few words to both these parties, and it is to
our oppressed brethren that I would first speak.
It is absolutely necessary to the very existence of a
truly Christian Church that it should possess two quali-
fications : one is authority ; the other, freedom. The
authority of God, which calls for obedience of man, is the
principle of faith and life ; and freedom is necessary to
the action of the Church. Although these two principles
may appear contradictory, they are nevertheless inti-
mately connected. True freedom cannot exist without
authority ; and authority, to be firm and salutary, must
be blended with freedom. There is an authority which
must exist in the Church ; and this I would especially
recommend to the Hungarian Protestants. I cannot
give them a stronger proof of my regard than in so
INTRODUCTION. XXI
doing, for never was submission to this authority more
needful. Some Roman controversialists seem to believe
that Christianity consists wholly in authority (the au-
thority in the Church is their chief dogma); but, .while
this is unquestionably far from being true, it is not untrue
to affirm that a divine authority (the authority of Scrip-
ture) forms the outward principle of Christianity, and
without it faith is but a vapour that passeth away. Did
not Christ himself rest his own teaching upon the words
" It is written" ? . . . . There is a wide difference between
the authority exercised by the gospel, and that claimed
by the Church of Rome. For Rome rests her power on
the earthly authority of councils and priests, while we
derive ours from the will of God himself, made known in
the writings which He has inspired. One is, the rebel-
lious tyranny of fallen man ; the other, the legitimate rule
of heaven itself. Let us reject the one, and hold fast by
the other.
It is probable that the Protestant Church of Hungary
erred by departing from this divine authority, and
therefore did not escape that blight of rationalism which
swept over the whole of Europe during the second half
of the eighteenth century. This History informs us that
there were a party of laymen who exhorted their pastors
to rest satisfied with teaching the people their duty as
citizens and Christians, and to set aside the doctrines of
what they denominated a vulgar orthodoxy. There were
some ministers — blind guides — who thus yielded to the
spirit of the age, and thought themselves wise in their
own folly. This was the inward canker of the Hungarian.
Church — an evil more dangerous in its consequences than
the most cruel persecutions.
XX11 INTRODUCTION.
The first thing needful, then, to restore the Hungarian
Church, is to establish within it the perfect and undivided
control of the will of God as revealed to us in Holy
Scripture. This was the working principle of our glori-
ous Reformation. " I have neither seen, nor heard, nor
perceived anything of it," said Luther, when speaking of
the mysteries of God ; " but, because God says it, I will
believe it must be, and follow the word " (Watch x., pp.
13, 14). This precept, in reference to the supreme
authority of what is written, is not only to be met with
in all the books of Luther ; it was also the guiding prin-
ciple of his whole life. How does the Reformer write to
the Pope? "I am ready," says he, "to give up to all
men, and in all things ; but as for the Word of truth, I
neither can nor will let that go." When the Pope
ordered the books of Luther to be burnt, — "Let them
burn," says he ; " 1 have only wished to bring men to the
Bible." When officious mediators, in the solemn days at
Worms, said to him, "Trust yourself to us, and we will
settle this matter in a Christian way," he answered,
"I can entrust to the power of the emperor both my
person and my life, but — the Word of God — never!"
Thus spoke, not Luther only, but Zwinglius, Pavel,
Calvin, Tindal, Cranmer, and Knox. The doctors of
the Genevese schoo] are perhaps even more explicit than
the Lutheran teachers touching the paramount authority
of Holy Scripture.
This principle is a necessary concomitant of Christian
life. Xo church or people can exist without obedience
to this divine rule. I do not wish to enter now upon
the field of political discussion ; neither is it my desire to
depreciate the ancient constitution of nations, and the
INTRODUCTION. XX111
liberties which children have inherited from their fathers.
But I declare, without any hesitation, that, in the exist-
ing condition of Hungary, I know of but one cure for its
numerous ills, for its deeply festering wounds ; and this
remedy is pointed out in the passage of Revelation to be
found in chapter xxii. 2. " The leaves of the tree of life,
which are for the healing of the nations," represent the
Word of God, and the authority, the teaching, the faith,
and the life, which derive their source from Holy Scrip-
ture. It is to this divine authority that Protestant
Hungary ought to give in her hearty allegiance. She
has sought a cure for her wounds in the sphere of politics,
when she should, before all else, have sought it in the
sphere of Christianity. I do not mean to say that poli-
tical freedom is a chimera. Certainly not ! But I affirm
that no nation can enjoy this condition of liberty, until
the authority of the Word of God is paramount among
them. There is some counterpoise necessary to freedom.
Men cannot make a proper use of civil liberty, except
they are inwardly influenced by the Word of God.
Should the restraints of Holy Scripture ever cease to be
exercised in England and the United States of America,
the religious and political freedom which these nations
now enjoy would soon be merged in the excesses of an
unbridled democracy. That respect for law which dis-
tinguishes these nations, is a pledge of the continuance
of their liberty, their power, and prosperity. ~Now, this
respect for the law is essentially derived from the influ-
ence of Holy Scripture, from obedience to that Divine
Word which has said, " Fear God ; honour the king "
(1 Pet. ii. 17).
If, however, I have descanted on authority in address-
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
ing the people, I would now speak of freedom as relating
to the princes and magistrates. No Protestant Church
has experienced so much oppression as that of Hungary.
The persecution arose at the time of the Reformation,
and exists to this very day in some measure. Religion
is a matter between God and man, or, as the great auto-
crat, Napoleon I., himself expressed it, " The rule of the
prince terminates where that of conscience begins." When
governors fail to acknowledge this principle, then, under
colour of enforcing order, a door is opened to all sorts of
disturbances in the State. If a man is debarred from the
freedom to worship God according to the dictates of his
own conscience, he suffers in his holiest and highest
feelings — he becomes disaffected, irritated, and indignant
against that human authority which claims an obedience
due to God alone. On the one hand, doubtless, men
wanting in moral courage, and incapable of sacrificing
the comforts of life for the sake of their faith, would
yield to violence, give up their religious profession, and
subscribe a fatal recantation from the truth. This has
sometimes happened even in Hungary. Turning to the
other side, we shall find pious, faithful Christians, holding-
fast their confession, and suffering patiently the infliction
of chains, even of death itself, rather than deny the
gospel : they are, as their Master, sheep dumb before
the shearers. But besides these two parties, there must
always exist some proud, independent spirits, not brought
as yet under the controlling influence of the Divine
Word, who will be driven by oppression into fearful
excesses. Wherever there is a Louis XIV., there will
also be Camisards. It is an old saying, that " Persecu-
tion stirs up revolt ;" and if it does not actually produce
INTRODUCTION. XXV
rebellion, it at least fosters discontent, disaffection, and
ill-will — conditions essentially opposed to the public wel-
fare. It is, then, for the sake of their own interest that
we earnestly supplicate the higher powers to grant liberty
of conscience. What is to be gained by refusing it ? De-
spite of all that can be said or done, the subjection of
conscience is beyond the reach of human power. A few
harmless individuals may be terrified and ill-treated, but
of their faith they cannot be deprived. Can those who
attempt to justify religious persecution bring forward as
an excuse the righteousness of their cause ? Ah ! if they
had really at heart the prevalence of truth, they would
allow it unrestrained action. By its own innate power,
and the voice of inward conviction, it will make its way
into the hearts of men. It has never yet been thrust
upon them by the sword and the prison-house ; such a
line of proceeding would be like teaching philosophy by
means of the rod. Can we even allow the security of
public welfare to be alleged as a motive in justification of
proceedings hostile to religious liberty ? Is it not rather
well known by experience, that a religion imposed by
priests, and enforced by the civil power, has no intrinsic
strength ? It is like the cords with which Delilah
bound Samson — a single effort suffices to break through
them (Judg. xvi. 9). Let us turn our eyes towards the
Eoman Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal,
and France — constantly a prey to revolution; while Pro-
testant nations possess a stability united with freedom,
and enjoy a public tranquillity which must command
confidence in proportion as it is based upon the influence
of the Word of God. For this reason, after requiring
that the people should submit to the will of God, we
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
would require of the prince to recognise the liberty of
the Christian.
Nevertheless, control and freedom are not alone suffi-
cient for the Church : she must also possess faith and
life. The dominion of the Church among the Romanists
is an entirely outward system of rule, which is in a
greater or less degree mechanically submitted to. The
authority of the Word of God, as acknowledged by the
Protestants, is. on the contrary, an inward power acting
upon the affections, the will, and the intellect, renewing
them by the Holy Ghost, and leading- the converted man
to obey with joy and not with grief — with love and not
with fear — from a strong internal conviction of duty,
instead of a stupid and unreflecting servilitv.
To enable the Church of Hungary to take the position
that belongs to her among the other reformed Churches,
the pure faith held by the children of God must become
mio-htA" within her. She must, in obedience to the ATord
of God, believe with the heart and confess with the
mouth, the fall of man through Adam's transgression —
* CO
his corruption through sin — his utter inability to raise
himself from the miserable condition into which he has
fallen — the eternal Godhead of the Son of God, who
became man, and was offered up for us on the altar of
the cross — justification by faith, which, resting upon that
sacrifice, rescues the sinner from the death which he has
deserved, and gives him eternal life : — finally, the Holv
Ghost (God as well as the Father and the Son) ruling in
tli£ heart by the Word, and liberating it from the law of
sin. It is necessary, then, that the Church of God in
Hungary should confess in heartfelt sinceritv, with Luther,
as have also confessed Calvin and all the other Refor-
INTRODUCTION. XXVll
mers : " The first and principal article of our faith is,
that Jesus Christ our Grod and Lord died for our sins,
and rose again for our justification. All have sinned and
are justified freely by his grace without works or merit
of their own, by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
through his blood. No pious man can give up any por-
tion of this belief, even if heaven, and earth, and all things,
should be involved in ruin. In this belief is contained
all that we teach, bear witness to in our lives, and act
upon, in spite of the Pope, the devil, and the whole
world."*
If faith in these articles be a living principle in the
Church of Hungary, that Church is secure. "We demand
then of that Church to hold this belief, to proclaim it
from the pulpit, to keep it alive in the heart. We make
this demand for the sake of its forefathers, for the sake
of its martyrs, for the sake of its own life and prosperity,
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which
is pronounced over the heads of all its children. This
Church has been illustrious in ancient times, and ought
at the present period to rise up and again take her place
among us. Perhaps she may only be able to raise her-
self amidst privation and tears, bound like Lazarus " with
grave-clothes, and swathed in a shroud ; " but if she lives
by faith, that is sufficient : her reward will not fail her.
* " Hie primus et principalis articulus est, quod Jesus Christus Deus
et Dominus noster sit propter peccata nostra mortuus, et propter
justitiam nostram resurrexerit. Omnes peccaverunt et justificantur gratis,
absque operibus, seu meritis propriis, ex ipsius gratia, per redemptionera
quae est in Christo Jesu in sanguine ejus De hoc articulo cedere
nemo piorum potest, etiam si ccelum et terra ac omnia corruant. In hoc
articulo sita sunt et consistant omnia quse contra papam, diabolum, et
universum nrundum, in vita nostra docemus, testamur, et agimus." — (Artie.
Smalcaldii, 2d part.)
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
We can exhort her boldly from the west of Europe —
from the foot of the Alps — from that town of Calvin
which has always regarded her with affection — in words
from Holy Writ—" Awake thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph.
v. 14).
In conclusion; I would return to what I have before
expressed. This book is not one for ordinary reading.
It is not simply to be considered as a book, for it is the
exponent of a fact. A branch of the great family of the
gospel has been forgotten by the rest, and this wrong,
although of long existence, must be redressed. After
having read this volume, the reader must not rest satis-
fied, as is usually the case, with placing it upon the
shelves of his library. These pages contain a solemn
appeal to all true Christians. What God requires of
those who shall read them is, — to pray, to believe, to hope,
and to act towards Protestant Hungary in faith and love.
I will terminate by quoting the prayer which Luther
offered up when he saw the Turks threatening to attack
Hungary, and thence Germany — " Here comes the
Turk, the Rod of God, with a great and powerful army,
sweeping over Hungary ;" and I would wish every Hun-
garian, and every friend of Hungary, to pray with that
reformer (Opp. xxii. p. 2350) : —
" O Lord God, have mercy upon this poor land. Con-
found the Devil according to thy great power. Protect
thy Church against thy foes. Glorify thy Son. Look
not on our sins. Give us thy Holy Spirit, and grant us
a true and certain knowledge of thy pure Word. Amen."
Merle d'Aubigne.
Geneva, September 1853.
HISTORY
PROTESTANT CHURCH IN HUNGARY.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY,
JTtrst Period
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TILL THE PEACE OF
V1KNNA, A.D 1008.
CHAPTER I.
CONSTITUENT PARTS; ORIGINAL INHABITANTS; FIRST TRACES OP
CHRISTIANITY, TILL THE TIME OF STEPHEN THE FIRST.
The kingdom of Hungary, also called Pannonia, once so
mighty and powerful, is even now one of the largest crown lands
of the Austrian empire ; containing above 5000 geographical or
110,000 English square miles. It was only by slow degrees
that it assumed its present form. It is divided into Upper and
Lower Hungary, or the circuits beyond and on this side of the
Danube and Teiss, and contains fifty-two counties, which in
independence and form of jurisdiction much resemble the Swiss
Cantons. Some of the counties occupy the space of a small
kingdom ; for example, Bihar county contains 4200, and Pesth
4050 English square miles. There are also entire circuits which
have hitherto enjoyed peculiar immunities, freedoms, and privi-
leges, as in the Jazygier and Rumania, as also in Little Rumania
between the Danube and Teiss, which have always had the
Palatine as their highest judge. To Hungary are also reckoned
the regencies of Transylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, and
the military boundary. The whole territory is 460 English
miles long, and 345 broad.
This large kingdom — almost surrounded by the majestic Car-
pathian chain as a garden with a fence, and intersected by vari-
ous navigable rivers, abounding with the choicest fish, as the
Teiss, the Save, the Drave, and the royal Danube — produces
A
2 HISTORY OF THE
within itself all that the necessities and comforts of life demand.
Distinguished by its excellent breeds of cattle, and by natural
productions of every kind, as com, wine, and tobacco, gold and
silver, rock-salt and iron ; with a climate temperate and (except-
ing the marshy regions of Lower Hungary) very healthy ; the
industrious inhabitants enjoy everywhere an abundance of all
that they require. Strangers need only avoid the richer diet of
the country, and they soon find themselves at home, ready to
join in the songs of our fathers —
" No other land like Hungary,
No other songs like hers." *
For these reasons, the Romans chose to take forcible possession
of Hungary beyond the Danube f six years before the Christian
era, and gradually pushed forward till, in the year 106, the terri-
tory above the Teiss and the present Transylvania were con-
quered under the Emperor Trajan, from whom it received the
name of Dacia. Hither were Roman colonies sent, according to
the usual custom ; but when the power of Rome began to decline,
this land met with the fate of other Roman dependencies, and
passed gradually into other hands. In the year 270, the Goths
took possession of Dacia ; and a hundred years later, yielded to
the Huns, who, coming from Asia like a swarm of locusts,
covered the land. In the year 434, under Attila, " the scourge
of God," had the power of the Huns reached its height ; but
that power was doomed to crumble down in the year 469,
through the quarrels of Attila's three sons. We now find in
Dacia the Gepidse, and in Pannonia the Eastgoths, who, in the
year 489, under their king Theodorick, passed over into Italy.
Into their place came the Longobarden or Longbeards, and
shortly after the Avari, a people nearly related to the Huns.
These last, in the year 565, conquered the Gepidse, and thus
took possession of Pannonia. They also conquered Styria,
Illyria, Dalmatia, and Austria (Noricum), and even took posses-
sion of Constantinople.
By their plundering excursions in Germany, Italy, and even
so far as France, the Avari drew on themselves the wrath and
* " Mag mem Ungarn nicht vertauscben,
Mag nicht fremden Liedern lauschen,
Nirgends ist's wie hior, so gut."
t Beyond the Danube means, here and elsewhere in this book, the south-
western side of the river, or the part nearer Rome.
PEOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 3
the army of Charlemagne, who, in the year 803, defeated and
drove them back.
About this time we find some weak attempts made to intro-
duce the gospel among this barbarous people ; pious and learned
monks from England and Italy ventured among them, but, being
ignorant of the language, and seeking to influence the people less
by schools and regular continued training, than by the outward
ceremonies of religion, they left but few traces of their work
behind. The little which they had done was shortly after de-
stroyed by the Magyars or Hungarians, who, coming over from
Asia under the guidance of Almus, took possession of and
gradually consolidated the entire land. These sought out the
seats of their distinguished ancestors, the Huns, and increased in
power until, under the renowned Arpad, they reached the summit
of their glory, and made themselves the terror of all surrounding
nations. About this time two distinguished Christian mission-
aries, Cyrill of Illyria and his brother Methodius, laboured with
much success in the countries adjoining Hungary. The former
had been sent out by the Greek Emperor Michael into Bulgaria,
from whence he passed, accompanied by his brother, into Croatia
and Moravia. Here he succeeded, about the year 902, in per-
suading Swatopluck, King of Moravia, with his whole nation, to
embrace the Christian religion.
Of all the accounts we have of the religion of the Magyars at
that time, the best authenticated seems to be, that they wor-
shipped Mars as their principal deity, and, on the outbreak of
hostilities, summoned the warriors by sending round a sword — the
symbol of their god. They worshipped also the earth, fire, the
sun and moon, and a goddess* " Rasdi," whence u varayslo,"
the soothsaj^ers or prophets of Rasdi. Whether they offered
human sacrifices is uncertain, but not improbable; for every
religion devised by man leads more or less to intolerance and
cruelty, and, instead of advancing the cause of humanity, sinks
man deeper in vice and crime, j"
* Vossius de Idolatria, lib. iii. p. 807. Bonfinius, Rerum Hung. Decade
II. lib. ii. p. 223.
t A passage in an edict of Ladislausn1077-1095, throws some light on
the heathen worship of the Hungarians. It runs thus : — " Whosoever shall,
after the usual heathen custom, offer sacrifice at lakes and springs, under
trees or on heaps of stones, shall for each offence be fined in the penalty of
4 HISTOEY OF THE
Under Duke Zoltan, between the years 907-947, we find the
Hungarians plundering in Bavaria and Saxony, Switzerland and
Alsace, and bringing home a booty stained with the blood of
their innocent victims. After a nine years' peace with Henry
the First, sumamed the Bird-catcher, they resumed their preda-
tory excursions, and learned to their cost that Henry could do
more than catch birds, for, in a pitched battle at Merseberg, thirty-
six thousand Magyars were left dead on the field. At Augsburg
they sustained a still greater defeat in an engagement with the
Emperor Otto, their forces being nearly completely swept away,
while three of their chief leaders, Bulesu, Lehel, and Botond,
were taken, and hanged.
Humbled by these misfortunes, the remnant of the people
listened more attentively to the message of the gospel. The
number of the Christian teachers gradually increased in Upper
and Lower Hungary ; and being favoured in their operations by
the naturally mild disposition of the Regent Geyza, they soon
succeeded in persuading many of this indomitable race to forsake
their idols, and turn to the living God.
According to some accounts. Joxus. the father of Geyza, had,
so early as the year 950, commenced to favour the introduction
of Christianity among his people. It is evident that under his
reign some families had embraced Christianity, and that his own
children were baptized ; for one son was called Michael, and
another Ladislaus, one daughter Beatrix, and another Amies —
names which are not found among the heathen.
More marked was the influence of Charlotte in this great work.
She was the daughter of a Transylvanian prince, Gyula. and was
married to Geyza. She had been already baptized before mar-
riage, and her genuine piety won the hearts of all around her.
Among the captives, also, whom the Hungarians had brought
home in their predatory excursions, were many Christians, even
priests and monks, who, having learned the language, became, in
the providence of God, the means of leavening the families in
which they resided with the influence of Christianity. Exactly
in proportion as they succeeded in this work did they themselves
receive milder treatment, as if they should thus be spurred on to
greater zeal. Artisans and merchants from Germany were in-
vited to settle in the land. Light is coming into contact with
darkness. The issue of the struggle will soon appear. The
Emperor Otto hears of the spread of the gospel in Hungary,
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 0
and, in the year 972, sends Bishop Bruno to encourage Geyza
in favouring the great work.
In the year 977, Geyza was solemnly baptized. The gospel
plan of spreading the truth seemed now too slow. Some quicker
method must be discovered by which the whole nation shall at
once follow his example. Geyza tries compulsory measures, and
a nation clinging with punctilious exactness to the customs of the
fathers is driven to the verge of rebellion, while a baptism which
they have been compelled to receive produces no correspond-
ing change of character. His bright prospects are completely
clouded.
With his son \Vaik, who was baptized by Adalbert, Bishop of
Prague, in the year 995, and who on his baptism received the
name of Stephen, begins the more important era in the history
of the Church of Christ in Hungary.
HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER THE
KINGS OF THE LINE OF ARPAD, FROM STEPHEN TILL THE
DEATH OF ANDREW THE THIRD— 997-1301.
Shortly after his baptism, the young prince Stephen ascended
the throne, in his eighteenth year. Trying as the position might
otherwise have been, it was rendered doubly so for him on account
of his youth, and the religious excitement which then prevailed.
Charlemagne had succeeded, though not without bloodshed, in
spreading Christianity in Germany ; and about the year 890 the
Christian religion had been firmly established in Bohemia. To-
wards the year 965, the Poles followed the example of the Bohe-
mians ; and shortly after, there came from Italy and Greece vast
numbers of pious missionaries, who, with complete devotedness to
their work, penetrated through the whole of Hungary. These
labours were regarded favourably by the young king, who, under
the guidance of his pious mother and the Christian teachers,
aimed at making his people Christians as soon as possible. To
this end he issued an edict, commanding them to change their
religion, and affixing penalties in case of refusal. The natural
consequence was, that the Magyars, jealous of their freedom,
refused to obey, and the dissatisfaction which had shewed itself
under the reign of Geyza now broke out under the guidance of
Kupa, Duke of Samogy, into open rebellion.
The young king soon gained a victory over the insurgents,
and, as a grateful acknowledgment for his success, he finished
and richly endowed the Benedictine monastery which his father
had commenced. He was equally successful in an engagement
with the Transylvanian prince Gyula; and, as he refused to
embrace Christianity, Stephen kept him in prison for the re-
mainder of his life, and joined his land to Hungary in the year
1002.
Stephen enforced a strict observance of the Sabbath. All the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 7
cattle and implements which were found employed in the de-
secration of that day were confiscated. He built also several
churches- established and endowed many bishoprics and mo-
nasteries.
He divided the kingdom into counties — (gespannschaften)-r-
appointed a royal palatine, lieutenants of counties, and judges ;
lie established schools for the education of the youth, and by
strict laws secured the right of property. His last days, how-
ever, were embittered by domestic troubles. His son Emerich died
unexpectedly, in his twenty-fourth year. His wife, a Bavarian
princess, rendered his life miserable by her intrigues. She suc-
ceeded, by the assistance of the monks, in persuading Stephen
to appoint his sisters son Peter, from Italy, as his successor, and
thus exclude Vasul, Andrew, and Bela, who had a nearer claim.
The two latter fled to Poland, but Vasul was put to death with
excruciating torment, his eyes being put out, and boiling lead
poured into his ears.
The avenging justice of a righteous God soon visited Peter
with ample retribution. By the extravagancies of his life, and
still more by the preference shewn to foreigners at court, he
excited his people twice to rebel. In the second revolution he
was taken prisoner, had his eyes put out, and died in prison in
Stuhlweissenburg in the year 1046.
Glad to be freed from this king, the Hungarians recalled
Andrew from banishment, and offered him the throne, on the
express condition that he should root out Christianity; for,
according to their opinion, all the evils they had suffered under
Peter's reign were to be attributed to the religion which he pro-
fessed. Though this condition was much opposed to his own
inclination, yet Andrew unhappily consented. Little did he
think how many chinches and monasteries should thus be wasted ;
how many clergy, particularly foreigners, should be delivered up
to the cruelties of an exasperated people. Without delay the
Hungarians proceeded to demolish all that bore the Christian
name ; and it was on this occasion that Bishop Gellert was
thrown from the Blocksberg at Ofen, whence the hill to this day
bears his name.*
Yery shortly after his coronation, however, Andrew the First
issued an edict, commanding the nation to return to the Chris-
tian religion ; and his whole life was spent in its defence. His
* Called by the Hungarians, "Szent Gellert Hegy," or Gellert's Hill.
8 HISTORY OF THE
brother Bela came to the throne in 1060, and followed in his
footsteps, but reigned only three years.
Scarcely had Christianity thus gained a little stability in the
land, when the devastating hordes of the wild Rhunen, during
the reign of Solomon, breaking out of Moldavia, plundered Hun-
gary to the banks of the Teiss. Equally destructive were the
invasions of the Bulgarians and the Greeks about the same
time ; and it was not till the reign of Ladislaus that the clouds
began to scatter.
With his reign commenced a bright period in the history of the
Church of Christ in Hungary. Solomon was soon dethroned,
and Ladislaus, thus set free, proceeded to invade Croatia, which
he conquered in 1091, and founded there the bishopric of Agram.
Having attacked a plundering horde of the Rhunen, he con-
quered them at the river Temes, and took them all captive. He
now gave his prisoners the choice between embracing Christi-
anity and suffering death. They chose the former, upon which
they received the present Zazygia as their place of residence.
Ladislaus strove to advance the social condition of his people,
and for this purpose summoned two general councils or parlia-
ments. He died in the eighteenth year of his reign, A.D. 1095,
and was buried in Grosswardein. The people mourned for
him three years. During his reign, Pope Gregory VII. had
given Stephen I. of Hungary, and his son Emerich, a place in
the Calendar ; and a later Pope, in consideration of the great
benefits which Ladislaus had rendered the Church, placed him
also among the Romish saints.
These costly and pompous ceremonies of canonisation tended
only to enrich the Pope, and to flatter and deceive the people,
by leading them to look for salvation in outward ceremonies,
and forget the words of the Lord Jesus, a The kingdom of God
is within you."
Rome placed other gods beside the Lord Jesus. The Scrip-
ture teaches us of only one God and one Mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. ii. 5) ; only one Inter-
cessor and Advocate with the Father (1 John ii. 1, 2) ; only one
High Priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens, who is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for tliem (Heb. vii. 25).
At a very early period the Papacy had mixed up with the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 9
pure doctrines of the gospel many heathen rites and ceremonies.
Thus was the effect of a preached gospel weakened or destroyed.
How glorious might the fruits have been, had Rome availed
herself of the opportunities offered by well-disposed princes, to
spread the pure religion of Jesus ! What a bright morning
might have dawned on the land if such an enlightened king as
Kolomann had been properly supported and directed by the
Church ! As a man of penetration and knowledge, far in advance
of his time, we find him prohibiting the burning of witches,
11 because there are none." The fever of the European Crusades
had no power over him. The first companies of plundering
Crusaders who reached his territory on the way to Jerusalem,
were driven back j the next companies, under Godfrey of Bouillon,
being more regular, obtained a free passage, with the necessary
provisions by the way. By prudently yielding to their demands,
he quieted the rebellious Croatians, and added Dalmatia to his
kingdom.
After his death, in 1114, his son Stephen II. ascended the
throne. He led a dissolute life, and died childless, having for
the last years usually gone in the garb of a monk. He appointed
the blinded Bela, the brother of Andrew, to be his successor.
Bela died after a ten years' reign, leaving three sons, of whom
the eldest, Geyza II., reigned till 1161.
This wise prince invited labourers from Germany to work in,
the mines and to till the land. It was during his reign, in the
year 1142, that Saxons obtained a settlement in Transylvania,
where they have ever since resided, retaining their freedom and
their nationality, and numbering, at the present day, 200,000
souls.
His son Stephen III., a good-natured, easy man, suffered Dal-
matia to be taken from him by the wily Greek Emperor Mamul.
This loss, together with some other reverses, so affected him,
that it shortened his life, and he died in the twenty-third year of
his age.
His brother Bela III. reigned from the year 1173 till 1196.
Although educated at the Greek court, yet he kept himself free
from the corrupt principles and practices which there prevailed,
and disappointed the fears of the Hungarians by his wise and
good government. He introduced among his subjects the cus-
tom of handing in all their complaints in writing. His private
secretary wrote a history of Hungary. He recovered Dalmatia
10 HISTOBY OF THE
from the Greeks ; and, as he was preparing for a crusade to Jeru-
salem, he died, in his forty-sixth year. To his eldest son, Erne-
rich, he left the kingdom, and to the younger, Andrew, immense
wealth, with the obligation to expend it in a crusade in the
father's stead.
Neither of the sons reached the father's expectations. The
eight years' reign of Emerich is to us, however, of importance,
chiefly because, during that time, a very considerable number of
Hungarians joined that band of faithful men who had dared to
claim the Word of God as their rule of faith and practice, and to
raise then* voice against the errors of the Papacy • to act as the
Greek Church had done long before, and break loose from Rome.
It was the sect of the Waldenses and Albigenses, or, as they
were called in Italy, Patareni, or Cathari,* which at this time
gained so many adherents.
As God has in the rich treasury of nature provided suitable
remedies for all the ills that flesh is heir to, so has he also pro-
vided abundant relief for our spiritual maladies. When the
priests under the Old Testament dispensation forsook the word
of God, neglected their office, and turned to the world, the Lord
raised up prophets to instruct the people ; and when the Church
of Christ was by a hireling priesthood reduced to a state of
abject ignorance, He raised up single individuals, and quali-
fied them to strive for his cause. Such a witness for God was
Peter Waldus. This great man, distinguished by wealth, know-
ledge, and a thorough acquaintance with the Word of God, who
lived at Lyons, in France, and translated the Scriptures about
the year 1170, was driven by fierce persecution from his native
land, and came to reside in Bohemia. Here he gathered round
him pious men, whom he sent out to preach the gospel in
Hungary.
So early as the year 1176, we find in Hungary many adhering
to the doctrines of the Waldenses, who had sought here an
asylum before the vengeance of Rome ; f even among the clergy,
the number who had adopted these sentiments was not incon-
siderable 4
Under Emerich' s reign, however, the number of Waldensian
* See Moslieim, Eccl. Hist., cent. xi. ch. ii. 13.
t A very satisfactory evidence that the sect of the "Waldenses existed
long before the days of Peter Waldus — that is, Peter the Waldensian. — Tn.
X Vitringa in Apocalyps. xii. 13.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 11
refugees became much more considerable. Those who in France,
Spain, and Italy, escaped the fire and sword of Innocent III.,
fled over Venice to Dalmatia and Bosnia, where they applied for
protection to the Banus Kulin, who was a member of the Greek
United Church, and who stood imder the superior government of
Hungary. At first the refugees found in him a protector, and
afterwards a zealous friend. So soon as the wife of the Banus,
and Daniel, Bishop of Bosnia, had declared their adherence to
this sect, ten thousand Greeks publicly separated from the Ro-
man Church. The Pope and Bernhard, Archbishop of Spalatro,
now demanded of Emerich, King of Hungary, that he should
punish the heretics, and drive them back to the arms of the
loving mother Church.
By the advice of the king, the Banus proceeded to Rome, and
by his prudence succeeded in removing all danger for the present
— at least from himself if not from his proteges. Soon, how-
ever, his zealous neighbour, "Wolkven, ruler of Servia, accused
the Ban Kulin once more to Innocent III. The Pope, urged on
by Bernhard, now demanded that Kulin should be banished, as
also that the bishop Daniel and all the heretics should be ex-
pelled or subdued by force of arms. But little was wanting to
make Hungary and the adjoining countries the scene of a bloody
religious warfare, as the plains of France and Savoy had already
been made at the bidding of him who styles himself " The Vicar
of Christ on earth."
Emerich was wise enough to refuse the Pope's demand. He
advised the Ban and the Bishop to be cautious, and thus
thousands escaped the fate of their brethren in the faith in other
lands. Daniel continued bishop for life ; * after his death, how-
ever, the Pope's legate, John, who came from Servia to Bosnia,
succeeded, on the Tuesday after Easter 1203, in bringing a great
number of the Patareni back to the Church of Rome. The Ban
Kulin, probably tired of the commotions, assisted him in the
work. The conditions were, however, very easy. The contract
was first brought to be signed by Emerich at the royal residence
on the Hare Island, between Old and New Ofen, and afterwards
sent to the Ban to guide him in his future conduct towards Rome,
and also towards the so-called heretics.f
The doctrines of the Albigenses took deep root, however, among
* Catal. testium verit. p. 724.
t Fessler, Geschichte der Ungarn, 6tes Heft, p. 345.
12 HISTORY OF THE
the Bosnians, and were by this trading people carried into Dal-
matia, Croatia, and Slavonia, with so much effect, that the
Hungarian bishops, in terror, demanded the introduction of the
Inquisition in the year 1228.*
About this time, after the death of Ladislaus III., the king-
dom had passed to Andrew II. It was long before this prince
thought of fulfilling his father's wish in undertaking the crusade.
And then, the money left for that purpose being all spent,
Andrew levied new taxes, and fanned out the royal revenues to
the Jews and Mahomedans. The necessary funds being thus
obtained, he had his son Bela crowned to rule the land in his
absence, while he with ten thousand horsemen set out for the
Holy Land. The only fruits of this crusade were, that after
having narrowly escaped being poisoned in the valley of Le-
banon, he returned laden with relics, and brought also with him
the daughter of the Greek emperor, Laskaris, as a bride for his
son Bela.
He found the country like a garden run wild. The haughti-
ness of the nobility, the rapacity of the clergy, the usurious
oppression of those who farmed the public revenues, and the
general demoralisation of the people, were unbounded.
The difficulties were rather increased than diminished by the
famous diet of 1222, in which, by the Golden Bull, new immu-
nities were granted to the nobility. Contrary to his promise,
Dionysius, who was much disliked, continued to be palatine,
and the royal revenues still remained in the hands of the Jews
and Mahomedans, who oppressed the people to that extent
that many changed their faith for that of their oppressors.
Thus far was the moral and religious- state of the land debased
by a monopoly which had been granted without due restrictions.
In vain did the Pope, who would gladly have had his own
hand in the bag, warn the profligate Andrew to be more mode-
rate in his expenditure, and to give the farming of the taxes
only to Christians ; it came at last so far that Kobert, Arch-
bishop of Gran, laid the whole land under the Papal ban.
Thus was the thirty years' reign of Andrew II. one unbroken
chain of difficulty, misfortune, and distress for him 'and his
whole people ; and he left the kingdom, in a state of great demo-
* The founder of the Inquisition was Innocent III. in 1215 ; but it was
under Gregory IX., in the year 1233, that this institution first became so
terrible.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 13
ralisation and poverty, to his son, Bela IV., in the year 1235.
Soon was the royal authority again restored, and Duke Frede-
rick of Austria, whom some malcontents had called into the
land, was, in 1236, driven back as far as Vienna, and made to
pay dearly for his ravages in Hungary. Misunderstandings
soon crept in again between ruler and people; for, as the Rhunen
were more and more annoyed by their neighbours, the wild
Mongols of Moldavia, Bela brought forty thousand families of
them into the present Great Rumania, which highly offended
the Hungarians. Both king and people suffered for this on an
early day ; for, when the wild hordes of the Tartars, coming as
a scourge over Russia and Poland, broke into Hungary, only a
few thousand Hungarians could with difficulty be brought
together to meet them. " Love is the fulfilling of the law."
The love of a people to their ruler is, in the hour of need, the
key which unlocks the treasures, the talisman which conjures up
armies, the secret power which enables to make every sacrifice ;
mutual love forms the electric chain through which the spark of
the ruler's will is communicated to all his subjects, and the
subject's wish is brought back to the ruler.
It was lamentable that this bond was not so firm as the king
deserved, and as the people's danger required. On the 12th of
March 1241, the wild hordes of the Mongols, to the number
of half a million, under the guidance of Batu Khan, crossed the
Carpathian mountains, and on the third day after they swarmed
round Pesth. Contrary to his own wish, but by the advice of
Archbishop Ugrin of Kalocz, Bela gave battle with one hundred
thousand men, at the river Sajo. The Hungarians, in a bad
position, and hampered in their movements, were completely
routed. Kalman, the brother of the king, died of his wounds,
and it was only with difficulty that the king himself escaped.
He fled to Frederick, Duke of Austria, who, however, plundered
him of all the money he had left. He then passed over to
Dalmatia, where, on the islands Issa and Bua, he found safety.
When the Tartars forsook Hungary, in 1242, they left it
literally as a graveyard. Many villages, towns, and churches
were burnt and plundered. Some of the inhabitants fled to the
marshes and impenetrable woods ; but the rest, without excep-
tion, were butchered. , When the remnant began to return from
their concealments, they found the wild beasts so numerous
that the wolves took the infants out of the cradle. In addition
14 HISTORY OF THE
to all this, the plague broke out, and swarms of locusts came,
devouring every green thing. The people lived on carrion —
indeed, even human flesh was publicly sold in the market!
A terrible judgment of God lay on the land. All religion, all
the finer feelings of humanity, seemed completely vanished.
The sorely -tried king did his utmost to alleviate the distress.
He travelled through the land, strove to comfort the distressed,
administered alms to the poor, invited foreigners to settle in the
country, and thus rescued it from the verge of destruction.
Bela IV. knew that the inhabitants of a land are its riches, and
that king and country are rich and powerful in proportion to the*
number of industrious hands they can claim as their own. To
spare this treasure, which was, indeed, sufficiently small, the king
declined obeying the repeated commands of Pope Gregory IX.
to undertake a crusade against John Asan, the heretical king of
the Bulgarians. Why ruin his people by another war? he
thought. The Pope had, by his legate, James, raised sufficient
disturbance in Hungary, so that the archbishop preferred taking
the side of the king to that of his spiritual master. Bela had
much to do to prevent the land falling back to heathen
darkness.
The two following kings did little for the land. Stephen
V., the ungrateful son of Bela, reigned only two years, and
was succeeded by his son, Ladislaus IV., who wore the crown
of Hungary till 1290. He spent his time chiefly among the
Bumanians, who were mostly heathens, and became a volup-
tuary and sensualist like themselves. He looked quietly on
while they plundered the chinches, and compelled those of their
own people who had become Christians to ton back to heathen-
ism. The exasperated Hungarians fell on the Bumanians, and
were about to compel them to be baptized, on which they rose in
troops to leave the land. They returned, to invade Transylva-
nia, in 1282, but were repulsed by Ladislaus ; on which they
joined with the Tartars, and returned with an immense host, in
1285. They spread such devastations that many of themselves
died of hunger ; the pestilence raged fearfully among them, and
those who tried to escape were cut down by the Hungarians, so
that very few reached their home.
So great was the poverty of the people that many had no
cattle to till the fields ; and though this was in part attributable
to the wars, yet the profligacy of Ladislaus also bore part of the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OP HUNGARY. 15
blame. The two-wheeled ears, which were about this time
introduced, bear the name of the Ladislaus cars to this day, as a
testimony of public opinion against the king, that he was, at
least to some considerable extent, the cause of their poverty. He
died a miserable death, being murdered by the Rumanians. He
had neglected the customs of his people, and finding, therefore, no
place in their affections, they called him " Khan Laszlo," the
Rumanian Ladislaus.
The land of the childless king was inherited by Andrew III.,
who reigned from 1290 till 1301.
Though an intelligent and just prince, yet the land was not
permitted, under his reign, to recover from its wounds. Mary,
Queen of Naples, the daughter of Stephen, wished to raise her
grandson, Charles Robert, then ten years of age, to the Hun-
garian throne. This unjust claim was supported by the Pope,
by Dalmatia, and by a faction of Hungarians. It came so far
that Charles Robert was crowned at Agram in the year 1300, by
the ungrateful Gregory, whom Andrew had made bishop, and to
whom he had shewn so many favours.
Andrew's reign was near an end. Not supported by the Pope
or the clergy in his aims at religious and moral reform, he made
little progress in this respect. While he and the clergy were
jealously watching each other, the doctrines of the Waldenses
increased rapidly ; and even at Ofen were the adherents so
numerous, that the Papal legate, Philip Firmian, who had
issued a strict edict against them, was obliged to save his life by
flight.
In the following spring, as Andrew was, with his nobility and
those of the clergy who had remained faithful, preparing to meet
his rival in the field, a black deed stopped his course. His
Italian body-servant, having been bribed, mixed poison in his
food, and he died in the year 1301.
With him ceased the male line of the house of Arpad. Hun-
gary, formerly a hereditary monarchy, from this time elected her
king ; and from 1301 till 1540, was governed by princes of
different families.
18 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER III.
STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER RULERS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES,
FROM 1301 TO 1540.— THE HUSSITES.
John Huss — His death — Jerome of Prague — His death — Doctrines of the Hussites —
Spread and persecution of these doctrines in Bohemia, Hungary, and Transylvania.
Shortly after the death of Andrew III., we find the Waldenses
in very considerable numbers in Hungary. Formed into separate
congregations, and labouring with great zeal for the spread of
their doctrines, they caused the Church of Rome much anxiety.
About the year 1315, we find the numbers of this people en-
lightened by the Word of God — and, even as their enemies con-
fess, maintaining a high standard of morality in Bohemia, Austria,
and the neighbouring lands — amounting to eighty thousand.
Rome, therefore, did her utmost to have them suppressed. No
term of disgrace was too bad, no crime too great, to impute to
them. They were represented as maintaining the most terrible
heresies, though their Catechism, published in 1100, and their
Confession of Faith, in 1120, completely refuted the calumny.*
It was in Austria that the influence of Rome was first felt. In
Vienna some were publicly led to the stake, and among these we
find mention made of Simeon Scaliger, a Hungarian, who is
represented as an apostle and angel of the sect, and who nobly
witnessed for the truth in a martyr's death.t
In Hungary the priests of Rome were less successful in gaining
over the civil power to serve their purposes. This land having
been at all times more inclined towards the Greek than the Latin
Church, afforded the Waldenses more protection, and furnished
the priests with fewer blinded instruments for carrying out their
* Joannes Honert in Dissert. Hist. Theol. de Fid. Religioneque Vet. Vald.
pp. 38, 52, 62.
t Catal. testium verit. p. 756.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 17
bloody designs. The greater freedom of the Hungarian constitu-
tion was also unfavourable to the workings of the dark and
slavish Inquisition ; so that even the commands which either by
force or fraud were issued against the Waldenses were seldom
carried out. Indeed, the Inquisition never gained a firm footing
here, and was at no time so terrible as in other lands. Even
many of the nobility embraced the new doctrines, and adhered to
them with the more zeal, in proportion as they saw the riches
and the pride of the Roman clergy increased.
Thus lived the Waldenses in free Hungary, under the pro-
tection of the powerful, almost independent, nobility, with little
to annoy them till the reign of the Emperor Sigismund, when they
received the name Hussites, and at which time the days of trouble
and visitation came.
In the year 1400, John Huss, who had previously been pro-
fessor in the Academy of Prague, was preaching in the Bethle-
hem Church in that city. The church was often too small to
contain his audience. With a freedom, and in an evangelical
spirit, which reminds us of Luther, he testified against the vices
of the clergy and the nobility, and did not spare even the Pope
and his court. Kindness and severity were both tried for the
sake of silencing this voice, but in vain. Many of his sermons
are so eloquent, so penetrating and powerful, that they would
scarcely be allowed, even in the present day, to appear in Aus-
tria without alteration. With him, gospel truth was every-
thing, and in publishing this, he cared little for persons and
rank. He thought with the apostles, " If I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. i. 10).
As Pope John XXIII. , in the year 1411, ordered a crusade
to be preached against Naples, and proclaimed a free pardon of
sin to all who took part in this war, — John Huss, Jerome of
Prague, and other pious men, protested against the act, and
publicly declared the Pope to be Antichrist, because he was ex-
citing Christians to wage a deadly war against their brethren.
The students carried the Popish bulls and indulgences in dis-
grace through the city, and afterwards burned them in the pre-
sence of many thousands of the inhabitants.
It was very natural that neither Rome, nor the degraded
clergy, nor the immoral nobility, could bear such powerful testi-
monies. " Because ye are not of the world, therefore the world
hateth you." The fate of these witnesses is well known. The
B
18 HISTORY OF THE
hatred of the Roman clergy succeeded in having Huss burned at
Constance on the 6th of July 1415, and Jerome of Prague on
the 10th May 1416, while the clergy of that tender church, out
of which is no salvation, quieted their consciences respecting the
u Safe-conduct " of the emperor, by declaring, " No one is bound
to keep faith with heretics." *
" Both of these men died praising God. On the way to the
stake, they sang hymns, and were as cheerful as if going to their
wedding. No mere philosopher ever suffered the fiery death so
nobly as these men did." Thus does iEneas Sylvius testify of
both.f Their ashes were thrown into a pool, but their doctrines,
and the love of their followers, could not be drowned. Their
friends took home, instead of the ashes, a portion of the earth
where they had suffered. Their memory was blessed. The
cruelty of their blood-thirsty enemies was in vain, and their hopes
were put to shame, for the number of adherents to their
doctrines, instead of diminishing, increased very considerably.
Shortly afterwards, when the Bohemians were declared to be
heretics, and when the soldiers of Sigismund attempted to reduce
them to obedience, a valiant general and defender of the faith
was raised up in the person of John Ziska, a nobleman, who
was so well supported by the people, that he gained eleven
victories in succession over the imperial troops.
From this time the doctrines spread rapidly, even over
Hungary and Transylvania, where many of the resident Saxons
had already embraced the faith, but, for the sake of avoiding
Sigismund's persecutions, had fled into Moldavia and Wallachiav,
The doctrines were also, when contrasted with those of the
Church of Rome, of such a nature, that they commended them-
selves to every lover of truth. ' What most provoked the Court
of Rome, and what was regarded as their principal offence, next
to the rejection of the Roman sovereignty, was the translation of
the Scriptures into the native language^ and the free use of this
translation among the people.
According to the account of iEneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope
Sylvester II., their principal doctrines were as follows : —
The Pope of Rome is nothing more than any other bishop.
No difference of rank should be made among the clergy, and
not the ordination, but the holy life, makes the priest.
* Hist. Present. Bohem. pp. 26, 30, 31.
t iEneas Sylvius, Hist. Boh. cap. xxxvi. p. 75.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 19
The souls of the deceased go immediately either to eternal life
or eternal misery.
There is no purgatory.
It is a device of priestly avarice, and a useless thing, to pray
for the dead.
All pictures of the Divine Being, and of the saints, should be
abolished.
The consecrating of water is ridiculous.
The clergy should be poor, and content with their alms.
Confirmation and extreme unction are no sacraments.
The confessional is mere child's play.
Baptism should be performed simply with water.
The consecrating of burying-grounds is only for the sake of
gain, and it is all one where the dead lie.
The priest's dress, the church ornaments and vessels, are of
little importance.
The priest can, at all times and places, prepare and administer
the sacrament of the body of Christ, and the use of the words
of consecration is for that purpose sufficient.
Prayer to the saints reigning in heaven with Christ, is useless.
On the Sabbath, one is bound to refrain only from daily
labour.
The adoration of the saints must be completely rejected.
Fasts appointed by the Church have no merit before God.
The religion of the begging monks is an invention of Satan.
Every man has a right to preach the gospel.*
These were the principal doctrines which Rome considered
dangerous to her interests, and which, by the deluded civil
powers, she strove to extinguish in blood. The war which, under
Sigismund, had not been very happily ended, was continued by
Rome under the reign of his successor Ladislaus, in Hungary.
Here, and especially in Upper Hungary, had many Hussites,
during the war, found a home. This immigration had taken place
especially about the year 1424, when Ziska had led the Huss-
ites triumphantly through Lausitz and Silesia into Hungary.
Thousands of them settled in the counties of Presburg, Trent-
shin, Barsh, Neograd, Sol, Thurotz, Liptau, Arva, Sharosh, and
Albania. Here they formed congregations of their own, and
built churches, where they worshipped God according to the
dictates of their own conscience.
* Hist. Boh. cap. xxxv. p. 67.
20 HISTORY OF THE
These circumstances annoyed Rome very much ; but what was
to be done ? To banish them from Hungary would be little use.
By so doing, the evil would only spread further. In the year
1444, therefore, the Cardinal Julian concluded a contract with
King UladislatiSj that the Hussites, wherever found, should be
completely destroyed,. The carrying out of this bloody decree was
hindered by the unsuccessful battle of Varna, where King Ula-
dislaus. who had been persuaded by the legate and the clergy to
break his solemnly sworn peace with the Turks, fell in battle,
and had his head carried about in triumph on a pike among the
Turks.* With him fell the principal Hungarian nobility, and
the Cardinal Julian was killed while attempting to escape.
The great misfortune which thus befel the nation was advan-
tageous to the spread of the truth. Many of the clergy had
fallen in battle ; a dangerous foe was approaching ; the cause of
the Hussites, though as dangerous to Borne as the Mahometan
invasion, was for the present forgotten. Under the regency of
Hunyady, during the minority of Ladislaus V., the Hussites,
united with the Bohemians under the guidance of Giskra. wasted
and annoyed Upper Hungary. Even the brave Hunyady,
■who had so often defeated the Turks, could do little against
them, for his troops were strongly biassed in favour of the
Hussites. He concluded a peace, therefore, with Giskra, which
was the more likely to continue, as a terrible event set all Europe,
and especially Hungary, in a state of feverish excitement.
Mahomet the Second had taken possession of Constantinople
on the 29th of May 1453, and thus was the Greek empire brought
to an end. Pope Martin the Fifth proclaimed a crusade for the
recovery of Constantinople, and, through the monk John Kapis-
tran, issued a plenary indulgence to all who should take part in
the war.
The Hungarians soon mustered under the guidance of the
brave Hunyady. But not many of the nobility were in arms ;
for the diet which had been held at Ofen for considering the best
means of defending the land, had led to no beneficial result ; and
the king, with his evil counsellor Cilley. fled to Vienna, so that
the defence of the country rested on Hunyady and his little
* " God of the Christians," said Amurad II. as he saw the Hungarian
king coming down to the fight, " punish the traitor who dishonourest thy
holy name by breach of his solemn oath ! " Soon he fell under the
swords of the Janisaries.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 21
noble band. He was soon strengthened by a company of sixty
thousand volunteers whom John Kapistran had gathered. Other
powers had promised help, but did not send. These volunteers,
though of very different stations in life, and from different coun-
tries, as well as being very badly armed, were soon, under the
prudent management of Hunyady, in such a state that they
attacked the Turkish army, consisting of two hundred thousand
men, at Belgrade, and obliged them to fly, with a loss of forty
thousand men.
Shortly after this, Hunyady died at Zimon, in the eightieth
year of his age, and in his stead his bitterest foe was appointed
regent of Hungary. As he was about to punish with death
Ladislaus, the son of Hunyady, at Belgrade, the army mutinied,
and killed him. Thus were king and country freed from this
evil counsellor. The king declared the sons of Hunyady not
guilty, and, to relieve the mother's mind, took a solemn oath
" that he would never avenge the death of Cilley on the sons of
Hunyady." Notwithstanding this, however, he beheaded the
eldest son Ladislaus on the 17th March 1457, and threw the
younger son Matthew into prison. As the mother, and a near
relative, Michael Kilagyi, raised troops to compel the king to
set the guiltless youth free, Ladislaus Y. fled to Vienna, and
took Matthew with him. Shortly after, he went to Prague,
and died on the 23d November 1457. People remarked that it
was on that day twelve months before, that he had taken the
oath not to harm the sons of Huynady.
Matthew remained in the power of George Podiebrad. Tt
was not long, however, till the remembrance of his father's merits,
and some other circumstances, awakened such a feeling in his
favour, that, at a general council held at Ofen for settling the
affairs of the kingdom, amidst universal rejoicing, Kilagyi,
standing with forty thousand troops on the frozen Danube, pro-
claimed this youth of fifteen years, King of Hungary. In a
few days an embassy was sent to bring Matthew — known as
Matthew Corvinus — with great honour to Ofen.
The design of the present work will not allow us to follow
this distinguished king, and recount all the good which he did
for his country — especially to record how he, during the
thirty-two years of his reign, advanced the cause of learning.
Though constantly engaged in war, yet he spared no expense to-
collect all the books and manuscripts which escaped the plunder
22 HISTOKY OF THE
in Constantinople and Athens, and to found a library in Ofen,
and brought thither distinguished men from other countries. He
also established a printing press.
The more astonishing was it in this prince, that he dealt
hardly with the Hussites. The Eoman clergy, however, and
the Pope, were able to stir him up to this work with so much
more success, as the Bohemian king Podiebrad had openly taken
their part, and, to please them, was oppressing the Roman Catho-
lics. When Paul II., therefore, had excommunicated the King
of Bohemia, and promised to bestow the kingdom on any one
who could conquer it, not only the Pope, but also the Emperor
Frederick III., gave Matthew no rest till he took the field
against his father-in-law Podiebrad, in the year 1468. Though
the emperor neglected to send the promised assistance, yet
Matthew at last conquered Moravia, Silesia, and Lausitz, and
was crowned at Brtinn, King of Bohemia, in the year 1469.
This was, however, of little use, for, at a diet in Prague, Podiebrad
succeeded in having a resolution passed, that after his death the
electors should choose Uladislaus, the son of Casimir, King of
Poland, and not Matthew, to be their king. And they kept
their word.
Matthew was now not only involved in a dangerous war with
Poland, but also engaged in quelling an insurrection in his own
land. His former tutor, John Yitez, Archbishop of Gran, had
excited this insurrection. The king was successful, and came
away as conqueror in both cases.
About this time, the king, who was naturally inclined to be
just, and who had obtained better information respecting the
Hussites, recalled those whom he had banished two years before
to Moravia, and gave them a residence in their own land.*
What the Jesuits, Szent, Yvanyi, and especially Florimund,
relate of the great severity of Matthew against the Hussites,
seems, therefore, to be unfounded, as being directly opposed to
the general character of the king ; and especially as the latter
historian shews himself to have been in other points badly in-
formed. Florimund, for example, while telling of the burning
of the Hussites before Ofen, makes Matthew to have died in
1525, while his death really took place on the 5th April 1490.
How little the king was inclined blindly to serve the interests
of Rome, and how firmly he was resolved to protect his own
* Historia Persecutionis Bohemiae, xxii.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 23
royal rights and privileges against all pretensions of the Pope,
may be seen from the extraordinary letter which he wrote to the
Cardinal of Arragon, in which he declares that the right of
the crown to bestow the bishoprics and other places of trust, he
would on no account surrender to the Pope.* It is also worthy
of notice that he kept the learned and witty John, Bishop of
Wardein, surnamed Pannonicus, as favourite poet at his court,
and always near his person, although he was frequently writing-
cutting satires against the abuses of Rome and the person of the
Pope, with a keenness which sometimes resembles Juvenal : — f
u Oh, Spaniards, Gauls, Slavonians, Germans, Huns,
Ye seek the gates of him who bears the keys ;
Why run so far, ye fools ? To enrich the Latian gods 1
Is no one saved, then, who remains at home 1 "
Matthew's successor was Uladislaus II., a good-natured and
indolent prince, paying Jj|tle attention to the affairs of his king-
dom. The Hussites had, therefore, heavy trials during his
reign. He was in the habit of replying to every request, what-
ever it was, " Dobre" (good), for the sake of being freed from
all farther trouble, wherefore even the Hungarians called him
in mockery, " Dobre Laszlo," Uladislaus the Good. When his
queen was near her confinement, and her mind therefore more
easily affected by the arguments and promises of her spiritual
advisers, she was persuaded by the bishops to obtain from him
an edict by which all the Hussites should be excluded from
offices of trust, cast into prison, and, if they did not recant, be
punished with death. |
In the year 1508 the Hussites suffered another persecution,
which proceeded chiefly from the Augustine monks. In self-
defence they handed their confession of faith to the king ; and, as he
very naturally could not find in this confession the heresies with
which they were charged, and as they pictured forcibly the dis-
tresses to which they had been exposed, he was so moved, that
he modified very considerably the severe edicts which had gone
* Apud Revan, cant. v. p. 45.
.t Asa specimen, we may take a few lines out of his poem on the Roman
Jubilee : —
" Hispani, Galli, Slavini, Teutones, Hunni,
Clavigeri petitis limiua sancti Petri ;
Quo liiitis, stulti ? Latios ditare Penates ?
Salvari in patria liiccine nemo potest ? "
X Adrian Regenvolscius in Hist. Eccl. Slavoniae.
24 HISTORY OF THE
out against them.* In forming this resolution, perhaps he was
also moved by the fate of his wife. Shortly after persuading
him to issue these severe decrees against the Hussites, she had
died in Prague of a premature confinement. With much diffi-
culty the life of the child was saved, and he afterwards reigned
as King of Hungary till he met with his death in the battle of
Mohacs.f
The threatening aspects of the times, arising from the fear that
Selim I., the Turkish emperor, would invade Hungary, and still
more from that irregular mass of crusaders, who, to the amount
of forty thousand men, under the guidance of Dorsa, were
turning their weapons against the nobility, — induced the priests,
and indeed all who were possessed of property, to give the per-
secuted Hussites a little rest. They lived then quietly and
retired till the sun of the Reformation, with its enlightening and
warming beams, shone also on them, ^s with the exception of
a few points they held generally the same principles as the
Reformers, agreeing with them completely in acknowledging the
supremacy of the Word of God, they gladly united with this
movement. To escape the bloody persecution under Ferdinand
II. of Austria, many of them emigrated from Bohemia and
Moravia into Germany, where they, under the guidance of Count
Zinzendorf, founded flourishing congregations at Herrnhut and
other places. These churches made most incredible sacrifices
for the spread of the gospel in Greenland, Africa, and America ;
and even to the present day their missions are in a most prosper-
ous state. The Hussites in Hungary and Transylvania escaped
from the oppression of the priests by emigrating to Wallachia,
where they long maintained their principles uncontaminated. In
the year 1716 they sent to the Reformed Church of Transylvania
asking for preachers to be sent them. As this demand, however,
could not be fully satisfied, part of them joined the Greek Church,
and part fell into the hands of the Franciscan monks.
* Tstvanfy, lib. ii. p. 177.
t Hist. Present. Bohem. cap. xxiv. p. 83.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 25
CHAPTER IV.
DECAY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND MORALS AMONG CLERGY AND
LAITY IN HUNGARY PREVIOUS TO THE REFORMATION.
How far the religion of Jesus had decayed in the middle ages
under the hands of the priests of Rome, and how deep the Church
and her servants were, both morally and intellectually, sunk, is
universally acknowledged. The state of Hungary was naturally
no better than other countries similarly situated. For, in the
first place, the constant wars did not tend to improve the morals,
and then the wealth and high rank of the clergy gave them
frequent opportunities for sensual gratification. The bishops,
abbots, and superior clergy of Hungary, were, in general, also
wealthy landholders, who, under the prevailing feudal system,
were often called on to decide not only with reference to the
property, but also the lives and liberties, of their dependants. It
was no wonder, then, that, instead of feeding the lambs of the
fold of Christ, they involved themselves in worldly business and
affairs of state, while their lives were notoriously ill calculated
to adorn the gospel.
The essence of religion was supposed to lie in the outward
ceremonies of the Church, which were performed without devo-
tion by the clergy, and attended on by the people merely out of
custom. The orthodoxy of the people was tested by their
attendance on these services. The Popes created one saint after
another, and appointed them patron deities of certain lands, to
whom altars were built, and to whom the superstitious people
fled for protection in the time of need. Pretended wonders said
to have been performed by these saints were, with the Pope's
approbation, used as means of drawing the people still more
closely to the worship even of their pictures and images.
What Cardinal Bellarmin says of other countries, was also
true of Hungary. " There was scarcely any true religion more."
26 HISTORY OF THE
In proportion, however, to the want of vital godliness, was the
number of " Holy places." In Hungary there were reckoned
one hundred and forty different places where the image of the
Virgin Mary was represented as working wonders. These were
afterwards described with great care, and illustrated with wood-
cuts, by Prince Paul Esterhazy, Palatine of Hungary, and
printed in the Hungarian language, " for the conversion and
confounding of all heretics, for the comfort of all orthodox (that
is, Roman Catholic) Christians, and to the greater glory of the
mother of God;" dedicated especially to this hereditary queen of
Hungary, " on whose birthday the author also was born."
To give the reader an idea of this book, which is very rare,
we extract one description, entitled —
The Wonder --working Image of our Lady at Prcsburg* u John
Clemens, a native of Presburg, who died in 1641, in the sixtieth
year of his age, returned shortly after to tell that, though he had
died in a believing and penitent state, yet he must bear great
pain in purgatory, because he had not done sufficient penance
for his sins, especially for a murder for which he had paid only
two hundred florins. He begged his wife, therefore, to divide
two hundred florins more among the poor, otherwise he could not
be saved, f Besides, in fulfilment of a vow which he had made,
an image of the Virgin must be set on the altar of the largest
chmch, and a certain number of prayers be read for him. As
now a certain engraver was about to form a suitable image, the
spirit of the deceased man shewed him an old image of the
Virgin which he should set up in the church. When this was
done, the spirit hung a veil over Mary, and placed a wax
candle at the feet of Christ, which are preserved to this day.
The spirit remained some days in the appearance of a white
dove, and was seen by many, and then, surrounded with great
glory, was taken up to the joys of the blessed. Many pious
Christians receive to this day great benefits and blessings from
this image, to the eternal glory of God."
The wonders which are told of some of these images are so
great, that those of the Lord and his apostles appear very small.
Especially severe are the images of Mary against the Picards or
* The woodcut represents Mary sitting dressed as a nun, with a stola ;
the body of the Lord resting on her bosom, and his head supported by her
right arm. At his feet may be seen a candle burning.
t Eome's commentary on the text, 1 John i. 7-9 ! — Tr.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 27
Waldenses, the Lutherans, and Calvinists, who, on account of
despising them, are struck with madness or other painful diseases,
and sometimes lose their property and their life. One of the
most wondrous, however, of all the images, is perhaps that which
the Druids at Carnotum in France made one hundred and fifty
years before Christ, to the Virgin and the Child which should be
born.
A church was built at the same time for preserving it, and
thereby many a wonder was performed, but especially once, when
the son of the king had been drowned and was laid out before
this image, he immediately recovered. The monks in Transyl-
vania made considerable profits by carrying such images through
the country.
In addition to all this, the sermons were filled with the most
nonsensical fables and stories of saints, and of the wonders which
they had wrought. Such a thick cloud rested on the hearts and
minds of the people, and superstition was so universal, that
escape from danger, victory gained, or any signal favour what-
ever, was not ascribed to God or Christ, but to Mary, or Martin,
or George, or Ladislaus.
Indeed, they went so far as to set up public monuments to
the saints for their imaginary help ; as, among others, Prince
Bathory did, in the year 1489.
That the ignorance of the monks was become proverbial, was a
well known fact. With few exceptions, they knew nothing
more than their u Miserere " and Breviary. The numbers of
those who seemed born for nothing else than to eat, were, with
their begging habits, a terrible plague to the oppressed country-
people, and, by their ignorance, their superstition, and immo-
rality, tended, in no small degree, still farther to degrade those
with whom they came in contact.
In bringing such sweeping charges, we are bound to sustain
them with facts and dates. Let us look, then, at the Synodal
Statutes of Stuhlweissenburg, in the preface to which Bishop
Ladislaus Gereb complains so bitterly of the priests. Let us
hear even the Jesuit Peterfy, who, in speaking of the year 1460,
in the 33d Canon, refers to matters which shew how deeply the
clergy were sunk. Single voices, which were raised against the
prevailing immorality, fell a sacrifice to calumny and persecu-
tion. Among these, some reckon John Vitez, Archbishop of
Gran. This man, being accused of supporting the rebels against
28 HISTORY OP THE
Matthew Corvinus, was deposed from office, and shortly after
died of grief.
The ambition and covetousness of the clergy seemed beyond
remedy. The sums of money which they demanded at funerals
were so enormous, that Matthew was obliged to restrain them by
a severe edict.* For the sake of levying money, they often put
single individuals, or whole districts, under the ban; and in
collecting tithes, they took such liberties as required laws to be
passed, at the general national council, to restrain them.t
The immorality in the monasteries was incredible. In the
year 1477, Matthew handed over a neighbouring abbey, " in
consequence of the impure lives of the abbots," to the care of
the monks of Hermannstadt. Other monasteries were, for the
same reason, completely closed. It is, then, not true, what
Cardinal Pazman asserts, that the monks fled away simply to
avoid persecution, and that, without any crime chargeable
against them, others came in and took their place.
Matters were made still worse by Thomas Bakayius, Arch-
bishop of Gran, in the year 1514. After the death of Pope
Julius the Second, he went to Borne, in the hope of himself
being made Pope,. and having wasted all his property in vain, he
begged the newly-elected Pope, Leo X., to give him assistance
against the Turks. As Leo had little money to spare, he
supplied the Hungarian archbishop with an immense number of
indulgences, promising forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all
who went to battle against the common foe.J
There appears something very terrible in this presumption,
when compared with the Word of God. God alone can forgive
sin ; and the keys, which were given, not to Peter alone, but to
all the disciples, were never inherited by any one, in the Papal
sense. The ignorance of the people, however, served best the
purposes of the clergy ; for, when Archbishop Thomas Bakacs
published the Papal bull, on the 16th April, at Ofen, there soon
appeared an immense number, prepared to engage in this holy
war. In one month, forty thousand were brought together, and
shortly after, the number increased to one hundred thousand.
They were, however, chiefly such as could be very well spared
in their native villages, and who, from want of discipline, and
* Article 63 of the year 1846, and Article 2 of the year 1351.
f Article 45 of the year 1495, and Act 1 of the year 1504.
X Timon in purpura Pannon., p. 30.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 29
want of leaders, were not likely to do any great injury to the
Turk. Some dissatisfaction was felt by the nobles on losing so
many of their serfs and labourers ; but the archbishop cared for
none of these things. He appointed a leader, named George
Dorsa, who soon distinguished himself at Zemendria, by killing,
in single combat, the leader of a Turkish band. For this deed
he received from the king double pay, a gold chain, a scarlet
coat worked with gold lace, spurs and sword, an estate, and,
out of the king's own hand, a coat of arms.* The archbishop
made him a present of a white flag, with a red cross.
The worst fears of the nobility respecting this crusade were
soon realised. Some of the nobles had followed their runaway
servants, and, with much severity, had brought them back.
Besides, as there had been no provision made beforehand for
the support of this band, they were soon under the necessity of
stealing, to obtain a living ; and it was not long till Dorsa led
them on regularly to plunder the nobles and the clergy. As a
stone rolling down a hill, these bands went on with accelerating
impetuosity in crime, till the name " crusader" became, as it con-
tinues to this day, a word of terror. The education of the
people had been neglected, and it was seen with how much
truth Luther said, " Take away the schools and the churches,
and the mass of the people will soon become like bears and
wolve3."
And, really, like bears and wolves did these crusaders act. In
this peasant war, which was only with great difficulty brought
to an end, it was reckoned that seventy thousand men must have
perished. Among these were four hundred of the nobility, and
about fourteen bishops, whom the wild rabble either impaled or
murdered in some other cruel way.
That was the terrible result of papal indulgences bestowed on
a people devoid of the fear of God and of true repentance. Sup-
posed pardon of sin, without corresponding sanctification, made
them like wild beasts. Means must be taken to prevent such
excesses for the future. The proper means — educating and ele-
vating the masses — was contrary to the spirit of the times ; no
one thought of it. A decree was passed degrading all the pea-
sants and tributary landholders. They and their children should
for ever be excluded from all higher civil offices and places of
confidence."!" But by such a proceeding the state of the nation
* Istvanfy, lib. v. p. 41. t Act 24, in the year 1514.
30 HISTORY OF THE
was in no respect improved. In this miserable condition was
the civil, political, and religious state of the country when the
report of Luther's work, and the ninety-five theses which he
had nailed on the church door in Wittenberg, passed from one
to another. Thousands, in a state of bodily and spiritual oppres-
sion, paused to hear, and many hundreds asked, when they heard
these new doctrines, with an earnestness equal to that which per-
vaded the crowd on the great Pentecostal day, " What meaneth
this?"
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 31
CHAPTER V.
FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY— TILL
THE BATTLE OF MOHACS, 1526.
Simon Grynaus and Vitus Viezheim, Professors in Ofen— Queen Mary and her Chap-
lain John Henkelas friends of Luther — Contemporary movements in Hermannstadt
— First Reformers of Transylvania — Ambrosius and George summoned to Gran —
Marcus Pempflinger, Count of Saxony — The Pope attempts to crush the Reformation
— Ludwig II. — Cardinal Cajetan — Royal Decree against the Lutherans — Hungarian
Students at Wittenberg — Burning of Luther's Books at Q3denberg — General
Council in 1525 — Louis II. writes to CEdenberg — Battle at Mohiics.
There was perhaps scarcely any other land in which so many,
in so short a time, openly forsook the old Church and declared
in favour of the Reformation. The Reformation appears at once
before us like a powerful stream ; and when we search carefully
after its source, we find it losing itself amid wars and misery —
much like the rivers of Africa, whose sources lie hidden in the
shifting sands. The immense success of the Lutheran doctrines
in Hungary is in every respect an object of deep interest to the
historian. It appears like a well organised and disciplined army
under able leaders, driven out of the field by a few bandits in a
guerilla warfare.
To explain this extraordinary appearance, we must not forget
how the doctrines of the Hussites brought over from Bohemia
had, with more or less success, for more than a century, been
spread over Upper Hungary, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wal-
lachia. In vain had been all attempts of the Pope and the
clergy to banish these so-called heretics. Notwithstanding the
fanatical zeal of Rome, the free Hungarian constitution pre-
vented the priests from completing their designs. When a
decree was obtained against the Hussites — by fair means or
foul — the next step was to read this decree in the different
parishes. Each parish must then attend to the carrying out of
the decree within its own bounds j and when the punishment
. 32 HISTORY OF THE
would have fallen on the nobility or their immediate dependants,
as a matter of course there was no punishment inflicted. An-
other reason why the Hussites had not been banished, lay in the
deep hatred and contempt which the higher and lower nobility,
as well as the mass of the people, entertained towards the clergy,
so that they were not peculiarly inclined to carry out the wish of
their priests. The very credible and respectable Thurnschwamm,
who lived in Ofen contemporary with Louis II., has preserved, in
his chronicles, a description of the clergy of his time : —
" For many years," writes Thurnschwamm, " have the bishops
and clergy ruined Hungary. They have ever anxiously sought
all high offices at court, and have striven to become councillors,
chancellors, treasurers, and governors. In my own time I have
seen Peter, Bishop of Wessprin, acting as banus, that is, gover-
nor-general, over Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia, &c. See the
Bishop Falkanus ! " cries this writer ; " under his dictatorial
sway there is no money left in the treasury. He will not only
govern the land, but also the king, who is compelled to submit
to the bishop and depend upon him." *
This position of affairs, equally injurious to the state and
church, favoured the progress of the Reformation. Another
impulse which it received was from the German troops which
came to help Hungary against the Turks. For, though these
soldiers generally did as little for the cause of Christ as for the
cause of the Pope, yet there were many just now among them
who had caught up the spirit of the Reformation, and carried the
word of life, as the wind carries the seed, far away to other lands.
The prose works and the hymns of Luther, which had
awakened so much interest in other lands, came readily into
Hungary ; and the more so, as no such strict examination of books
took place then on the frontiers as now, while the great num-
bers of Germans residing in the free cities and in Transylvania,
kept up a close connexion with their native land. Hungary
and Germany were bound closely together by the links of com-
merce, and while the merchants brought with them to Hungary
the tracts which at home excited so much attention, they were
eagerly bought up and read by an inquiring people. At that
time each one had liberty to speak and write as he chose, and
the Hungarian constitution favoured this freedom. It is, then,
not strange that the Hungarians now demand so earnestly the
* John Bibiiryi, Memor. Aug. Conf. Part., p. 17.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 33
same privilege as their natural right, without which they have
no security for their most sacred claims as Christians and as men.
The first attacks on this liberty were made by the Popes and
their emissaries. So soon as any one ventured, either in civil or
religious matters, to broach doctrines calculated to limit the
power of these false apostles of Christ, there was immediately a
bull issued condemning him and his works as heretical, and
every effort was then made to compel him to recant, or, if he
refused, to taste the tender mercies of Kome, in the dungeon, or
at the hands of the executioner.
Like Galileo, Savonarola, and Huss, Luther was also doomed
to feel the spirit-crushing power of Rome. As he not only
refused to withdraw and recant his theses, but, on the contrary,
continued ably to defend them, — Leo X., in 1520, hurled also at
him the fiery bull of excommunication, hoping that he too would
be destroyed by its power. Luther was not the man to tremble.
He wrote a commentary on the Pope's bull ; shewed how it had
been issued without hearing him in self-defence ; and then wrote
another fly-sheet, entitled The Babylonian Captivity, in which
he did not spare the blood-thirsty Leo.
At this time Luther appears to have had many adherents in
Hungary, "as may be easily seen from the steps which were taken
by the enemies of the Reformation. In the following year (1521),
George Szakmary, Archbishop of Gran, had a condemnation of
Luther and his writings read from the pulpits of the principal
churches in Hungary.*
By this step, however, the friends of the gospel were only
encouraged and increased. Many clergy and teachers who, with
a desire for truth, had sighed under the oppression of the
hierarchy, now stepped forward in different parts of the land at the
same time, as if by previous arrangement, and declared Luther's
doctrines to be founded on the Word of God, and his aim to be
just. The living Word, coming from hearts warmed by con-
viction, produced a wondrous effect ; and in a short time, whole
parishes, villages, and towns — yes, perhaps the half of Hungary
— declared for the Reformation.
The Jesuit, Samuel Timon, tells us that a certain Simon
Grynaeus, professor in the academy in Ofen, began to teach the
doctrines of Luther ; and the apostolic notary Sigismund Podlus-
sani complains of this Grynaeus, that he, in the year 1523, had,
* Archbp. Strigon, Comp. dat. Zymavia 1762, fol. p. 96,
C
34 HISTORY OF THE
with great pretensions of piety, recommended the writings of
Luther, and having for this crime been cast into prison, he was
again immediately set free. Contemporary with Grynaeus was
Vitus Viezheim, labouring in the same school, and in the year
1525 we find both of these men in exile, the latter as professor of
Greek in Wittenberg, and the former as professor of philosophy
in Basle.
The same spirit animated the pastor John Cordatus,* and the
chaplain of Queen Mary, John Henkel. This latter was the
friend of Erasmus : and having explained to the queen the true
nature and aim of Luther's work, he gained her over to the side
of the Reformation. The chaplain was so highly esteemed by
the queen, that she would on no account part with him. In
1530, she and her chaplain went to the diet at Augsburg, and
when all others were, by the order of Charles, prevented from
preaching, Henkel still continued to proclaim the Word of God
at the court of Mary.
Her love to the truth may be seen from the fact that she
always carried about with her a Latin Testament, which was
afterwards found to be full of annotations in her own hand-
writing. At the diet of Augsburg she is said to have warned
her brother Charles to see that he should not be deceived by
the priests as her husband Louis II. had been.f
It is well known that when Luther wrote to Queen Mary,
sending her four psalms which he had translated for her
comfort, and one of his own hymns, J he remarks that
" he has with great pleasure seen that she is a friend of the
gospel."
* After the death of the king and removal of the queen, Cordatus could
remain no longer in Ofen. He is probably the pastor of Zwickau, to whom
Luther wrote in 1530 ; and who, therefore, never returned to Hungary. We
are confirmed in this opinion partly by the complete silence of church
history, partly by a singular passage in a commentary on the 65th Psalm by
Celusius ,— In loc. Theol. Hist. M. Casp. Titii, 1664,4 to Loc. 33, cap. v. § 8, p.
1361; Conrad Cordatus, a very learned man, the first superintendent in
Standal, used to say in his sermons — " As I used to tell my congregation,"
he said, " in Ofen, in Hungary, where I was for some time pastor, that on
account of their sins God would send the Turks to punish them, — they
found it ridiculous. It took place, however, on account of their impenitence,
which is the greatest possible ingratitude, and the same can happen to you
while you are despisers of the Word of God."
t Spalatin relatio cle comitiis, August 1530.
X " Mag auf Ungluck nicht widerstehn."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 35
It is therefore in vain that the Jesuit Gabriel Zerdahelyi denies
that she favoured Protestantism ; for, even if all the proofs which
have already been given were not sufficient to convince a Jesuit,
still he should not close his ears to the complaint of the Pope's
legate, Jerome Alexander, who, in the year 1539, when she was
regent of Belgium, accuses her to her brother Charles V., " that
she did not cease on all occasions to shew favour to the Lutheran
religion." The ground of this complaint was, that she had
attempted to draw away the Elector of Treves from the League
of Nuremberg, and had detained the French embassy sent to
consult with the emperor about the best means for crushing the
Protestants. * We afterwards find her accompanying her brother
to Spain, where she died in the year 1558.
In the town of Bartfeld in Upper Hungary, a certain D. Isaiah
had struggled hard against Popery till the year 1539, when
Leonard Stockel, returning from Germany, persuaded the whole
parish to become Protestant. The miners, who had been brought
out of Germany many years before, and who still retained their
German language and customs, had at once declared in favour of
Luther, and from the beginning of the Reformation had partaken
of the communion in both kinds, as even the reprobate physician
Paul Bacsmegy acknowledges. f
In the free cities Presburg, Guns, and CEdenberg, and still
more among the Saxons in Transylvania, a most decided ad-
herence to Luther's writings was exhibited. Rome saw the
thunder-cloud gathering over her head, and made every effort to
escape the impending danger.
King Louis, who had only reached his sixteenth year, and was
therefore not in a state to form an independent judgment, was
made the blind tool of the priests. On his way home from
Prague, where his wife was crowned in 1522, he had directed
the citizens of Iglau in Moravia to meet him at Olmutz, and
having warned and threatened them, he threw their faithful
pastor John Speratus into prison.
In the same spirit, immediately on his return to Ofen, he wrote
.to the authorities at Hermannstadt ; and, as a faithful son of the
Church, he had good reason to send a warning to that city, for
Count Mark Pempflinger, under whose special protection the city
stood, had at that time a quarrel with the Archbishop of Gran,
* Seckendorff, lib iii. sect. 18, § 80, p. 206.
+ Leisure Hours, p. 623.
36 HISTORY OF THE
and it afforded him some satisfaction to be able to vex the
archbishop by favouring the Protestants. God maketh even
the wrath of man to praise him. When, therefore, Luther's
writings were brought in thick succession by the merchants, and
when the citizens read with astonishment what was written
respecting " Christian Liberty," " Confession," " Repentance,"
" Baptism," " The Sufferings of Christ," " The Communion,"
" The Epistle to the Galatians," and similar works, they
demanded that the Popish abuses should be removed.*
Just at this time there came two monks out of Silesia, by name
Ambrose and George, who had known Luther personally, and
had heard him explain his own views. These men soon succeeded
in clearing away any doubts which still remained on their minds,
and very soon, by the power of the truth, many were brought to
taste the glorious liberty of the children of God.f
A third monk, John Surdaster, soon joined them. His zeal
was so burning, that he, at first in the open air, and afterwards
in the Elizabethan Church under the protection of Mark Pemp-
flinger, delivered a series of lectures on Luther's theses. The
people, and even the members of the town-council, heard him so
gladly, that, notwithstanding the opposition of the clergy and
the threats of the court, catechisations were held in the public
squares and market-places. And though the archbishop suc-
ceeded in bringing the two Silesian monks to Gran, and though,
notwithstanding their "safe-conduct" from the king, they never
returned to Transylvania, yet the fire which was kindled in the
hearts of the Saxons in Hermannstadt was never extinguished.
It was little wonder if those whom Rome had trained to the
bitterest intolerance against all views of religion but their own,
should all at once forget what had been so deeply imprinted on
them. And, however the historian may deplore some things
which took place, yet it certainly ill becomes Rome to complain
that the Protestants sometimes mocked and annoyed the priests
in their religious services ; turned some of them out of office, and
filled their place with preachers of the gospel; and that the
curates who came to gather in the tithes were often met with
mockery, and sent away without their ducks and geese.
During the magnificent processions of Corpus Christi day,
many of the citizens might have been heard saying, " Our priests
* Haner, Hist. Eccl. p. 147.
t Snieizel de Statu Luth. in Transyl. p. 23.
PROTESTANT CHUKCH OF HUNGARY. 37
suppose God to be blind while they light him so many candles ;"
and others replied, u They think God to be a child whom they
must carry about."* They refused to give Mary the prescribed
honour, and declared the chanting of the " horns" in the cathedral
to be folly, for the Lord had taught us to pray, " Our Father
who art in heaven." f
Rome hoped to crush all these movements by force. At the
instigation of Cajetan the Pope's legate, Louis issued the terrible
edict of 1523, according to which, " All Lutherans, and those who
favour them, as well as all adherents to the sect, shall have their
property confiscated, and themselves be punished with death, as
heretics and foes of the most holy Virgin Mary."
The priests had now obtained their wish. The Archbishop of
Grdn, Cardinal Ladislaus Szalkay, on his return from Rome, had
a royal commission sent down to Transylvania, and especially to
Herman nstadt, to purge it of its heresy. On their arrival, all
the writings of Luther were sought for and taken by force out of
the hands of the citizens, to be publicly burned in the market-
place. The same took place in other towns in Hungary, and
especially in OEdenberg, where we find the following entry in
the accounts of the treasurer of the city, anno 1525 : — " Monday
after New-year's-day, to the hangman for burning the Lutheran
books, 1 d, d." \
When the binning of the books, and the excommunication of
Luther and his followers, which was renewed on the 15th August
1524, did not produce the desired effect, the legate and the
archbishop brought the king and their party so far, that at the
diet of Bakosch, a decree was passed, that " All Lutherans shall
be rooted out of the land; and wherever they are found, either by
clergy or laymen, they may be seized and burned." §
Although the drawn sword seemed thus to hang over all who
were not good Roman Catholics, yet the preachers of the gospel,
as well as the friends of Luther, increased. The young men
began to go to Germany, and especially to Wittenberg, to study;
and the terrible decrees of 1523 and 1525 appeared, as in apo-
stolic times, only to give more courage to profess the truth. A
* In the original, " Die priester denken Gott sei ein Kind, dass man
ifn fiihren und in den armen der alten Weiber in der Stadt herumtragen
miisse."
t Querelae seu scriptum dom. capit. super Luther, Anno 1526.
% (Edenberg City Records, Acct. of Father Vipser, 1525.
§ Csesar Baronius, Annal. 1525. Artie. 4, Anni 1525.
38 HISTORY OF THE
Hungarian, of the name of Martin Cyriacus, went to Wittenberg
in 1520. Dionisius Linzius Pannonius followed in 1524, as also
Balthasar Gleba, a native of Ofen, as the records of the Univer-
sity attest. Shortly afterwards, John Uttmann from Ofen,
Christian Lany, John Sigler from Leutschan, Michael Szaly,
Matthew Biro de Vay, and George Debrecsin, are found studying
under Luther and Melancthon, at least previous to the year 1530.
^11 of these returned to Hungary, as powerful agents for spread-
ing the Reformation.*
The Pope Clement VII. had written Louis a friendly letter,
under date 2 2d January 1524, sending him 60,000 ducats
(£28,000) for the war against" the Turks; and was, no doubt,
gratified with the terrible law of 1525. ■ Indeed he had no reason
to be displeased, either with his legate, or with his archbishop
Szalkay, for both of them were sufficiently zealous, and the king
was generally very submissive. But now, when the law was
passed for the extirpation of the Protestants, Louis appeared to
have no courage to execute it. Or did Queen Mary here act the
part of the wife of Pontius Pilate, and warn her husband
against the bloody work ? History furnishes us with no evidence
on this point, but leaves abundant room for reasonable conjecture.
All that the king could be persuaded to do, was to write once
more to the authorities of different towns, reminding them of
their duty. The archbishop had demanded the death of the
Count of Saxony at Hermannstadt, but the king simply wrote him,
reminding him of his office as executor of the laws, and promis-
ing royal favour if he were diligent in banishing the heretics.f
Count Pempflinger, however, who was really in earnest in
advancing the Protestant cause, found occasion of delay, as he
was about to present to the king a petition on behalf of the
priests, monks, and students. The king had commanded them,
under pain of death and confiscation of their property, to join
immediately in the war, leaving only one priest behind for every
two parishes. As Pempflinger was on his way to the king, he
received news of the terrible defeat at Mohacs, on the 29th August
1526. He now hastened back to quiet the disturbances which
the monks had made in his absence, and with great prudence he
succeeded in this attempt.
* Petrus Monedulanus Lase. Hung.
+ Smeizel de Stat. Luth. p. 34. Tinaon. Epitom. Chron. Kerum Hung.
1526.
PEOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 39
CHAPTER VI.
BATTLE OF MOHACS, AND ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS ON THE
REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.
Death of Louis II. — Death of the Archbishop — The Cardinal Legate flies and is over-
taken— John Zapolya remains inactive— The Turks take Ofen, and burn the Car-
vinian Library — Consequences of the Battle in the spread of the Gospel.
As the Turkish Emperor Soliman came nearer and nearer like
the wasting lavine, little hope could be entertained for the safety
of the country. Belgrade was taken ; the emperor was already
in Peterwardein, the Hungarian Gibraltar, and still nothing done
to defend the country.
In a letter of 20th February, he demanded tribute of Louis,
threatening him at the same time with the destruction of Ofen,
the extinction of the Christian religion, and the complete subju-
gation of himself and his princes, whom Soliman designated
" fat oxen."*
The misery of Hungary was almost incredible. The priests
thought only of pursuing the heretics ; the nobility were divided
into factions, and devoid of public spirit ; the divisions and
jealousies were increased by the influence of the crafty lawyer
Verboesy, who was now become palatine. With the exception
of the Pope's 60,000 ducats, which were but as a drop in the
ocean, the king had no money for the exigency. What was
worse, he had no proper advisers. The rich and influential John
Zapolya, who had hopes of one day becoming king, did not even
assist him, so that he was compelled to force his nobles into the
field, under threat of punishing for treason those who did not
appear.
No one would exert himself to do his duty, and very few did
* Fessler, Hist. Hung. vol. vi. p. 274.
40 HISTORY OF THE
anything. The bishops, whose united income would have sup-
ported an army, preferred giving up the silver coffin of their
saint Gerhard and the treasures of the Church, rather than their
own treasures.
The country people, who, since the time of the disturbances
under Dorsa, had been much neglected, were rendered still more
indifferent to their native land, on account of being deprived of
their most valuable right, religious liberty.
On the 23d July 1526, Louis II. took leave of his young wife
on the island Csepel, near Ofen, and set out with a small army
to meet the vast forces of Soliman.
As he proceeded, his army gradually increased by the influx
of such hired servants and dependants as the bishops and nobles
were bound to send ; yet, when he reached Mohacs in the county
of Barany, he had only twenty-seven thousand men. In the
absence of an experienced general, this army was intrusted to
Archbishop Tomory, who had at one time been a Franciscan
monk, at another time had gained a splendid victory over Terkat-
Beg, and who now had the task of leading them on to be
slaughtered by an army of fifteen times their own number.
The blinded aristocracy, who had more valour than wisdom,
in conjunction with the palatine, would not wait for the troops
which were expected from King Ferdinand, but forced the
king, against his will, to fight. The king, from all sides sorely
pressed, must take the lead. On the 29th August he put on
his armour, but his friends observed that he was deadly pale.
Archbishop Tomory, and the more cautious officers, already saw
the issue.
Bishop Perenyi remarked, " Here go twenty-six thousand
Hungarians under the guidance of the Franciscan Tomory into
the kingdom of heaven as martyrs for the faith ; and it would
be highly desirable if at least the chancellor — who is acquainted
with the Pope — should be spared to go to Borne and have
them all made saints."
The worst fears were realised. Before evening the plain of
Mohacs was covered thick with the slain. Seven bishops, twenty-
eight princes, five hundred nobles, and twenty thousand warriors
lay on the field. Very few escaped. The king and the legate
made an attempt to fly. King Louis was about to cross the
marshy lake Csele, and thus escape, but his horse, having
reached the further bank, fell backwards and crushed him in the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 41
mud. The cardinal legate was overtaken in his flight, and
killed. Such was the battle of Mohacs !
As the Turkish Emperor Soliman came on the morrow to
see the slain, at the sight of Szalkay, the Archbishop of Gran,
he is reported to have said, " He was a despicable miser, who,
with all his wealth, refused to help his king in the time of
need."
Plundering and wasting without opposition, Soliman reached
Ofcn on the 9th September. The town was set on Are, and the
library, with its forty thousand volumes, and the precious manu-
scripts which Matthew had collected with so much care, were
all burned. After many years single volumes were rescued
from the ruins, and, as doubly valuable monuments of a melan-
choly epoch in the history of Hungary, they were bought up and
preserved, partly by monasteries, partly by private individuals.
Let us now look at the consequences of the battle of Mohacs
in the spread of the gospel. The Lord advances his cause on
earth generally in a way which we least expect. As a gardener
prepares the ground, and lays in the seed, so He prepares the
heart of man by a process which is often bitter to the flesh, and
in astonishment we see the trees growing up and bearing luxu-
riant fruit.
Such was the case in the battle of Mohacs, which was at first
considered not only as a great national, bat even European, cala-
mity. God knew how to change the curse into a blessing. For,
as the terrible defeat of the Hungarians in Bavaria in 955 broke
down their pride, cured them of their lust for plunder, and pre-
pared the way for receiving Christianity, so did the bloody
battle of Mohacs remove so many powerful and bitter foes of
the gospel, and took away at the same time means and agents
for carrying out the bloody law of the last diet.
To have a clear perception, however, of this comforting truth,
we must review the political state, and the internal confusion, of
the country at that time.
The utter incapacity of Uladislaus, father of Louis II., to
govern the country, had induced the assembled Hungarians, in
the field of Eakosh in 1505, to pass the decree, " That in future
no foreigner can be chosen king. A native Hungarian must
wear the crown." Though the powerful and ambitious John
Zapqlya had exerted himself to the utmost, for private reasons,
to obtain this decree, which was not very complimentary to
42 HISTORY OF THE
^ Uladislaus, yet there were many who voted with him in conse-
quence of the remembrance of the bright period when Matthew
reigned. Besides, for two hundred years past — ever since
Arphad's line had ceased — the Hungarians had allowed neither
Pope nor any other power to interfere with them in the free elec-
tion of their king.
On the death of Louis II., they were then, notwithstanding
all that Fessler says, perfectly free to choose whom they
wished. The family contracts between Ferdinand of Austria
and Uladislaus, which had been made without their sanction,
could not be binding on the nation. So soon, then, as Soliman
left the country, after having plundered and burned nearly all
that lay between the rivers Teiss and Raab, and having re-
duced the population by two hundred thousand, the remainder
proceeded to elect a king, and the choice fell on John Zapolya,
who was then voyvod of Transylvania, and he was crowned at
Stuhlweissenburg on the 12th November 1526.
Ferdinand of Austria opposed the election, on the ground of a
contract made between him and Louis II., and was supported
partly by the adherents of his sister, the widowed Queen Mary,
and partly by the deadly foe of the new king, Stephen Bathory,
the powerful and ambitious palatine.
At a diet held at Presburg, where many distinguished Hun-
garians were present, the Archduke Ferdinand was proclaimed
king, and invited to come and take possession of the crown of
Hungary. After being first crowned King of Bohemia, he, on
the 1st August 1527, proceeded with his army to Hungary,
where he subdued all the country as far as the Danube.
Zapolya fled from Ofen, and the same Archbishop of Gran,
who had crowned him twelve months before, now crowned
Ferdinand as King of Hungary at Stuhlweissenburg on the 3d
November.
Hungary had now two kings, and the miserable country was
peeled and torn by a civil war, and by the persecutions of the
Church against those who had left her communion.
John was anxious to confirm his throne by securing the
bishops, and especially the Archbishop of Gran, Paul Varda, on
his side. He accordingly issued a strict edict against the
Lutherans, threatening them with confiscation of their goods if
they did not return to the Roman Catholic Church. | "The
priests availed themselves of this edict to crush the pastor and
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 43
schoolmaster of the mining town Bibethen. The circumstances
were these : The labourers in the royal mines not having received
their wages, became riotous, and refused to submit either to the
royal commissioners or the soldiers ; the priests accused the
pastor and the schoolmaster as the originators of the disturbance,
and having arrested the latter, with six of the town councillors,
brought them to be tried at Neusohl.
They were required to abjure their heresies, and to declare
where the pastor was concealed. The schoolmaster remained
firm, though threatened to be led to the stake, but the others
were weak enough to yield and return to the Roman Catholic
Church. The pastor, being now betrayed, was soon discovered in
his retreat in the mines. Pastor Xicolai was delivered up to
the priests, with directions to be handed over to John. These
men of tender conscience, however, being afraid that King
John might be remiss in his duty to the heretics, took the
responsibility on themselves, and had the schoolmaster burned in
the neighbourhood of Altsol, on the 22d August 1527, and on
the 24th Pastor Xicolai met the same fate, near the Castle of
Dobrony. With the latter they tried every possible means by
promises and threats to make him yield ; and remaining firm, he
was first cruelly stabbed and then burned, as a heretic " who had
refused the Virgin Mary her due honour."*
When Ferdinand took possession of Ofen he was not less
severe. He issued an edict which had previously been published
in Austria — this time, however, was " given at Ofen the 20th
August," — and complains that, despite of all that had been done
against them, still in some places the strange doctrines are gain-
ing ground, and that even Anabaptists and Sacramentarians —
that is, Zwinglians — have ventured to shew themselves. The
specific punishments for heresy are then recounted, according to
which, " whoever mischievously and perseveringly holds and
believes anything contrary to the twelve articles of our holy
Christian faith, contrary to the seven sacraments, &c, by which
he can be recognised as a heretic, shall, in proportion to time and
circumstances, be punished in his body and life. Item, He shall
* Mica Bury MSS. Leonhard Stockel, preacher at Bartfeld, a contem-
porary, as well as the Church books of Vallens, put this account beyond
doubt. See Pete, Peschie Malheurs Papist, cap. i. p. 9. See also Matricula
Plebanorum, xxiv. regal, in Scepus ; where two are said to have been
burned with the pastor.
44 HISTORY OF THE
lose all the privileges of Christians. Item, He shall lose his
honour and can never again be admitted to a place of trust. Item,
No one is bound to keep any contract with him or pay any debt."
The " Items " go on to say, " He has no right to buy or sell ; no
right to trade or work at a profession ; he can make no will ; a
father who is a Roman Catholic may justly "withhold all property
from a heretical son, and in like manner, a son may disinherit a
heretical father.* Whoever shall despise or dishonour the eternal
pure elect queen, the Virgin Mary, by saying, holding, writing,
or preaching, that she was only a woman like other women on
earth ; that she ever committed mortal sin ; that she did not
continue after the birth of Christ a pure virgin ; that she is not
the mother of God 5 that she did not ascend to heaven ; — for
these and such like heresies and errors they shall be. punished,
according to time and circumstances, and according to the
aggravation of the crime, in their body and life. Whoever shall
unite together heretically to partake of what they call the Lord's
Supper, and demand that both bread and wine shall be given
them, they shall be punished in their body, life, and estate ; the
houses in which such deeds take place shall be confiscated, or,
according to the royal pleasure, be torn down for an eternal
testimony against them. Lastly, Whoever mischievously holds
that the mass has no merits for souls in purgatory, shall be
banished from the kingdom."
It was also enacted that all who harbour or receive heretics
into their house are " ipso facto infames," deprived of the rights
of citizens, and rendered incapable of ever holding office. If
the magistrates and judges neglect to carry out this decree, the
town in which such neglect takes place shall be deprived of all
privileges. To take away the fuel from this fire, it was decreed
that in the hereditary lands and those not hereditary , no one should
print, write, copy, sell, buy, read, have or hold any book, writing,
picture, product or remembrance of Luther, Zwingle, CEcolam-
padius, or any of their adherents or successors.
The informer should have the third of the fine or the third
part of the confiscated property. The edict, of which the
foregoing are a few extracts, was directed to be publicly read from
every pulpit at the solemn festivals of Easter and Christmas.f
* Compare Matthew xv. 4-7. — Tr.
t See Erlautertes Evangelishes Oesterreich. Kaupach,#Hamburg, 1736,
pp. 60-68, Supplement No. 17.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 45
"We can here easily see Ferdinand's bitter hatred of Luther
and of his work; and if we find no martyrdoms under his reign, it
is chiefly because the civil war left little opportunity for executing
the decree. It must, then, be remembered that many of the
magnates and a vast number of the nobility, as well as some of
the free cities, had either openly declared in favour of Luther or
were much inclined to favour his system ; the nobles, too, were
proud and jealous of their freedom, boasting that they paid their
king no tribute, and feeling an independence which in no other
country was known ; Ferdinand's throne was not sufficiently
stable to allow him to provoke such men/ The nobles having
observed that the priests had drawn to themselves such pro-
perties as had been confiscated, resolved at the diet that the posts
of the deceased prelates need not be filled up, but the emoluments
given to such men as deserved well of their country. Thus was
the circle of Eger, with all its emoluments, given to Peter
Perenyi, the keeper of the crown ; the circle of Neutrau to Valen-
tine Torok of Ennig ; Wardein to the distinguished general
Emerich Eibak ; Transylvania to Frances Bodo ; Esanader to
Caspar Petusith ; Funfkirchen to John Szerecsen ; and Raab to
Paul Bakith, nearly all of whom separated from the Church of
Home, and became steady supporters of the Reformation.*
It was necessary to refer to these matters, that we might not
be led astray by Ferdinand's apparent tolerance towards the Re-
formers at a later period. We may see how much he favoured
the Pope and the Church of Rome by the order which he issued
through the royal councillor Dr John Faber, to the professors at
Vienna, that they should draw up a register of every article which
contains a heresy, in as far as they knew, and hand it to his
majesty the king.| *
In the following year he sent a visitation and inquisition
through the other crown lands, to inquire in how far the edicts
against the Lutherans had been carried out. Under the direc-
tion of Faber, several experienced theologians, assisted by lay-
men, proceeded for this purpose through Austria, Styria, and
Carinthia, and received everywhere proper assistance from the
civil authorities.
At court, also, there was no relaxation in favour of the Lu-
therans, for, on the 20th July, a new edict was published requir-
* Papai in Rud. red. 1526, Parman Kalanyi,lib. iii. p. 194.
+ Raupach, Erl. Evang. Oest. Hamb. 1736, p. 46.
46 HISTOET OF THE
ing that they should be punished with the greatest severity.*
On the 24th, the printers and booksellers were threatened even
with death if they distributed sectarian books. Thus, in as far
as edicts could help them, the priests had all they desired. And
yet Ernestus, Bishop of Passau, shortly afterwards discovered in
the other crown lands, what could no longer be concealed in Hun-
gary, that the doctrines of the Reformation were fast gaining
ground. • The wealthy and the powerful were even there also
very remiss in carrying out the royal decrees ; f and when the
Pope fancied he had gained nearly all his desire, he had most
reason to tremble for his dominion.
At this time the powerful Hungarian magnate Peter Perenyi,
with his sons Francis, George, and Gabriel, had openly declared
themselves on the side of Luther. He was the son of that
Emerich who had been palatine under the reign of Uladislaus ;
from the year 1527 he was voyvod in Transylvania, and pos-
sessed immense property in Upper Hungary, in the estates of
Eger and Saros, Patak with several bordering castles. It was
probably at the court of Queen Mary, during the reign of Louis
II., that he had first become acquainted with the principles of the
Reformation, and through the evangelical preachers Kopacsi and
Michael Szeray, he was afterwards gained completely over. On
his estates he used his utmost exertions to have pious and learned
preachers appointed in the different parishes, and we shall have
frequent opportunity of seeing how much service he rendered to
the great work of reformation.
The evangelical clergy were not labouring in vain. Emerich
Osstorai had gained the two princes Ladany and Masaly, and
Demeter Derezki had won over the great Caspar Dragfij openly
to confess the truth. Dragfij's father had been voyvod of Tran-
sylvania, and his marriage had been honoured with the presence
of Uladislaus ; and now when this young prince had reached
his twenty-second year, he not only himself joined the Reforma-
tion, but having gathered the clergy and influential men on his
estates, he persuaded them also to follow his example. The
threats of King John and the bishops did not much annoy him,
and he continued steady till his death in 1545. Many tied to
him to escape persecution, and nobly and generously did he
protect them.
* Code. Auth. torn. i. p. 646, " hochmalefizisch zu bestrafen."
t Raupach, Erl. Evang. Oest. p. 50.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 47
The reformation of that immense district between the rivers
Maros and Koros is universally attributed to a woman, whose
name deserves here to be honourably mentioned. It was the
widow of Peter Jaxit, whose name is in this district gratefully
remembered, for having not only herself loved the gospel, but
for the exertions which she made over all her estates, to bring
evangelical preachers and teachers into contact with the people. «
With no less decision did D. Isaiah at Bartfeld labour against
Popery. Martin Cyriacus and Bartholomew Bogner having re-
turned from Wittenberg, preached the doctrine of free grace in
Christ Jesus in Leutshaw, and the Boman Catholic churches
were nearly empty. And in Hermannstadt, not only did they
disregard the edicts against the so-called heretics ; but it seemed
as if the town was making preparation for breaking completely
free from Roman jurisdiction.
Under such circumstances, Clement Vll. was not idle. By
means of Dr Faber in Vienna, he could do what he chose in the
hereditary lands of Ferdinand. In Bavaria, the duke was very
obliging, and had Leonard Cohar, a man distinguished by his
piety, burned in the year 1527. In Vienna, the priests brought
Caspar Tauber to the stake ; * and, in Poland, the Dukes of
Masovien had, in the year 1527, issued stringent decrees against
the Lutherans.t
There remained, then, only Hungary and Transylvania to be
watched over. Accordingly, the Pope wrote to the distinguished
general, Francis Frangepan, to try and prevent the decay of the
Boman Catholic religion. The Pope had some claims on the
general, for he had been once a Franciscan monk, King John
had gratified him with the Archbishopric of Kalotsha, and, as a
member of the order of St Francis of Assisi, he was peculiarly
bound to obey his spiritual father. J
Ferdinand and Zapolya had now fought desperately at Erlau
and Tokay ; at the invitation of the latter, the Turks were
approaching. Ferdinand left Ofen on the 3d February 1528,
and, early in October, King John Zapolya, having gained a
* " A True History of Caspar Tauber, citizen of Vienna, declared a heretic,
and burned 1522." This rare document I have seen in the possession of
Dionisius von Dobschall, pastor in Modena.
t Stanislai Lublinski, Episcopi Plocencis, op. posth., p. 370. Antwerp,
1643, fol.
$ Timon, epit. 1528.
48 HISTORY OF THE
victory at Saros, sat down at the fortress of Lippa, in Temes, to
await the arrival of Soliman.*
John's supporters increased. Many of the princes and clergy,
who had sworn allegiance to Ferdinand, broke their oath. At
the diet of Presburg, 27th November 1528, he was not in an
enviable position, and very gladly did he avail himself of the
Opportunity of coming away to attend the diet at Spires, in
March 1529.
Soliman crossed the Drave with a hundred and fifty thousand
men, and, in the field of Mohacs, was met by John and his
attendant nobles and princes. Peter Perenyi, who still adhered
to Ferdinand, was brought thither as a prisoner, and with him
the crown and the national treasures. On the 24th August,
Soliman stood before Ofen ; and the German troops which had
charge of the fortress, binding their general, Nadasdy, in chains,
threw him into a cellar, and delivered the fort up to the sultan.
The sultan knew both how to treat courage and what to do with
traitors, for he set the general free, and delivered seven hundred
of the soldiers to the tender mercies of his janisaries, who hewed
them down.f Gran soon yielded, and the archbishop, Paul
Warday, with three hundred nobles mounted, and as many on
foot, going over to John, kissed his hand, and commended them-
selves to his mercy. On the 25th September, Soliman had
reached Vienna, and, despite the weakness of the garrison, he
was so vigorously opposed by citizens and students, that he
was obliged to retire, on the 12th October.
The 18th of October, he returned to Ofen, where he held a
divan, to which John Zapolya and the princes were invited.
He here confirmed John as King of Hungary, and swore under
no circumstances to forsake him, " even should it cost him his
own kingdom." The sultan returned home, taking with him
sixty thousand prisoners, chiefly Hungarians, and leaving the
ill-famed Lewis Gritti as his representative at John's court ;
he also left Kazum Pasha, with three thousand cavalry and the
Danube fleet, at John's disposal.
v The state of Hungary was now sufficiently lamentable, but not
less so was the condition of Transylvania. After John's flight
to Poland, in the previous year, Peter Perenyi and Valentine
Torok had gone to bring the country to join Ferdinand ; but,
* Fessler, Gesch. der Ungarn, vol. vi. p. 422.
+ Fessler, p. 428.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 49
being attacked by the voyvod of Moldavia, their troops were
nearly all cut off. A few months afterwards, the voyvod of
Wallachia went through the same district, burning and plun-
dering, and taking away prisoners. It was then no hard task
for John's new voyvod of Transylvania to subdue the remainder
of the Saxons.
While the adherents of Ferdinand were now suffering in
Transylvania, and especially in Hermannstadt, the monks in-
creased the miseiy by doing all in their power against the
Protestants. These servants of Kome could not bear that the
decrees against the heretics should not be carried out. Matters
went so far, that the authorities of Hermannstadt issued an
order, dated the 8th February 1529, that " the monks and their
adherents should, under pain of death, either leave Hermann-
stadt_within eight days, and take with them all they had, or
else they should give up their mummeries, and live according to
the gospel." Immediately the monks and nuns either left the
town, or laid aside their peculiar dress, so that in eight days not
a single individual was to be seen wearing Rome's livery.*
In the meantime, Ferdinand had been crowned King of Rome,
and was waiting quietly in Germany, receiving the messengers,
who told him of the desperately oppressed state of his adherents
in Hungary, but doing nothing for their relief. Thus came the
decisive year 1530. Even then, however, instead of coming
himself, he sent one of the most unworthy of his generals, Rogen-
dorf, to Ofen, to expel the Turks, and subdue King John.
Arrived at Ofen, this general was soon driven back by the
Pasha of Belgrade to Komorn, and having shewed himself com-
pletely inadequate to his post, he died of his wounds on the
island Schutt, whither he had fled. With this unceasing clash
of arms, the time passed on, and the 25th of June 1530 dawned,
and with it came a bright day for gospel truth and freedom of
conscience. The Augsburg Confession was read. So simple, so
clear, so concise, it was listened to with breathless attention in
that august assembly, and removed many prejudices of the foes
of the gospel. It softened many who had been enemies, and
gained many to become decided friends to the truth. Even the
emperor seemed somewhat milder. He took the Confession in
German and Latin, and promised to examine the whole matter
with great care.
* Haner, Hist. Eccl. p. 199 ; Timon, Epit. ChronoL 118.
D
50 HISTORY OF THE
In an incredibly short time, this Confession was translated into
Spanish, Italian, French, English, and Portuguese.* There is
no mention made, however, of a Hungarian translation, and
unfortunately we can find in Hungary no traces of such. As,
however, so many Hungarians were present at the time in Augs-
burg, at the court of Ferdinand and his sister the widowed
Queen Mary, we might almost presume that a translation was
made at the time • or was it not considered necessary, while
every Hungarian who had received even a moderate education
understood Latin? Samuel Homarius remarks, that the Augs-
burg Confession was translated into the Bohemian and Hun-
garian languages, and sent to many distinguished men in both
countries ; t but the libraries, which suffered so much from the
Turks shortly after, contain no copy 4 We find, however, many
stepping out of the dark background of the misery caused by
war, and manifesting in their lives the same spirit which dic-
tated that Confession. In Kashaw and some other towns the
Reformation may have been considered as complete.- Antonius
Transylvanus was labouring here with great success, and was so
well known to Luther, that he received a letter from the great
Reformer to use his influence with a preacher in Hermannstadt
who had joined the Sabbatarians, § and to try to bring him
back. Antonius wrote a circular. to the neighbouring clergy in
Eperjes, encouraging them to faithfulness; and it is believed that
John of Hermannstadt was, by their combined efforts, prevented
from dividing the Protestant cause. ||
About this time appeared a man in Hungary on whom the
spirit of Luther seemed to have descended. Matthew Devay, who
had been for years on most intimate terms with Luther, even
living in his house and eating at his table, was now returned
from Wittenberg, and, with unwearying diligence, preached in
his native land the word which he had received from the mouth
of Luther and Melancthon.
The nobles who resided in Neustadt, in the vicinity of Caspar
* Coelestinus, torn. ii. fol. 191.
f In Disput. 25 de Veritate Eelig.
% Ribinyi remarks that this translation was only written, and not printed.
The first printed edition in Hungarian appears to have been published in
1633, by Stephen Letenyei, and the first Bohemian in 1576.
§ A sect which kept the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week. — Tr.
|| Hypomnena Severini Sculteti, for. xvii. fasc. 6.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 51
Dragfij, heard the truth from him, and embraced it ; and many of
the surrounding villages followed the example, and publicly se-
parated from Rome. Devay was accused before King John of
being the cause of this commotion, and was thrown into prison in
Ofen. It happened that in the same prison was a blacksmith
who, in the shoeing, had lamed the king's favourite horse,
and the passionate John had sworn that he should die for it.
The blacksmith heard Devay converse as never man spoke;
the words were to him as the words of Paul to the jailer at
Philippi, and the consequence was, that when the blacksmith
was shortly after to be set free, he declared he would share
Devay's fate as a martyr, for he also partook of the same faith.
The king, moved by this declaration, pardoned both, and set
them free.*
Devay had not been long free when he received a call to be
pastor of Kashaw, in Upper Hungary, which was then in the
possession of Ferdinand. Soon, however, must he again experi-
ence similar trial. The monks, being exasperated at the power
of his eloquence against the abuses of Rome, and knowing that
they had nothing to expect if they brought their charge before
the local authorities, laid their accusation directly before the king.
To shew his zeal in the cause, and to stop the evil at once, Fer-
dinand had him brought immediately to Vienna, and delivered
over for examination to Dr Faber, the bitterest foe of the Refor-
mation. For nearly two years he lay in prison, and his case
seemed hopeless, but at last the king interfered and set him free.
Perhaps it was in consequence of hearing the Confession read at
Augsburg that Ferdinand was now more favourably disposed
toward Luther's doctrines, and that the favourable impression
either soon wore off, or he did not consider it prudent that it
should afterwards be much observed.
Once more set free, Devay betook himself to the lands which
owned John's sceptre, and being supported by the nobles and the
princes, he spread the gospel by itinerating as an apostle. His
labours, however, were not confined to preaching, for he seems to
have taken part in the translation of the epistles of Paul, which
were printed in the Hungarian language by Benedict Komjath,
at Cracow, in the year 1533, and dedicated to Catharine Fran-
gepan, the mother of Perenyi. He wrote a book, entitled The
Sleep of the Saints, and it was replied to by Gregory Szegedy, a
* Matth. Scaricans Panonius in Vita D. Steph. Sreg.
52 HISTOEY OF THE
Franciscan, and Doctor of the Sorbonne, in a work entitled The
Pillar of Salvation. Devay's book had attached to it a treatise
on the principal articles of Christian faith, and was dedicated to
Emerich Bebeck, Prohst of Stuhlweissenburg, who, as the dedi-
cation informs us, had got married, and thus lost all his property.*
It is therefore a mistake of Lampe, or an error of the press,
when he says that Devay came to Hungary only in 1541.f
Besides the evidence already given, we find in an old chronicle,
in QEdenberg, a passage which explains some difficulties in
Devay's history, and says, under date of 1536, " Devay goes a
second time to Wittenberg." J The object of this journey seems
to have been, to inform his friends of the progress of the gospel
in Hungary, and renew his own strength to carry on the battle
of the Lord. And there is nothing which tends more to strengthen
our faith, than personal intercourse and communion with those
whose hearts are devoted to the cause of God. On the way to
Wittenberg, he fell sick at Nuremberg, and turned in to stop
with Vitus Theodor, a preacher in that town. Having been
kindly received by this pious and learned man, he soon recovered,
and proceeded on his journey. Arrived at his destination, he wrote
an account of his imprisonment and his examination under Dr
Faber, and this was printed by Vitus Theodor, at Nuremberg,
in June 1537. It was dedicated to Francis Batzi, and gives clear
evidence of Devay's adherence at that time to the Augsburg
Confession. The Chronicle of Leutshaw gives Devay the third
place among those who supported the Augsburg Confession in
Hungary, and calls him, at the same time, pastor of Debrecsin.
At Wittenberg, he resided again with Luther, and was able to
tell him how not only the epistles of Paul had been given to the
Hungarians in their native language, but also how the four gospels
had been published by Gabriel of Pesth, on the 13th July 1536.
Entire parishes had declared in favour of the Reformation, as also
free cities and villages ; and many even of the higher clergy
had made great sacrifices, by openly professing the truth. He
could also tell how great the danger was to which they were still
exposed. The penal laws were still in force. The Bishop of
* Valcte in Christo Jesu cum uxore vestrd, ob qnam, juxta informationem
Verbi Dei, maluistis hereditatem amittere paternam, et non uti nonnulli
assalent in carnalibus nequitiis vivere. Ascension Day, 1535.
t Lampe, p. 80.
$ Ribinyi, Memorabilia, p. 34.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 53
Eger, Thomas Szalakazi, had thrown Antony, a preacher of
Eperjes, and Bartholemy, a chaplain, into prison. People did
not know what to expect from John and Ferdinand. The latter
had sent a decree to Bartfeld, which was now entirely reformed,
ordering them, " under pain of death and confiscation," — he must
have meant the death of every man, woman, and child in the
town, — " under pain of death and confiscation, to abolish all inno-
vations in the mode of worship ; to renounce all the heresies
which a certain D. Isaiah had taught them ; not to recall him,
but to be reconciled with their former clergy." * This order was
issued in 1535, and how much attention was paid to it we shall
soon see. That faith on the Son of God which overcometh the
world had taken root here, and it knows of no fear. Strong in
this faith, Devay returned from Wittenberg in the end of the
year 1537. He brought with him a letter of introduction to
Thomas Nadasdy, who, in the circuit beyond the Danube, had
thoroughly reformed the old schools, and established a new one
probably at Papa. The letter is dated from Leipzig on the
nones of October 1537, and recommends, besides Deva^, a
certain John Sylvester, who was destined soon to distinguish
himself by signally advancing the Reformation in Hungary.
Under the protection of this powerful count, Devay now
laboured indefatigably in the district between the river Raab
and the Balaton lake. ' His former district in Upper Hungary
was, however, not neglected, for the learned and courageous
Stephen Szantai filled that post well, and shared Devay's fate,
in so far that the bishops George Frater, Statilius, and Fran-
gepan, demanded of Ferdinand that he should be arrested and
treated as a heretic- The king, just rejoicing in the treaty of
peace which had been concluded with John, resolved, to the
great dismay of the priests, to hold a public discussion on the
great disputed points of religion. Thjs discussion actually took
place in 1538. In that rare book called The Spanish Hunt, we
find a full account of the transactions.
When the bishops could not succeeed in having Stephen
Szantai condemned without a hearing, they were at a great loss
to find a worthy representative of Rome to meet him in discus-
sion. At last they chose the monk Gregory of Grosswardein,
and sent him with the other monks to Schaasburg to convince
Szantai of his errors. The king chose two umpires, Dr Adrian,
* Kibinyi, Mem. p. 38.
54 HISTORY OF THE
vicar of Stuhlweissenburg, and Martin Kalmantshi, rector of the
school. After the king had warned them to guide the matter so
that truth should not suffer, the discussion began in the presence
of a vast number of Protestants and Roman Catholics, some of
whom had come from a great distance.
The monks soon made such a noise and confusion by scream-
ing all at once, that a pious physician, John Rehens, came to
aid Szantai, and shewed that this noise arose simply from in-
ability to answer the arguments. Szantai continued the discus-
sion for several days, and after the umpires had noted all down,
they came to present their decision to the king. They reported
that all which Szantai had said was founded on the Scriptures, and
what the monks had brought forward was mere fables and idle
tales. But they added, " Should we state this publicly, we are
lost, for we should be represented as enemies to our religion ; if
we condemn Szantai, we act contrary to truth and justice, and
would not escape Divine retribution." They begged, therefore,
that the king would protect them from the danger on both sides.
•Ferdinand promised to. do his utmost, and let them go.
That same afternoon, at three o'clock, the bishops, prelates,
and monks appeared before the king, and in their name, George
Frater, Bishop of Grosswardein, spoke as follows :• — " May it
please your majesty, we, as the shepherds of the Church, are
bound to protect her from all ill. We therefore demand that
this heretic shall be brought here and burned, for the sake of
warning others of the danger of speaking and writing against our
most holy religion. Your majesty has acted contrary to our wish.
Your majesty has been pleased to grant this despicable heretic
a public hearing, that others might suck in the poison. For
this we are certainly under little obligation to your majesty.
Besides, our most holy father, the Pope, will take this ill.
There is no need of discussion while the Church has long since
condemned these miserable heretics. Their condemnation is
written on their forehead. One should not even remain in their
presence."
The king replied with dignity and firmness, — " I will put no
man to death until he has been proved guilty of a capital crime.
Bring forward your charge, and he shall be judged according to
law."
" Is it not enough," cried Statilius, Bishop of Stuhlweissen-
burg — " is it not enough that he declares the mass to be an
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 55
invention of the devil ; and that he demands the Lord's Supper
to be administered to all in both kinds — while Christ appointed
this sacrament only for the priests? Any one may judge
whether such expressions do not deserve death."
u Tell me, my lord bishop," said the king, " is the Greek
Church a true church?" The bishop answered in the affirma-
tive, and Ferdinand proceeded — u The Greeks never had, and
have not even now, the mass. Could not we also do without it ?
The Greeks take the communion in both kinds, for the holy
bishops Chrysostom, Cyril, and others, taught them so. If the
Greeks can act thus without sin, why not we? " The bishops
were silent. " In the meantime, however," added the king,
" I will not protect Szantai, nor defend his cause. The truth of
the case shall be investigated, so that God may not avenge him-
self on me if this man die guiltless ; and besides, it does not
become my royal dignity to punish innocence."
" If your majesty do not grant our wish," cried Bishop
Frater, " we shall find other remedies to free us from this
vulture ;" and in bitter rage they left the royal presence.
It was nine o'clock at night when the king, in the presence of
the princes Francis Barfy and John Kassa, admitted Stephen
Szantai to an audience. u What is then really the doctrine
which you teach ? " demanded the king. u Most gracious prince,"
answered the preacher, "it is no new doctrine which I have
invented, but a revealed doctrine which, by Divine grace, I
have discovered ; it is the doctrine of the prophets and apostles,
and every one who really seeks his soul's salvation must obey
this truth."
The king now opened his whole heart. " Oh, my dear
brother Stephen, if we adhere to these doctrines, you and I are
both undone ; meantime we commit the case to God, who knows
what to do. You must leave my land, however, or the princes
will imprison and condemn you to death, and I could only en-
danger myself without delivering you. Yes, go, dear friend, sell
what you have and place yourself under the protection of the
prince of Transylvania, where you have liberty freely to profess
the truth."
Having given him some costly presents, the king ordered
Christopher Osmos and the mayor of Kashaw to take him away
by night and bring him in safety to his own people.
This little circumstance, which bears all the marks of truth,
56 HISTORY OF THE
gives us a view of the state of Ferdinand's mind at that time.
In proportion as he had obtained a more favourable opinion of
Luther and his doctrines, just in the same proportion must he
despise the priests and their whole system. He remembered
also how his own private chaplain, a Spaniard, had on his death-
bed acknowledged to the king that he had not led him in the
right path, and that Luther had most certainly taught the truth.
But yet this perception of the truth had not become a living
principle in the heart of the king ; his fear of Rome's power and
influence was too great to allow him to venture to confess Christ,
and join with other princes of Germany openly on the side of
the Reformation.
His faith had not taken root in the Rock which is Christ. He
had not seen his own sin. He had not trembled before Divine
justice. He had not searched the Scriptures for himself, to find
there a Saviour of sinners on whom he himself could rely. He
had not found the Lord Jesus as all his salvation and all his
desire — as the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether
lovely. Of a naturally good disposition, without very fixed
principles, he allowed himself to be carried away by impres-
sions, and had neither the wish nor the power to form a decided
judgment on some of the most important points. A double-
minded man, saith the Word of God, is unstable in all his ways.
And such was Ferdinand, as the history shews. Some represent
him as a friend of the Reformation; others as its bitterest foe,
who spared the Protestants merely from political motives. We
don't believe either, but consider that the proper description is
what we have given.
We return, however, to our Hungarian Luther, Devay, and
his zealous fellow-labourers, whose happy work we must now
see so sadly marred by the disputes which arose concerning the
Lord's Supper. The disputes which had been so unfortunately
begun in Germany between Luther and Zwingle had been
transplanted to the Hungarian soil, and exactly such spirits as
sought most earnestly after truth were agitated and alarmed.
Among these was Count Francis Reva, who, having read
Zwingle's works, was much shaken, and wrote a long letter to
Luther, asking him to clear up his doubts. Luther, who had at
that time so much to do, answered only briefly, advising him to
remain firm, and, above all things, to beware of mixing up
reason and faith in such a way that reason should be made the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 57
judge of what is revealed to faith. The letter is dated Witten-
berg, 4th August 1539.
With the end of the civil war these struggles seemed to in-
crease. The true friends of their country had long grieved that
the land should be torn by civil strife. They had attempted to
hold several meetings, but as these appeared dangerous to the
kings, ways and means were found to make them comparatively
useless. Not quite fruitless, however, were these attempts at
pacification, for the two parties became milder, and the two kings,
Ferdinand and John Zapolya, found it prudent to enter into a
treaty in the year 1538, by which it was agreed, " That each
should bear the title King of Hungary, and retain what he had
in possession; after Zapolya's death, however, even in case of
leaving male issue, Hungary and Transylvania should fall to
Ferdinand."
The day of peace for the land appeared to be come. John,
who had possession of the greater part of Hungary, and the
whole of Transylvania, appeared even more pleased than Ferdi-
nand. He laid his sword aside, and in 1540 married Isabella the
daughter of the King of Poland. The news that she had born
him a son in the following year, reached him on his death-bed.
He died on the 22d July, after having named George Marti-
nuzzi, Bishop of Grosswardein, Peter Petrovitsh, and the dis-
tinguished Torok of Enged, guardians to his son, and giving
them a charge, " on no account to deliver the land up to Fer-
dinand." A terrible legacy for that ambitious man to leave his
son and his country !
58 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER VII.
FERDINAND I. RULES ALONE. 1540-1564.
Neither the widow nor the guardians of John's son, nor the
Turk, seemed at all disposed to yield the land to Ferdinand
according to contract. The Turk felt himself quite comfortable,
and was indeed sovereign ruler, and if anything could reconcile
us to the miserable state of the country at that time, it is the
wonderful religious freedom enjoyed there during the Turkish
rule • so that one sees good ground for the statement of an
English bishop some years ago in Parliament, when he said,
if one should give him, as a Protestant, his choice between a
residence in Turkey and the Austrian States, he would decidedly
choose the first. In consequence of the greater fairness shewn
by the Turks in the religious quarrels of the Christians, whom
they despised, the gospel had already been spread from the
Theiss to Transylvania and Wallachia, as is credibly reported
to Melancthon.* At that time there was a close correspondence
kept up between the Reformers at Wittenberg and their scholars;
in Hungary, and very many who were already ordained, travelled
to Wittenberg for the sake of making the personal acquaintance
of these great men. From the year 1541 and later, we find
Benedict Abadius, Emizich Osorius, Gregory Wisselmann, Martin
Santa or Kalmautshy, afterwards a Zwinglian, Stephen Kopacsy,
Caspar Heltus, and others, going in succession to Wittenberg,
according to the testimony of Matthew Scarizaus, who was
personally acquainted with the last, as being at the time a man
advanced in life.
The Lord had awakened in this land men who were driven
by the Spirit of God, and who therefore did the works of God.
Sylvester, who had been recommended to Count Nadasdy by
Melancthon, received from this nobleman so much assistance as
* Philip Melancthon, lib. xi. epist. p. 339.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 59
enabled him to publish an edition of the New Testament in
the Hungarian language in 1541, at Sarvar, with a dedication
in Latin to the two sons of Ferdinand L, Maximilian and Fer-
dinand. In Raab, where the struggle between the old and new
doctrines had been severe, the evangelical party succeeded in
obtaining a preacher to their mind. In Stuhlweissenburg, the
Roman party had demanded from the recorder of the city that
lie should put a stop to the preaching, and to the distribution of
the Lord's Supper in both kinds, as well as cast all who were
guilty of such conduct into prison ; to which the magistrate
replied, that in this case he must obey God rather than men,
but in all other cases he would know how to discharge the duty
of his office.*
The cause of Rome was sinking. In Bartfeld, Michael Rad-
ashinus had gained almost a complete victory for the cause of
truth. The consequences of the Schaasburg discussion were
beginning to be felt ; for many who had been prejudiced against
the Reformation, and who had looked upon inquiry even as a
crime, had now obtained other views on that subject. Some
turned from Rome in consequence of conviction, others simply
from the example which had been set them. Mediash, Kron-
stadt, and the whole of Burzenland, joined the Reformation. In
the last mentioned, John Honteris, who was now returned from
Cracow and Basle where he had studied, established a printing-
press so early as 1535, and in 1547 the whole district was
leavened with the truth which had thus been disseminated, f
The Protestants, however, were not without deep concern.
Alexius Thurzo, a man of noble mind, who, although repre-
sented by Timon to have been a zealous Roman Catholic, always
urged Ferdinand to moderation towards the Protestants, was
now dead. He left the Protestants, it is true, the comfort of
knowing that he had trained his sons to be pillars of the
Reformation. And now, in the year 1543, the Roman Catholic
clergy unite in sending a petition to Ferdinand, complaining
of the Protestants. Ferdinand's well-known regard for the
Roman Catholic Church, makes this complaint so much more
likely to be heard. In this complaint they state that his
majesty's subjects are inclined to all evil ; that, though com-
plainants are doing all in their power, yet they request the
* Johannes Manlius Collect, torn. i. de Calamitate Afflict, p. 139.
t Honteris, " Reform of Transylvania."
60 HISTORY OF THE
king's assistance to prevent the appointment of any one in any
parish as pastor without the approbation of the Church; and
that no one be permitted to force the people to receive the gospel,
for from this fountain proceed heresies, troubles, wrath, strife,
contention, murders, drunkenness, and all lusts of the flesh!
The Lord Jesus had taught that all these come out of the natu-
rally corrupt heart, but it seems as if the Romanist clergy knew
better. In consequence of this appeal, King Ferdinand issued
an edict from Nuremberg such as the clergy wished, and placed
at their disposal all the temporal and spiritual power, to enable
them to protect the Romish religion with its praiseworthy customs
and ceremonies. *
In addition to troubles from without, the Protestants had also
internal annoyance. For Devay, who had hitherto adhered to
Luther's doctrine respecting the Lord's Supper, now adopted
Zwingle's views, and thereby caused no small excitement.
Luther was informed of this defection, and he replied, express-
ing his astonishment, and at the same time urging the other,
clergy to remain firm by the doctrine which they had received
from him. f The Jesuit Timon mentions this letter, but in
such a way as to shew his evil design against Luther and his
doctrine. \
The excitement, in consequence of Devay's change of views,
was increased by a new order of Ferdinand, addressed to the
vice-palatine, Francis von Reva, expressing astonishment that
he had hitherto been so remiss in his duty towards the heretics,
and threatening him with the loss of the royal favour, if he did
not chastise every one, of whatever rank, who left the true
Church, in such a way as to bring him back. This letter bears
date 1st July, and is written from Prague.
Disregarding all these commands, the citizens of Leutshaw
elected Bartholomew Rogner in this year to be their pastor. It
was the courageous recorder of the city, Ladislaus Poleiner, who
had strictly been the founder of the Reformation there, who
placed himself at the head of the movement. This election soon
bore happy fruits. Bogner, a native of Transylvania, had been
a pupil of the distinguished Reformer, John Honter, and he
* Analect. Scepus, P. xi. p. 234.
t " Ceterum quod de Matthia Devay scribitis, vehementer sum admiratus,
cum et apud nos sit ipse adeo boni odoris." Wittenberg, 1544.
X Epitom. Chronol. 1544.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 61
laboured with such success, that within twelve years all the
Roman ceremonies were abolished. He was equally successful
in subduing the seditious Anabaptists, and died in Iglau,
25th June 1557, leaving behind him five orphans.
With equal success was the gospel preached also in Tasnyad,
where the Protestants erected a school, and placed it under the
direction of Stephen Kis of Szegedin, usually called Szegedinus,
who was just returned from Wittenberg, and who also acted as
preacher. By the great animation of his discourses, and the
peculiar expressions which he made use of, he excited the anger
of the Popish party to such an extent, that Bishop George Mar-
tinuzzi sent the captain of his body-guard to box his ears. The
valiant captain, Caspar Peruzitti, exceeded his commission, how-
ever, and after abusing him with the spurs, and depriving him of
his most valuable library of two hundred volumes, he drove him
out of the city.*
This was no reason, however, why he should cease to labour,
for in the following year he was appointed to the academy in
Gyula, and shortly after was called as pastor and schoolmaster to
Czegled, in the district of Pesth, where he laboured for two
years with much success.
Ferdinand's edicts had, then, instead of injuring the cause of
the gospel, only increased the zeal of its adherents. Under the
protection of the powerful Caspar Draghj, there was a synod
held in Erdod, a village in Szathmar county, at which twenty-
nine preachers were present. The twelve articles of faith, which
were then drawn up, are concluded with the following words : —
" In other articles of faith we agree with the true Church, as she
has declared her belief in the Augsburg Confession, as presented
to the Emperor Charles V." The adherents of the Augsburg
Confession and Ribinyi represent this as a meeting of Lutheran
clergy, but the closing sentence is sufficient evidence that the
adherents of the Swiss Confession were also represented ; for
these words take for granted, that the twelve previous articles
differed in some respect from the Augsburg Confession, otherwise
the expressions have no meaning. | Of the articles themselves we.
know nothing but the titles and the names of those who drew
them up. The subjects were — of God • the Redeemer ; Justifi-
cation of the Sinner before God ; Faith ; Good Works ; the
Sacraments ; Confession of Sin ; Christian Liberty ; the Head
* ScaricaiiSj in vita Szegedini.
62 HISTORY OF THE
of the Church ; Church Government ; the necessity of separat-
ing from Borne.*
In the same year, 1548, we find another synod held at Medias,
in Transylvania, which was, however, attended only by Luther-
ans, according to Honter s account, but the results are unknown.
The piety of the time was not only much advanced by these
meetings of the clergy, but also by the letters of the Eeformers,
written to many of the princes and clergy of Hungary, who were
known to be friendly to the new movement.
There is a letter of Melancthon's still preserved, which was
addressed to that most distinguished friend of the Beformation,
Peter Perenyi, who, under the false accusation of the enemies
of the gospel, was, from the year 1542, lying in prison at Wiene-
risch, Neustadt. In vain had Alexius Thurzo appealed on his
behalf ; in vain whole countries ; even the diet had interceded
with Ferdinand for him, but without success. His foes had per-
suaded Ferdinand that he was aiming, as John Zapolya had
once done, at the throne of Hungary, and his zeal in defence of
the gospel was sufficient reason to exasperate them against him.
Melancthon's letter affords evidence how he, even while in prison,
was able still to advance the cause dear to his heart. All that
his bitterest foes, the Jesuit Timon and the Archbishop Peter
Pazman, can say of him is, that divine punishment rested on him,
because of leaving the Roman Church, f In the year 1548, he
was brought to Vienna, where death released him from all ills.
The deeper the chasm became which separated the Protestants
from Eome, the more anxious was Ferdinand to persuade the
Pope to summon a general council ; for, with many others, he
hoped still that the wound could be healed. By indulging this
hope, however, he only shewed how little he knew of the terrible
alienation of the Church of Borne from the Word of God, and
that, to reconcile the contending parties on evangelical grounds,
was equivalent to bidding the Pope lay aside his assumed power,
cast his glory in the dust, and allow the sources of his immense
revenue to be at once and for ever stopped. Yet, full of hope
respecting the issue, Ferdinand looked forward to the Council of
Trent, which was appointed to meet on the 13th December 1545,
and thither he sent two distinguished bishops, Andrew Dudith,
and George Draskowitsh.
* Lampe, lib. xi. anno 1545, p. 93. Eibinyi, Memorab. p. 67.
I Artie. Diet xiii.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY, 63
The instructions which Ferdinand gave his deputies are in so
for worthy of notice as they throw a favourable light over the'
king's views at that time. The deputies were directed to use
their influence to bring on the discussion respecting a reformation
of morals first, and of faith afterwards ; to have a reformation in
the court at Rome ; to have the number of cardinals reduced to
twelve or twenty-four ; to have the number of indulgences dimi-
nished ; to have simony completely abolished, as well as all pay-
ments in spiritul matters ; to have the clergy brought back to
their original purity in dress, morals, and doctrines ; to have the
eating of flesh permitted, and the Lord's Supper administered in
both kinds.
During the sittings of the Council, which lasted eighteen years,
many additional instructions were sent, such as, " That the
Council should not be prorogued or dissolved against its own
consent, or without the approbation of the Roman Catholic
princes ; that national deputations should be received ; that
single bishops, and also princes, should have the right to make
proposals ; that they should discuss freely, and resolve indepen-
dently of Rome ; that the reformation should extend to the
head and the members ; that the Pope should imitate the humi-
lity of Jesus ; that large bishoprics should be divided ; the ban
should be the highest punishment which the Church inflicts, and
yet it should not be pronounced for every crime, nor until after
a regular trial of the case." The instructions continued to say,
u That the state of the monks should be reformed ; public schools
should be established ; the number of the traditions diminished ;
that the Council should see that those who minister in holy things
should themselves lead a chaste life ; in divine service, German
and Latin hymns should be sung alternately ;" and these pro-
posals were well supported by the Hungarian bishops.*
The two points, respecting the lives of the clergy, and dis-
pensing the communion in both kinds, were of so much im-
portance in Ferdinand's opinion, that he sent a bishop to Venice
to observe the practices of the clergy of the Greek Church and
their mode of administering the Lord's Supper.| We shall soon
see how little Ferdinand, obtained from the Court of Rome, and
how much labour it cost him to obtain that little from a council
which was the willing slave of the Pope.
* Lorandus Samuel Hald, Ann. 1743. Timon, Purp. Pann. p. 50.
t In Oratione Davidis Chytraei super maxim, p. 94.
64 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTEE VIII.
Confession of Faith of the five towns of Upper Hungary on this side the Theiss —
Activity of the Grospel preachers — Temesvar — Stephen Kis of Szegedin — Peter
Petrovitsh, Count of Temesvar — Stephen Losontzy — Szegedin banished — Temesvar
conquered by the Turks — Death of Losontzy.
From the Council of Trent we look away to Hungary, where, in
the towns which were inhabited chiefly by Germans, we see the
Reformation making rapid progress. In Ofen, in lo47, the
gospel was preached and many pressed to hear it.* In Temes-
var the Protestants had opened a school and appointed Szegedinus
from Czegled to be the teacher, under the patronage of Peter
Petrovitsh, Count of Temes. Szegedinus did not confine himself,
however, to the school, but, with his assistant, Christopher
Lipensis, scattered the truth unsparingly among adults. His
sphere of labour seemed the more secure as the count was a
relative of Prince John, and a declared friend of the Reformation ;
but it continued prosperous only for about three years, when the
count was obliged to make way for Stephen Losontzy, who, as
a mere warrior, was heartily devoted to Rome. Szegedin, with
Gregory, formerly of Fiinfkirchen, and other Protestant teachers,
was now banished, no doubt under Divine guidance, that they
might not perish in 'the terrible slaughter which took place when
the Turks very shortly after took the fortress. f
About this time the gospel was preached with much success in
the county and city of Tolnau, at that time under the Turkish
government, by Emerich Czigerius, who had at one time studied
at Wittenberg, and who in August 1549 gives an interesting
account of his labours to his friend Matthew Flacceius Illyricus.
He mentions that he had found the city so given to idolatry, that
in two weeks he had not found among so many thousands more
• A letter of Melancthon's, dated 3d Sept. 1547.
t Scaricaus, Vita Szegedini.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 65
than three or four individuals prepared to receive the gospel. He
mentions how on travelling farther he had gained some priests
and schoolmasters, and how, after a discussion with the priest
Michael Sztary, he had with his assistance preached the gospel
in Lower Hungary and Upper and Lower Moesia, and, though
they had met with much opposition and were often in danger,
yet the Lord had protected them in the time of need.
This preaching in Tolnau had been much blessed, for in less
than three years some pious men called him back to preach in
the new church which they had erected. One part of the town
was still Popish, and its inhabitants defended their own cause in
that way which Rome best understands. The Turks, however,
favoured the Protestants ; for, when the recorder of the city
brought the pasha a large present, requesting him at the same
time to banish the Protestants, the Turkish ruler inquired
closely into the matter, and, while the recorder narrowly escaped
with his life, he gave orders u that the doctrines which Luther
had discovered" — so he calls the gospel — " should be everywhere
freely preached."
Thus were the labours of the Protestants to a considerable
extent protected and favoured by the Turks. Czigerius reports
this to his friend — tells him of the opening of a new school with
sixty pupils in opposition to the Popish school — that his church
numbers five hundred souls — begs for books and help out of
Germany — salutes Philip, and begs his countryman, Motzar, to
hasten back to help him in his great work.
In the towns under Ferdinand's sceptre the gospel was making
equal progress. In Komorn we find the preachers Michael Sztary
and Anthony Plattner labouring diligently in the Lord's vine-
yard, and laying the foundation of what was afterwards the great
and flourishing Church of the Helvetic Confession.
In the free city Tyrnau we find Simon Grynaeus and Devay
scattering the good seed; the works of the Reformers are ex-
tensively circulated to water it, and the majority of those who
embrace the faith adhere to the Augsburg Confession.
The synod which had been held by the evangelical clergy in
the mining districts, was now of signal benefit to themselves. For
scarcely had the queen-dowager Mary given this district, which
was her own private property, to her brother Ferdinand to
manage for her, when the bishops, supposing him to be more
accessible than Mary had been, got up their accusations against
E
66 HISTORY OF THE
the Protestants. They represented these towns as hotbeds of
Anabaptists, dangerons Sacramentarians (under which name they
meant Zwinglians), and other sects. The struggle at that time
between the Lutherans and the Reformed respecting the sacra-
ment gave them sufficient colouring for their charge, and the
numbers of distinguished men who were leaving the Church of
Rome to join the Protestants, gave them just cause of anxiety
for the stability of their party, and at the same time excited
their rage. It was no small loss which they sustained in the
conversion of that learned bishop Peter Paul Vergerius, whom
the cardinal Alexander had accused of heresy, and who, about
the year 1546, having openly declared himself on Luther's side,
was called to Tubingen, and supported there by Christopher,
Duke of Wurtemberg. He injured the cause of Rome very con-
siderably, by publishing her secrets.
His brother, Baptist, Bishop of Polu, died very shortly after
his public profession of Protestantism, and not without strong
suspicion of having been poisoned.* Besides, Martin, Bishop of
Wassgrun, declared himself also on Luther's side, by publicly
and honourably getting married; and it was not long till Bishop
Thurzo also joined the evangelical party.
Provoked by such losses, the Roman Catholics pressed Ferdi-
nand, to the utmost of their power, that he should, especially in
the mining districts, where the Protestants were becoming nume-
rous and consolidated, use his power to have them scattered ;
and it seemed for a time as if they had succeeded, for it was
with no small consternation that the Protestants saw Stephen
Berdala, Bishop of Waizen, and Schibrick, as royal commis-
sioners, sent, on 14th August 1549, to examine into the state of
religion in Upper Hungary. The innate power of truth, how-
ever, soon gave them courage to draw up a confession of faith, in
twenty articles, and present it to the royal commissioners, at
Eperjes, in the same year. This confession, known as the
Pentapolitan, or Confession of the Five Cities, became famous in
Hungary. It was nothing else than an extract from the Augs-
burg Confession, drawn up in Melancthon's soothing style; and
so soon as Ferdinand had discovered that the charges brought
against these cities were groundless, he permitted them to enjoy
their privileges ; so much the more, also, as he had hoped that,
at the Council of Trent, and the Diet of (Edenberg, which was
* Seckendorff in Hist. Luth., lib. iii. sec. 30.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 67
soon to be held, all the differences between the contending parties
should be removed.
This circumstance gave the evangelical party much encourage-
ment; for, in 1550, we find an ecclesiastical conference in the
village Forna, limiting and defining the duties of the bishop or
superintendent at ecclesiastical visitations. In 1552, we find
another conference trying to reconcile the differences in reference
to the Lord's Supper, abolishing the confessional, arranging
respecting the support of the clergy in poor parishes, resolving
that where the altars have been already removed they should not
be renewed; where they are still remaining, however, it is not
necessaiy to have them taken away ; — sufficient evidence that the
Lutherans and Reformed were at that time conciliatory towards
each other. In the same year, a synod was summoned at
Hermannstadt, where Paul Viener was chosen first superin-
tendent, and where the first evangelical ministers were ordained.
Up till this time, the clergy had been ordained by the Roman
Catholic bishop, or by the professors at the German univer-
sities.
Important political changes were then taking place in Tran-
sylvania ; for, as the wily Bishop of Wardein, George Mar-
tinuzzi, had succeeded in freeing himself from the restraint of his
two colleagues, in the guardianship of Prince John, in such a
way that Valentine Torok, a distinguished supporter of the
evangelical party, was lying in prison at Constantinople, and
Peter Petrovitsh was living as an exile in Hungary, having
been driven from Transylvania, he availed himself of the oppor-
tunity to abuse his power. v He entered into a secret compact
with Ferdinand, by which Austrian troops were admitted into
Transylvania, and, with the basest ingratitude towards the
queen-dowager Isabella and her son, who had been committed
to his care, he compelled both to flee to Poland. He soon
received the reward of his treachery ; for, in the same year, he
was, as some report, taken out of the way by assassins in the
employ of Castaldo, Ferdinand's general ; or, according to other
accounts, hewn in pieces by the soldiers.*
This occupation of Transylvania brought the Roman Catholic
party little advantage. Ferdinand seemed still inclined to perse-
vere in attempting a reconciliation of the two parties. He inter-
fered very little with their contentions, and it was for the sake
* Wolfgang de Bethl. Hist. lib. iv. pp. 173, 174.
68 HISTORY OF THE
of peace that lie summoned the Diet of (Edehberg, in 1553.
At this meeting the majority of votes was in favour of the
Reformation, and the proposal to forbid the printing and distri-
buting of heretical books was negatived. This circumstance had
such influence with the inhabitants of the neighbouring free city,
Guns, which was at that time a fortress of some importance, that
they declared in a body in favour of the Reformation. The
Hungarians, who in that city adhered to the Swiss Reformers,
took possession of the Church of St James, and kept it for six
years, when it was taken from them by the Lutherans, who
were then become more numerous ; * and, in the year 1554, the
last Roman Catholic priest left the city, as a shepherd who had
no flock.
The removal of the diet from CEdenberg to Presburg tended
in no respect to lessen the enthusiasm for the Reformation.
On the contrary, new accessions were gained, in the persons of
the palatine, Thomas Nadasdy, the master of ceremonies,
Stephen de Lindva, and, shortly after, the colonel of the body-
guards, Ladislaus Banfy.
Melancthon's letters may have had much influence with the
palatine in inducing him to take this step ; for we find that a
regular correspondence was kept up, and a deep interest taken,
by the Reformers, in the state of Hungary. An instance of this
we find in the case of the Church of Eperjes, where the pastor,
Matthew Lauterwaldt, had preached the doctrine of the justifica-
tion of a sinner before God partly by works and partly by
grace. A dispute having arisen between him and the neigh-
bouring clergy on this subject, an appeal was forwarded to
Melancthon, who decided, that if Lauterwaldt did not yield, he
ought to be deposed. +
In the meantime the mining towns had cause of rejoicing, for
the king sanctioned their confession of faith, which they had
handed him in 1549, and which in twenty articles contained
merely the substance of the Augsburg Confession. This may
be regarded as a fruit of the peace of 1555, by which toleration
was secured to all who adhered to this confession.
While the Reformation was thus progressing so favourably at
home and abroad, several zealous followers of Zwingle were
labouring indefatigably to spread then- views. Among these
* (Edenberger Chronik. MS.
t Phil. Melancthon to the Senators of Eperjes, 6th Oct. 1554.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 69
were John of Hermannstadt, Francis Staukarus, surnamed the
Lame, Mathew Devay, and Peter Melius. The Swiss Confession
was printed at Torgan in 1556, was laid before a convention of
the clergy in 1557 at D^brecsin, and ultimately signed at Ezen-
ger in 1558. Thus was a breach made in the Protestant Church
which centuries have not been able to heal. The Confession, as
signed at Ezenger, was published in 1570 by Andrew Lupinus,
and is to be found in Lampe.
The conversion of the great and learned Bishop Francis
Thurzo from the Church of Rome, and his marriage, accelerated
the progress of the Reformation ; but still more powerful was
the influence of Soliman's approaching troops in bringing out
the power of vital godliness. Ferdinand's troops had been
obliged to surrender Temesvar to the Turks ; his army, consist-
ing of Italians, Spaniards and Germans, was oppressing the
people ; and, driven to desperation, the nobles recalling Peter
Petrovitsh from banishment, delivered him the necessary autho-
rity to conquer and regulate the country for Isabella and her
son. The Turkish emperor was satisfied with this arrangement,
and promised aid in case of need.
So soon as Peter Petrovitsh had assumed the government of
Transylvania under the title of lieutenant, he took decided steps
for confirming and finishing the work of reformation. As he
had adopted the Swiss Confession, he removed all images out of
the churches, drove the Roman Catholic priests out of their
parishes, changed the monasteries into useful schools, converted
the gold and silver vessels and images into money and distri-
buted among the poor ; and all this with the design that when
Isabella, who was a Roman Catholic, should return, there might
be the less opportunity for again introducing the Romish cere-
monies.
Thus, with the full consent and approbation of the people,
was the whole of Transylvania freed from the power of the
Popish clergy, and the Church property considered as belonging
to the state, so that the titular Bishop of Weissenburg, Paul
Bornemisze, left the country in 1556, at which time only two
monasteries remained.
As Isabella on her return demanded three-fourths of the tithes
for herself, there was such opposition on the part of the Saxon
clergy that she at last declared herself satisfied with one-fourth,
while the remaining three-fourths were secured to the Protestant
70 HISTORY OF THE
clergy, who remained in possession till the year 1848. This
favour, however, was conferred only on the Saxons, for, as no
voice was raised on behalf of the native Hungarian clergy, their
tithes were taken by the queen, and never restored. The
queen's income, which was thus very considerable, was much
increased on the death of Petrovitsh in 1557, as he made her
sole heir of his vast property.*
* Waif. Bethlehem.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 71
CHAPTER IX.
An Evangelical High School in (Edenherg— The Town Bela reformed— Letter of the
Archbishop Nicolas Olah— Threats— Firmness of the Protestants— The Magnates
of Hungary, with the exception of three families, all Protestants — Introduction of
the Jesuits.
We have already seen the effect produced on Guns and the
neighbouring towns by the Diet of (Edenberg ; and we must not
omit to keep an eye fixed on (Edenberg, as this free city was
so prominent in the movements of the time. That the Reforma-
tion had early taken root here may be seen from the auto-da-fe
of heretical books under Louis IL* The young men who had
studied at Wittenberg, such as George Faber (in 1534), John
Schreiner (1545), James Both, Charles Rosenberg, and others,
were not idle after their return to their native town, as may be
seen from the regular correspondence between this city and the
Reformers. In 1557 such progress had been made that an Evan-
gelical High School was established ; and the burgomaster
supported the undertaking with so much spirit, that he gave his
garden for the purpose of erecting the necessary buildings.
Several young men from this city went to study in Wittenberg
in this year, and one of them, by name Michael Vieth, returned,
bringing with him a letter of recommendation from Philip
Melancthon, written in beautiful Latin, and addressed to the
town-council of (Edenberg. If this letter throws some light
on the state of mind of the magistrates at that time, we have
still clearer evidence in the year 1565 ; for in that year, the
whole town-council, being evangelical, called the famous Simon
Gerengel, formerly Roman Catholic priest in Lower Austria, to
be pastor in (Edenberg. This priest had found a book of ser-
mons by Spangenberg, the Augsburg Confession, and Melanc-
thon's Commonplaces, by means of which he was led to the
* Annales Eccl. Day. Hermann, MS.
72 HISTORY OF THE
Bible, out of which he learned, as he says, " the horribly soul-
destroying errors of Popery." His faith was tried by an im-
prisonment of three years and a half at Salzburg ; and so closely
was he kept, that his mother, who had come on foot above two
hundred English miles to visit him, was not admitted into the
prison. Neither the severity of the confinement, nor the false-
hoods heaped upon him, could shake his faith. " Here we lie,"
he said — he was imprisoned with four other witnesses for the
truth — " here we lie day after day, week after week, month after
month, year after year, till it please the Lord Jesus to set us
free, for we have committed our whole case to him."
In 1562 this faithful servant of God had taken up his resi-
dence in Rotenburg, where, with his mother, his wife, and
child, he had a miserable subsistence, so that Raupach says,
" nobody knows what has become of him ; " and suddenly, to
our great joy, we find him preaching his first sermon and cate-
chising in (Edenberg in May 1565. He came in the spirit
and power of Elias, and within three years we find him welcom-
ing the Roman Catholic pastor of the town, Aliatsch, into the
bosom of the evangelical church, and shortly after uniting him
in marriage to Eve Mitshka, a Protestant maiden.*
While Gerengel was labouring with so much success in
(Edenberg, the town Bela had an equally faithful pastor in
the person of Lawrence Serpilius. He, too, had laid aside his
monk's dress and taken up the Bible, and so early as 1558 he
had persuaded the majority of the inhabitants to declare in
favour of the Augsburg Confession. Such numerous desertions
from the ranks justly awakened the deepest concern of the
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Gran, Nicolas Olah, and com-
pelled him to take some steps to bring back his erring sheep.
Accordingly, in a letter dated Vienna, 10th April 1558, and ad-
dressed to the clergy whom he suspected to be of evangelical
sentiments, in the Gespannshaft of Houth and the town of
Schemnitz, he laid down eighteen points which he required
them to sign. The clergy met together, resolved that these
points were Popish, and contrary to the Word of God ; declared
their firm adherence to the doctrines contained in the Augsburg
Confession ; and neither threats, nor flatteries, nor repeated letters
were able to make them flinch. Even when the archbishop
* Kaupach, Evang. Austria. Gerengel published several books intended
especially for the young.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 73
summoned them to meet him at Kirchdorf, as they knew toler-
ably well the design of the meeting, they did not attend.*
The archbishop, on his arrival at Kirchdorf, finding no one to
meet him, set about preparing a letter for the magistrates of the
seven mining towns, but before sending it, he opened the way
by a letter from Ferdinand of similar import. In the arch-
bishop's letter there was no want of threatenings, but the effect
produced was not quite according to his wish ; for the most
influential men of these cities coming together at Kremnitz, in
conjunction with the clergy prepared a refutation of the arch-
bishop's eighteen articles, and sent it to him with the intima-
tion that they were resolved to continue Protestants.
This refutation was published at Schemnitz in December 1559,
and a copy was sent to Ferdinand. It treated of the following
points: — 1. Of the Triune God; 2. Creation; 3. Original Sin;
4. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son of God ; 5. Of Justi-
cation, wherein is stated, that the sinner, in turning to God, is
justified by faitli alone, and not by good works, of iclii'ch he has
none before conversion ; 6. Faith ; 7. Good Works ; 8. The
Church; 9. Baptism; 10. The Lord's Supper; 11. Confession;
12. Repentance ; 13. Number of Sacraments ; 14. Church Office-
bearers; 15. Ceremonies; 16. Civil Magistrates; 17. Marriage;
18. Resurrection ; 19. Prayers to Saints, in which many keen
expressions of Epiphanius and Ambrosius are introduced ; 20.
Priests' Dress. The whole is concluded with a summary view
of the Roman errors and traditions, with extracts from the
Scripture and from the Fathers.
The king and the archbishop saw that Rome's influence was
lost. Only three families of the magnates adhered still to the
Pope. The nobility were nearly all reformed, and the people
were, thirty to one, attached to the new doctrine.f For an
extraordinary evil, extraordinary remedies must be applied.
Nothing else seemed likely to meet the case, and it was there-
fore resolved to send the Jesuits into Hungary.
The disciples of Ignatius Loyola had been already brought
to Vienna. The writings of the Reformers were spreading fast
in Austria, Carinthia, and even Tyrol ; the royal chaplain and
Bishop Urban had considered these men most likely to counter-
* Ribinyi.
t Peter Wolff, History of the Jesuits, B. xi. p. 103. Raupach, Evang.
Austria.
74 HISTOEY OF THE
act the Reformation ; and, being once invited, they did not refuse
to come. The primary aim of this order was to restore the fallen
dignity of the Pope ; a second object was to root out evangelical
religion ; and a third was to spread Popery in foreign lands.
To accomplish these purposes, any means whatever might be
employed. The Jesuit Bobadilla had been in Vienna with little
success from 1542, and nine years afterwards, Ferdinand, by
the advice of his chaplain, sent for ten more. Among these
was Peter Canisius, who, from his violence and the keenness
of his scent in discovering heretics, is called in Hungary to this
day, by a play on his name, " the Austrian Hound" — Canis
Austriacns.*
Within a year they had gained fifty adherents. Then prin-
cipal effort, however, was to obtain influence over Maximilian,
the heir to the throne. He received them politely, and heard
them without being much swayed, if he was even anything
moved. On his wife, however, their influence was more fully
felt ; for when Christopher Rodriguez was returning to Rome in
1560, he was able to bring from the queen a declaration of her
firm resolution even to die for the religion of her fathers, if by
so doing she could advance the cause of Popery in the Austrian
territory .t
Not content with having sown the seeds of discord between
the royal partners, the Jesuits contrived to banish Maximi-
lian's chaplain, who was a Protestant, J and afterwards brought
Pius TV. to the resolution to threaten Maximilian II. with the
ban if he did not enter fully into the Pope's plans. They even
proposed a new election, and the Pope entered into a suspicious
connexion with the bigoted Albert of Bavaria, for the sake of
carrying out his purposes. §
The gentle Maximilian, instead of banishing them imme-
diately out of the kingdom, contented himself with removing
them from court, " that he might have no one who bore the
name of Jesuit, or was any way connected with them, in his
councils." It was such men that the Archbishop of Gran,
Nicolas Olah, sent to Hungary.
Two priests, Peter Victoria and John Seidel, with a lay
* Sacchini, Comment, de vita P. Canisii.
t Raupach, Erl. Ev. Aust. part i. p. 132.
J Schelhorn's Letters.
§ Laderchii Annales, torn, xxiii. p. 56.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 75
brother, Anton Schrader — the latter to attend to the kitchen and
cellar, while the former preached — were sent to Hungary in
1561. The emperor's and the archbishop's generosity made
their position very agreeable, and they laboured diligently for
some time ; but their house in Tyrnau having been burned down,
they left Hungary, to the great joy of the heretics and the grief
of all true Roman Catholic citizens.*
Franz Kazy, Hist. Univ. Tyrnau.
76 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER X.
Death of Leonard Stockel and Thomas Nadasdy — Printing of the New Testament in
Croatian — Bishop Dudith's Report from the Council of Trent — Covenanting Sol-
diers at Erlau.
The efforts of the Roman Catholic clergy were met by the
Protestants in so far that the latter called men of still more
distinguished faith and zeal to take charge of their churches and
schools. Many who had already given evidence of evangelical
faithfulness in Germany were called to Hungary, and many of
their own young men were sent to Jena or Wittenberg to be
there examined and ordained. Of this latter class were, besides
others, Paul Nemesvath in 1553, and Erasmus Crossensky, who
was ordained in Wittenberg, December 1559, to the pastoral
charge of the church in Kasmark, his native town. This was
one of the last public acts of Melancthon, for, on the 19th of
the following April, he fell asleep in the Lord. His death was
keenly felt and much lamented by all the friends of the Reforma-
tion in Hungary. His learning, his modesty, and mildness of
character, had won the hearts of many of the princes and nobles
of Hungary, who had become much attached to him.
Leonard Stockel, the rector of the Bartfeld High School, who
had been a pupil of Melancthon's, was lying sick as he received
a letter from him, and at the same time the news of his death.
" I shall soon follow my beloved teacher," he cried, u and in
another world give him the information he wanted;" and shortly
after expired.
Another heavy loss soon befell the Protestant Church of
Hungary. The palatine, Thomas Nadasdy, alike distinguished
by education, power, wealth, zeal, and generosity in supporting
the cause of the gospel, sank into his grave. He had been a
TllOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 77
strong pillar of the Church in a day when every man was with
one hand building the walls of Zion and with the other holding
a weapon.
Still one consolation remained. The heir to the throne was
well disposed toward the Protestants. His chaplain, Pfauser,
a man of evangelical sentiments, had been removed from court,
but everybody knew that it was not in consequence of any
change in Maximilian's sentiments. What his views and aims
really were could easily be seen from the fact of his establishing
a printing press in Croatia, where scarcely a book, not even a
catechism, was to be found. Here the New Testament was
printed in the Croatian language by Tauber, at the expense of
John Ungnad, and dedicated by permission to Maximilian.*
The first part, containing the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles,
left the press 1562, and in the following year it was completed.
By the generosity of John Ungnad, four thousand spelling-books
were printed and circulated among the Croatians.f
This noble-minded man, who had been appointed by Fer-
dinand to some of the most important offices in Styria and
Carinthia, was, in consequence of his evangelical sentiments, on
some pretence got up by the Jesuits, banished from the country.
He found an asylum with Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg,
and, with burning zeal for the spread of the truth, he had Bibles
and theological Avorks printed m the Turkish and Croatian
languages, and sent over for circulation.^:
If Ferdinand was still, by the advice of the Jesuits, issuing
severe edicts and adopting stringent measures against the Pro-
testants, Maximilian had, on the other hand, received the evan-
gelical preachers Martin Mosador and Christopher Reuter, and
had approved of the printing of the Augsburg Confession for
the use of the Austrian evangelical churches. § But this comfort
was much required, for every day made it more evident that,
according to the Council of Trent, " The spirit of Popery admits
of no reform, and the interests of the whole Church must be
sacrificed to gratify Rome's peculiar views." ||
It might be well to give an extract from Bishop Dudith's
report to his master Ferdinand, of the doings of that famous
Council.
* Cyriacum-Spaugenberger Chron. f Mica Bury MS,
X Thuanus, torn. i. lib. 38. Mica Bury MS.
§ Raupach, Evang. Oester. t. i. p. 142. || Fessler, Band iv. p. 466.
78 HISTORY OF THE
He writes — " As trie votes are numbered and not weighed
here, the better-disposed party can do little good, the Pope can
send hundreds, or even thousands, to vote against them. We
see every day hangers-on at the Court of Rome, and poor beard-
less bishops — young men who have lost their property and
character — coming to Trent to vote in a way agreeable to the
Pope. What these men want in learning and intelligence, is
fully compensated by their impudence, and the affairs of the
Church are not regulated here by bishops, but by puppets who
are moved, like the fabled images of Daedalus, by foreign hand.
With this meeting," continues the bishop, " the Holy Spirit has
nothing to do. Here are simply human schemes to aggrandise
Rome. From Rome we obtain the oracles as from Delphi or
Dodona in other days. The spirit which is represented as
guiding the meetings, comes in the postman's bag from Rome,
and must wait at every swollen river by the way till the
waters abate. Oh, monstrous folly!" So writes Dudith home
to Vienna from that Council in which he and Bishop Draskowitsh
sit as Ferdinand's deputies. *
Where so little good was to be expected from Rome, it was
very natural that the friends of truth and freedom of conscience
should unite closely together. In the fortress and town of Erlau,
which belonged to the family of Perenyi, we find, accordingly,
an interesting covenanting scene in 1561. All the troops, both
horse and foot, stationed in Erlau, with the nobles and citizens,
bound themselves solemnly, by oath, not to forsake the truth,
and, as a testimony of their earnestness, they prepared a confes-
sion of faith corresponding with the Swiss Confession, and a
covenant which they publicly signed. This document was sent
to Debrecsin and the neighbouring parishes, where it was also
signed.f
The Roman clergy took the opportunity of representing to
Ferdinand, that this league was merely a conspiracy against the
throne, and, accordingly, on the 6th February 1562, the leaders
* This intelligent and learned man was afterwards made by Maximilian
a royal councillor and Bishop of Fiinf kirchen, and frequently employed on
important embassies. In 1567, he resigned his office, went to Poland, mar-
ried a lady of noble family, wrote a book against the celibacy of the clergy,
and died in Breslau, after ten years spent happily in wedlock, as the monu-
ment erected by his wife in the Elizabeth Church in Breslau testifies.
t This paper is preserved in Presburg, in the library of George Adonys.
See also Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf. p. 162.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 79
stood before a court of justice, charged with high treason. They
here declared that they were prepared to obey the king in all
civil matters, and that they had entered into this league simply
for the glory of God, and for preserving the truth uncontaminated,
as Joshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah, had done. The explanation was
accepted, and they had no farther trouble.
80 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XL
Diet of Presburg — Synod of the Evangelical Church at Tarczal — Gabriel Perenyi —
Close of the Council of Trent — The Cup granted to the Laity — Ferdinand's Medal —
Provincial Synod of Tyrnau — Ferdinand's Decease — Review.
That Ferdinand and the Archbishop of Gran were not idle in
their attempts to restore Popery, was felt at the Diet of Presburg,
in 1563, for here some of the old laws, unfavourable to the
Protestants, were renewed, and thus a door was opened to the
persecuting party to begin their work anew.
All these persecutions, however, from without, could not injure
the cause of truth so much as the internal dissensions which arose
respecting predestination and the Lord's Supper. The party
spirit rose so high that, at the Synod of Tarczal, in 1563, a formal
resolution was passed by a majority, to discontinue the conse-
crated wafer, and to teach diligently to the people the doctrine
of predestination.
This resolution was particularly disagreeable to Gabriel
Perenyi, especially as the clergy on his estates had not told him
beforehand. Accordingly he summoned these to meet him at
Ujhely, and after an earnest remonstrance, directed them in
future to preach and dispense the Lord's Supper in accordance
with the Augsburg Confession. Paul Thurius, pastor of St
Peter's Church, explained that their new declaration was only
an attempt to make the Augsburg Confession more intelligible,
and declared, at the same time, that neither he nor his colleagues
could give up their conviction respecting these two articles.
To heal the matter, Perenyi sent a deputation, at his own
expense, to Saxony, to inquire of the theologians there what
was to be done. Both from Leipzig and from Wittenberg the
answer was returned, very naturally, condemning the step which
the majority of the synod had taken, and urging them to remain
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 81
firm to the Augsburg Confession. As Thurius and the party
adhering to him did not submit to this decision, the separation
continued, and the evangelical church was now divided into
two parties — Lutheran and Reformed.
The Council of Trent had now been closed by the Pope. The
decisions, breathing execrations against all who refused to submit
to them, had extinguished the last hopes of the most sanguine
princes, and cast fresh oil on the fire of religious controversy. It
is well known how much Ferdinand, Maximilian, and the King
of France, were disappointed and displeased. The emperor
gave Pope Pius IV. to understand how much he was dissatisfied ;
and this remonstrance, together with the advice of some of the
bishops, who hoped that the granting the cup to the laity might
heal the breach in Austria, induced him to issue the bull of
16th April 1564, addressed to Nicolas Olah, Archbishop of
Gr£n, directing him to administer the communion in both kinds.
At the same time, however, he protests against the supposition
of papal fallibility, and asserts that the mass is no error, while
he gives directions respecting the best way to bring heretics back
into the bosom of the Church.
The emperor was so much delighted with this concession,
hoping it would have the desired effect, that he had a medal
struck to commemorate the transaction. On the one side is his
own image, with the motto, " Render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's;"* and the letters below, u Fer.," for Ferdinand.
On the reverse, a cup, with the motto, " Unto God the things
that are God's ;"f "and below the cup the word " Oratio," —
prayer. |
The emperor partook of the communion himself in both kinds,
and had the Pope's bull published in three churches in Vienna,
namely, in St Stephen's, in St Michael's, and by the Jesuits.
The Jesuits at first refused, because their general at Rome, Jacob
Lainez, had at the Council of Trent protested against giving the
cup to the laity; but on receiving orders from Rome they obeyed
the emperor. § On this, the dissatisfaction of the emperor, as
* " Giebt dem Kaiser was des Kaiser's ist."
t " Giebt Gott was Gottes ist."
$ Luckius in Syllog. Nuraism. p. 811. Eaupach raises some doubt
whether the coin was designed for this time, but he acknowledges that he
has no proof, and remarks, " Ita videtur, ita ego conjicio/'
§ Eaupach, Ev. Aust., part i. p. 156.
F
82 HISTOEY OF THE
well as of the citizens of Vienna, which was beginning to "be
expressed against them, ceased.
The free city of Tyrnau, in the county of Presburg, had been
at one time called by the Protestants " Little Home," in conse-
quence of the activity of the Jesuits there ; but it had afterwards
adopted the principles of the Reformation, in so far that, when
the Jesuits returned in 1563, after a temporary absence, the two
parties agreed that the Hungarians should keep the cathedral, and
a new church should be built for the Jesuits. It was to this
city that the archbishop summoned a provincial synod in 1564,
inviting all the clergy without exception. As several of the
clergy, and among these the pastor of the mining districts, did not
appear, the Dean Timmerius and the Jesuit John Seidel were
sent to Schemnitz to win the people over to adopt the decrees of
the Council of Trent, and so return into the bosom of the Church.*
On presenting their commission to the civil authorities, they
were informed that there were so many excellent preachers in the
town, their services were not required. The magistrates declared
at the same time, that their Confession of Faith, as the arch-
bishop himself knew, agreed with the Augsburg Confession, and
by this they were resolved to abide. The archbishop complained
to the emperor, and on 16th April an order was sent to the
civil authorities of Schemnitz warning them to obey the arch-
bishop, and threatening them with severe punishment for what
they had done. This order was signed, among others, by Dudith,
who had returned from the Council of Trent, but it did not pro-
duce much effect, for, on the 25th July following, the angel of
death knocked at Ferdinand's door and called him away. His
death freed the magistrates of Schemnitz from their perilous
position, and took a great weight from the hearts of the friends
of the Reformation in Hungary and Germany.
For thirty- eight years had Ferdinand I. been King of Hungary.
He had, besides, worn the Roman imperial crown and that of
Bohemia. The political historian must describe him as a wise
prince and lover of justice. We have had opportunity of shewing
that he was aware of the errors of the Chmch of Rome, and
earnestly longed for a reform ; and yet in the decisive moment he
avoided publicly declaring against Rome and, like other princes,
joining the Reformation, although the great majority of his
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., part i. p. 167. Godofry Schwartz, Life and
Writings of Dudith, § xxi. p. 56. The Jesuit Peterfy.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 83
subjects in Austria, Bohemia, Styria, and Hungary, would have
stood firmly by him in taking such a step.
If we inquire into the reason of this conduct, we must mention
in the first place his Spanish education, the first impressions of
which were carefully nourished by the priests ; the example of
his brother, the Emperor Charles ; the constant friendly relation
between him and the Court of Rome; the moral and physical
assistance which Rome gave him against the Turks, and which
in his circumstances was indispensable; the falsehoods which
were told of Luther ;* the ignorance of the Word of God which
alone can make fallen man free ; — all these wrought together in
making Ferdinand what he was.
We are firmly of opinion that Ferdinand I. may justly be
ranked among the warmest and most devoted friends of the Pope.
He did all for Popery which any man could do in those stormy
times and under his circumstances, without the greatest folly and
danger. He did not understand that moving of the Holy Spirit
on the troubled waters of the Christian Church in his day. And
it is with regret that we must decline joining with such Pro-
testant writers as Spondanus, who declare him to have been a
friend of the Reformation. Should we give any other reasons for
our decision, we would simply point to his conduct in Austria,
where he was much less fettered than in Hungary, and yet this
freedom was only used to oppress and hinder the Reformation, f
* No one doubts any more that the letter of Ferdinand to Luther of 1st
February 1537 is a forgery.
+ Raupach, Ev. Aust. part ii.
84 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XII.
Maximilian I. is made King — Communion in both kinds in Hungary — The Celibacy of
the Clergy — Organisation of the Reformed Church, and separation from the
Lutherans — Unitarians in Transylvania — Pastor Lucas — Lazarus Schwend — Con-
fession of Czenger.
It was with their whole heart that the Protestants joined in the
cry, " Long live the king ! " as Maximilian I. was crowned in his
father's stead.
Their hopes were also realised. As yet there was no formal
separation from the Chnrch of Rome farther than that the senti-
ments of the evangelical preachers were known. When Arch-
bishop Olah therefore wrote to Presburg demanding that all
heretical books should be sought out, and threatening excom-
munication in case of disobedience, the citizens were much
alarmed. They knew what he had done in the case of Peter
Simeghi, the evangelical pastor of Selyr, throwing him into
prison and subjecting him to all possible trial. And now the
demand came to Presburg, not only to give up the books, but
also to banish all the preachers who were known to be of senti-
ments different from what Borne calls orthodox. In their distress
they sent a deputation to the king to appeal against the arch-
bishop.
About the same time a similar complaint was brought by the
Protestant clergy of the seven mining towns, and they had a
better case made out ; for, by handing in their confession of faith,
they had virtually separated from Rome's jurisdiction. They
shewed how they were appointed by law " to preach the gospel
diligently, and administer the sacraments according to the Augs-
burg Confession." Maximilian immediately directed the arch-
bishop " to cease disturbing the evangelical clergy ; to consider
the times, and to take heed that he did not destroy more than
he built up." *
By a letter dated 2d September 1564, the king directed that
the permission to use the cup in the communion should also be
extended to Hungary. The edict was published by the arch-
* Ribinyi, Mem. Mica Bury MS.
PROTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGAEY. 85
"bishop himself in Presburg and Tyrnau, and by the bishops
in Raab, Erlau, and Agram. Indeed, it was also published in
the camp of Lazarus Scliwend, the imperial commander-in-
chief, who laboured very successfully in advancing the Refor-
mation in the neighbourhood of the Theiss, by bringing forward
such preachers as were of evangelical sentiments.
Maximilian went even farther, and entertained high hopes of
being able to abolish the celibacy of the clergy, asserting that,
were this evil removed, all would soon proceed smoothly.* He
was of opinion that the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches
might very well exist together, and was therefore from his heart
opposed to persecution in religious matters. At the diet of 1566,
which was held to make preparation against the Turks, who, to
the number of one hundred and fifty thousand men, were ap-
proaching towards Hungary, no resolution was passed in any
way molesting the Reformers. Encouraged, therefore, by the
outward peace which they enjoyed, that distinguished light of the
Reformed Church, the senior and pastor Caspar Karolyi, sum-
moned a synod, at which the majority signed the Swiss Con-
fession of Faith. They wrote to their brethren in Transylvania,
recommending this confession, and sent the letter by Paul
Thurius, who was now completely devoted to the Reformed or
Swiss party.
In like manner was a synod called at Debrecsin by Peter
Melius, in which the Swiss Confession of Faith, as distinguished
from the Augsburg Confession, was adopted and printed, so
that the separation of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches was
now complete.
This organisation of the Protestant churches was not very
acceptable to the Roman Catholics, and they succeeded in black-
ening the character of the Reformed Church — whom they always
denominated Sacramentarians — in the eyes of Maximilian, to
such an extent, that when a similar synod was about being held
in (Edenberg, Maximilian wrote to the magistrates, not only
prohibiting the meeting, but also forbidding them to have any
connexion with such preachers, requiring, at the same time, that
if any such were among them, they should be banished, and
their books destroyed.f
Following the king's example, the commander-in-chief of the
forces, Lazarus Schwend, who appears to have known very little
* Kibinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., part i. p. 199.
t Ibid, part i. p. 208.
86 HISTORY OF THE
about the Helvetic Confession, took a very decided stand against
the Reformed, and in favour of the Lutheran, Church. This
general had soon an opportunity of trying his skill in ecclesi-
astical matters, in the case of Lucas, the pastor of Erlau, who
had adopted Socinian views, and whose case was tried before the
synod of Kashaw, in January 1568. It having been proved
that Lucas denied the eternity of the Son of God, and so rejected
the doctrine of the Trinity, the general adopted a military solu-
tion of the theological quarrel, for he cast the accused into prison,
and gave him his liberty again, after a long confinement, only on
condition of recanting. It is true, the manner of conducting the
trials of those who were suspected of Socinianism was veiy far
from being an impartial inquiry after truth ; but it was at that
time necessary for the evangelical church to shew that she had no
sympathy with those who denied the divinity of the Lord Jesus
Christ ; otherwise, the Roman Catholics were very ready to make
this charge against individuals an opportunity of persecuting the
whole Church.
The Unitarians had, indeed, at this time, become very nume-
rous; and, as John, Prince of Transylvania, seemed to favour
them, they allowed themselves to be led very far in provoking
the other party. In vain did the professors in Wittenberg write
to the chancellor, Michael Csaky, urging the brethren not to
suffer such heresies, in direct opposition to the Word of God, to
spring up among them. In vain did they beg and entreat them
to send their young men to foreign universities and support them
there. The Italian doctor and preacher, Blandvater, with Francis
David, drove matters so far that, at the Synod of Wardein, in
Transylvania, the doctrine of the Trinity was openly denied, and
the pastor of Klausenburg was appointed superintendent of the
Unitarians.
Many Hungarians were present at this Transylvanian synod,
who did not adhere to the false doctrines. The Prince of
Transylvania, however, with many of the nobility, and the great
mass of the citizens of Wardein, openly joined the Unitarians.
This was perhaps a reason why the Hungarians, though they had
abeady signed the Confession of Torgau, in 1567, prepared and
printed at Debrecsin a new confession entitled the u Confession
of Czenger." The great historian Bossuet is quite mistaken
when he calls this a Polish confession. It was drawn up by
Hungarians, and is to this day the common confession of the
Reformed Church in Hungary.
PBOTESTAST CHURCH OF HUiNGARY. 87
CHAPTER XIII.
Jehoiachira Brandenburg — Death of Grabriel Perenyi, Bishop of Csanad — Synod of Krem-
nitz — The twenty-four Zips Towns and their Confession — David Chytraus.
Solomon says, " To every thing there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven;" and we may safely say that
the reign of Maximilian was " the time for Confessions of Faith."
From single cities, and from individual pastors, we find confes-
sions of faith appearing, agreeing in so far with the Augsburg
Confession that they give the Lord all glory. They were
in general written as public replies to the disagreeable attacks
made on these parties by such as, either through blindness or
obduracy, could see no salvation out of the Church of Rome, and
whose chief aim was, at any price, to bring all back again under
the Roman slavery. It was for this reason that Jehoiachim
Brandenburg, chaplain of the German cavalry at Raab, in the
year 1567, published the confession of his faith at Ratisbon.
In the preface, he informs us how, in consequence of his respect
for Flacius and adherence to the doctrines which he taught, he
was driven from place to place, till at last he had obtained leave
to preach and dispense the sacraments at Raab. Even here he.
had little rest, for, as he held divine service in a private house, he
was represented as one who hated the light. Being, however,
accustomed to preach in the open air,* he would not be prevented
from continuing to do so, and, that every one might know what
he taught, he hereby published the principal articles of his creed.
Such decided witnesses were much required in Hungary at this
time, for, during the sitting of the Presburg Diet, in 1567,
Gabriel Perenyi was laid in the grave of his fathers, and the
funeral oration was pronounced over this devoted supporter of the
Lutheran Church by Fabricius Szikzovianus, in the presence of
an august assembly of mourners. It was not long till the second
* He had eight different places where he preached. Mica Bury MS.
88 HISTORY OF THE
pillar of the Lutheran Church in Upper Hungary, Lazarus
Schwend, was also laid in the narrow house. These losses were
the more felt as Gregory Bornemissa, the Bishop of Csanad,
had written to the twenty-four towns of Zips, informing them
that he would soon visit " his towns," armed with the necessary
powers to restore the disobedient wanderers from the fold. He
informed them, also, that he would hold a synod, in which it
would be shewn what every one is bound to teach and believe.
In a second letter, in 1570, he renews the summons to the clergy
to attend at his court, and adds, that he will leave no means
untried to purge his diocese.* In the meantime, the influence
of Rome was so far felt at Vienna that the evangelical
professors at the university were excluded from the office of
rector.
Under such circumstances, the representatives of the five
mining towns met at Kremnitz in the year 1569 — renewed the
confession of faith which they had presented to Ferdinand in
1559 — resolved to instruct the children carefully in the Cate-
chism, and to hold a clerical meeting conference twice a year.
The representatives of the twenty-four Zips towns held a
conference in the same year, and deputed two of their number,
Valentine Meyander and Cyriacus Opsopaus, to draw up their
confession. Their work was finished in 1573, and the several
points agreed very fully with the Augsburg Confession; this,
therefore, obtained much more of the royal approbation than did
the confession of the Calvinistic Church, as is evident from the
fact of Maximilian shortly after inviting Chytraus from Rostock,
to bring all the evangelical churches of Austria to the Lutheran
model.
When Chytraus had finished his work in Austria, he travelled
through Hungary and Transylvania, and in the account given
of his journey, he mentions how the Arian heresy had spread:
but, at the same time, that he had found the true Church of
Christ scattered through all Hungary. He saw in Ofen a
Lutheran and a Roman Catholic occupying the same church
alternately, and in (Edenberg he found pastor, and magistrates,
and citizens, firmly attached to the principles of the Reformation.
He remarks, farther, that in the neighbourhood of the Neusiedel
lake, by the banks of the Danube and the Raab, the Church
was flourishing; in Zips, and among the Saxons in Tran-
* Ribinyi, Mem., part i. p. 221.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 89
sylvania, he found most learned men in the churches and schools,
who remained unmoved by all the exertions of Blandvater and
the other Socinian teachers.
This visit of the zealous Chytraus did far more for the benefit
of the Church in Hungary than the letter of the Wittenberg
theologians, warning so earnestly against the Socinian errors,
had accomplished. The spoken word, and the personal influence
of enlightened friends of truth, produce a far more permanent
effect than it is possible for writings to do. It was thus that the
travels of the apostles in the early times, and the travelling of
missionaries in our own days, have had an influence far beyond
anything which the dead letter of the written Word could ever
claim in gathering and strengthening the chinches. i
90 HISTOKY OF THE
CHAPTER XIY.
Diet at Presburg — John Kurber — Tyrnau — James Wolf — Death of Serpilius and
Szegedinus — Formal Separation from Rome.
The war with the Turks was ended by a truce for eight years,
and the quarrel with John, Prince of Transylvania, was brought
to a close in 1570, in such a way that John should hold, dur-
ing life, a certain portion of the country. As he died in the
following year, Maximilian was freed from much anxiety, and
now the great aim must be to try and heal the wounds which
half a century of war had inflicted. Accordingly, in 1572, two
diets were held at Presburg, in neither of which any resolution
unfavourable to the Protestants was adopted, and in the latter
meeting, Rudolph, the son of Maximilian, was crowned King of
Hungary.
In the place of Schwend, another zealous Protestant, John
Kurber, was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Hun-
gary.* Under his protection, the Germans in Tyrnau called an
evangelical preacher, who laboured very acceptably among them.
In their baptisms, funerals, and schools, they laid aside all the
Popish customs and ceremonies, and set about building for them-
selves a new church, which was finished during the reign of
Maximilian.
About the same time the town of Modem, which had just
been raised to the title and privileges of a city, elected its first
evangelical pastor in the person of James Wolf, a disciple of
Luther, who fully carried out the principles of his renowned
master.
In all these prosperous times, the great Head of the Church
was reminding his people that the cause of truth does not
depend on man, whose breath is in his nostrils. He therefore
* As governor of the city Kaab, he had introduced the first evangelical
preacher into that city.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 91
called away by death Laurence Serpiiius, the Reformer of Bela,
and shortly after, the great Stephen Szegedinus. The latter
died in 1572; in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
He had been eighteen years superintendent in the diocese
lying between the Border Lake and the Save ; and at his death
had one hundred and twenty Protestant churches under his
superintendence. Through evil report and good report, in
stripes and imprisonments, dangers by water and dangers by
land, he had laboured on unweariedly in his Master's cause.*
In his sixtieth year he had a public discussion in Pesth with a
monk of the name of Seraphim Pantheus, and with the sword
of the Spirit he carried off a brilliant victory. The Reformed
Church claims him as one of her superintendents. There is,
however, no evidence that he separated himself from the
Lutheran party ; all that can be said is, that in the later years
of his life he had a strong leaning to the Calvinistic doctrines,
and lived on very intimate terms with the leaders of that Church.
Although the evangelical churches, both Lutheran and Re-
formed, had at this time a complete organisation, yet the Roman
Catholic bishops did not cease to assert their claims, demanding
from the Protestant clergy a constant recognition of their
authority, and from the churches regular payments of Church
dues. The Archbishop of Gran, in passing through Leutshaw in
1573, took high offence at Anton Plattner, the evangelical pastor
of the place, for not waiting on him with accustomed honour ;
and when Plattner, reminded of his duty by the magistrates,
hastened after the archbishop so far as Eperjes, in company
with some of the neighbouring clergy, the archbishop complained
grievously of their having left Rome. " The honour of being
very learned men he would not deny them, and even to their
marriage he had no objection, if they had only waited till per-
mission had been obtained from Rome." Plattner returned safe
and sound to his own dear Leutshaw. f
In the same year the Bishop of Csanad wrote to the evan-
* He had many narrow escapes for his life. At one time his horses ran
away, and threw him into the Danube, where he was in great danger ; and
at another time, while bathing, he came too near a whirlpool, and was with
difficulty rescued.
t Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., part i. Here is the great Roman principle
asserted. The Pope has the power to pronounce any course of conduct to
be right or wrong. Right and wrong mean, then, what is conformable to
his will or otherwise. This is really setting himself in God's stead.
92 HISTORY OF THE
gelical churches, demanding his dues. They answered by send-
ing him their Confession of Faith, with some few words of
explanation respecting the constitution of their churches. It is
there said, " The Church is the visible body of those who hear
and believe the gospel, and among whom the sacraments are
administered according to Christ's appointment. The Spirit of
God works among these to renew their minds by his appointed
means ; there are, however, in this life, many in the visible
Church whose minds are not yet renewed. Those, however,
who falsify the Word, administer the sacraments contrary to
Christ's intention, and kill the saints — such are not the Church
of God, but, as the Lord says, l of their father the devil.' * He
that is not with us is against us.' "
By this document they declared themselves completely se-
parated from Rome ; and it was not convenient for the bishop
just at that time to take any farther notice of the proceedings.
Other churches, wishing also to be free, sent their theological
students to Wittenberg, where they were ordained, and then
returned to labour in their native land. Some went for the
same purpose to Transylvania, others to Gratz, and others still
to Silesia.*
* Memorabilia CEdenbergs MS. ; Ribinyi, Mem., part i. p. 246, where the
diploma of Paul Hermelius is copied.
PROTESTANT CHUIICH OF HUNGARY. 93
CHAPTER XV.
Peter Bornemissa — Stephen Beytha — Michael Starinus— The Pastors of (Eden berg —
Caspar Zeitvogel — Nicolas Telegdy appeals to the Pope — Maximilian's Death — His
Character.
At the head of this chapter stand the names of three of the
most distinguished Reformers in Hungary. Perhaps it is on
this account that the Lutheran and Reformed writers strive to
claim each for their own party. The following facts may per-
haps help to clear up the darkness which rests on this point, and
contribute towards settling the question, if it is one of so much
importance.
Peter Bornemissa was born of noble family, at Pesth, and
received his education at Kashaw and Vienna. In his eighteenth
year, he permitted the public to visit him at his lodgings in
Vienna, where he read and expounded the Scriptures to them.
Being accused by Nicolas Olah, at that time archbishop, he was
thrown into prison. On being set free, he travelled in Italy,
France, and Germany, for eight years, pursuing his studies.
On his return he was, by the patronage of Count Julius Salin,
and his worthy countess, Elizabeth Thurzo, appointed preacher,
first in Galgatz, and then in Shintaw. Here he laboured with
much success, and published an incredible number of books.
Especially valuable were his Hungarian sermons, which he
printed between 1574 and 1584, partly in quarto, partly in folio,
dedicated to Count Salm and Prince Stephen Torok. Other
works which produced a great sensation at the time, were
his Sum of Saving Knowledge, and Comfort in the Vicissi-
tudes of Life, published in 1577, and dedicated to Anna Maria
Losontcy, the wife of Christopher Unguad. Several liberal
princes and pious ladies bore the cost of printing, and among
these were Barbara Somi, wife of Ladislaus Banfy, Count
Salm Bathyani, Thomas Nadasdy, and Francis Esterhazy.
94 HISTORY OF THE
From the year 1584, we hear no more of this great man;
probably about that time he died. His writings bear the cha-
racter of the time, and give evidence that the Turkish dominion
had very much injured the state of religion and morals. Lampe
and others claim him as a Calvinist ; but we have evidence that,
on a preacher being appointed at (Edenberg, the magistrates
and citizens would not make the appointment till after Super-
intendent Bornemissa had examined and approved of him.
From the quarrels and bitter feelings between the two Con-
fessions, and from the high stand which the citizens of (Eden-
berg took on the side of the Augsburg Confession, we infer
that they would not send their pastor to be examined by a
Calvinistic superintendent.
\This (Edenberg pastor was afterwards a very distinguished
labourer in the Lord's vineyard. His name was Stephen
Beytha. Born about 1528, he laboured first in the schools,
and afterwards as preacher, for a period of forty-five years.
Bornemissa recommends him to the church in (Edenberg, in
1574, as a very worthy man, whom they should respect and
support, and expresses the hope that he may.be a blessing to
the town. Here he remained only two years, as Hungarian
preacher, and then removed to Gussing, in Eisenberg, as pastor
to the church there, and chaplain to Count Balthasar Bathyani.
As an influential superintendent, we shall frequently hear farther
of him.
Another of the great leaders of the Eeformation was Michael
Starinus. One benefit which he conferred on Hungary was the
translation of the Psalms into Hungarian verse, and, indeed, the
greater number of the Psalms in use among the Reformed
churches to this day are said to be his translation. He was a
most laborious minister of the gospel, but very little is known
respecting the very peculiar sphere of his labours, beyond the
facts, that he lived at Tolnau, in 1557 ; that he was settled at
Papa, as pastor, previous to 1574; and that, while he and
Stephen Beytha were candidates for the vacant post of
Hungarian preacher in (Edenberg, in the last mentioned year,
Beytha was preferred.*
* There was a Hungarian preacher in (Edenberg previous to 156S ; for
in that year we find the record of a presbyter of Guns applying for the
vacant place. In .1568-69, Francis Novanus was placed there ; in 1570-71,
Lucas of Blasteniz ; the name of the preacher in ' 72-73 is not given. In
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 95
There were at that time five preachers in (Edenberg, namely,
three in the German church, one in the Hospital, and Beytha in
the Hungarian church. The names were, Jonas Peter Nusaus,
a native of Nuremburg, James Ritshendel, Hans Hofer, and
Andrew Pfendtner. In the Hungarian church, a service in
Croatian was occasionally held, a custom which exists to this
day, though the Croatians in the neighboring village, Culmhof,
are now all Roman Catholics. Beytha was succeeded by Caspar
Dragonus, in 1576.*
The schools in (Edenberg were as prosperous as the churches.
The gymnasium, which had been established in 1566, had
Francis Hartwann as professor till the year 1577, and, as the
school was prospering, Caspar Zeitvogel was called from
Austria, as rector. Up to this time, it had been customary for
the youth in the Latin school to hear mass eacli morning, from
eight till nine o'clock, and vespers each evening, from three till
four. The new rector discontinued this custom, to the great
annoyance of the priest. He introduced the custom of singing
German hymns, instead of Latin, at funerals, and dispensed with
the attendance of priests, with their wax candles, on such
occasions.f
As the priests were thus deprived of some of their fees, they
were so enraged that, on one occasion, at a funeral, " a priest,
in the public street, boxed the ears of Master Caspar Zeit-
vogel." Shortly after, Zeitvogel was dismissed, by the influence
of the Bishop of Raab and some of his creatures, and the next
place we find him is in Basle, where he officiates as doctor of
medicine. His place, as rector of the gymnasium, was filled by
Michael Rusler, in 1574, who continued to labour successfully
for four years.
Up till this time, the St Michael's church had been used alter-
nately by Protestants and Roman Catholics, but now a com-
plete separation took place, and that chiefly by the influence of
the sensual Romish priest, Walff Spillinger.
1574, there is an entry to the effect, that, by order of the burgomaster,
there was paid to the Hungarian preacher of Papa, Michael Starinus, two
dollars, for preaching on trial at the (Edenberg Hungarian Church.
* Caspar Dragonus signs himself pastor of the United Hungarian and
Croatian Church.
t Z. E. Russeus, Burgomaster of (Edenberg. Transactions during his
Life. MS.
96 HISTORY OF THE
The friends of the Reformation had struggled hard to gain a
footing, and now they must not relax their efforts in attempting
to maintain their ground against those who had no qualms of
conscience respecting the means they adopted to gain their end.
" And they who kill you," said the Lord Jesus, with such
truth and power, "will think they do God service ;" " and all
this they will do, because they neither know me nor my
Father."
Some looked on the incredible spread of evangelical sentiments
as a great evil. Among these was Mcolas Telegdy, Provost of
Gran, about the end of Maximilian's reign. As he found the
emperor's lukewarmness in persecuting the Protestants in-
tolerable, he wrote to Pope Gregory, in May 1576, complaining
especially of the people of Tyrnau, that they had appointed a
most talented preacher, to whom crowds were listening in the
hospital church. In vain had the legate demanded of the
emperor to send this plague out of the town. In vain had the
bishops of Erlau and Raab united to plead for the same pur-
pose ; they had only succeeded in obtaining a promise that
royal commissioners would inquire into the case. He there-
fore begged the Pope to urge the emperor on to do his duty,
while many in Tyrnau were trembling for the consequences of
allowing this madman his full liberty. And, lastly, remarks the
provost, if the heretics once gain a victory in Tyrnau, their
teachers will then come like flies, and cover the land, so that the
Roman Catholic faith would be overturned — yes, overturned by
the preaching of the gospel !
Rome's power was thus waning fast in Hungary, when
Maximilian died at Ratisbon, on the 12th October 1576.
The Jesuit Mitterdorfer numbers him among the faithful
sons of the Church, and says he yielded to the Protestants
simply from dire necessity. Others think that Maximilian
suffered the Church of Rome designedly to sink, and that
he was a warm friend of the Reformation.*
Let us remember that, as crown prince and king of Bohemia,
he was decidedly in favour of the Reformation. At that time
he wrote to the Duke of Wurtemburg, that it was of the
utmost importance that the contending parties in the Protestant
Church should be reconciled ; for, by so doing, the Pope would
be the more hampered in his proceedings, which Maximilian
* Martin Gratianus in vita Card. Commendoni.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 97
confessed would not vex him very much. In another letter, he
calls the Papists " the other party," and the enemies both of
himself and the duke.* As emperor, however, he is less open ;
the circumstances require more moderation. As emperor, he
attended mass, remained in communion with the Church of
Rome, took as his chaplain that same Cithardus whom he
had formerly so much despised; but, as Thuanus observes,
u always at heart well inclined towards the Protestants."
A singular proof of this he gave in his last years ; for as on
the death of Cithardus they gave him one Martin Eisengriin, a
Protestant apostate, to be his chaplain, and as he, in his first
sermon, made a bitter attack on the Protestants, the emperor
immediately found another situation for him in the Bavarian
monastery of Dettingen.
If we, then, consider further, in addition to what has been
said, that the greater number of office-bearers at court were
Protestants, that Protestants were sent as ambassadors to
foreign courts, even to Rome, we may well doubt whether to
receive with implicit confidence or not, what the Jesuit Mitter-
dorfer says of him on his death-bed — " He gave full evidence of
being a Roman Catholic prince." f This doubt will be further
increased by the fact, that the Paris University refused him the
customary honours after death, as they had doubts respecting
his orthodoxy. We may also remember the memorable words
with which he dismissed his evangelical chaplain, Pfauser,
when compelled to do so by the influence of Ferdinand's court, —
"Be of good courage, dear Pfauser, the service of God must
not yield to the commandments of men."
* Kaupach, Evang. Aust. 1st Part, Supplement, pp. 21, 22.
f See Gerbach's Turkish Day-Book, p. 498.
98 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XVI.
RUDOLPH II., FROM 1576 TO 1608, IN HUNGARY ; DIED 1612.
His Education and Manner of Life — Archduke Ernest, Governor of Austria — Opitz
and Scherer — The Concordia in Hungary — Roman Tactics.
With the Emperor Rudolph begins a period of thirty-two
years, which, for the Church in Hungary, abounded in suffer-
ing and trials. The wonder, how it was possible for such an
enlightened and gentle father as Maximilian to leave behind
him such a son and heir as Rudolph, will be explained by a
glance at his early education.
Rudolph was born at Vienna in 1552, and while the father
was occupied with the cares of government, the Spanish mother,
by the aid of the Jesuits, formed the young mind after her own
wish. While he was scarcely yet twelve years old, he was
sent to be near the suspicious, tyrannical, cruel Philip, King
of Spain. At the side of this dark monarch and his ghostly
executioner, the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, did Rudolph,
while yet a youth, acquire that implicit submission to the
Church of Rome, which made him respect every error, con-
sider every change even of the most absurd customs as a
heresy, and fitted him for being the blind tool of the priests
of an infallible Church. They had only one difficulty in his
character, and that was the pride of being a ruler, and of
being considered such. Yet they knew well how to turn this
to account, by directing this failing in such a channel as served
their purpose.
Such a mixture of dark suspicion and tyrannical pride as
made up the character of Philip, just such was also Rudolph's
character. Like Philip, it became always more and more
difficult for his subjects to have access to him. Indeed, at one
time, the citizens of Prague, where he generally resided, con-
sidered him to be dead ,• and the only way to quell a riot,
PROTESTANT CHUKCH OF HUNGARY. 99
which was breaking out in consequence, was, that he came and
shewed himself at a window.
Devoted to astrology, alchymy, and painting, and with a
decided aversion to affairs of state, his extensive dominions
soon fell, like his own household, into desperate disorder. Like
Louis II., he was always at a loss for money; and, though
niggardly in matters of importance, yet he could waste his
property on flowers, and pearls, and trifles. He was always
surrounded with alchymists, astrologers, artists, and mistresses,
who carried away with a full hand, while his troops were
generally obliged to subsist on forced loans and friendly plunder.
Of course, no attention was paid to the education of the people.
The king set the example of adulterating the silver in dollars,
and the brokers and usurers in his dominions knew how to
imitate him in this respect.
Under such a ruler, who, as Fessler remarks, " for the grati-
fication of his own covetousness, transgressed all law and all
morality, that he might bury his treasures by the million,"
it would have been indeed a wonder, if credit, justice, and
morality had not disappeared, and cheatery taken their place.
With that faithfulness and good-natured resignation which
constitutes a principal trait of their character, the Hungarians
accepted of this king, who was crowned 25th September 1572,
in the twentieth year of his age. They hoped to find the just
and virtuous father in the son ; and even what very soon after
the coronation took place against the Protestants in Austria
did not quite remove the scales from their eyes.
In 1577, Eudolph had appointed his brother Ernest deputy-
governor of Austria, who immediately, no doubt by the advice
of the Jesuits, set about attempting a counter reformation. It
was the learned and zealous, but at the same time headstrong
and imprudent, evangelical preacher in Vienna, Joshua Opitz,
who gave occasion to this step. Picturing, in his sermon, the
consequences of monastic life, he mentioned that, in the time of
Pope Gregory, in a certain pool or lake, six thousand skulls of
children had been found, wThich had all been thrown in by the
women of the neighbouring convent, and that the Bishop of
Augsburg had written to Pope Nicolas I. on the subject.
Eight days after, the Jesuit Scherer preached against him, and
soon raised such a storm, that, by express command of the
emperor, the preachers Opitz, Tattelbach, and Hugo received
100 HISTORY OF THE
orders, on the 21st June 1578, " on the same day, before
sunset, to leave Vienna, and within fourteen days to be
beyond the boundaries of the empire, never to return."*
In the same year was the evangelical preacher at Krems,
John Matthews, of Smalkalden, banished ; and many of the
citizens, who were suspected of Protestantism, were called up,
and strictly examined respecting their views. While the car-
dinal Hosius was rejoicing over the banishment of the preachers
and the suppression of the Protestant congregations, and while
men of evangelical sentiments, who refused to take part in the
processions, were excluded from the rectorship of the Uni-
versity, the Bishop of Vienna was making preparations for an
inquisition of the books, in which work he was faithfully
assisted by the University.
With equal zeal were the Jesuits labouring in Styria, where
they succeeded in banishing Jeremiah Homberger, the pastor
and rector of Gratz.
Though the prospects of the Protestants were thus very
gloomy, yet the Hungarians, depending on the oath of the
king, and on their own constitution, seemed to have no fear
that the fire of persecution might soon reach themselves. ) Was
it the consciousness of the justice of their cause, or was it the
number of members of their own party filling influential
positions, or the success which had hitherto attended their
struggles against Rome, that lulled asleep all suspicion, and
prevented them taking energetic steps to meet the tricks of the
Jesuits and their helpers ?
Instead of combating the great foe from without, the internal
quarrels were increasing, and synod after synod was held to
discuss such questions among themselves as only tended to
stir up strife. In the hope of settling the disputes, an attempt
was made to have the Concordia signed 5 and though, at the
Synod of Kremnitz, in 1580, the commander-in-chief of the
Hungarian army, as well as lay deputies from some of the
sister towns, used their utmost efforts to have the signature
accomplished, yet the attempt only increased the evil which it
was designed to heal. Indeed, Gregory Bornemissa, of Great
Wardein, took the opportunity of warning the clergy under
his superintendence, that as there were in this formula senti-
ments reflecting dishonour on the person of Christ, they
* Raupach, Ev. Austria, part i. p. 272.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 101
should refuse signing it, and threatened, if they did so, he
would proceed against them as if they denied the humanity
of Christ *
The bishop having had heavy expenses at the Diet of Pres-
burg, wrote to the evangelical clergy of Zips, in 1583, requesting
them to send him, as usual, their share of his expenses, and
expressing a wish that the usual sum of sixty ducats should this
time be increased to a hundred. In the letter, he calls them his
reverend brethren in Christ. Kow, though the evangelical
clergy had, in general, paid the dues to the Popish bishops, still
it happened, that the clergy of Zips had not paid the last oil
account for extreme unctions, and even all the bishop's flattery
did not now succeed in extracting even a part of the hundred
ducats. The bishop's death in the following year prevented, for
the present, any final settlement of the question.
While the Protestant Church was torn with internal dis-
sensions, the Roman Catholics, on the contraiy, fully organised
and strengthened by the Jesuits, as well as supported by the
court, were prepared to take advantage of every change. They
knew well that for the present nothing could be undertaken on a
large scale, and that the diet would not assist them • they there-
fore chose prudent and courageous leaders, and began a guerilla
warfare against individual pastors and single congregations.
* This formula was drawn up by Andreas Chemnitz and Solnecker,
and afterwards examined and approved by Chytraus Musculus and
Kornir, and was published in 1577. In this formula, the ubiquity of
Christ's human nature is asserted.
102 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XVII.
Roman Catholic Synod at Steinamanger — Bishop Telegdy— Gregorian Calendar —
Banishment of the Protestant Clergy of (Edenberg — Draskowitsh is made Cardinal
— Adoption of the New Calendar ont of respect to the King — Banishment of the
Jesuits from Transylvania — Death of Draskowitsh.
The zeal of the Roman Catholics to bring back the Protestants
to the Church of Rome was manifested in various ways. George
Draskowitsh, Archbishop of Kolotscha, and imperial chancellor,
summoned a general synod of the clergy of his diocese to Steina-
manger, in Eisenberg, to meet in August 1579, to which he
also invited the Protestant clergy. Count Francis Nadasdy,
however, on whose estates many Protestants resided, took up the
case warmly, and wrote to the archbishop in July 1579, sending
.a copy of his letter to the magistrates of (Edenberg, in which he
states, that the evangelical clergy need not appear before the
archbishop to give an account of their faith, for this they have
already done by signing the Augsburg Confession ; should it,
however, be intended to hold a public discussion on matters of
faith, the time appeared to be badly chosen, for it would only
cause new excitement, and expose to further devastations from
the Turks. The evangelical clergy did not appear at the synod.
What the archbishop with all his power could not accomplish,
was attempted by others in a different way. It is a singular
trait of the Roman Catholic Church, that she is very unwilling
to try the power of the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God, against her enemies, while she much prefers
the more expeditious sword of the civil power. Yet here we
find one exception to the general rule in the person of Nicolas
Telegdy, Bishop of Fimfkirchen, who attacked the superinten-
dent and strove to defend Rome with the pen — very probably
because, as his diocese lay under the rule of the Turks, he could
use no other weapon. Still, from whatever cause, from the time
of the Albigenses, down to the wondrous conversion of Tahiti
PEOTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGARY. 103
in modern times, we find, on the part of Rome's adherents, a
singular dislike to this kind of warfare, and fondness to employ
fleshly weapons.
It was, therefore, very acceptable to the Roman bishops and
Jesuits, when the new Gregorian Calendar appeared. From the
state of feeling in the country, it was easy to foresee that the
Protestants would not readily consent to adopt it ; and it turned
out according to expectation ; but in no place was the opposition
so bitter as in (Edenberg. When the command came to this
royal free city from George Draskowitsh, in 1583, to introduce
the new calendar, even the improvement was looked on with
suspicion because it came from Rome, and in the spirit of the
times such an attack was made from the pulpit, not only on the
measure, but also on the bishop who introduced it, that he had a
good opportunity for demanding the removal of the preachers.
Though the magistrates did not obey this mandate, yet
Draskowitsh, who was not only bishop, but also deputy-gover-
nor, found ways and means in the following year to have the
pastors, together with the rector and conrector of the school,
removed. The pastors Musaus and Ritshandel, however, were
no more exposed to these indignities ; the great Master had two
years before called them away from the evil to come
The citizens, deeply concerned for their own freedom and the
well-being of their preachers and teachers, sent a deputation to
Vienna to Archduke Ernest ; but he, instead of granting their
petition, threw them into prison, and sentenced the city to a
heavy fine for its audacity. After these innocent citizens had
lain some time in prison in Vienna, they were set free — besides
paying the fine — under the following conditions: — First, That
the banished preachers should never be admitted, either publicly
or privately, into the city or surrounding villages ; but that the
citizens would open hearts and ears to the Popish priests already
there, or who should in the course of time be sent to the city.
Secondly, That they should never admit into the city any
preacher or teacher without the express consent of the bishop,
his vicar, or, at least, the archdeacon. Thirdly, They must
appoint a Roman Catholic schoolmaster, who was always to be
ready to help the priests. Fourthly, That in their private houses
no one should be allowed to preach, and no one allowed to
administer the sacraments, but a priest enjoying the full con-
fidence of the bishop.
104 HISTORY OF THE
These resolutions the Archduke Ernest sent to Wolfgang
Spillinger, the Popish priest, and Archdeacon of GLdenberg, on
the 18th June 1584, with directions to watch whether any one
and who administered baptism, performed the ceremony of mar-
riage, and such like, and to send the name, place, and circum-
stances to the archduke, that he might, in the name of his
Majesty, administer the proper punishment.
As this letter was read in the council of the magistrates at
(Edenberg, it cast the town into indescribable sorrow and con-
sternation. Thousands should live without the comforts of the
gospel ; children should be unbaptized ; the sick should die
without the voice of a spiritual comforter, and the dead should
be buried according to the rites of the Roman Church. Yet one
thing remained. At a distance of about five English miles were
two villages, German-Cross and Neckermarkt, where the gospel
was preached still, and these villages did not belong to (Eden-
berg. Faith gave the citizens strength, and they streamed out
to these villages to hear the Word of God. And though many
of them were taken prisoners, and carried off to the bishop's
residence, and though the German evangelical normal school-
master must be dismissed, still they did not succeed in annihilat-
ing the Protestant Church in that city.
For his great zeal in advancing the cause of Rome, Drasko-
witsh was rewarded by Pope Sixtus V. with a cardinal's hat, in
return for which he managed to introduce the Jesuits into
Transylvania, and afterwards into Hungary. Contrary to law,
and contrary to the Constitution, they soon received the pre-
bendary (probstei) of Thurzo from Rudolph, and in vain did the
diet afterwards try to remove them. Here they endeavoured —
ever true to their principles — to annoy as much as possible those
who differed from them in sentiment ; but, by so doing, they did
not much advance the credit of the Roman See. For when, at
the diet, the king and the cardinal were striving to introduce
the new calendar, the States distinctly declared that they would
adopt it only out of respect to their king, and not as an acknow-
ledgment of the Roman supremacy.
The Jesuits were less successful in Transylvania than in
Hungary. They had stirred up strife to such an extent, that
Prince Sigismund, at the unanimous earnest request of the
States at the diet, gave his sanction to a decree, of 16th Decem-
ber 1588, banishing them out of the kingdom. The diet
PROTESTANT CHUKCH OF HUNGARY. 105
declared their academy at Klausenberg to be a fortress erected
against the liberties of the country, for they had taken up arms,
and given occasion to rebellion. They sent their fanatical
students into the houses of Calvinists, searching for books, which
they brought out and burned ; and these scenes gave occasion to
bloodshed and pillage.*
Cardinal Draskowitsh did not live to see the black day when
his favourites were driven legally out of Transylvania, for in
February 1587 he had gone to render his account to his God.
* Hist. Diplom. Fred. Schmidt Chroii. Thur. Germ., 1599, 4to.
106 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XVIII.
Caspar Dragonus — Protestant Synods — Peter Berger — Hungarian Students banished
from Wittenberg — The Formula Concordise — Roman Troops sent to Hungary —
Basta in Transylvania — Destruction of the Evangelical Church in Styria and
Carinthia — The Roman General Barbiano in Kasha w and Leutshaw — The
Magistrates of Leutshaw and the Bishop of Raab.
The efforts of the Roman Catholics to annihilate the Protestant
name in Hungary tended only to develop a new life and zeal
among the friends of the truth. The banished clergy of (Eden-
berg found a hearty welcome in other congregations and among
the princes. Caspar Dragonus, for example, found an asylum
first in Steinamanger, and afterwards in Castle Hezzo, till such
time as he was appointed Professor of Theology in the flourish-
ing academy at Hormend, and pastor of the church, where he
continued for a considerable time, till he was afterwards appointed
pastor of Rechnitz.
The misfortunes at (Edenberg induced the Protestants for
some time to hold their meetings chiefly where the Turks had
dominion, for here they were not disturbed. The disciples of
Abdallah's son understood toleration better than those who pro-
fessed the faith of the Nazarene ; and with wondrous tact the
Moslems knew how to afford each confession the same liberties.
There was the Synod of Murany, where many useful resolu-
tions were passed respecting Church discipline ; the Synod, of
Surany, and the discussion of Csepregh in 1591, where Count
Francis Nadasdy sought in vain to bring the Calvinistic super-
intendent Stephen Beytha and the Lutheran Severin Skulteti
of Bartfeld to a mutual good understanding respecting the Lord's
Supper. Innumerable other meetings for discussing the same
doctrine manifested considerable life in the Church. Still it was
pity that the dogmatic side preponderated so much j and while
the two contending parties were deepening the gulf which
separated them, the ground was also laid for the great defection
in spiritual life so soon to be manifested in the Reformed Church.
PROTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGAEY. 107
There were at this time on the right side of the Danube three
hundred ; on the left side, as far as Neograd, above four hundred ;
and in Zips, Saras, Abanjvar, and Gomor, about two hundred
fully organised churches of the Augsburg Confession with their
own pastors, without reckoning the Reformed churches and those
which were not fully organised. The Reformed churches were
chiefly to be found in the provinces governed by the Turks, and
among the Magyar population. So early as 1580, the Protestant
Slavish churches in the circle of Trentshin amounted to seventy,
and had their own separate constitution, government, and dis-
cipline, under the protection of the obergespan of the county.*
Although in this constitution much was done to remove the
superstitious excresences of the Church of Rome out of the Divine
service, still there were some who were not yet satisfied, and
among these Peter Bcrger, who, in the year 1592, commenced a
furious exterminating warfare against altars, pictures, wax
candles, incense, and pulpit gown, and carried matters so far that
he was suspended from his office by decision of the ecclesiastical
court.f
The struggle between Lutheranism and Reform had reached its
highest pitch about this time, and the antagonists knew no
bounds in the bitterness of their expressions. And it is but poor
consolation only to be able to say that Hungary was not alone in
this disgraceful struggle. In Saxony the intolerance had also
reached a high pitch ; for, towards the close of this century,
twenty-five Hungarian students were turned out of the University
of Wittenberg simply because they denied the ubiquity of the
human nature of Christ, and could not, therefore, sign the
u Formula Concordiae."
This formula promoted anything but concord in Hungary.
From end to end of the land the churches were torn with the
controversy. As that distinguished man Severin Skulteti was
elected Senior, the rector of Eperjes, John Mylius, protested
against the election, charging him with having fallen from the
evangelical faith. From the year 1591, when the discussion of
Csepregh took place, other points were for many years neglected,
and the clergy ranged themselves, in two parties, around this one
question. Each party appointed a visitation of the churches in
order to purify them in its own way.
* Ribinyi, Mem. part i. p. 262. t Fessler, vol. viii. p. 418.
108 HISTOEY OF THE
The superintendent, Stephen Bey the, and the Senior of
Csepregh, Samuel Reczes, the former on the part of Geneva, the
latter as champion of Wittenberg, were the leaders of this
unseemly quarrel, and there was no rest till the two parties
separated from each other completely. While engaged with such
matters, little did they think of the approach of Mahomet Til.
with a hundred and fifty thousand men wasting the country.
But, indeed, after all, as a church they had little reason to "be
concerned, for under Turkish rule they had far more liberty than
under Popish regime. When the Turks had taken possession of
(Edenberg, one of the banished preachers returned and continued
for some time, but was again obliged to leave. Even the imperial
general, on entering the city and seeing the oppression of the
Protestants, brought an evangelical preacher, Gabriel Griinberg,
and placed him there. But what could a general do against a
bishop walking faithfully in the steps of Draskowitsh ? In three
quarters of a year he was again expelled, and the deputation
which was sent to Vienna to represent their distressed case was
not only thrown into prison, but the town was fined in six thou-
sand florins for transgressing the orders of Archduke Ernest, and
venturing to admit once more an evangelical preacher.*
The persecution, which had hitherto fallen on isolated towns
and single preachers, began now to become general. (The rumours
1 of an agreement between the Pope, the Jesuits, and the Court of
Vienna, to root out the Protestant name, seemed about to be
realised in Hungary and Transylvania. ) With much jealousy
and fear did the Protestants look on the ten thousand Roman
troops under Aldobrand, Duke of Belgioyosa, formerly a Carthu-
sian abbot, which came to help the emperor against the Turks ;
for these auxiliary troops were nothing less oppressive and exor-
bitant in their demands than the Turks had been.
With equal severity were the inhabitants of Transylvania
treated by George Basta, the imperial general. So soon as he
had taken possession of the land in the king's name, he began to
plunder, he enrolled the young men in his army, decimated the
property of the rich, and kept the money to himself. He took
away the churches and schools of the Protestants, and treated
them so hardly that his name was mentioned with terror by
children's children. Both he and the Popish general, knowing
that there was nothing to fear from head-quarters even if they
* Gamauf s Remembrances of (Edenberg.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 109
should be severe on the Protestants, followed but too faithfully |
the example which was set by other servants of the emperor
in the other crown lands. | The Bishop of Secca was burning
and wasting all that belonged to Protestants in Styria and Carin-
thia. The evangelical preachers were ordered to leave Griitz on
eight days' notice, and give up their prosperous gymnasium to
the Papists, while an oath was demanded from the civic autho-
rities that they would immediately banish all who did not
staunchly adhere to Rome.
The States presented a petition to Archduke Ferdinand, in
which they depicted the plots of the Jesuits, reminded him of his
father's promise to the Protestants of Styria and Carinthia, and
also how they had voluntarily lent considerable sums to the court
in the time of need, — but it was all in vain.* The bishop went
on with his cruelty. The Protestants at Eisengrub not having
yielded implicit obedience to the stern commands, had their
houses filled with soldiers, and many were carried away prisoners
to Gratz. The castle of the knight John Hoffman was seized ;
the Protestant church close by was blown up with powder, and
the bones of the nobility resting in the vaults below the church
were also blown to the winds. The altar of the evangelical
church in Gratz was overturned, and the bones of the deceased
pastor, Zimmermann, were taken up and thrown into the neigh-
bouring river.
Under such circumstances, the citizens of the capital of Carin-
thia, who were chiefly Protestants, considered themselves justified
in taking to arms. They closed their gates and made earnest
preparations to protect their holiest rights, and to regain liberty
of faith and conscience, without which man is the mere tool of
tyranny, degraded to the level of the inferior creation. But
repeated decrees of the archduke, sometimes cajoling, sometimes
threatening, gained over the one part and terrified the other part
of the citizens. The Jesuits had gained their object. Their j
victory was soon so complete that, in all Styria and Carinthia,
only a very few Protestant congregations remained.
It was, no doubt, the intention in high places to do the same
in Hungary and Bohemia, for the same spirit and principles ani-
mated and directed the Government in all departments.
* August Jacob Thuanus, torn ii. lib. 124, p. m. 1522 in 4to, anno 1601 ;
David Rungius Wittenberg de persecutione in Styria ; Anander, and many
others.
110 HISTORY OF THE
But in spite of the league between the Pope and the Emperor
to root out the Protestant name, what had been so easily accom-
plished in other lands could not here be carried out. The higher
and lower Hungarian nobility, as well as the free cities, had
certain privileges secured to them by the Constitution, by means
of which they were not so much exposed to arbitrary treatment,
while at the same time their love of liberty increased. Not
accustomed to bear arms, having lain long under the oppression
of a foreign power, being now as bitterly oppressed by their own
troops, they gave evidence of being prepared to take into their
own hands the punishment of those offences on the part of the
military which the Government seemed inclined to leave un-
punished.
. In January 1603, the Eoman general Barbiano, assisted by
three bishops, deprived the Protestants in Kashaw of their church,
and handed it over to the Bishop of Erlau. The Protestant
pastors were banished, the people were prohibited, under heavy
fines, from going to other towns to partake of the communion or
to enjoy any ecclesiastical privilege ; and it was hoped by this
example to terrify the five mining towns.
In the following October, the neighbouring free cities held
a meeting to deliberate on the proper steps to be adopted
in self-defence when their turn came. When the Bishop of
Kaab, therefore, who was at the same time deputy-governor
of Hungary, attempted in Leutshaw what had succeeded so
well in Kashaw, he met with very decided opposition. He
demanded of the magistrates, that the churches, schools, monas-
teries, hospitals, and all the Church property, with the
manses, should be handed over to him. As this was a matter
which concerned the entire body of the citizens — so thought the
burgomaster — it was necessary to hold a town meeting to con-
sult together. At seven o'clock on the morning of the 9th
October 1604, all the citizens, with pastor Peter Gabler and his
colleague, met to hear the bishop's letter read. " Whereupon,"
says the record, " the pastor did give a beautiful warning to hold
fast by the Word of God. He would risk his body, honour,
property, and life, and abide with us. Upon which the judges
and the council, together with the citizens and the reverend
ministers, did bind themselves with an oath to risk their liberty,
honour, property, and life, for the Word of God and the Augsburg
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. Ill
Confession, and never to perjure themselves ; so help them God
and his holy Word."
From this time forward the warnings of the bishop as well as
his threatenings were in vain. At one time he drove matters so
far as to raise a tumult, and he must save his life by flight. He
soon came back again, threatening to billet the military on them,
and promising favours in case of yielding. The judges and coun-
cil, with the tribunes of the people, gave the reply in the name
of the whole city, in rather laconic style, for they bade the
ambassador tell his master, " They would rather have God for a
friend than the devil and all his followers." This answer might
perhaps scarcely have helped them, if the Lord had not ordered
that the bishop and his helpers must soon escape with all speed
and leave the land. The enemies of the gospel must be the
means of delivering them from their persecutor.
112 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XIX.
Diet of Preshurg, 1604 — The famous 22d Article — Persecution of tie Protestants-
Stephen Botskay's Rebellion — The Peace of Vienna.
While the kings of Hungary, who always lived out of the
country, in their public decrees praised the loyalty, faithfulness,
and generosity of the nation, they manifested at the same time a
certain want of confidence, by appointing foreigners to the com-
mand of the troops, and by their influence carrying out political
and religious measures contrary to the constitution. The fruits
of this want of confidence were felt at other times under the
house of Hapsburg, but very especially under Rudolph's reign.
This suspicious prince brought himself often into a labyrinth
out of which there was no escape. Thus, after the Diet of Pres-
burg, held in 1604, under the presidency of Archduke Matthew,
he permitted himself to be persuaded to add the 22d article by
his own sovereign will, and without the sanction of the States.
He thus violated his oath to the constitution, and exposed the
life and liberty of the Protestants completely to the arbitary
treatment of the Roman clergy.
The inducement to add this article was, that two petitions had
been presented to him by the Protestants requiring toleration,
and at the diet there had been manifested a decided dissatisfac-
tion with the oppressions which had hitherto taken place.
This 22d article decreed, that, under severe penalties, no com-
plaint should be brought before the diet in religious matters ; it
described the Protestant religion as an innovation, and spoke of
it in terms of contempt. It required all the laws formerly en-
acted against dissent from the Church of Rome — consequently
also the burning — to be strictly observed ; and it prescribed to
the king the solemn and responsible duty of spreading the Roman
Catholic religion, and rooting out all sects and heresies.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 113
Against this article the States had protested, and their protest
■was supported by the seal of the palatine. But neither the
imperial general Basta nor the Roman commander Barbiano,
the former in Transylvania and the latter in Upper Hungary,
nor yet the Bishop of Kalotsch, Matthew Pete, allowed this pro-
test to terrify them. What they had fully obtained in Kashaw,
and hoped shortly to accomplish in Leutshaw, was also at-
tempted in Zips; and here the obergespan, Count Christopher
Thurzo, who nine years before had joined the Protestants, and
who now had returned to the Church of Rome, gave zealous
assistance.
Equipped with a decree of the Emperor Rudolph and Sigis-
mund, king of Holland, under whose protection the towns of Zips
stood, and resting on the 2 2d article of the Diet of Presburg,
they began to expel the Protestant clergy, and appoint Popish
priests in their place.* That no one might question Thurzo's
orthodoxy, he handed over the Protestant church on his own
estate in Galgatz to the Papists. In the village Lisska, the
General Pete, brother to the bishop, drove away the Reformed
pastor, Paul Stantai, and placed two Jesuits, George Vasarhe"ly
and Paul Besseredy, in his room ; but it was not long till
the general and the Jesuits must escape for their lives. For
as Barbiano in his march against the Turks had oppressed
the Protestants on the estates of Stephen Botskay, and had
demanded from the proprietor a loan of several thousand dollars
for the emperor, he proceeded to attack and plunder two of
Botskay's castles.f
It had also not been very long since Botskay had made a
journey to Prague to see the emperor, and he had, with every
mark of disrespect, been refused admittance. Being thus stirred
up, he only waited for an opportunity of revenge ; and having
induced a part of Barbiano's army to desert, he attacked the
general on the 15th October at the castle of Diasrey, and obliged
him to fly. When Barbiano had reached Kashaw in his flight,
he begged in vain to be admitted. The citizens remembered
what they had suffered, and refused him an entrance, because " he
was a persecutor of those who believed on God;" but so soon
* See Cardinal Wagner in Annal. Scepus, part iii. p. 96.
t Thuanus, torn. ii. 1. 131 . Dr Y. Stickfusius in Nev. Lil. Chron. lib. i. cap.
42, p. 255. Istvanfy, lib. xxxiv. p. 837. Petrus de Reva, in Coron Hung.,
Frankfort, cent. vi. p. 109.
H
114 HISTOET OF THE
asBotskay's troops appeared, tlie gates were immediately thrown
open.*
After Barbiano's flight, Basta could no longer maintain his
position. He had crashed an insurrection under Closes Szekly
and Gabriel Bethlen ; "but when Botskay's troops joined the
insurgents, they completely routed Basta hi an engagement at
Herrgrund in 1596. After this battle, Barbiano is reported to have
said, that if they had succeeded in then plan they would have
cut off with the sword every grown person in Hungary and
Transylvania who refused to join the Roman Catholic Chinch.
And if we consider what had already taken place in Styria and
Carinthia, as well as the St Bartholomew's Day in France, this
statement, as reported by Prince Keineny, does not appear at all
improbable. Besides, what had the brutal Basta not done in his
rage ? He had invariably plundered the princes of the Reformed
Chinch j he had binned Protestant clergy on a pile constructed of
their own books ; he had even in the height of his barbarity
flayed some of them alive. t
The Lutherans and Unitarians escaped for a time, bat they
shortly after met the same fate. From Kronstadt he demanded
eighty thousand ducats, and from Klausenburg twenty thousand.
To please the Jesuits, he hanged some of the senators, and com-
pletely prohibited the exercise of the Protestant worship.
As the blind slave of the Jesuits, he earned out all their plans.
But in the year 1601, the States took courage, and proclaimed
Demetrius Xapraghi, the Bishop of Gyula and head of the Jesuits,
a traitor to his country, took away the bishopric, and banished
him ; so that, till 1716. or for a period of above a hundred years, no
Roman Catholic bishop dared reside in the land.J
In consequence of this fearful plundering of the land by Basta.
it was veiy natural that a terrible famine soon followed. In ten
villages there was often scarcely a single cow to be found. The
oxen had disappeared, and the men themselves drew tlie loaded
waggons, as in the days of Ladislaus : while a kubel of wheat
rose to twenty-five ducats.
* This account is confirmed by the Jesuit Istvanfy. who adds, that when
Mahomet III. sent Botskay a crown, he handed it to George Szecky, re-
marking that he could not use it while another duly-crowned king of Hun-
gary was alive.
t Mica Bury.
J Hist. Diplom. in Append., p. 13. Act xi.
PKOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 115
Near Enyed, a Wallachian killed a woman, boiled and
devoured the flesh, and a Wallachian mother killed her six
children in succession. It is true that both were executed,
yet so terrible was the famine, that even human corpses were
not safe before the gnawing hunger. To such a pitch had a
cruel general and a fanatical priesthood brought Transylvania.
Rudolph might consider this land as lost; shortly after, he
lost also Hungary, with the exception of a few towns in the
borders, among which was (Edenberg. Hither came Botskay,
and setting fire to the suburbs, the inhabitants fled into the body
of the town to protect themselves in the fortress. The crowd in
the town, however, was now so great, that the commander,
Colonel Trantmansdorf, threatened to throw the children into the
Foss, if the women and children did not immediately leave the
fortress.
This terrible condition of the citizens of (Edenberg was
relieved sooner than had been expected.
The cry of the mothers and their children came before God,
and a short truce was agreed on between the leaders. The
bishop and deputy-governor, Pete, took advantage of the truce,
and gathering the treasures of the church, he carried them away
and fled. The whole body of the clergy of (Edenberg followed
his example. The burgomaster had warned the bishop in vain
of his danger, but in a short time he was plundered by the Turks
at Steinanger, and with great difficulty saved his life by flight.
Besides (Edenberg, some other towns of Upper Hungary, as
Eperjes, Leutshaw, Zeben, and Bartfeld,* remained faithful to
Rudolph. But the insurgents were not much restrained in their
excesses by their weak fortresses.
When, therefore, through the union of the insurgents with
Mahomet, the danger became even greater, the Government at
Prague began to listen to more reasonable counsel. The
mediator of peace was the evangelical Count Stephen Illyeshazy,
who had been deprived of his property and banished to Holland.
He used his influence with the Archduke Matthew, the repre-
sentative of the emperor, and also with the representative of
Botskay, with such good effect, that the Peace of Vienna was
concluded on the 23d June 1606, approved by the emperor on
the 6th August, and with all due solemnity published on the
26th September.
* See Mem. Aug. Conf. of Ribinyi, part i. p. 332.
116 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XX.
The Peace of Austria — Botskay's objection to the Terms — Peace ratified — Botskay
dies of Poison — Conditions of the Peace violated — Matthew summons a Diet — •
Matthew becomes King of Hungary.
\ The Peace of Vienna was of great importance to the Protestants
of Hungary, for it declared the 22d article of 1604 to have
jbeen illegally introduced; it set aside all decrees which had
(been enacted against the Protestants; it declared that every
Hungarian, as well as those who resided in the military boundary,
should have complete liberty of conscience, and that his Majesty
would never in any way disturb or limit his subjects in the exer-
cise of this privilege. A clause was added, explaining that this
should not be interpreted as in any way detrimental to the Roman
Catholic religion ; the churches, the clergy, and the rights of the
Roman Catholics, should be respected ; but such churches as had
during the late commotions been taken possession of by either
party should be mutually restored.
It was further decreed, that peace should be made with the
Turks ; that a palatine should be elected ; and that, instead of
Rudolph, Matthew should govern Hungary, under the advice of
the palatine and an imperial parliament. The prelates Synkai
and Mikatzi, who had been so inimical to the Protestants, should
not return to the country till such time as the charges brought
against them should have been legally settled. The abuses of
the ecclesiastical courts, and especially with reference to tithes,
should be settled at the diet. The Jesuits should never be
allowed to possess immovable property, the king reserving, how-
ever, his right to make them presents. The public, civil, and
military offices should be open to all, without distinction on
account of religion. Botskay obtained Transylvania as his
hereditary right, and Hungary as far as the Theiss. Should he,
however, die without male issue, all devolves to the crown.
For a long time Botskay refused to accept some of the expres-
I- \
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 117
sions in the treaty, and especially the clause, " without detriment
to the Roman Catholic religion." As, however, the instrument
was already signed by Rudolph, and the Archduke Matthew
gave an explanation, to the effect that the approaching diet would
settle the difficulty, that the whole agreement was made in good
faith, that the objectionable passage was not intended as a threat,
but simply and solely that each confession should be entirely
free from all injury, detriment, or limit on the part of the other
— Prince Botskay was satisfied, and the contract was signed by
the most distinguished Hungarian magnates. It was, besides,
guaranteed by the states of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia.*
The hero of this great achievement for the Protestant Church/
was destined to see little of the fruits. It was but a few months
till the prince, in the full vigour of manhood, sunk into his
grave. He died of poison, at Kashaw, on the 7th January 1607.
His friends said that the poison was administered by the chan-,
cellor Michael Kathay, who had been bribed for the purpose.
Kathay was thrown into prison, and the Haiduken, or Botskay's
body guards, shortly after dragged him out, and hewed him in
pieces in the public streets. The loss of this generous and noble
prince was very severely felt by the Protestants. f
With the death of Botskay the Roman party acquired new
courage. As the Pope had already done at Munster on the part
of Germany, so he now also protested against the peace in
Hungary. A body of prelates and bishops met together, and
soon found ways and means of removing the advantages of the
contract of Vienna.
Once more began the oppressions — once more was it forbidden
to the Protestants to bring their accusations and complaints
before the diet — once more was the attempt made, and not without
success, to take away the churches — and the Protestants, driven
to rebellion, placed the Roman Catholics sometimes in danger.
The Emperor Rudolph gave posts of honour to those who had
advised him against ratifying the Peace of Vienna ; he appointed
the much hated prelate Synkai Archbishop of Kalotsha, and
Francis Forgacs Archbishop of Gran.
It was in Transylvania where the Jesuits, in consequence of
* Hist. Diplom. p. 21.
"j** He had made a present of 30,000 Hungarian florins to the Church of
Tyrnau, which, it is true, was lost when the church and schools were seized
by the Papists.
/
118 HISTORY OF THE
Stephen Bathorly's letter, remained quiet, that the conditions of
. the peace were observed. Not only the Protestants, but also
the Archduke Matthew, was placed in a very critical position
by this conduct. Accordingly, when the discontent was rapidly
increasing, and the nobility found the diet of 1607, which Rudolph
had summoned to Presburg, always postponed, and not likely to
be opened, Matthew availed himself of the opportunity which the
circumstances gave for gratifying his ambition, and summoned
the advisers of the Hungarian crown to Vienna, to consult about
the welfare of the state. It would appear that at this meeting
the resolution was first adopted that Matthew should take
Rudolph's place in the government of Hungary, and by the
assistance of Prince Esterhazy the plan ripened towards execu-
tion. It was not strange that Esterhazy and the other princes
of Hungary had little love to Rudolph, for they saw their land
divided between him and the Turks, and the former doing very
little to its advantage • and it was equally natural that, where
hearty and devoted love to the sovereign did not exist, nothing
else could supply the place, so soon as the crown began to tremble
on the ruler's head. The Hungarians knew right well how little
Rudolph cared for them ; and when Matthew summoned a diet in
Presburg, on the 23d January 1608, they not only gladly ap-
peared, but also, when Rudolph, under date of 29th January,
dissolved the diet, they continued still to sit and deliberate.
When the first article of the Peace of Vienna, in which religi-
ous liberty was guaranteed to the Protestants in the entire king-
dom, was laid before the diet, the Bishop of Vesprim, Demetrius
Mapraghi, in the name of the whole Popish clergy, protested
against it. The higher morality of the lay nobility, however,
and the firmness of Matthew, succeeded in carrying the point, so
that this article, with a single dissentient voice, was made law.
When, however, on the 23d February, Rudolph declared all the
decisions of the diet null and void, Matthew immediately, with
• an army of 20,000, broke into Bohemia, and the suspicious, silly
Rudolph submitted to have the whole affair between himself and
his brother left to arbitration. The end of the matter was, that
Hungary and Austria were given to Matthew as an independent
kingdom. On the 22d October 1608, Matthew appeared at the'
Diet of Presburg. He readily complied with the wishes of the
diet ; but the nobility, having learned to distrust kings, refused to
crown him till he had signed certain articles which were laid before
TROTESTANT CIIURCH OF HUNGARY. 119
him. Matthew had in the meantime discovered that his imperial
brother was trying to stir the nation up against him by making
secret promises to them, and therefore readily signed the article.
Thus was the Jesuitical clause of the Peace of Vienna, against
which Botskay had protested, removed, and in clear and plain
language was it permitted to the Protestants to have their own
superintendents, while full and complete liberty of conscience,
and of public worship, was guaranteed.
The attempts of the Jesuits, under Cardinal Forgacs, to over-
turn this arrangement, were unsuccessful. The archduke re-
mained faithful to his promise, carrying out the resolutions of the
diet, and was crowned with great splendour on the 19th Novem-
ber. Esterhazy had, by a great majority, two years before, been
elected palatine. The Popish nobility handed in a protest
against the coronation, signed by them all, at the bidding of the
Roman legate, with the one noble exception of Valentine Lepes;
but it was for the present disregarded.
As the seaman feels on entering the quiet harbour after escap-
ing all the perils of the stormy sea, just such was the feeling of
the Hungarian Protestants as they found that their lawfully
crowned king had, in a legal way, by means of the assembled
States, set them completely free from the intrigues of a persecut-
ing Roman hierarchy. It was not the Protestants alone, who
separated from Rudolph without a tear, but all the Hungarians ;
for during twenty-three years they had not seen his face, and
had been at all times delivered over by him to the most un-
limited oppression. During twenty-four years the Hungarians
had paid from thirty-five wasted and impoverished gespan-
schaften (counties) the sum of 1,067,124 ducats to a foreign king,
and in return had received nothing but the bitter necessity of
constantly contending with more or less severity to maintain
their civil independence from Austria, and their religious liberty.
The angel of mercy turns away with a tear from such monarchs,
who call themselves princes " by the grace of God," but who
can neither understand nor fulfil the duties which such a title
demands of them ; and poor humanity, trodden in the dust, looks
up in tears after the retiring angel, who, as he flees away, turns
one look more back on the oppressed, and, raising his arm to
heaven, comforts them by pointing to Him who sits as King of
kings and Lord of lords, ruling the earth in righteousness, at
whose command the kingdoms fall and the fruitful palaces be-
120
come a desert; who sits upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out the
heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell
in ; that bringeth the princes to nothing : he maketh the judges
of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they
shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the
earth : and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,
and the whirlwind shall take the in away as stubble.
decent pettoD-
FROM THE PEACE OF HENNA TILL THE CONVENTION OF
SZATHMAB, 1608-1711.
CHAPTER I.
Presburg Church— Stephen Esterhazy — His Death— The Jesuits— George Thurzo,
Palatine — Synod of Sillein.
AVe now see the evangelical Church of Presburg as a gradually
ripening fruit of the Peace of Vienna. Although many had long
resided here who Ave re favourably disposed to the gospel, yet till
now they had not taken courage to break loose from the fetters
of Rome. They applied to the town-councillor, Siegfried Kolo-
nitsh, to obtain for them the Protestant pastor of the village
Ratshdorf, which is now a filial church of Presburg ; and, as
there was no church, he opened his services in a private house.
They chose Master David Kilgar as rector of their school, and
Master Adam Tattelbach as deacon, and these men were intro-
duced to their new office by the town-councillors.
The Protestants seemed now able to look into the future with-
out concern. King Matthew had sworn to protect their rights ;
the States had entered the decrees among the laws of the land ;
Moravia, Bohemia, and Silesia had guaranteed their execution ;
and Stephen Esterhazy, as elected palatine, stood like a protect-
ing angel firm at his post. He had now once more been put in
possession of his property, and was become the object of venera-
tion on the part of all true Hungarians, especially, however, of
the Protestants. Far removed from bigotry, he had advanced
the cause of Protestantism by liberally supporting the schools.
He called Jeremiah Sutorius, who had studied at Wittenberg, to
be rector of the school at Trentshin, and a Meissner professor,
122 HISTOBY OF THE
Elijah WisinuSj to the gymnasium of Banowitz. The latter
was supported at the expense of the palatine.* Esterhazy
founded a bursary for the poor students, which was increased
by his widow in 1609. Yet. not only for his own Hungarian
countrymen, but also for the oppressed Protestants in Austria, do
we find him carefully making provision, by interceding with the
Elector of Saxony and other princes. His labours of love were
very much hampered by the Jesuits, and his time of working
was not long; for, on the 6th May 1609. he died, at Vienna, of
cramp in the stomach. t Xo heavier loss could have befallen
the country and the Chinch. Hungary's political and ecclesias-
tical state was very unsatisfactory.
The land was still bleeding from the wounds inflicted under
Botskay's war. and the Peace of Vienna gave occasion to all
manner of dispute. The Jesuits, whose head-quarters were at
Gratz, represented this peace as being simply the Presburg con-
spiracy, and provided favours and honours for those who laboured
most diligently to oppose its operations.
Under such circumstances, then, much depended on the choice
of a proper person to become palatine. The king, being a So-
man Catholic, would have inclined towards appointing a member
of his own Church : and the Jesuits, ever fertile in inventions,
proposed that the mode of election should be changed. These
men proposed that the States should merely nominate a certain
number of candidates, out of which the king should himself
select. This plan was. however, too transparent to permit the
nobles of Hungary to mistake its design, and they abode deter-
minedly by their former custom. When the king, then, on the
7th December 1609, proposed two Roman Catholic and two Pro-
testant candidates, one of the latter, George Thurzo, was elected.
by one hundred and fifty votes against fifty-three, to fill the
post.
George Thurzo. now in the forty-second year of his age, a man
of learning, activity, and political talent, distinguished as a diplo-
matist in the peace with Botskay. and raised to fill several im-
portant offices under Rudolph and Matthew, is made palatine.
While distinguished by moderation towards the Roman Catho-
* Ribinyi, 'Mem. Aug. Conf., torn. i. p. 4:27.
t He was buried in the clrurek at Dosing, in Hungary ; and his vrhite
marble monument was. two hundred years later, removed by a zealous
Popish priest.
PROTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGAEY. 123
lies, as he had shewn himself on the recall of Michael Mikatzi,
the Bishop of Wardein, from exile, still the prosperity of the
Protestant Church lay near his heart, and he strove to advance
its interests in a natural and reasonable way, by summoning a
general synod.
As yet, the Protestants were not quite freed from the jurisdic-
tion of the Roman Catholic Church.
They were still obliged to pay the u priests' dues," and were
not safe from the interference of Popish visitations, on which
occasions the doctrines and the ordination of their own clergy
were attacked in an abusive manner ; the marriage of the clergy
was declared illegal, and their children illegitimate; demands
were made not only contrary to conscience, but also contrary to
all justice ; and it was often only with golden or silver tears that
the zeal of the visitors could be quieted.*
By means of a general synod, held in the village Sillein, in
Trentshin county, George Thurzo resolved to bring these abuses
to a close. In conjunction with several nobles and princes, and
in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Peace of Vienna,
which secured to the elders, ministers, and superintendents of
each confession the full authority over the members of their own
church, he summoned this synod, and opened it in person on
28th March 1610.
It is true that, owing to the quarrels between the sister
churches, and owing to the political state of the country, he was
not able to include the whole land, and he therefore summoned
only ten counties, indulging the hope that he would thus bring
the discussions sooner to a satisfactory conclusion. The palatine
sent a special invitation to each county, to the most dis-
tinguished landed proprietors, and to the royal free cities, to
elect representatives, who were men of peace, and clothed with
power, not only to deliberate, but also to decide on ecclesiastical
matters.f The summons was gladly attended to ; J and in
* Petsekius in Mall. Penicul. Ja. Ap.; c. v. p. 96.
t Ribinyi, Mem., torn. i. p. 372.
+ The most distinguished lay members of this synod "were Count George
Thurzo, the imperial palatine ; Peter Revay, Count of Thurocy ; Moses
Szunyogh, of Jessenitz ; Andrew Jakuhith ; Benedict Pogranyi ; Martin
Benitsky ; Theodosius Shirmiensy ; Jeroslav Ymeskal ; Otskay, Majthenji,
Gymgy, and others. See the "Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Sillein,
1708. "William Kander," 4to (in possession of the family of Tihany).
124 HISTORY OF THE
three days had the Synod of Sillein decreed the following
weighty matters : —
The ten counties were divided into three circles, and a super-
intendent was elected for each. For Liptau, Arva, and Trentshin,
Elijah Lanyi, pastor of Thurotz ; for Thurotz, Neograd3 Sol, and
Honther, Samuel Melick ; for Barska, Neutran, and Presburg,
Isaac Abrahamides of Baimotz. The superintendents had each
two inspectors under them, the one for German, the other for the
Hungarian churches. There were, besides, seniors and deacons
elected, who were men of sound faith, and whose place should be
supplied by election, on their resignation or death. On the de-
cease of a superintendent, two of the neighbouring superinten-
dents had a right to collect the votes and preside at the election
of one to supply his place.*
For the support of the superintendents was reckoned the usual
annual allowance from the inferior clergy as in Popish times, the
registry fees, and a voluntary contribution from the churches.
Respecting duties and labours was decreed : —
That the inspectors, seniors, and superintendents, should lead
an upright, unblameable life, that the enemy might find no occa-
sion to speak evil of them.
That the superintendents should, either in person or by the
senior, visit the churches once a year; that they should always
attend the synods to be held in January or February, and take
special notice of the business of the chinches under their care;
should decide on the questions brought before them at these meet-
ings, should preserve strict church discipline, and collect their fees.
They should inquire into the matter and manner of the preach-
ing, whether the people are encouraged to prayer — whether the
ordinances of religion generally are attended to by the people —
whether the clergy lead a pious, sober, and chaste life — whether
the people are grateful and submissive to authority — whether the
dues are properly paid — whether the buildings are in a good
state — and whether the schoolmasters discharge their duty pro-
perly, and lead a proper life. In all these matters the senior
should assist.
The superintendent should have a correct list of all ecclesi-
astical properties and revenues, and be in a state to apply to the
civil authorities for protection in case of injury.
* Here the great principle of the Protestant Church in her indepen-
dence and self-government is kept prominently forward.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 125
He should protect the minister and schoolmaster from all
injustice; and the civil power is bound to assist, after having
first made strict inquiry into all the circumstances of each case.
In the German churches there should be a pulpit gown and a
form of prayer introduced.
The superintendent should, with the assistance of the inspector,
the senior, and some of the neighbouring clergy, examine candi-
dates for the ministry, require from them the subscription of the
Formula Concordia?, and ordain after the plan usually adopted
at Wittenberg. The names should be entered in a registry, and
a certificate of ordination be given.
The students had permission to visit foreign universities, and
also to be ordained abroad, only this dared not take place as a
mark of disrespect to the home universities, and to the regularly
constituted superintendents.
In case of need, the superintendent might ask legal advice
from such lawyers as are not related by ties of blood or friend-
ship with either of the contending parties.
Every minister, on receiving a call to a congregation, must
appear before the senior or inspector, and bring evidence of his
having regularly received the call, and also that his life and
doctrines are consistent with the office which he seeks.
Weightier matters respecting heresy, uncleanness, or other
grave charges against clergy or deacons, were to be laid before the
superintendent. Where the charge was fully proved, the guilty
party might be degraded from his office, declared unfit ever again
to hold office, and, in case of need, might be handed over to the
civil authorities to be further dealt with. Less important matters
might be given to the inspectors and seniors, and be settled at
the annual meetings.
From the senior there was always an appeal to the superin-
tendent, who either confirmed the sentence or sent it back to be
again considered, and, in peculiar cases, brought experienced
men to assist with their counsel. No further appeal was ad-
mitted, and the guilty party paid all costs.
The superintendent should not judge according to his own
opinion, but according to the law. Those who refused to
submit after a second warning might be deposed and excom-
municated, notice of the same having previously been given to
the civil authorities.
The clergy who were accused of any crime, must be summoned
126 HISTORY OF THE
by the superintendent, after a formula in which the charge was
duly entered ; and the summons was forwarded, not direct, but
through the inspector or senior.
The office-bearers of the Church, when hindered in the discharge
of their duty, might appeal to the civil power, who dared not
refuse to support them.
The superintendents were bound at all times, on entering on
their office, to take the following
OATH.
" I, A. B., the superintendent in county -, swear before the
living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and promise, during
my life, neither publicly nor privately to teach or advance any
other doctrines besides such as are contained in the writings of
the prophets and apostles, as explained in the Augsburg Confes-
sion, as presented to the Emperor Charles in the year 1530,
and also in the Formula Concordia?. I promise to watch over
the seniors and clergy of the church under my care with dili-
gence and earnestness, that they also shall teach and hold no
other doctrines. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit will I
endeavour to lead such a life, and set such an example, as is
worthy of my profession. I will myself respect the laws of the
land, as well as take care that those under my charge do the
same. That I earnestly seek to fulfil all these duties, so help
me God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 127
CHAPTER II.
The Archbishops protest against the Synod of Sillein— Answer— Peter Pazmany —
Protestant Princes turn to Popery — Synod of Tyrnau — John Moschovinus — The
Women of Hricsow — King Matthew gives an uniavoui'able decision respecting
the Peace of Vienna.
The palatine, George Thurzo, had the decisions of this synod
printed and distributed, that others might to some extent be
guided by them. Among others, the churches of the mining-
towns of Eperjes, of Leutshaw, Kashaw, and Bartfeld, re-
ceived copies, but they were so deeply involved in controversy
respecting the Formula Concordia^, that little united action could
be expected.
It was, however, not to be thought that the Popish clergy
would look so lightly on the decrees of the Synod of Sillein.
Within eighteen days the Cardinal and Archbishop Forgaes
protested against the decrees with a bitterness very unbecoming
in him who had crowned as King of Hungary the man who had
signed the Peace of Vienna.
Under the threat of excommunication he demanded the repeal
of these resolutions, he called the persons who had there
assembled wolves who had broken into the fold of Christ,
declared the election of superintendents and their ordination of
clergy an unheard-of audacity, contrary to the laws of the land
{s-ic), and contrary to religious liberty! He charged them with
perjury in reference to the 24th article of the Augsburg Confes-
sion, and in genuine Popish style pronounced his curse against
the decrees, and against those who should observe them. This
precious .document is dated at " Our Archiepiscopal Court in
Presburg, 17th April 1610," and was published first by means
of a nail on the church door of St Martin's.*
The Protestants did not long remain silent. The palatine
was at that time from home. He soon heard, however, of the
* Hist. Diplom. pp. 27-29.
128 HISTOEY OF THE
doings through Elijah Lanyi, and on the 25th May he wrote a
reply from Szathmar, calling the documents a shabby invention,
filled with all manner of paltry ribaldry. He begged the Protest-
ants immediately to reply.
In a paper which appeared in Kashaw, printed by John
Fisher, with the motto, " Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. v. 1), the princes and
nobles who had met at Sillein, published through Elijah Lanyi
an apology, in which they opposed the assumption of the arch-
bishop by arguments drawn from the laws of the land, from
history, and from the Holy Scriptures. Placing their trust in
God, adducing the 110th Psalm, 46th chapter of Isaiah, 5th
chapter of Acts of the Apostles, and other Scripture passages,
they appealed to his Majesty and to the States for protection
against the audacity of the archbishop.
This apology was answered by a man who at this time became
more than any other the object of the love and hatred of friends
and enemies, Cardinal Peter Pazmany.*
The style of his reply was of the lowest kind, and it made its
appearance under the title Penniculus Papporum, bearing the
name of John Jenitzy. The superintendent published a rejoinder
under the title Malleus Penniculi Papistici, printed in 1612, and
left no part of his adversary's argument untouched.f
The controversy was continued with bitterness by Peter
Pazmany ; and as the palatine was too lenient towards these
violent attacks on the fundamental principles of civil and religious
liberty, as guaranteed by the constitution of the country, the
evangelical church rather suffered by the quarrel. Men of con-
siderable importance and wealth, such as Francis and Nicolas
* He was born at Gt, Wardein, in 1570, of a reduced noble family of the
Eeformed Church, and in his thirteenth year became Roman Catholic. In
his seventeenth year he joined the Jesuits. His noviciate was completed
at Cracow ; his philosophical studies at Vienna, and theological at Rome.
He became professor of theology at Gratz, and gladly accepted the post of
missionary to Hungary. In 1608 he was the representative of the Jesuits
at the Diet of Presburg. When turned out of the diet he asserted his right
to sit, and with much power contested the points of the Jesuits. He
published a powerful pamphlet in their favour. See "Majlath, History of
the Magyars," vol. iv. p. 249.
+ This paper was also ascribed, but without proper reason, to Peter
Petshius.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 129
Esterhazy, Melchior Allaghy, and George Daugesh of Hom-
mona, fell off from the Protestant ranks.
Forgacs had protested against the resolutions of the Synod of
Sillein, but finding it necessary to take other steps, he sum-
moned a provincial synod at Tyrnau, in 1611, which was
attended by Placidus Maria, the Papal nuncio, eight bishops,
six abbots, and twenty prebends, archdeacons, and canons, as
well as also Peter Pazmany. The resolutions of this synod were
known only to the initiated; the consequences, however, Avere
soon felt in the renewed persecutions of the Protestant Church.
It is of historical importance to note, that, from what is known
of the proceedings of this synod, it is evident that at this time
there were in the midst of the Roman Catholic Church priests
who were regularly married, and who lived openly with wife and
children. The communion was also by some administered in
both kinds. The facts are proved by the resolution of this
Roman Catholic synod, in direct opposition to the Word of
God, forbidding absolutely that either of these practices should
be tolerated in time to come.
That they might not, through the intrigues of the Papists, lose
the advantages already secured to them, the three superinten-
dents met, in 1612, to consult respecting the general affairs of the
Protestant Church. Hitherto there had been a striking dissimi-
larity in the outward customs, in the forms of public worship,
and also in the doctrines taught among the Protestants. It was
therefore resolved that the Wittenberg ceremonial should be
introduced, and that Luther's Shorter Catechism should be
translated, and used in instructing the children. When the
Catechism appeared, it was dedicated to Elizabeth Zober, the
spouse of the palatine.
An example of the zeal of the superintendents in preserving
purity of doctrine, may be seen in the case of John Moschovinus,
who is also sometimes called Poloni. He was accused of reviv-
ing the heresy of Photinus, a heretic of the fourth century, and
having been cast into prison by the palatine, his case was
thoroughly considered by the superintendents. His heresy hav-
ing been proved, he was handed over to the palatine, who
banished him from the country.
The Protestants of this period, much distinguished by purity
of life, laid especial stress on the influence of prayer ; and with
good reason, for the Lord had set the example, and had given
I
130 HISTORY OF THE
the command, and the apostles and early Christians had been
very diligent in waiting on the means of grace. Who does not
know how zealous the Reformers were in the discharge of this
duty"? How wondrous was the power which Luther and
Zwingle obtained from heaven by means of prayer ! And what
an astonishing moral strength was that which Knox obtained by
wrestling with God, so that he stood unflinching in the face of
Mary with all her influence, and having learned to tremble
before God in the closet, he, at the same time, obtained power
to tremble nowhere else. " I am more afraid of his prayers,"
Mary used to say, " than of an army of ten thousand men."
In this light we must view those clergy who, on the 19th
August 1614, in Hriesow, in the Trentshin county, visited a
woman who was said to be possessed of a devil, on purpose to
heal her by the influence of united prayer.* At the invitation
of the aged Stephen Krusspier, five other ministers of the gospel
united with him to try and help this woman. When their
efforts remained fruitless, they applied to the superintendent,
Elijah Lanyi, who advised the entire senioral division of clergy
to meet together for prayer. This was done, and on the 12th
September they came together, to the number of eighteen, at
their own expense, and continued three days in prayer. They
had the satisfaction of seeing, at the end of this time, that their
prayer was heard, and she who had been pronounced incurable,
was again fully restored.f
Such experience is made by mortals in a time of need. Out-
ward trials drive to Him who has the fulness of life and comfort,
and they experience what to others is unintelligible and in-
credible. Only he who knows by experience the power of
prayer will be able to comprehend and properly estimate the
above-mentioned fact. Times of trial gave David those glorious
Psalms which have been the comfort of the Church in every age ;
and the sweet songs of the martyrs, which were wrung from
them in hours of darkness and trial, have still a power and
sweetness for the weary soul.
For the Church in Hungary days were fast approaching in
which they should learn, under heavy trials, the meaning of
this filial duty, or, rather, childlike privilege. A commence-
* Mica Bury.
t Mark xi. 24 ; John xvi. 23, 24 ; James i. 6, 7 ; chap. v. 16 ; 1 Timothy
ii. 1—4.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 131
merit was already made openly to break the conditions of the
Peace of Vienna.
In Raab and Skalitz the Roman Catholics refused to admit
Protestant clergy, and the king gave the decision that the Roman
Catholics could not be compelled to admit clergy of other con-
fessions within their walls ; for, while it had been only stipulated
that every church should have its own superiors or superintend-
ents, but nothing was added respecting a new ecclesiastical juris-
diction, he could not at all permit a new jurisdiction to the pre-
judice of the Roman Catholics, and would not allow in future
that the money which had formerly been paid to the Roman
Catholic archdeacons should be given to the Protestant superin-
tendents.* This declaration of the king, and the royal letter
requiring the officials in each coimty to take part in the visitation
of the Protestant chinches, gave a clear insight into the king's
views respecting the peace, and also respecting the Sillein Synod.
* Fcssler, 1. c. vol. vii. p. 729.
132 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER III.
Peter Pazmany's Work — Christopher Thurzo returns to the Protestants — Oppression —
Gabriel Bathyani and the Treaty of Tyrnau — Writings of the Protestants — Quarrels
of the Reformed and Lutheran Clergy — Jubilee of the Reformation — Ferdinand
made King — Siegmund Forgacs — Death of Matthew.
No attack made on the Protestants did them so much harm as
Pazmany's work, entitled, The Guide to Truth?* which was
published at Presburg, in folio, in 1613. In a popular style,
filled with sophisms, he defended the doctrines of Rome, and
represented Luther and Calvin as servants of Antichrist ; while
he sought to free his Church from the charge that she teaches one
should keep no faith with heretics, and turned attention specially
to the advantages of celibacy.
This work soon appeared in the third edition, the first having
been printed in 1613, the second in 1623, and the third in 1637,
and was read with great avidity. Many who did not stand fast
in the faith were by this book drawn back into the Roman
Catholic Church. Some, it is true, soon repented of what they
had done, and turning back again to the Evangelical Church,
remained there steadily till death. Among these we may men-
tion George Christopher Thurzo, who, nine years before, had,
through the influence of Pazmany, joined the Papists, and had
begun to persecute the Protestants. This distinguished relative
of the palatine turned, 20th February 1613, once more back to
the Protestant Church, and, after publicly confessing his sin,
received the Lord's Supper in the Protestant church at Kirch-
dorf, from the pastor and senior, Xylander.
The return of the count soon shftwed itself to be no incon-
siderable gain to the Protestant cause. On the advice and after
the example of his relative, the palatine, he summoned a synod
on 22d January 1614, in Kirchdorf, at which the pastors of Zips
and Saras, the five towns Kashaw, Leutshaw, Eperjes, Bart-
f Hodegus igussagra vezerlo Kalany.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 133
feld, and Szeben, assembled. Here were chosen two superin-
tendents. The decrees of the synod were recognised by the
palatine, in virtue of his office, and are known under the title,
" Diploma minus Thurzoianus." Scarcely was this ended when
Christopher Thurzo died, and on 26th May was laid in the grave
of his fathers.
By means of this synod, the chains which bound the Protest-
ants under the influence of the higher clergy were broken, and
no means were left untried to rivet them again. Some, among
whom was the probst of Zips, tried in a friendly manner ; and
others, depending on their power and influence, assumed a very
different tone. Many, without troubling themselves about the
Peace of Vienna, made direct attacks on the Protestants. In
Vaswar, Shutz, Fakno, and Eisenstadt, the churches were taken
away.* The appeals of the Protestants received little attention
from Matthew ; for, though he had sworn to protect their Church
in Hungary, yet in Austria he directly prohibited the Protestants
from the exercise of public worship, f
In addition to the spiritual trials, there was now added material
and social oppression, and the land was made to bleed at every
pore. In 1616, the representatives of the Presburg Diet, con-
sisting, among others, of one archbishop, two bishops, and six
princes, complained to Matthew that the bitterest foe could not
crush the land worse than at that moment the king's own army
did; all the higher offices and fortresses were intrusted to
strangers, and the hireling foreigners were only wasting and
plundering, but not protecting the land.|
When there appeared no hope that a legitimate deliverance
from their oppression was likely soon to appear, the Hungarians
took once more to arms, declaring, however, first, through am-
bassadors, that they were not proclaiming war against the king,
but only against those who were depriving them of their civil
and religious liberty.
As, however, the Elector of Saxony and Prince Gabriel
Bathyani undertook to mediate, the outbreak was prevented by
the so-called " Transactio Tyrnaviensis," or Contract of Tyrnau.
The Prince of Transylvania, Gabriel Bethlen, who was just
returned from exile, pressed especially that the Peace of Vienna,
* Hodegus igussagra vezerlo Kalany.
t Pamauf Gottlieb. MS.
X Coroli Memorab. vol. i. p. 368. Katoni, torn. xxix. p. 572.
134 HISTORY OF THE
which secured the Protestants their full rights, should be once
more renewed. This was granted ; and the contract was signed
on the part of the king by Peter Pazmany, Count Aponyi, and
Molard ; on the part of Hungary, by Senior Pecsi and Stephen
Frater de Belmezo, in 1617. *
In the following diet the agreement was approved.
This must have been so much more desirable to the Protestants,
as their friend and patron, George Thurzo, the palatine, was
already dead,j and there were no prospects of another to fill his
place. Doubly watchful, however, must they now be to avoid
being overmatched by their diligent adversaries. Many single
individuals distinguished themselves considerably on the field of
controversy. Pastor Albert Molnar published a new edition of
the Bible at the expense of the Lang-rave of Hesse, the edition
of Caspar Karalyi having been all used, and it was not long till
a third edition was published at Oppenheim.J: Count Thomas
Esterhazy wrote a dialogue, exposing the errors of the Boman
Church, and shewing their remedy. The superintendent, Nicolas
Gratz, wrote a treatise on the Lord's Supper and a directory for
public worship ; and the pastor of Kashaw, Peter Alvinzi, wrote
a description of a journey, shewing how the errors of the Boman
Church had gradually crept in during a period of fifteen hundred
years. Emeric Zwonarics, pastor of Csepregh, translated the
book of a Tubingen professor into Bohemian, and afterwards
protected it against the attacks of Pazmany. But it was strange
that no reply had yet been given to Pazmany's great work,
The Guide to Truth, and it was thirteen years later that Baldwin
of Wittenberg wrote a reply in Latin, which, partly from the
language, partly from the time of its appearance, produced little
effect.§
There was no want of men capable of answering this work in
the Hungarian language ; but while the enemy was attacking
them on all sides, the representatives of the two sister churches
were wasting their time in unseemly quarrels with each other.
The letters of the superintendents of the two churches, the
Beformed and Lutheran, give us a sad picture of bitterness in
the minds of men who should have acted as shepherds to the
* Kazy Reb. Hung. b. i. p. 229.
t Died in 1616, shortly after Cardinal Forgacs.
% Mica Bury.
§ Literse ex MS. Bibl. Schechemianac Panauf*' Denkw. (Edenberg MS.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 135
fold of Christ. It is not possible here to repeat the titles which
they gave each other ; but we find the Lutheran superintendent
referring to a member of the Reformed Church who had translated
a play into the Hungarian language, for the sake of turning the
Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper into ridicule, and how
this man was for the crime condemned to death, though he after-
wards obtained a reprieve.*
These quarrels were very acceptable to the E omish clergy, and
especially to Pazmany, who had been set free from his vow to
the Jesuits and was become Bishop of Gran. Many left the
Protestants altogether, but the loss was to the Protestant Church
only like the stucco falling from a building, while the structure
remained still secure. And there was no want of enthusiasm
when the jubilee of the Reformation was to be celebrated.
In Leutshaw the celebration of this festival was conducted
with great pomp. The Protestant Church had been established
here for seventy-three years, and just at this time Peter Zabler
was pastor. The sermon was attended on that day by the whole
town-council and all the civil officers. Taking for their pattern
the 150th Psalm, and interpreting it literally, they celebrated the
day by festive music in the church; and Count Stanislaus Thurzo
invited the whole council to dine at his castle. An agreeable
fruit of this festival was the resolution to build a new church as
a suitable commemoration.
With equal splendour was the festival celebrated in the castle
of the Thurzos at Bitshe, where the magnates, Francis, George,
and Gabriel Perenyi, George and Sigismund Rakotzy, Nicolas
and George Zwinyi, Paul Nadasdy, Peter Revay, Caspar Illyes-
hazy, Nicolas Botskay, Francis Banfy, and many others of the
nobility were present. The well-known hospitality of the country
gave occasion to the enemies to charge the Protestants with
excess at these banquets, yet it was chiefly as the envy of
the elder son who grieved that the father had shewn so much
favour to the younger brother returned to the father's house. f
In the year 1618, the Hungarian crown fell to the Archduke
Ferdinand of Austria. The Jesuits had persuaded Matthew,
who had no heirs, to transfer the inheritance to him. In Austria
and the dependencies the nomination found no difficulty. In
Bohemia, also, although the religious war was slumbering under
* Mica Bury MS. + Ribinyi, Memor. torn i. p. 410.
136 HISTORY OF THE
the ashes, and the strong bias of Ferdinand in favour of the
Roman Catholics was well known, yet, notwithstanding a few
dissentinent voices, even there he was accepted by the great
majority. In Hungary, however, the work was not so light.
The succession was not yet secured by the States. Jealous of
their rights and privileges, the Hungarians remained, it is true,
firm to the princes of the house of Austria, asserted their right,
however, to elect, and it was only after this had taken place that
they proceeded to crown Ferdinand king.
It was at the Diet of Presburg, summoned for this purpose by
Matthew, that this proceeding took place ; and the presidence at
the meeting, as well as the crowning, was committed to the
Papal nuncios, Melchior Klesel, John of Molard, and the vice-
chancellor, John Lewis Ulm.
Eight days later, the archduke himself arrived, as representa-
tive of Matthew.
The States wished first to choose a palatine, but afterwards
yielded so far that king and palatine were chosen on the same
day. The struggle reached its greatest height at the diet, when
a series of articles were read previous to their being presented to
Ferdinand. There were seventeen articles contained in the
document, and the 6th should bind him " to grant a universal,
unlimited, and unrestrained liberty of public worship in every
place, and in every way, as had been guaranteed by the Peace of
Vienna, and at the crowning of Matthew." The Roman Catho-
lics did not refuse this privilege; intimated, however, that the
public worship of the Protestants could be conducted without
churches, and would not bind themselves on their estates to
grant ground for building Protestant churches.
This Jesuitical sophistry, supported by Pazmany and Klesel,
was adopted, and the expression " una cum templis " was erased.
The Protestants had nothing left but to enter a legal protest,
which only called forth a counter-protest, — did not, however,
take away the evil.
Tired of quarrelling, Ferdinand accepted of the conditions on
16th March 1618, and among the rest the 6th article, promising
full protection to the Protestant Church, with the remark, " He
would sooner lose his life than break his word." *
On the 1st June Ferdinand was crowned, and Sigismund
* Engel, vol. iv. page 392.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 137
Forgacs elected as palatine.* Both elections furnished the Pro-
testants with little cause for joy. For, though Forgacs had been
educated at the court of Bathyani, Prince of Transylvania, and
had been such a zealous Protestant that all his brother's (the
deceased archbishop) attempts to convert him were in vain, yet
Peter Pazmany was able in three weeks to gain him over to
Rome, and thus secure a mighty and zealous assistant.
Under the burden of a weakly frame was the childless Matthew
approaching near his end. In Bohemia the fire of revolution
threatened to break out, and the new prince of Transylvania,
Gabriel Bethlen, prepared himself to take the part of the mal-
contents who fled to him from thence ; he seemed also prepared
to defend with the sword the Protestant cause, which, in his own
country, had begun to suffer considerable encroachments. On the
23d May 1618, the signal was given for one of the bloodiest and
most tedious of wars. At the royal palace of Prague, where the
royal deputy-governors, who had torn down many Protestant
churches, were assembled, appeared deputies of the Protestants in
arms, and cast the detested Martinitz, and Slavata, as also the
secretary Fabricius, eighty feet down into the ditcli of the
castle, f This transaction, together with the removal of his
friend Melchior Klesel, Bishop of Vienna, gave Matthew's health
a severe shock. Shortly after followed the death of his brother
Maximilian, and also of his dear and tender spouse Anna, who,
in her thirty-third year, died in the royal castle at Prague in
the year 1618. Dead to the joys of the world, sorely lowered
down by sorrows as well as by gout, Matthew had a paralytic
attack on the 20th March 1619, in the beginning of his sixty-
second year. His brain was found to be one-half dried up. As
a private person he had been very amiable, but as king he had
not given any reason to justify him in removing his brother
Rudolph from the throne. In his old age he sorely repented the
ills he had done his brother; with the same measure he had
meted, it was measured to him again. Sick and childless, he saw
the world's gaze turned on his proud successor, who, impatient of
delay, seized the government before his predecessor was removed,
and hastened to dye his imperial mantle in the blood of heretics,
thinking he did God a service by his fierce cruelty.
* The other Roman Catholic candidate was Thomas Endody, imperial chan-
cellor ; the Protestant candidates, Francis Bathyani and Stephen Torok.
t Schiller's " Thirty Years' War,"
138 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER IV.
FERDINAND II.— FROM 1619 TILL 1637.
Ferdinand's critical Position — His fanatical Vow — "War with Bethlen — Bethlen conquers
Presburg, and takes the Crown — Diet at Neusohl — BethlSn refuses to accept the
title of King.
On the death of Matthew, matters stood so ill for Ferdinand, that
the words of Femelon might have been in his case very appro-
priate, " None but a fool desires a crown." All Europe was in
such a state of religious excitement as had not been the case since
the time of Luther ; and this was the work of the Jesuits and Pope
Clement VIII., who had entered into a contract with the princes
and kings of Europe since the beginning of the century, to anni-
hilate the Protestant name.* As the storm raises the water, and
drives the mud and scum to the top of the waves, so did they by
their immoral principles goad the nations to madness. They had,
within the memory of that generation, made France a great church-
yard, and in the St Bartholomew's Day — the height of their glory
— they shewed what they could do when aided by debased women
and a fanatical king. By the gunpowder plot they would have
destroyed England's liberty, had not Providence interfered and
prevented. In Carinthia, Styria, and Austria, they had, in the
name of the one true Church, u out of which is no salvation,"
practised deeds which cried to high heaven for a speedy ven-
geance. In Hungary, Bohemia, and Transylvania, they deserved
the credit of having done only all the evil they could. In these
lands, where a recognised constitution existed, and where con-
siderable civil and political liberty prevailed, their influence was
limited, and the people took to arms rather than bow themselves
under the yoke of tyranny and unjust persecution.
* Andreas Adver. MS. de Tauta Evang. div Franciscus Brocardus in
Classico Suo, § 2.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 139
In this state was Bohemia. The Bohemian Count Matthew
Turn had, with his adherents, nearly approached the walls of
Vienna, and had drawn Silesia also with him in the revolt.
Moravia was prepared to follow. In Austria, the states refused
to submit. The Prince of Transylvania, Gabriel Bethle*n,
threatened to invade Hungary, and the Turk was in secret
making great preparations. Germany was looking quietly on;
Spain's hirelings were far away, and all that adhered to Fer-
dinand trembled for the result. The Bohemian cannon were
pouring their shot into the royal castle, and sixteen Austrian
barons were standing before Ferdinand to compel him to make a
league with Bohemia. As one of the deputies, seizing him by
the button of his coat, cried, " Ferdinand, will you sign ? " the
faithful councillors advised to yield, and the Jesuits thought of
better times coming ; but Ferdinand stood like a rock in the
surge.
It was religious fanaticism, the idea that he was called of God
to protect and advance the Church of Rome, that raised his
spirit, so that amidst all the storm he developed a character which
made him subject of the highest admiration on the part of the
Roman Catholic Church, but in the eyes of Protestants, and
of all friends of humanity, degraded him to the lowest pitch of
detestation.
Born on the 9th July 1578, he came, after the death of his
father, Archduke Charles, the son of Ferdinand I., in the year
1590, to Ingolstadt, into the hands of the Jesuits, and returned
to his paternal property in Styria and Carinthia with the firm
resolution that, whatever it might cost, no heretics should be
tolerated under any condition on his estates. With cunning had
the Jesuits taught him that the prosperity of Bavaria was owing
alone to its connexion with the Church of Rome. He undertook
a pilgrimage to Loretto, to the wondrous and wonder-working
image of Mary, to beg the continued protection of this " queen of
heaven." Accompanied by the Jesuits, he visited Rome on the
way, to receive the blessing of the Pope, to strengthen him to
keep his horrid vow, " that he would banish the Protestants out
of all his estates, if it should cost him his life."
On another pilgrimage to a similar image of Mary, which he
undertook in his fortieth year, and as he lay praying before a
crucifix in the midst of a violent storm, he conceived that he
heard the voice, " Ferdinand, I will not leave thee." It must
140 HISTORY OF THE
have been Mary. From that time forward he was her devoted
servant.
It was on the 29th March 1619, that he summoned the Hun-
garian Diet for the 26th May at Presburg, to sit under the guid-
ance of the palatine Forgacs, while he himself hastened away to
Frankfort, to have the imperial crown placed on his head. At the
diet, the proposal to raise a standing army for the protection of
the king should have been discussed, but all the meetings were
filled up with religious quarrels. The States complained bitterly
of Cardinal Klesel, of Archbishop Pazmany, and of the Jesuits,
who, in consequence of their intolerant spirit, had been banished
for ever from Transylvania by the princes of that land, but who
had once more, under George Hommona, the rival of Bethlen,
clandestinely returned. Bitter words were spoken respecting
the limitation of evangelical freedom in Presburg, and it was
asserted that a species of Spanish inquisition had been intro-
duced by the Papists into Tyrnau. All relief for these and
similar complaints was obstinately refused by the archbishop
Pazmany and his followers, and the archbishop was not ashamed
to say " he would rather see his villages forsaken of all their in-
habitants and lying waste, than that on his estates a single church
should exist for the benefit of Protestant subjects."*
These sentiments prevailed very generally among the Roman
Catholic magnates, and we find Count Stephen Pallfy, protector
of Schutt-Somerain, erecting a gallows on which all the Protest-
ant clergy who were called to churches in Schutt without his
leave should be hanged ! Alas ! on the Protestant side, the
principles of the gospel were, under such temptations, often
forgotten, and Protestant proprietors frequently retaliated by
dispensing to Pome the same treatment which she gave her
antagonists. The complaints of both parties resounded through
the whole land.
While, under such circumstances, every peaceful arrangement
of the difficulties was impossible, the Prince of Transylvania,
Gabriel Bethlen, who was very well informed respecting all their
proceedings, was approaching still nearer. In the beginning of
September he conquered Kashaw, where the Jesuits Stephen
Pougracy and Melchior Grodetzky, as well as a canon of Gran,
Marcus Crisinius, who had not been able to make their escape,
were executed ; the commander of the fortress, however, Andrew
* Engel Goschichte, vol. iv. p. 398.
PROTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGARY. 141
Doczy, as an oppressor of the Protestants, was bound in chains
and handed over to the victorious troops.
On the 20th October, Bethlen conquered Presburg with the
castle, took possession of the crown of Hungary with the state
jewels, gained the palatine, Forgacs, over to his side, and on
the same day had divine service conducted in gratitude for his
success.
In many places now the Protestants began to breathe some-
what more freely. In Trentshin they held a synod, where, in the
place of the deceased superintendents Lanyi and Melick, were
elected respectively John Hodikius and Melchiar Robacs ; the
latter continued in office till 1622, when he was succeeded by
Peter Sextius.
Passing on in his victorious career towards the south-east,
Bethlen received the submission of the town and fortress of
(Edenberg, where he left a garrison of fifteen hundred men.
With his general, Paul Nadasdy, he proceeded to Gratz, whence
he wrote to the superintendent for a chaplain to assist the court
preacher during the approaching holidays.
A truce was shortly after agreed on, and a diet was to be
summoned by both parties to Neusohl, to meet in 1620. At this
diet a solemn mutual compact was entered into between Be'thle'n,
Prince of Transylvania, and the evangelical party in Bohemia ;
and it was resolved that the religious freedom which had been
guaranteed to Hungary should be extended to Bohemia also, and
placed on a sure basis. As the royal commissioners, however,
declared that they could not on any account take up this matter,
and as the prince refused to make any treaty from which the
Bohemian Protestants were excluded, the former withdrew on the
17th August, and the Hungarians continued their deliberations
alone. When Count Rombald Collato and the other imperial
commissioners had retired, Emerich Thurzo proposed and carried
that Bethlen should be proclaimed King of Hungary.
Bethlen obstinately refused to accept the title, and neither the
entreaties of the diet nor the representations of his chaplain could
induce him to change his resolution. Four days afterwards he
dissolved the assembly, after having confirmed the fifty-two
articles, of which the chief points referring to the Church were as
follows : — *
" The Presburg articles of the previous year were removed,
* Engel, vol. iv. pp. 416, 417.
142 HISTOEY OF THE
and parties chosen from all three confessions — the Lutheran,
Reformed, and Arian — in the three districts, to watch over the
fulfilment of the contract. Attacks on each other in writings
and sermons were forbidden. The resolutions of the Synods of
Sillein and Kirchdrauf were confirmed ; and it was resolved that
the ecclesiastical organisation of other districts should be immedi-
ately completed after this plan. The tithes and church fruits
should fall to the clergy of all confessions alike. Three Roman
Catholic bishops are sufficient for the country — namely, in Erlau,
for Upper Hungary ; Neutra, for Hungary on this side; and Raab,
for Hungary beyond the Danube ; — and for these a salary of
2000 florins, equal to £200 per annum, should be sufficient. The
Jesuits were once more banished ; and it was decreed that the
regular clergy, with the exception of Pazmany and Balassfy, on
condition of returning within a limited time, should have all their
property restored. Only matters relating to marriages belonged
to an ecclesiastical court, and mixed marriages were to be
arranged before a court composed of members of both confessions.
" Such church property as had hitherto tended to encourage
luxury among the clergy, and such as had been abused so as to
cause persecution of members of other confessions, and thus dis-
turb the peace, should be confiscated to the crown. Archbishop
Pazmany, and Balassfy, Bishop of Bosnia, were, as seditious
men and foes of the country, to be banished for life.
" These were the principal decrees of the diet at ISTeusohl, but
they shortly after ceased to be in force, and were erased from the
statute-book. It must not be supposed, however, that there
were only Protestants at this meeting; for some of the most dis-
tinguished are Catholics, adhered to Bethle'n, and among them
were such names as Sigismund Forgacs, Sigismund Erdody,
Christopher Erdody, Melchior Allaghy, and Michael Karalyi."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 143
CHAPTEE V.
Reformed Synod at Hedervan— Death of Emerich Thurzo the Palatine— Bethlen again
takes the Sword— Peace of Nikolsburg— Synod of Shintaw — Numbers of exiled
Protestants — Margrave George of Brandenburg — Diet of OEdenberg — The Legate
— Tumult at the Diet — Coronation of Ferdinand III.
While the diet was thus providing for the peace of the country,
and at the same time for the benefit of the Protestant Church,
the brethren of the Reformed Church were holding a synod
at Hedervan, in the neighbourhood of Raab. Evil disposed
parties spread reports of such a nature respecting the resolutions
passed at this synod, that the Reformed superintendent, Nicolas
Grtitz, found it necessary to write to the Lutheran superin-
tendent, Stephen Klassekowitsh, denying that any resolutions
inimical to the Lutherans had been passed.*
Such approaches of the two confessions towards each other
were the more necessary, as, by the death of the palatine
Emerich Thurzo, both parties had sustained an equally great
loss. He died suddenly at Nikolsburg, on the 5th January
1621, and the general impression was, that his death proceeded
from poison rubbed on the inside of his helmet, which he usually
kept very tight on his head while riding.")"
But though the foes of the Protestants considered no means too
bad to gain their ends, yet for this time their hopes were vain ;
for, as injustice began again to raise her head, and as especially
in Bohemia many unjust executions of Protestants were reported,
Bethlen returned once more, sword in hand, to take vengeance on
the oppressors. A peace was made at Nikolsburg in 1621, and
on that occasion the zealous Popish convert, Nicolas Esterhazy,
received as reward for his zeal the valuable town Eisenstadt and
its dependencies. In Rome's eyes he deserved some mark of
distinction, for, in addition to his other feats for the benefit of
Mother Church, he had compelled his wife against her wish to
* (Edenberg Denkw. MS.
t Mica Bury MS. ; Merken. Pall. Belg. torn. xiv. 1, 47 ; Ortel. Kediow.
torn. p. 84.
144 HISTORY OF THE
join the Roman Catholic communion.* To ratify the peace, a
diet was summoned at CEdenberg, where Bethlen delivered up
the crown. Ferdinand's spouse was crowned as Queen of Hun-
gary, and Stanislaus Thurzo was made palatine. In the St
Michael's Church, which at the time belonged to the Protestants,
divine service was held to return thanks for the peace.
The Lutherans availed themselves of the opportunity of hold-
ing a synod, since known as the Synod of Shintaw, and passed
a series of resolutions respecting the lives and doctrines of the
clergy, all of which were confirmed by the palatine in virtue of
his office.
Scarcely had the joy-bells ceased to play in consequence of the
peace of Nikolsburg, when crowds of oppressed and persecuted
Protestants from Bohemia and Moravia came crying for protec-
tion. It was impossible to see these spectacles of the inhumanity
of the fanatic priests, and to recognise in them brothers in the
faith, without being deeply concerned. Bethlen took the case
warmly up, and reproached the king bitterly for this glaring
breach of the Nikolsburg contract, and for allowing himself to be
made the blind tool of the Jesuits in their deeds of darkness.
He demanded immediate recognition of civil and religious
liberty for the Protestants in Bohemia, Moravia, and Hungary,
and promised in such case immediately to retire. When he
found, however, that no attention was paid to his remonstrance,
he crossed Hungary with a powerful army, and only then stopped
when, by the mediation of the palatine, a satisfactory arrange-
ment was made at Vienna.")"
The cruelties of the Jesuits had already been terrible. All
the Protestant clergy had been banished from Bohemia, and
the churches handed over to their own creatures. In Moravia
and Austria they had done the same. The evangelical preacher
David Staudlin had been banished by the Jesuit father Keller
out of his church in Hemals, near Vienna, simply because he
had visited the sick servant of Captain Kobel, in Vienna, who
was a Protestant, and had administered the Lord's Supper to him.
Twelve thousand exiles lived in England, Belgium, Hungary,
and Transylvania, and among these were one hundred and eighty-
* (Edenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten MS.
t About this time Bethlen endowed an evangelical school in Tjmau, at
which twenty-four scholars had a free table. Many of the magnates followed
his example.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 145
live magnates and one hundred clergy, who sometimes wrote in
the bitterest distress to evangelical towns and churches, asking for
aid.*
Such oppressions raised many warm sympathising friends to
the Protestants ; and here we will mention only one, namely,
George of Brandenburg, who generously came in 1624 to
BethleVs aid. He died of the prevalent epidemic at Leutshaw,
and was buried at Whisburg in Transylvania, f
In these troublous times, the bright spot towards which the
eyes of the Protestants were turned in hope, was the Diet of
(Edenberg, in 1625. It was, however, unfortunate at the very
commencement, that the apostate from the Protestant faith,
Nicolas Esterhazy, was chosen palatine. Besides, the Popish
legate KarafYa was there, and he, in conjunction with Pazmany
and the bishop, did the utmost to stir up the king against the
Protestants. Indeed, the Bishop of Erlau made use of such
expressions, that the Protestant members, in the excitement,
had nearly thrown him out of the window. As it was, they
dragged him by the hair and the beard to the door, and threw
him out. As the palatine was about to institute an investigation,
and bring some of them to trial, he found it impossible, for the
Protestants stood firmly together, and Karaffa found it most con-
venient not to press the matter further.^
The palatine gave the king the worst advice, and even, as
Karaffa acknowledges, shewed him the plans which he should
adopt, in spite of his oath, to limit the privileges of the Pro-
testants^
The Roman Catholics thought they had satisfied every just
claim of the Protestants when they renewed the 1st article of
1608, and the 6th article of the treaty signed by Ferdinand on
assuming the throne, and not without much fear and anxiety
were the Protestants at last glad to have even so much. For at
this time Pazmany stood higher than he had ever done in the
royal favour and the esteem of his own party. It was but
lately he had established the school at Tyrnau for the sons of
the nobility, and so soon as Ferdinand III. was crowned, he
hastened to have his sanction to the constitution of the seminary.
* Pamauf MS., vol. vi. misc. p. 358.
t Leutshaw Chronicle, MS.
X (Edenberg DenkwUrdigkeiten MS. ; Theatr. Europ. Daniel Crudy, M.S.
§ Kibinyi, Moxi. Aug. Conf. torn. i. p. 437.
K
146 HISTORY OF THE
The synods, which about this time were held at Leutshaw,
Csepregh, and other places, for maintaining discipline in the
churches and schools, were of too little importance to be particu-
larly noticed. But we must with pain acknowledge, that so
soon as Ferdinand II. saw the crown tolerably firm on the head
of his son, he considered himself at liberty to break through all
bounds in his persecutions.
Not contented with the feats he had accomplished in persecut-
ing and banishing the Protestants of Styria, Bohemia, Moravia,
and Austria, where the sister churches were more kindly disposed
towards each other, he now broke out on a large scale against
the Calvinists in Hungary. For the sake of giving his acts
the appearance of laws, he created in the one year 1626,
twenty-two princes, sixty counts and barons, of whom, it is
true, many had only the title, but by means of their votes much
might be done.* He demanded of the palatine not to allow
the Protestants, who were flying from oppression in the other
crown lands, to settle in Hungary ; and with much zeal Karaffa
sought to prevent one family obtaining a residence there, the
head of the family having been a printer in the neighbourhood
of Linz, and now obliged to escape with his printing-press out of
the country. The palatine was exceedingly complaisant and
obliging in granting all such demands as were unfavourable to
Protestantism.f On the estates in Hungary, the Protestants
were now often compelled to join the Church of Rome ; and so
effectually was the work accomplished in Laudser and Lacken-
bach, that to this day not a Protestant family is there to be
found.f
In Bitshe the Protestant church was taken from them; the
superintendent, Hodickius, who had presumed to gain the
victory over Matthew Heinal, a Jesuit, in a discussion on the
worshipping of the saints, was immediately banished ; the
flourishing gymnasium was destroyed, and the building turned, a
few years later, into a cow-stall.§
* Karalyi, ii. 670.
t Comment, de Germ. Saira rest. p. 372 ; "Waldau, Hist, of Prot. Aus., ii.
p. 299.
X (Edenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten.
§ Chladuay, c. i. sect. 2 ; Zeiller, Nov. Hung. Desa, p. 46.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 147
CHAPTER VI.
Ferdinand II nominates the Virgin Mary General issimo of his Army — Bethlen declares
War again — Is joined by the Germans — Peace of Presburg — The Widow of Pala-
tine Forgacs raging against the Protestants — George Rakotzy — Gustavus Adolphus
— Conversion of several Magnates to Popery — Persecutions — Jesuits in (Edenberg
— Death of Ferdinand II.
From a king who had nominated Mary commander-in-chief of
his forces,* and who was merely a puppet in the hands of
Karaffa, Pazmany, Nicolas Esterhazy, and the Jesuits, the
Protestants of Hungary had little good to expect. The more just
were their fears when they reflected how systematically he had
despised and trampled on all the former resolutions of the diet ;
how the Jesuits were every day gaming ground; how, by the
aid of Pazmany, they had, first in Raab, and afterwards in
Presburg, erected a college.
By such faithlessness, there was nothing left but an appeal to
the sword. Bethlen stirred up on all sides, and, receiving pro-
mises of aid from the Turks, prepared once more for battle. In
Germany the religious war was raging so violently, that
Denmark and Norway had taken part in it, and thence also came
promise of aid. The great General Count Ernest of Mansfeld,
and Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, offered to join him, and coming
with their troops through Silesia and Moravia, so far as Neutra,
they had some engagements with Wallenstein ; but the prospects
of Austria were so doubtful, that, in 1628, Ferdinand gladly
made a peace with Bethlen at Presburg, in which the latter
bound himself to abstain, in all time coming, from war against
the house of Hapsburg, on condition of religious liberty being
guaranteed.
Whether Bethlen would have kept his word, is hard to decide.
He remained, however, perfectly quiet till the following year,
when, on 16th December 1629, he yielded up his spirit ; very
shortly after, the Cardinal Klesel died also, as if the loss of a pro-
tector was to be counterbalanced by having also one foe less.
* Karalyi, ii. p. 914.
148 HISTORY OF THE
Scarcely had Bethlen closed his eyes when the Papists began
their oppressions once more ; for the slave is moral only so long
as he fears the arm of justice — and this arm was now still in the
grave. The Bishop of Waizen, Paul Almdsy, compelled the
Protestants in his neighbourhood at an enormous price to pur-
chase passports and safe-conducts from the pasha for his begging
monks, that they might the more readily gather in the fowls, the
eggs, and the butter, from the country, into their cloisters.
In spite of the last diet, the Protestants could not succeed in
establishing their most just demands. The churches were not
restored ; the king, to whom they appealed, excused himself with
the disturbed state of the country, and promised redress "ona
future day." Neither could they succeed in obtaining a clear
statement of the law, by which they might be protected from the
caprice of the priests. The magnates had, in this case, the chief
blame, for they insisted on the right to do what they chose with
the church on their own property.*
In consequence of this principle, the widow of the deceased
Forgacs, Catherine Pallfy, in county Sharosh, annoyed the Pro-
testants very much on her property. She broke the doors and win-
dows of the Protestant church, and shortly after took the church
itself completely away. When the removing of the roof of the
manse, and breaking down the walls, did not serve the purpose of
banishing the Protestant preacher from his numerous congrega-
tion, she ordered him with all his family to be put on a cart and
carted out of her territory. When they had reached the bounds
of her estate, they were set down on the open field. By con-
tinued annoyances and fines, she brought her tenants so far that
they consented to accept of a Roman Catholic priest, j"
In addition to these persecutions came the excommunication
of the preachers of the twenty-four Zips towns, which was pub-
lished by Pazmany on 22d December 1632. The occasion of
this was found in a case of divorce, where the synod gave per-
mission to one of the parties again to get married. The super-
intendent, Peter Zabler, the senior, John Serpilius, and John
Pillemann, were summoned before the archbishop to give an
account of what they had done. As they received a written
warning from Stanislaus Lupomirski, the civil governor of these
* " Cujus regio illius religio." Peter Bad, Hist. Eccl. Hung. MS.
t Acts of the Diet 1635 ; Daniel Crudy, Superintendent Prot. Church
Law, MS.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 149
towns, which were at that time pawned to Poland, not to appear,
they did not present themselves to the archbishop. Their ex-
communication was published in the church in Zips, by which
proceeding the Roman Catholics of the day were certainly
more edified, and the clergy more annoyed, than we can at all
comprehend. The clergy put themselves to no little trouble
and expense to appease the wrath of the offended parties.
Under such difficulties, the Protestants placed their chief
confidence in the Prince of Dacia, St Bathory, and George
Eakotzy, the elected Prince of Transylvania. Gustavus Adol-
phus had already made a contract with the latter, in virtue of
which he had already broken into Hungary; when, however,
Gustavus fell by the hands of an assassin, at the battle of
Lutzen, he drew back again, not having confidence in the
probable success of the Swedes, and thinking all the while only
of himself. It was with pain that the Protestants observed this
selfishness of the artful Eakotzy.
A steady supporter was just now so much the more requisite,
as the number of the Protestant magnates was constantly being
diminished by desertion. After the superintendent Tobiah
Brunswick, whom a pitiful fear for his life and liberty drove into
the Romish Church,* Adam Thurzo, the son of the late palatine,
to whom Brunswick was chaplain, as also his younger brother
and mother, were induced to join the ranks of Popery. After
these the general, Adam Bathyani, passed over to the Popish
Church, and he became so zealous, that he gave the Protestant
churches beyond the Danube no small annoyance, and banished
the preachers, " to the greater glory of Mary." f
The citizens of (Edenberg were obliged to pay heavy fines
though they remained true to the king, and their church was
shortly after taken from them under the pretext that it had been
built by Roman Catholics.^:
In the circle on this side the Danube had the imperial general,
John Hommona, whose ancestors had been Protestants, given
* He had persecuted a Protestant preacher who had joined the Papists,
to such an extent, that he was about to lay him in chains. Being on this
account summoned as a disturber of the peace, Brunswick fled, and fell
into the nets of the Jesuits to such an extent, that he openly left the Pro-
testant Church and received an office among the Papists. Mica Bury.
t Hist. Eeform. p. 378.
t Karalyi, Mem. p. 853.
150 HISTOEY OF THE
the Protestants in Kashaw much annoyance ; and when the evan-
gelical party in Presburg began to build a church at their own
expense, they were ordered, under penalty of the royal displea-
sure and its consequences, to desist. The citizens of Presburg
appealing, however, to the laws which gave them a right to build
if they chose, went on with their work, and in 1637 their new
church was consecrated.
As the Protestants were hampered, just in the same proportion
were the Jesuits favoured. By a royal decree, dated Vienna,
May 1636, the town of (Edenberg must undertake to build a
Roman Catholic gymnasium, and, through fear of what might
eventually occur, steps were taken by the citizens to prevent
Jesuits becoming teachers. Another royal decree, dated Ratisbon,
August 1636, required a dwelling to be furnished for the Jesuits,
and the guidance of the school to be delivered up to them.*
Under such a state of anxiety in Hungary, came the year
1637 ; and on the 17th February, Ferdinand II. expired.
Great was the kingdom and numerous the subjects over
which Providence had called him to reign, and he had no want
of talent to make his people happy. But his Jesuitical educa-
tion and his advisers had chained his spirit, and, to the great mis-
fortune of his country, he could not set himself free ; and scarce
can the eye find a single point in his whole reign of eighteen
years on which to rest with satisfaction.
In Germany his fanaticism had driven the religious war to the
highest pitch, and, as a sorrowful legacy, he could hand that war,
unfinished still, over to his son. In Magdeburg were twenty-six
thousand corpses of men, women, and children lying, who had per-
ished under the hand of his general, Tilly, with his hordes of Croa-
tian military. Bohemia, Moravia, and a great part of Hungary were
miserably oppressed, and morality itself almost banished by the
manner in which the war had been conducted. And what had
he gained ? A few stone churches and schools stolen from the
Lutherans and Calvinists ; a hundred thousand converts brought
over to the Church of Rome by the unapostolical means of
sword, prison, fine, or bribery ; and a depopulation of his mon-
archy amounting to more than a million of human beings.
Ferdinand II. had gained what he wished ; for the conversion
* The original decrees lie in the (Edenberg town archives. They
are countersigned by George Lippay, Bishop of Vesprim, and Lawrence
Frentzfy.
PEOTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGARY. 151
of a heretic to his Church was to him always the greatest joy.
Wherefore, as the Cardinal Klesel once thought that a little
more moderation and consideration of circumstances might be
advisable, he replied, " I will rather have a wasted than an
accursed kingdom." *
His conscience was always quieted with the Jesuitical reserve ;
for, when he was once reminded of his royal oath, he gave the
edifying answer, " With his mouth he had sworn to the Pro-
testants, but with his heart to the Roman Catholics." f
For all these benefits rendered to the Popish cause, the Car-
dinal Pazmany, and Bishop Matthew of Xeustadt, asserted that
Ferdinand passed immediately into heaven, without experiencing
the pains of purgatory4 The Word of God had, however,
said, " The Lord hateth the bloody and deceitful man."
* Malo regnum desolatuin quani damnattim.
t Peter Bad, Hist. Eccles. Ref., torn. ii. MS.
£ Kazyi, ii. p. 326.
152 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER VII.
FERDINAND III. 1637-1657
Death of Pazmany — Emerich Lasy, Archbishop of Gran — Diet of Presburg — New Perse-
cutions—Deliberations at Kashaw — Deputation to the King— Torstenson in Mo-
ravia— Death of the Archbishop — George Lippay his Successor — George Rakotzy of
Transylvania — Banishment of the Protestant Clergy from the island Schutt— Robert
Douglas — Death of the Palatine Nicolas Esterhazy.
Shortly after the death of his friend and patron Ferdinand II.,
the cardinal and archbishop, Pazmany, was also called away by
death on the 19th March 1637. The Protestants now hoped,
that under the new king, a man of wisdom and learning, the
wounds which had been inflicted by the father would all be
healed. They began, however, to have some fears when they
saw that Ferdinand III. nominated Emerich Lasy, the Bishop
of Erlau, as successor to Pazmany. This man was born of Pro-
testant parents ; but while a student, he was led by Ferdinand's
confessor to embrace the Popish faith, and he studied theology
in Rome. As an especial friend of the Jesuits, he ascended,
from being Canon of Gran, in a very few years, to be archbishop,
and persuaded the king to give the Jesuits a large landed pro-
perty in Thurotz ; a measure which even Pazmany had not
ventured to propose.
Under such circumstances, the Protestants could only hope
for the diet in the following harvest in Presburg. When now
the king appeared, demanding money for the war in Germany,
and demanding of the Hungarians to protect their own borders
against the Turks, the States appeared very ready to comply —
demanded, however, that the religious dispute should, in the
first place, be completely settled. The magnates did not give
much support to this demand of the States; for above thirty
families of the magnates had, by Pazmariy's influence, left the
Protestant Church ; others were become indifferent, and thus
the Jesuits and the Popish clergy had easy work. The demands
of the latter went so far as to require that the Protestant exiles
TROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 153
who had fled from persecution in Austria and Bohemia should
be banished from Hungary, and especially from Presburg; a
request which caused the greatest excitement at the diet.
Between the Protestant Count Caspar Illyeshazy and the
Roman Catholic Count Adam Forgacs, it came so far, that
when one had called the other rebel, and a name even still
worse had been retorted, they rushed on each other with drawn
swords, and the king was obliged to set both for some time in
arrest.*
By such quarrels, and the artful charges brought against the
Protestants before the king, the evangelical party was often
placed in great difficulty. As they, however, remained firm in
their demand, and did not yield even to the royal threats, the
circumstances of the times obliged Ferdinand III. to grant their
request of toleration, and to accept of a form of contract, in which
he pledged himself to guarantee liberty of conscience.
That the evangelical party had good reason to demand ad-
herence to the letter of the law in matters of toleration, will be
readily seen from the difficulties encountered in the building of
the church at Presburg; for it was only by the greatest exer-
tion, and after obtaining written permission from Ferdinand to
that effect, that the church could be opened. The Protestants
of the Reformed Church at Tyrnau had been prevented, by arms,
from building their church ; and those of the Augsburg Confes-
sion at Lewenz had their church violently closed, and their pastor
banished. The Protestant Church of Szakoly must bring a
complaint before the diet, that they were not allowed to bury
their dead in the common burying-ground, and requested another
to be given them.t
On the contrary, the Jesuits had obtained permission, contrary
to law, to purchase houses in Tyrnau, and expected, in spite of
the protest of the=magistrates in (Edenberg, shortly to have a
church and landed property in that city also. J
The incredible power of the Bishop of Gran can be seen from
the fact, that the royal decree was set aside when it pleased him,
and the Protestants had no respect whatever shewn to their rights.
That part of the royal contract, preparatory to assuming the crown
of Hungary, by which the king pledged himself to grant toler-
* Theatr. Europ. et Artel, rediviv. torn. ii. p. 129.
t Engel, 1. c. 490.
+ (Edenberg Denkwurdigkeiten, band xii. 4to. MS.
154 HISTORY OF THE
ation to his Protestant subjects, was, by the influence of this
prelate, not entered among the laws of the land.
When the diet had been completed according to their wish,
the clergy and Popish magnates soon stepped boldly out to ac-
complish their desires. Immediately after the diet, Count John
Daugesh Hommouo took possession of the prebend of Neustadt on
Waag, which the Protestants had long legally held. The old
superintendent was carried out on a chair by the soldiers; and
being too infirm to walk, he was again set into his dwelling, and
shortly after died in consequence of this excitement and rough
treatment. The church, and its property and fruits, were never
restored. There were several villages and mills attached; a
tenth and a sixteenth of the grain belonged to it, and a tenth
of all fowls. Forgacs, and the renegade Adam Thurzo, acted
with equal severity, and took away church and school, banishing
pastor and schoolmaster out of Pasteny, Udvarnock, St Peter,
Bajna, Ujlak, and many villages in the comity of Neutra.
The palatine Count Nicolas Esterhazy followed their ex-
ample. On the estates which he had bought from Thurzo in
Neutra and Trentshin, where nearly all the inhabitants were
Protestants, he took possession of the churches, schools, and
manses, and banished the Protestant pastors and schoolmasters.
Under such circumstances, several Protestant magnates and
nobles assembled at Kashaw, in the beginning of the year 1640,
to consult what was to be done. The result of their delibera-
tion was, that a deputation was sent to the king, laying before
him the facts, and begging for a diet to be summoned to obtain
relief.
The time was not favourable for holding a diet, for French-
men, Swedes, Hessians, had penetrated into the midst of Austria,
and the successful general, Torstenson, though labouring under
gout, was giving Ferdinand serious alarm. The king consented
to summon a diet, and issued the necessary summonses, but the
meeting was not held. With so much the more ease did the
Roman Catholics continue their persecutions ; for, finding them-
selves supported by the Roman Catholic magnates, and tolerated,
if not encouraged, by the king, it was not strange that the posi-
tion of the Protestants ceased to be enviable. The death of the
archbishop Emerich Losy, in 1642, did not give them much
relief, for, though one foe was removed, still the principles of
Rome's adherents remained the same, and into the place of the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 155
deceased came George Lippay, if not a more bitter, at least a
more persevering foe.
To annoy the Protestants in eveiy possible way, seemed to be
a necessity in the nature of the new archbishop ; and, instead of
following the principles of the Saviour in collecting disciples, he
seemed to be guided in his treatment of the Protestants by the
most literal interpretation of the passage, " Compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled."
They therefore turned the eye often towards Transylvania,
out of which the Lord had often sent delivery for their fathers,
and still the prince George Eakotzy seemed to slumber unmind-
ful of their ills. A time came, however, when, by the con-
sent of the Turks, he nominated his son to be his successor.
The complaints of the Protestants were becoming louder and
louder. France and Sweden promised him money to support
him in a war against Ferdinand ; and the jests which were made
at his expense, at the court of Vienna, filled the cup of his in-
dignation, so that, on the 26th April 1643, he entered into a league
offensive and defensive with Torstenson, against Frederick, and
that engagement was signed by Torstenson at his camp in
Dobitshaw, on the 10th July.
On the 13th February 1644, Prince Edkotzy issued at Kallo
his declaration of war, stating the reasons why he drew the
sword against Ferdinand. The latter lost no time, it is true, in
issuing a counter proclamation, promising religious toleration, and
warning against joining Eakotzy ; but the Protestants had now
learned, by bitter experience, what faith was to be placed in such
promises. At the very time that the Swedish army was pressing
forward to join Eakotzy, the persecutions were raging as fiercely
as ever. Count Francis Eevay, the obergespan, had just
shortly before, in violation of his oath of office, and of all the con-
tracts and laws to the contrary, deprived the Protestants of their
churches in St Martin, Mosotz, Turan, Bela, and Blastnitz, and
had compelled some to become Papists. He had erected gallows
on which he threatened to hang all who visited the Protestant
churches ; those who sung Protestant hymns on carrying their
dead to the grave were cast into prison ; the Protestants who had
their dead buried by the priest must pay extra fees.
The archbishop Lippay had just banished all the Protestant
pastors of both confessions out of the large island Schutt, which
reaches from Presburg to Komorn, and had sent twelve Jesuits
156 HISTOEY OF THE
to discharge ministerial duties ; * but their first care was to intro-
duce the worship of Mary, which had been taught by the Greek
heretic Guappou in the year 470, and had been condemned by
the Fifth (Ecumenical Council, f The Jesuits did not remain long
in the island, for when Count Robert Douglas, a general under
Torstenson, had conquered Presburg and received the capitula-
tion of Tyrnau, he removed the priests and all their appendages
to Presburg.
By the approach and the conquests of these troops the hardly-
oppressed Protestants of Skalitz obtained relief. The Popish
clergy had just brought matters so far, that the Moravian exiles,
who had lived here in peace for twenty years, were, with their
preachers, banished from the city, and had their churches closed.
So soon as Douglas heard of this, being already united with
Rakotzy, they hastened to Skalitz, and gave the authorities a
few hours to restore the church, and take away the Popish
mummeries, or else be hanged. The Protestants of Skalitz thus
obtained their church, and in a very short time the much denied
religious toleration was also granted in Raab.j:
The difficulties of the Roman Catholic Church were now
increased by the death of the palatine Nicolas Esterhazy, which
took place 11th September 1645. This man, who had been
born of Protestant parents, his father having been vice-gespan
(deputy-lieutenant) of Presburg, owed his position and his in-
fluence chiefly to the fact of his having been unfaithful to his
profession ; for Rome has held fast the principle of paying her
proselytes well, by giving them high posts of honour.
* Hist. Diplom.
+ The words for which this priest was proclaimed a heretic are the very
same as those which Rome universally employs : " Holy Mary, mother of
God, pray for us, now and at the hour of death."
J Ortel, Rediviv. torn. ii. ; Zeillems Coll., part i. p. 264. It appears that
so early as 1567 Raab had already three Protestant preachers.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 157
CHAPTER VIII.
The Peace of Linz — Protest of the Popish Clergy — The King's Firmness— The Diet of
1647. The Protestants obtain Ninety Churches restored — Penal Laws against
the Religious Persecutors — Bishop Szelepcsenyi — Bishop Draskowitsh — The King's
Liberality.
The short but bloody war between Rakotzy and Ferdinand
ended with the famous Peace of Linz, which was the second
pillar of the rights and freedoms of the Protestant Church in
Hungary. Rakotzy was soothed with the promise of several
counties for himself, and was thus induced to give up his alliance
with Sweden. On the 16th December 1645, when the monarchy
was on the very brink of destruction, the peace was concluded
at Linz in Upper Austria.
This time, it must be confessed, both parties were equally
earnest in the resolution to prevent the clergy from once more
breaking the peace. Even the archbishop Lippay found himself
unable any longer to oppose the laws favourable to the Protest-
ants. By this peace, the Protestants obtained complete religious
liberty, so that the exiled preachers might return to their con-
gregations^ or new preachers be called. All churches and
church property which had been taken away should be restored,
and every transgression of the condition of this peace should be
punished ; the banishing of the Jesuits was reserved for the
next diet. It was on the 20 th October 1646 that R&kotzy
ratified this peace at Weissenburg in Transylvania.
The danger was, however, scarcely past, and the reproaches of
Rome had only just reached the Popish clergy of Hungary, for
having paid so little attention to the interests of the Church,
when Lippay once more brought back the Jesuits, who soon
found ways and means to deprive the country of all the blessings
of the peace. Yes, the Hungarian clergy shewed themselves so
servile to Rome, and so forgetful of all their duties to their king
and country, that, contrary to the king's engagement to summon
158 HISTORY OF THE
a diet within three months, they delayed it ten months, and then
at the diet entered a protest against that treaty which they had
before approved, and for many months prevented its "being
received among the laws of the land.*
One of the most zealous opponents of the Protestants in this
case, was the newly-elected palatine, John Draskowitsh, who
was also Banns of Slavonia, and had been elected to the palati-
nate by a majority of only twelve votes. The king, however,
who knew from what dangers he had just escaped, shewed the
noblest traits of his character in exercising his authority over
the contending parties.
He proposed, on the 28th October, that the opposition of the
clergy to the conditions of peace, now and in all time coming,
should be declared irrelevant; and on the 8th November, when
the Protestants brought forward their complaints, with evidence
of the truth of the same, he proposed a resolution to be laid
before the assembly, to the effect that, immediately, while the
diet is still sitting, there should be eighteen churches in the
circle on this side the Danube, and eight in the circle beyond the
Danube, restored to the Protestants; wherever they have no
churches, they should have full permission to build, and the
landed proprietors are bound to give them building ground. No
one should in future dare to take away a church contrary to the
wish of the residents in the place. If the landlord did so, he
should, for the first offence, be fined one thousand florins, and be
obliged to give back the church ; for the next offence, his entire
property in the village or district should be confiscated. If any
of the clergy did so, they should be fined, for the first offence,
one thousand florins ; for the second, two thousand florins. The
patron's right, in so far as in accordance with the Peace of Vienna,
should be preserved, and the States being satisfied with this,
should proceed to discuss other matters.
The evangelical party, taught by sore experience, could not
possibly be satisfied with this arrangement, and proposed that
impartial parties should be appointed to investigate each case,
and to examine the reasons why the churches were taken away,
and whether they ought to be restored.
The palatine and the archbishop made every attempt to prevent
a resolution favourable to the Protestants. The former, in his
zeal to defend the Jesuits, drew his sword in the hall, and made
* Fessler, vol. ix. p. 24.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 159
himself ridiculous ; the latter, however, went so far, that it was
found necessary to threaten him with deprivation of office. The
clergy held out so long, that they succeeded in keeping three
hundred and ten out of the four hundred churches which they had
taken by force. On the 10th February 1647, the court consented
to restore ninety of the churches, but with the remark that, in
time to come, not one single church more would be given up.
The Protestants, tired after a struggle of seven months, gave
way, and the States proceeded to arrange some of the articles.
In the 6th article, the names of the ninety churches were entered.*
In the 7th article, it was declared, " That no other church would
be restored; the Protestants should have permission to occupy
the chapels of ease, or to go if they chose to other parishes to
hear the gospel." The 8th article declared freedom of reli-
gious exercise in the town of Skalitz, both for the Lutheran
and the Reformed Churches. In Tyrnau, the property belonging
to the evangelical church should be restored, and no tradesman
should be compelled to attend the ceremonies of which he
disapproved. In Raab, permission was given to build a new
church, and a piece of ground was granted for the purpose.
The pastor should have permission to preach in the church, or in
his own house. In Loreny a church was given to the Lutherans ;
but in Tihany, while the place was small, and it might be incon-
venient to have a second church, the pastor's dwelling was restored.
The 10th article directed, that in places where the Papists
retained the churches, the Protestants should have a right to
build church, manse, schoolhouse, &c. ; and the landed proprietor
must, within three months from that date, grant a plot of ground
suitable for the purpose, entirely free from all taxes. The Pro-
testants and Catholics should, in all cases, pay the same fee for
the ringing of the church bells.
The 11th article decreed, that while the Roman Catholics
pay nothing to the Protestant clergy, in like manner should the
Protestants pay nothing to the Popish clergy. In particular
cases, however, where the Popish priest had no lands and no
government endowment, but was dependent on the sessional taxes,
if the number of Roman Catholics was small, then the sessional
taxes should be collected by the city collector and equally
divided. The stola dues, however, should only be claimed from
members of their own confession.
* Hist. Diplom. Appendix, p. 44.
160 HISTORY OF THE
The 13th article directed the ninety churches which were
to be restored to the Protestants to be handed over immediately,
while the diet was still sitting, to a mixed commission, contain-
ing an equal number of members of each confession.
The 14th article declared the penalty for hindering the
Protestants in obtaining their just claims. The guilty party
should first be warned by the vice-gespan (deputy-lieutenant)
of the county, and if he then submitted, there was no fine. If
he disobeyed, he should be fined each time in six hundred
florins. In affairs connected with marriage, the Protestants
abide by their own customs, entirely independent of the Popish
priests and Popish judicature.
Finally, it was settled that, in the free town Kashaw, where
the Lutherans were preventing both the Calvinists and the
Roman Catholics from building churches, both parties should
have a right to build churches and schools, as also should obtain
suitable ground for the purpose, should enjoy full religious
liberty, with the use of the church bells and burying-ground in
common.
These were the benefits which the Peace of Linz and the Diet
of Presburg — which ratified and defined the terms of the peace —
conferred on the Protestants of Hungary. If we overlook the
three hundred churches which were lost, and also the double mean-
ing of many of the enactments, still we shall see much gained.
Much that had been only briefly mentioned before, was now
entered in detail in the articles of peace, and a commencement
was made to have these articles carried out.
At this diet the eldest son of Ferdinand III. was, on the 16th
June, crowned King of Hungary, under the title of Ferdinand
IV., and on the 17th July 1647 the diet was closed.
As it was presumed or feared that the Popish clergy would
not cease to persecute, there was a paragraph entered in the
transactions of the assembly, that at every diet his Majesty should
inquire into the complaints of the Protestants, and have them
redressed. A very little while shewed how necessary the law
was, and how much trouble was taken to have it changed.
Immediately on the close of the diet, the Bishop of Wesprin,
George Szelepcsenyi, as imperial chancellor, refused to sign the
articles, and the Bishop of Raab, George Draskowitsh, brother of
the palatine, refused to give up the church to the Protestants,
till the king compelled him to it by military force.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 161
It certainly was no easy matter for the prelates to support the
ninety priests who were now turned out of office, but the king
came to their aid by making the poor prelates a present of 5000
florins, that they might not drive the land once more to rebellion
before the past wounds were healed. It was a terrific sight for
the king to look over his empire, and over the whole of Germany,
and see what the Thirty Years' War had done ; and still that war
was not yet ended. Well might he rejoice when, by the un-
wearied exertions and great prudence of Count Maximilian of
Trantmansdorf, this war was brought to a close by the Peace of
Westphalia. But, alas ! while the Protestants in Germany were
now able to enjoy complete civil and religious liberty, with the
exception of Silesia, the Austrian empire was little affected by the
Peace.
162 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTEE IX.
New Persecutions of the Protestants in Hungary — Diet of Presburg in 1649 — Paul
Pallfy, Palatine — Fruits of the Diet — The Jesuits in Transylvania — Death of the
young King of Rome — Leopold crowned King of Hungary in 1655 — Troubles —
Death of Ferdinand.
The incredible struggles, the bloodshed, and the councils held
for establishing, on a firm basis, the rights and liberties of the
Protestant Church, were, contrary to all expectation, not yet suffi-
cient to obtain the desired peace and toleration. The diet had
scarcely been dissolved when the Jesuits, and the magnates
whom they had gained over to their cause, began the work of
persecution afresh. The death of Rakotzy, on the 23d October
1648, gave them new courage; and, contrary to all laws and
treaties, and despite all watchfulness, the treacherous disciples of
Loyola found ways and means of creeping once more into Tran-
sylvania. It was the plan of the Popish clergy to introduce
these men into all parts of the kingdom, and, by means of these
sworn foes of the gospel and of Protestants, gradually to obli-
terate all traces of the truth. In. August 1648, the palatine,
John Draskowitsh, was taken away by death, but Lippay
remained and laboured till he had the Jesuits introduced into
Skalka, Neusohl, Skalitz, Schemnitz, Trentshin, and Rosenau,
where they soon succeeded in raising sufficient strife and con-
fusion.
The prelates and landed proprietors banished the Protestant
pastor out of Sellyi by an armed force.* Francis Nadasdy, who
had become Papist for the sake of obtaining in marriage the
daughter of the palatine Nicolas Esterhazy, took away from the
Protestant pastor the corn which was by the law secured to him.
The miller was bound to give a proportion of all the corn ground
on Saturday afternoon and the whole of Sunday to the Pro-
testant pastor ; and this custom was discontinued, while the
* Fessler, vol. ix. p. 38.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 163
schoolmaster "was also deprived of his grain. Francis Nadasdy
and the widow of Klasins Apponyi compelled all their
dependants to attend to the ceremonies of the Popish Church,
and those who refused were fined and imprisoned.
In several counties, as, for example, Eisenberg, Presburg,
Xeutra, and Trentshin, no ground was given to the Protestants
for building churches and schools, and several of the ninety
churches, which had been restored, were again taken away. In
Donnerskirchen, near Eisenstadt, in OEdenberg county, the Pro-
testants were positively forbidden by Count Ladislaus Esterhazy
to recall their pastor.* The inhabitants of the town of Neu-
siedel, who had called an evangelical pastor without asking leave
from the landlord, were sentenced to pay a fine of several hun-
dred butts of wine, and were so much oppressed, that scarcely a
trace of a church is now there to be seen.
It was after such transactions that the king summoned a diet
at Presburg on the 25th January 1649. There was little pros-
pect of calm deliberation at this meeting, for the exasperation
was very considerable. Even the king was so much afraid of
the results, that he did not open the assembly till the 15th March.
The first business was the election of a palatine. The king pro-
posed two Roman Catholics and two Protestants, and the choice
fell on the Roman Catholic Count Paul Pallfy, a man of great
integrity and high honour.
Immediately on entering on his office he had a considerable
struggle with the archbishop Lippay, in which his character was
favourably exhibited. The diet was assembled ; the palatine was
in his place ; the archbishop alone was absent paying a morning
visit to the king ; they had waited long, and at length the
palatine rose to assure the assembled nobles how it was the king's
wish and desire that all the quarrels on religious matters should
be amicably arranged. The archbishop had now arrived, and
rose to declare that he had just heard wishes of the very opposite
nature expressed by the king. The palatine was astonished ;
and, after a short deliberation, it was agreed to send a mixed de-
putation, containing an equal number of Protestants and Roman
Catholics, to speak with his Majesty. A reply was immediately
returned, through the minister Trantmansdorf, that the palatine
had correctly stated the royal wish. Having been thus attacked
in his honour, the palatine turned in indignation towards the
* At this day there does not reside a single Protestant there.
164 HISTORY OF THE
archbishop, inquiring why he had entered on such barefaced false-
hood, attempting thus to misrepresent the king, and to disturb
the peace of the diet and of the country ; and he at the
same time informed him that, were it not for his cloth, he would
know how to treat him as he deserved.*
So long as this palatine lived, the Protestants on his estate
enjoyed all the protection they could wish. Entirely free from
all fanaticism, he erected schools for the Protestants as well as
for the Roman Catholics, and combined justice with moderation
to such an extent, that he was justly beloved as a father of his
country.
At the diet, where the passions of the contending parties made
his position so difficult, he guided the proceedings with much
tact, leaving the legal time open to hear all the mutual com-
plaints which the two parties wished to bring. The complaints
of the Roman Catholics were far more numerous, but he had
them entered in a list by themselves, in such a way that the
evidence in each individual case could be easily seen by the king ;
and it was soon evident that much was quite unfounded, and still
more of the charges of the Papists were overcoloured. The pala-
tine laid all before the king, with a request that each case should
be carefully and impartially investigated.f
Ferdinand, knowing well the nature of the case, was resolved
to carry out all the proceedings in the spirit of the Peace of Linz.
The determined opposition, however, on the part of the Roman
Catholics, prevented him from benefiting the Protestants to any
great extent. Besides the ninety churches which were granted
in 1647, there were only three chapels of ease bestowed on the
Protestants ; and a law was passed which eventually wrought
great mischief, deciding that all quarrels on matters of religion in
* Mica Bury, Theat. Europ. vol. vi. p. 877. Artel Kediviv. Mayer ad hoc
Annum, torn. ii. p. 161. Daniel Crudy, torn. i. p. 169. It is true the Jesuit
Szegedi represents the archbishop as suffering these reproaches unjustly
from his zeal for religion.
+ The archbishop declared to the king that his conscience did not allow
him to give land which belonged to Roman Catholics, for the purpose of
building a Protestant church, and the king informed him that his con-
science was much too scrupulous. Fessler, kol. ix. p. 39. It was the same
archbishop who declared, on a former occasion, that the king dared to
tolerate Protestants just as little as thieves and robbers, and both should
be borne with only so long as he could not eradicate them. Such is the
tender mercy of Popish priests.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 165
future should be decided after the example set in 1647, by being
referred back to the respective counties.
One benefit was gained by this diet ; for, as the priests
observed the desire of the king to do justice to the Protestants,
they relaxed somewhat in their persecutions. The time of quiet
was then employed in improving, as much as possible, the ecclesi-
astical discipline, in building and repairing churches and school-
houses, and in placing worthy men in the office of pastor. This
was especially the case in the royal free cities, where the number
of educated and wealthy members of the evangelical church was
considerable. In (Edenberg we find at this time Matthew Lany
was ordained, and in a neighbouring village called Horkaw,
Christopher Sobitsh, who was afterwards a distinguished super-
intendent. He preached his first sermon in the church of St
Michaels, which at that time belonged to the Lutherans, and
had been just embellished with a new altar and organ. At this
time also lived the superintendent, George Lany, who presided
at a synod held on the 10th June 1652, at which it was resolved
that not only the superintendents should have a right to propose
a new superintendent, but also the nobles, and even the citizens.
The evangelical church at Presburg manifested at this time
considerable activity and zeal. They built a new church for
the Hungarians and Slovaken, where Daniel Abrahamides
preached to a crowded house;* but within twenty years, this
church, which lies behind the Franciscan garden, became the pro-
perty of the nuns of St Ursula.
A few years after, they built a magnificent gymnasium of four
storeys high, where the rector, Bohm, who was afterwards pastor,
laboured with great success among the youth. Andrew Segner,
at that time inspector of the Protestant church, had a medal
struck commemorative of the opening of the institution ; on the
one side was the Trojan horse, and on the other, St Andrew's
day 1656. In Neusohl, Schemnitz, Modena, and Eperjes, where
Samuel Dirner was labouring with much acceptance, from the
year 1650 — in all these places were very prosperous schools,
chiefly under the guidance of foreigners, or of those who had
studied at foreign universities.
While the Protestants in Hungary were thus enjoying a little
ease, the Jesuits had, with great cunning, transplanted them-
selves into Transylvania. In this land, where the Protestant
* Ribinyi, Memorab. torn. i. p. 493.
166 HISTORY OF THE
Church had now stood for a considerable time under the protec-
tion of Protestant princes, it had gained some degree of stability ;
the arrogance of the Popish Church was considerably restrained,
and the Jesuits were strictly forbidden to reside there. These
men, however, found ways and means to obtain an entrance.
To appear in their own dress would have been the sure way to
have themselves banished ; they therefore assumed the ordinary
clerical habit, and lived apart in the houses of Popish nobles who
were friendly to them. Unobserved, they thus carried on their
old work.*
To their sorrow they discovered that prince George Rakotzy
II. was quite too decided in his adherence to the Reformed
Church to look quietly on and leave them to themselves. He
had just discovered that they had gained an unbounded influence
over his mother-in-law, a zealous Roman Catholic from Poland,
as also over his wife Sophie Bathory, and that they were begin-
ning to influence his son, a youth of seven years. He, therefore,
in the first place, got a list of all the Jesuits in the country, and
in the year 1651 made short work of having them removed.
Ferdinand III. and the King of Poland wrote to Rakotzy to in-
duce him to allow them to remain ; but the States, assembled in
June, declared that it was contrary to the law of the land, and
they must remove.
Ferdinand had something of more importance to annoy him.
Pope Innocent X. had declared his peace with the Swedes at
Asnabruck on the 10th January 1651 to be a godless transaction,
and refused to sanction the bishops whom Ferdinand had ap-
pointed.
His second wife, Leopoldina, to whom he had been married
only thirteen months, was removed by death ; and still more, his
hopeful son, whom he had just had crowned at Ratisbon on the
30th May 1653, as the King of Rome, under the title of Ferdi-
nand IV., was unexpectedly taken from him. On the 9th July
1654, the young king died of small-pox in the twenty- first year
of his age, to the great distress of the royal family.
With this son many of the father's plans and hopes were also
laid in the grave. One scheme, which seemed for a long time to
have been arranged, must now be given up. He had intended to
abolish the office of palatine, and to govern Hungary by means
of a deputy. To this office the archbishop Lippay would have
* Majlath, vol. iv. p. 270.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 167
been appointed, who knew much better how to accommodate him-
self to the court than did the unflinching palatine Paul Pallfy,
who, to the great distress of the country, was so soon removed
by death. When the king found, however, that his scheme met
with such violent opposition at the Diet of Presburg in 1654, he
withdrew it, and, after the old custom, proposed two Roman
Catholics and two Protestants for the office of palatine. The
valiant, prudent, wealthy, and amiable Roman Catholic noble-
man, Francis Vesselenyi Hadad, was elected.*
Before the diet proceeded to crown Ferdinand's second son,
Leopold, the Protestants attempted once more to bring their
complaints forward for consideration, but they were informed that
such matters did not now belong to the diet, but must be settled
by commissioners in each county. The miseries of this law they
were now doomed to feel, for when the commissioners gave an
unjust decision there was no appeal. Only one remedy was
open — they might appeal to the king. Accordingly, on the
16th March they laid their case before the king, with a specified
register of their complaints and charges, together with the evi-
dence and proofs, and begged relief. Churches, it seemed, had
been once more taken from them, pastors and schoolmasters had
been banished and their incomes confiscated, in spite of the laws
of the land; the proprietors had obstinately refused building-
ground for new churches and schools. After several weeks they
received a reply stating, that when the diet should be closed, he
would then examine into the matters mentioned. Another petition
to the king met with as little attention, and, in the meantime,
the diet decided that all confessional quarrels and complaints
should be settled immediately after the diet.
The Jesuits had as yet no permission to acquire landed
property, but the king promised to use his influence that they
might obtain the same privileges as other clergy. Accordingly,
in the following year, under the advice and with the aid of
* In his youth he was a Protestant of the Reformed Church, but was
induced by Pazmany to turn to the Papists. He distinguished himself in
the war against Rakotzy. He took the invincible castle of Murany by fall-
ing in love with the beautiful Mary Szecsy, the proprietress, and, having
gained her heart, he soon gained the castle too ; it was handed over to him
after the marriage. From this time forward he made great progress in
amassing wealth and obtaining posts of honour, till at last he became
palatine.
168 HISTOEY OF THE
Archbishop Losy, they built themselves an institution in
(Edenberg.*
Shortly after the coronation of his third wife, and also of his
second son Leopold to be King of Hungary, on the 27th June
1655, the diet came to a close. There was, however, just now
very little calculated to comfort the king. The Turks, under the
guidance of their wild borderers, burned the villages and carried
away prisoners before the treaty had come to an end, and it was
with great difficulty that they could be quieted. There was
also a very serious war breaking out between Casimir of Poland
and Charles Gustavus of Sweden, who had been Duke of
Zweibrucken, and Eakotzy II. of Transylvania was just about
to join the latter. Being on his way to join the Swedes, Ferdi-
nand could only raise a weak detachment to prevent him. Such
circumstances, in the very bloom of life of the king, might well
tend to embitter his lot.
Besides all this came another circumstance which was to him
fatal. Close to the room which he occupied on the 2d April
1657 there broke out a fire, and the king, who was at the time
sick, would not suffer himself to be carried out till he saw the
young prince Ferdinand, then three months old, first made safe.
A servant seized the cradle, but in the haste ran against the
wall and broke it, while he and the child tumbled together on
the ground. The king survived the shock only a few hours.
If it cannot be denied that Ferdinand III. was decidedly
opposed to the Protestants, and very strictly attached to his
own Church and to the Jesuits who had instructed him, still we
have had abundant evidence that he knew how to distinguish
between the pretensions of the priests and the substance of
religion, and in intellectual and moral powers very far surpassed
his father. His love of justice was so great, that he often caused
the judicial decisions which were favourable to his chamber to
be again examined, and he often sat in the court of justice
trying to do his utmost to favour the accused party. It was
with much hesitation and after long delay that he usually signed
the sentence of death, and in his whole reign he remained true to
his motto, " The fear of God, and Justice."
Had he not been educated by the Jesuits, had he been able to
withdraw himself from the all-powerful influence of the clergy,
or had he lived in more peaceful times, the respect which even
* (Edenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten MS.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 169
the enemies were obliged to shew him, would have risen to
admiration, and have grown to such a love that he might justly
have been regarded as father of his country. This name was
afterwards given to his successor Leopold, who for half a century
ruled over Hungary for weal and woe. In how far he deserved
this title, history will shew, when we consider how he treated the
Protestants, to whom he had sworn to shew the same regard as
to the Papists.
170 HISTORY OP THE
LEOPOLD L, 1657-1705.
CHAPTER X.
1657-1670.
Leopold's Education — He favours the Jesuits — The Synod at Tyrnau — Hungarian
Diets, and Grievances of the Protestants — The Diet of 1662— The Protestant
Deputies demand back the Churches and Schools — Petitions to the King — Specifi-
cation of the Persecutors — Persecution in Transylvania — More Petitions — The
Protestant Deputies leave the Diet — Its Close.
With Leopold's reign begins the golden age of the Jesuits on
the one side, and the gradual progressive decay of the Protestant
Church on the other. Intended by his father, Ferdinand III.,
to be Bishop of Passau, and till the death of his brother
Ferdinand receiving an education suitable to such expectations,
he ascended the throne in his seventeenth year. His uncle,
Leopold William, Bishop of Passau, guided the affairs of the
kingdom for some time, till they went into the hands of John
Ferdinand Portia and Wenzel Lobkowitz, both of whom stood
as much under the influence of the Jesuits as did their monarch.
The king had received such an education, and was endowed
with such dispositions, as might have been an honour to a bishop,
but were very prejudicial to a king. His attention to trifles ;
his indolence in comprehending and resolving, and his delay in
carrying out his resolves ; his cold and heartless disposition, and
his blind adherence to the forms of the Romish Church, which
he could not distinguish from the religion of Jesus, promised
him little happiness in the government of such a land as Hungary,
and such a people as the Hungarians.
The Jesuits now became arrogant, and, uniting with the
nobles of their own party, despised the laws of the land, and
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 171
trampled on the constitution whenever the benefits of their reli-
gion demanded it. Thus, Archbishop Lippay held a synod at
Tyrnau, on the 2d June 1658, which was numerously attended.
The resolutions were at first kept secret, and afterwards an attempt
was made to deny them, but their tendency was to annihilate the
conditions of the Peace of Vienna and Linz.*
As the king summoned a diet to Presburg in June 1659, and
the Protestants came forward with all the complaints which had
been heaped up during four years, he felt himself in great diffi-
culty, for the grand vizier, Kiuprili, was approaching with great
force, and had devoted nearly a hundred thousand Transylvanians
to death and imprisonment. But the Protestants ceased to
urge their complaints so soon as the king and the Archbishop
of Grdn pointed to the imminent danger, and promised imme-
diately after the diet to hold a full and impartial investigation.
The palatine informed the heads of counties of the king's
wish, and the people were satisfied with seeing the contract
which the king had signed on his coronation entered among
the laws of the land, although the first article of the Peace of
Vienna of 1608, contrary to the usual practice on such occasions,
was not included.
The Protestants must soon bitterly repent this generosity, for
the period up till the next diet was three years, and these were
memorable as days of bitter persecution and wrong. Thrice
had they been publicly deceived, openly before the whole
country, in the years 1649, 1655, and now in 1659. The fourth
time, however, should not be a repetition of the same. The
representatives of the counties, therefore, received, on their
election to the next diet, the strictest orders not to enter into
any other matters till the religious complaints were completely
settled, and the Protestants had obtained all their wish. As
they then could not immediately succeed at the diet, they
approached the king, on the 5th June, with a petition which one
cannot even now read without sorrow and shame, f The deputies
of thirteen counties brought the bitterest charges against those
u who had by violence now for many years habitually trans-
gressed the laws of the land, and prevented the exercise of that
toleration which the law granted." They demanded that the
churches and the property which had been forcibly taken away
during the last thirteen years, within the bounds of seventeen
* Engel, 1. ii. vol. v. p. 5. f Hist. Diplom. in App., p. 106.
172 HISTORY OF THE
counties, by fifty-three magnates, prelates, and landholders, should
be given back, and especially the forty churches which during
the last three years had been taken away* They give the names
of their persecutors, and history is bound to transmit them and
their deeds to posterity.
The petition to the king, having set forth how the deputy-
lieutenants of counties (vice-gespan), being Roman Catholics,
had contrived to terrify or to weary the Protestants who came
seeking for aid, states farther, how, in particular, Prince Paul
Esterhazy, after obtaining permission from the Pope to marry
his brother's daughter, had, during the sitting of the diet in
1659, endeavoured to persuade his people in the county of (Eden-
berg, at Frakno and Eisenstadt, and in the neighbourhood of the
Neusiedel lake, to become Roman Catholics ; and when he did
not succeed, how he, immediately after the diet, sent the dragoons
to compel them. By the aid of the dragoons he took away the
church of Shattendorf, though it was one of the ninety which
had been restored in 1647-t Equally illegal was the conduct of
Francis Nadasdy, who filled the office of superior judge. He
sent Hungarian and Austrian soldiers to abuse the Protestants.
As the soldiery came once into the village Babath, the Protestant
inhabitants had already escaped. There was now a chase made
after them, and every one who could be found was made a
Romanist. At St Nicolas and Great Zinkendorff, the Protestant
pastors were banished by the servant of Nadasdy, and the house-
hold furniture broken in pieces. The Jesuits compelled the
country people in crowds to join the Popish communion. As the
wife of Stephen Kovacs positively refused, two oxen were taken
from her husband as a punishment for her obstinacy, and they
did not cease to annoy till she also entered the Roman Catholic
Chinch. In the village of Szill, the same count sent a servant,
Peter Landor, with an armed force, to demand the keys of the
church. Having, after some time, obtained them, he had the
bells rung to summon all into the church, as if for worship,
and then, in spite of all the weeping and mourning, directed
a Roman Catholic priest to administer the Lord's Supper to all
present.
In 1651 the same Count Nadasdy directed the keeper of the
* David Lany in Epierisi, 1663 ; Mica Bury ; Hist. Diploni. App. 104.
t At present there is not a single Protestant in the village. Eisenstadt,
the residence of the prince, and Forstenau, are also completely Popish.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 173
forests to watch for the Protestants who went from Borgois to the
neighbouring Protestant church in Nemesker, and when they
were returning they were robbed of their clothes, and sent home
naked. In his property in (Edenberg, Eisenberg, and Neutra,
he had more or less annoyed about two hundred Protestant
churches, for which feats he became the darling of the Jesuits
at the court of Vienna. But they either could not, or would
not, shortly after, save him from the scaffold. When he had
mounted the scaffold, he is reported to have said, " The Lord is
just in all his ways," which the Protestants understood as an
expression of repentance for his desertion of the faith of his
youth ; the Papists, however, understood it as a consent to the
justice of the punishment he was about to receive for his
rebellion,*
In Eisenberg county, and in the village of Wippendorf, Count
George Erdody not only turned the Protestant pastor out of his
house in the dead of winter, and threw his household furniture
on the streets, but lie also made up a list of the Protestants on
the estate, and informed them that unless they tinned to the
Popish Church, they should be all banished, and none should
take with him more than four florins for his journey. As this
threatening did not produce the desired effect, he billeted on
them the soldiers of Wallachia — the European Indians ; and in
cases where that was not sufficient, he imprisoned them in his
castle, till, worn and weary, they could resist no longer, and fell
a prey to the Church. It is so much easier, in an hour of enthu-
siasm, to make great sacrifices and endure much suffering, than
to resist the long- continued vexations which weary the spirit
and drive to the performance of actions which the heart abhors ;
we therefore have need of the daily prayer, " O Lord, strengthen
our faith." If the Lord do not keep the fire burning within us,
it must soon expire.
With cunning calculation the Jesuits carried on their work.
In the village Xeusiedel, in the county of the Wieselburg, the
landlords John and George Lippay ordered all the Protestants to
attend the Church of Rome, and fined them in forty florins for
every neglect. Protestant widows were not suffered to marry
again. At funerals no hymn or psalm dared to be sung. The
Protestants could hold no public office, and those who were
already in office were dismissed. The pastor of a neighbouring
* Joann. Bethlen con. ejus setatis 1670.
174 HISTORY OF THE
village, Gols, was threatened with death if he should venture to
shew himself at Neusiedel.
In Raab the corporate trades admitted no more Protestants ;
so that, without forsaking then religion, they could not become
carpenters, or shoemakers, or tailors, or cloth-workers, or enter
any guild. Archbishop Lippay, very shortly before his death,
ejected all the Protestants from the village Balvany-Szakalos,
and filled up their place with Eomanists. In Apaezu-Szakalos,
the Presburg nuns, as proprietresses, forbade the exercise of Pro-
testant worship, and threatened heavy punishments on those who
attended the preaching of the gospel.
In the county of Trentshin, Count Francis Revay adopted
similar measures in Irnowv, Yissnyowo, and Bissitz. In the
same county, the Jesuits took possession of the chapels of ease at
Liborza and Szamarosz, which belonged to the Protestant con-
gregation at Xemsowa and Trentshin, and compelled them to
join the Romanists. In like manner, in the village Piecho,
they threw the principal inhabitants for five weeks into prison in
the Abbey of Skalka. The Bishop of Xeurra. who was also im-
perial chancellor, George Szelepcsenyi, imprisoned the Protestants
in Telso-Drietowa, in Dobrastow, and Isselnik, till they abjured
their faith. In like manner did the widow of Paul Serenyi
oblige the Protestants of Zablath and Eiba to separate from the
church at Trentshin. The brothers George and Gabriel Illeshazy,
whose evangelical father died in 1648, had their day of persecu-
tion ; but it did not continue long, for George died in poverty in
Moravia, and Gabriel, after tasting of the sweets of persecution
for nearly a year, and regaling himself with the tears and sighing
of the afflicted, could resist the entreaties of his wife and the
powerful representations of her chaplain, Stephen Pilarick, no
longer, but turned back to the evangelical church, and remained
faithful till death.
It was this same Stephen Pilarick who had been tinned out of
Beczko by a military escort sent from Count Francis Xadasdy,
and all his books had been brought to the castle of Cseithe ; the
count here ordered a fire to be made in the castle, and all the
property and books of the pastor, with the exception of his
official gown, to be thrown into the lire : the Bible was put on a
spit and turned round before the fire, while lie and some of his
court stood by enjoying the spectacle. By some sudden blast
several leaves of the Bible were blown about in the hall, and one
PEOTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGARY. 175
was driven directly towards the count's breast ; Baron Ladislaus
Revay caught at it, but it was seized out of his hand by the
count, who began to read. It happened to be a portion of the
fortieth chapter of Isaiah, and the first words he read were these,
— " The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our
God shall stand for ever." The Count Nadasdy, turning pale,
rose immediately and retired, and, when he was leaving the hall,
the court fool cried after him, " How shall you feel, Sir Count,
when the devils are roasting you on a spit in hell ? " *
In Wartberg, Felso-Szeli, Nagyszegh, Vesekeny, and Mish-
dorf, the churches were taken away about the same time. In
the last mentioned the soldiers broke into the church, with drawn
swords, during the ti.ne of divine service ; they barricaded the
doors till the mass was celebrated, and thus was the congrega-
tion " made Catholic " — mass had been read in their presence,
and, therefore, the church and the congregation belonged to the
Papists. Such was the reasoning, and it followed, as a matter
of course, that the Protestant pastor was no more required.
What matter did it make if he was sick ? The best treatment
was to throw him out on the streets !
In Neustadt, on the Waag, the church which the Protestants
had built was destroyed to the very foundation ; the organ and
the bells were carried away to the prior ; the monuments on the
graves were shattered. In the county of Neutra, the churches of
Great Kosstolan, Portole, Cseithe, Verbo, Brezova, Mijawah,
Vagyoes, Kraine, Botfalu, Krusso, and Bari, were handed over
to the Papists, who compelled the worshippers to take the wafer,
while the evangelical preachers were all banished. On this occa-
sion, in Mijawah, it occurred that a peasant cried out in the
church, " I swear by the living God, that if you thrust the wafer
into my mouth, I will bite off your fingers."f
In Baimocs, Francisca Kayn, the widow of palatine Pallfy,
drove the superintendent, Martin Tarnoczy, out of Privigyi;
George Graff and his assistant, Philipp Koberling, from Nemet
Proua ; the rector, Andrew Zaskalik, from Koss ; Martin Novak
and Andrew Eeichel, from Gaydel ; and took away, besides,
the churches in which these men laboured, and many others.
In Szerdahely, on the Waag, the Jesuits took the church,
schoolhouse, and manse, for their own use ; turned the pastor
and his family out of doors ; and though the pastor's wife was
* Mica Bury MS. t Ibid.
176 HISTORY OF THE
sick, yet they were not allowed to remain a single night in their
own house, nor in the village.
In Deaki, the Arch-abbot of St Martensbrag, Andrew Placidus,
ordered the Protestant preacher to be whipped and turned out of
his dwelling, and then oppressed the people till they shewed no
more resistance.
In Sellye, a company of Papists with flags and drums appeared
before the dwelling of George Kassotis, the pastor ; dragged him,
with all that he had, over the borders of the county ; destroyed
the church which the Protestants had built for themselves ;
billeted a hundred soldiers on the evangelical inhabitants, to
prepare them for receiving the Romish ceremonies; and stole
the three hundred dollars which the wife of Rakotzy the elder
had given them, and which was at that time in the hands
of the pastor. The church at Holitsh was, by order of the
Bishop of Vesprin and Count Adam Czobor, levelled to the
very ground.
We proceed to extract from this petition to the king. It
goes on to say, — " In the county of Gomor, Nicolas Andrassy
and George Lippay were the most furious persecutors. The
former banished the preachers from Olah, Patak, and Bethler,
and put Popish priests in their places,- the latter did the same
in Pelsocs, Czetnek, and Rossnobanya, and in the villages
Berzetin, Also-Sajo, Gatzalfalva, and Ochtina; he allowed the
emoluments of the preachers to be taken away ; the tithes were
taken from them, and any grain which they had in store the
archbishop applied to his own use."*
Similar scenes of cruelty occurred also in Transylvania, and
in that part of Hungary which was chiefly connected with the
Reformed Church, and which under Rakotzy had enjoyed such
days of glorious peace. So soon as Rakotzy died of his wounds,
in 1660, his widow, Sophie Bathory, declared that she had
joined the Reformed Church only in outward appearance, and had
remained ever faithful to Rome. In spite of the father's care,
she had trained her son Francis to be a Papist, and now all the
Protestant subjects were placed at the mercy of the priests.f
She took away the churches of the Reformed congregations by
force, drew the schools and their revenues to herself, and avail-
ing herself of her feudal rights, she converted her subjects to the
* Acts of the Diet, 1662. Hist. Diplom. C in Appendix, p. 104.
t Karalyi, Munor. Eccl. torn. ii. p. 261.
PBOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 177
Popish communion by the powerful argumentum ad baculum*
A terrible storm was gathering, and was for the present averted
by Rakotzy's brother-in-law restoring much of what had been
taken violently away, putting a stop to farther injustice, paying
a thousand ducats for damage already done, and promising
redress at the approaching diet. This diet had now assembled,
and the cry of the Protestants was sufficiently loud. Their com-
plaints were specific, and supported by evidence, so that they had
the firmest confidence that Leopold would afford assistance.
Not till the 11th of June did the king give any reply, and then,
through the minister, Prince Portia, informed the petitioners that
u they should not annoy the king with such complaints at the
diet, there was something more important to be done ; and for
all these complaints in matters of religion the law had already
made full provision, and appointed the proper punishment for
each transgression."
The astonished and distressed Protestants did not think that
they ought to allow the matter to rest. Accordingly, on the
following day they presented, through Ezekiel Gorgey, a
petition, couched in strong language, but breathing loyalty and
submission. They beg that the matter may not be regarded as a
private affair. They quote the Treaty of Linz, and refer to the fact
that not a single legal sentence has been pronounced against any of
their persecutors, even when notoriously guilty ; and still more,
if a sentence were pronounced, no one could be found to execute
it. The Bishop of Neutra had carried his rage for making
proselytes so far, that if any one joined the Popish Church, he
should be entirely free from taxes for ten full years. He had
threatened the magnates, who were less severe against the Pro-
testants, with punishment, and, only a few days before, had
again arrested a preacher, who had been set free from prison, and
had thrown him into chains. When some parties applied in his
favour, the bishop informed them they were pleading in favour
of a robber ! Count George Illyeshazy had thrown John Vitz-
ranswitz, a gospel minister, into a prison in Moravia in another
county, and, notwithstanding the command of the palatine, had
refused to let him go free.
On the 4th of July, consequently, after three full weeks, there
came a sealed paper out of the king's cabinet, with the following
* Verbis et Verberibus, Hist. Diplom. App., pp. 120-123 ; Instancia ad
Leopold, 1662.
M
178 HTSTOKY OF THE
address : — u To the faithful members of the evangelical confes-
sion assembled at the diet."
As the palatine, Vesselenyi, handed over the paper to the Pro-
testants, he made the manly and noble confession, u I had rather
that the funeral-knell had tolled over me, than live to see this
day; may the day and the hour be covered with eternal dark-
ness." *
When the Protestants saw that they were about to be de-
prived of their political rights, they handed back the paper to the
chancellor without opening it, till such time as the address
should be corrected. When the paper was opened, it was
discovered that they had gained nothing. They begged an
audience of the king, and on the 8th of July, appearing at the
foot of the throne, George Berenyi handed in their third appeal
for redress.
Here they recount all the ills borne since 1659, and accuse
the supreme judge of the land, Francis Nadasdy, and Bishop
George Szelepcsenyi, of injustice and cruelty. It did not occur
to them to suppose that the king had ordered all these acts, still
they were done in the king's name, and the diet was no court of
appeal, for the Protestants were deprived of all legal means of
entering the court. The king should also bear in mind that
though the diet consists of four factors, still, in religious matters,
only of two — the Protestants and Roman Catholics. All was of
no avail. And not only so, but even while the diet was still
sitting, Nicolas Mailath, the director of the royal domains, ven-
tured to prohibit the Protestants of Presburg from building a
church spire, and attempted to exclude them from the use of the
bells.
On the 14th July, Portia gave a verbal reply to the deputies,
informing them " it was not in the power of his Majesty to
arrange this disputed point, and to settle these misunderstand-
ings, otherwise than had been already done ; and his Majesty
advises them to give over these private matters, and turn their
attention to the public affairs of the state."
Their patience was not yet exhausted, and on the 24th July
they presented, through George Berenyi, their fourth memorial,
renewing their former requests. As an attempt was now made
to divide the Protestant interests, the Protestant deputies held a
meeting, resolving, in the spirit of the instructions given at the
* Fessler, vol. ix. p. 110.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 179
election, to enter on no other business till this was settled. They
therefore resolved to approach the king for the last time-
On the 31st July the memorial was read over in a full meet-
ing, and on the 2d August they had an audience with his
Majesty. Among those who appeared before the king, were
Andrew Sze'kely, John Osslik, Balik, Feja, and Splenyi. Leopold
read the petition, and replied immediately, " Your good wishes
for our prosperity we gratefully accept. While we have already
given our reply to your alleged grievances through our minister
Portia, we had hoped you would have been satisfied, and have
turned your attention to public business ; and even now we expect
still from you, that you immediately proceed to consider the
affairs of the state, and you shall always find us prepared to pay
every due attention to your wishes."
Eight days after, the Protestant deputies received a written
reply of the very same import, and, still unwearied, they approached
the heartless Leopold once more, being now the sixth time.
Through his Jesuitical principles, he remained, however, perfectly
unmoved : they received the same answer.
In sorrow they now met together to consult over the state of the
Church, the result of which was, that they sent a deputation to
the palatine, to request that he might intercede for them with the
king, and they then waited in patience till the 24th August.
"When it appeared that the palatine was doing nothing, another
meeting was summoned, at which many Roman Catholics
attended, and the resolution was adopted to leave the diet. A
large deputation, including the Roman Catholics, John Ebesky,
Francis Cziesery, and Nicolas Michalek, and the Protestant
deputies of the towns of QEdenberg, Eperjes, and Trentshin, com-
municated this resolution to the astonished palatine, Vesselenyi,
who begged them not to take this step, and he would do his
utmost in their favour. They waited patiently till the 29th.
The palatine now brought them the information that the king
would not alter his decision ; he was, however, ready to give
them every assistance in obtaining justice, but he must refuse
them permission to leave the diet. Such a mockery of their
rights was not to be borne, and on the 1st September they com-
municated to the palatine then* firm resolution to leave on the
following day.
Vesselenyi begged them by all the seven sacraments to change
their resolution; but they replied that they had begged, for the
180 HISTORY OF THE
sake of the mercy of Grod, and for the sake of the blood of Jesus
shed on the cross, that their Church should be protected from
injustice, and yet all in vain ; and now the seven sacraments were
not likely to alter their decision.
In vain were now the threatenings of Nicolas Mailath ; in vain
did he follow single deputies to their homes. Early on the morn-
ing of the 2d September the Protestant deputies left Presburg.
It was a decisive step, but their patience had been sorely tried,
and there remained nothing else to do. The palatine sent his
attorney-general, Dukovitz, to call them back — but it was too
late.
The deputies who remained continued their deliberations, and
on the 19th September the diet was closed. The Fifty-five
Articles received the royal sanction, but the committee of the
thirteen counties of Upper Hungary, assembled at Zemplin, sent
them back again to the king with the remark, u that these reso-
lutions were of no avail while the Protestant States had not con-
sented to them." The priests replied that, in this case, all the
treaties which had been made with the Protestants, and all the
statutes by which the Protestants had obtained exemption from
the original penal decrees, were equally powerless, for the Popish
clergy had protested against them all. The force of this argu-
ment disappears, when it is considered that these latter decrees
were all made in the ordinary course of debate in a full assembly ;
that the priests generally gave in their protest when they knew
there was no danger ; and between the priests, as a caste, and the
Protestant States, as such, there was a very marked difference.
rROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 181
CHAPTER XL
Effect of the Departure of the Protestant Deputies on the Patriots — Their Dissatisfaction
— Diet of Neusohl — Leopold and the Divan — Attempt to Poison the King — The
Procurator of the Jesuits disappears — Paris von Spantkaw — Imprisonments — The
Malcontents in K ash aw — Assembly at Neusohl — Trial and punishment of the
Insurgents — Nicolas Drabicius — Renewed Persecutions — Presburg — Its banished
Clergy — A new Insurrection crushed — Persecution still continues — The Archbishop
resigns his Viceroyalty.
The step which the Protestant deputies had taken was one
to which they were compelled ; as conscientious men having
received instructions at their election, they could not act other-
wise. And perhaps the patriots saw with pleasure the breach
which was taking place between the country and the court, for
the oppression of the German soldiers who were billeted on the
country was so heavy, that the Hungarians gladly sought oppor-
tunity of being freed from them.
On the 24th August there had been a deputation sent to the
palatine, to demand from the king the removal of the German
troops. No request could have been less welcome to Leopold.
By promises and by the arts of the privy council he managed to
decline granting the request, and the threatening position which
the Turks had taken up furnished him with sufficient pretext.
It was, therefore, not only the Protestants but also the patriotic
Hungarians who had left the diet with discontent; and their dis-
satisfaction soon rose to wrath when they saw Leopold supported
by John Kemeny in the war with the Turkish protege, ApafTy, —
reducing the country to the very brink of destruction ; but their
indignation knew no bounds when, after the defeat of the Turks
at St Gothard in 1664, a peace was concluded by Portia, without
the knowledge or co-operation of the Hungarians, in such terms
as to bring disgrace and misfortune on the country.
Many formed the resolution to shake off the Austrian yoke.
182 PIISTORY OF THE
In the meantime came the Diet of ISTeusohl in 1667, and here,
instead of seeking a legitimate pacification of the country,
Leopold was closely occupied with, the councillors, and especially
with Leslie, a Roman Catholic nobleman who had been banished
out of Scotland, in persuading the Divan to withdraw its protection
from ApafTy the Calvinistic Prince of Transylvania, and to put
in his place Francis Rakotzy, who was now become Roman
Catholic.*
The corn-tiers at Vienna had said that the Hungarians must
have their heron's feathers plucked off, their gold and silver
buttons changed to lead, be dressed in the Bohemian coat,f and
have their pride humbled ; and, as usual, this was repeated again
in the hearing of those whom it concerned.
When, therefore, contrary to all constitutional rights and cus-
toms, at the Diet of Neusohl, two foreign counts, Rothsal and
Heister, holding a commission in the imperial army, presumed
to take the precedence, the palatine and the Hungarian magnates
were so much offended, that the foundation was laid for a con-
spiracy to rebellion, which shortly broke out.
The leaders in this conspiracy were the palatine, Vesselenyi,
who, however, soon died ; Count Francis Nadasdy, Nicolas and
Peter Zwinyi, Francis Rakotzy, and Botskay, who were well
known as the bitterest persecutors of the Protestants ; and yet
many of the latter joined the plot too. When now that attempt
was made to poison Leopold, and it was only Francis Barri, a
knight of Milan, who informed the king and saved him from
certain death, though the whole transaction is enveloped in
mystery, yet the Jesuits took the opportunity of turning it to
account for the sake of persecuting the Protestants. After cast-
ing the deliverer of the king into prison for life, because he was
supposed to entertain heretical opinions, and after causing the
procurator of the Jesuits — who was deeply involved in the
poisoning affair — to disappear so as never to be again heard of,
they sent Paris Spantkaw to Leutshaw, as commander-in-chief
or military governor of the thirteen counties of Upper Hungary.
He threw many of the Hungarians into prison, especially Pro-
testant pastors, but the leaders of the conspiracy had fled, partly
with Botskay to Marmaros, and partly to Apaffy in Tran-
sylvania.
The bitterest persecution now began. The evidence which
* John Buihlen, C. C, p. 259. t A coarse homespun dress.
PKOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 183
proved any one to be a Protestant, was reckoned sufficient to
prove him also to be a rebel.* As the design was to root out
the Protestant religion, it was found particularly desirable to
make attacks on the churches and schoolhouses. The pretence
under which these sworn foes of Protestantism took possession
of the church of Scliemnitz, throws some light on their proceed-
ings. The daughter of Julius Lansee, a member of the Pro-
testant Church, had formed an attachment to a clerk in the
mines, of the name of Glantshick, a Roman Catholic, but her
parents, friends, and pastor, opposed the match. The Jesuits
laid an accusation against the friends of the bride before the
Senate of Schemnitz ; and the evangelical pastors, John Nindish,
Godfrey Titius, Christopher Hofstetter, and Isaiah Pilarik, were
summoned before the archbishop, Szelepcse'nyi, to Tyrnau, to
answer the charges. As the court was incompetent to summon
or to deal with Protestant pastors, who were completely inde-
pendent of the bishop, they did not appear, and were accordingly
heavily fmed.f As they shewed no inclination to pay the fine,
the archbishop seized the church, with all that belonged to it,
and, surrounding it with cannon, he handed it over to the Roman
Catholics, i
The excitement still continued in Hungary, but the prospects
were becoming gradually darker. Count Francis Vessel&ryi,
who had remained faithful to his king till 1665, and who then,
by the persuasions of his ambitious wife, had become the leader
of the conspiracy against Leopold, died in 1667 ; and Lippay
had died in January 1666. Notwithstanding the great hatred
which the latter bore to Protestantism, he had sufficient patriot-
ism to protest against Leopold's measures with such earnestness
as to lose the royal favour. Another great loss to Hungary, was
the death of Nicolas Zwinyi, who met with his death from a
wounded boar while hunting.
Count Peter Zwinyi now took the place of the palatine, as
leader of the malcontents. He was a man of unbounded ambi-
tion, but without talent or firmness sufficient to fill that dangerous
post, and little confidence could be placed in his wisdom. Still
* Fessler, vol. ix. t Mica Bury MS.
X This transaction occurred loth February 1669, consequently before
the capture of the Castle of Murany. As they had then no plea on account
of the conspiracy, they adopted this plea of marriage to take away the
church. >
184 HISTOEY OF THE
less worthy of confidence was Prince Francis Rakotzy, a man
who regarded every religion with equal indifference. And if he,
by his imprudence and fickleness, injured the cause which he
joined, still more did his brother-in-law, Francis Frangepani, by
his inordinate passions. Count Francis ISTadasdy, the Hungarian
Croesus, was also on the side of the malcontents, but his position
was not very well understood, as he still shewed himself such a
friend of half measures. Count Erasmus Tattenbach, governor
of Styria, was gained over to the Murany League hy his wife,
the Countess Forgacs, and having received promises of lands, he
advanced the cause in secret.
The malcontents had been treating with the Prince of Tran-
sylvania, with the grand vizier, who was then busy in Candia,
and directly with the Divan, long before Leopold dreamt of any
danger, and while he was still reckoning Zwinyi and Nadasdy
among his faithful adherents. At length Panajot, the interpreter
of the grand vizier, on the 12th June 1667, informed the
Cabinet of Vienna of the plot, without, however, being able to
name the conspirators.
Leopold was terrified, and resolved to try milder measures.
He promised to summon a diet ; he entered into treaty with
the Prince of Transylvania ; he summoned a meeting in. March
1670, at Neusohl, of such as possessed his confidence, to
examine the state of the country, and relieve it, if possible,
from political and religious oppression. Among his deputies
were the Archbishop of Gran, Tzelepcsenyi, Nadasdy, Zichy,
and Count Adam Forgacs. Partly because their instructions
were insufficient, partly because they had no mutual confidence,
little progress was made.
Just at this time the Court obtained unexpectedly the desired
information respecting the whole plot. In the year 1670,
Charles of Lotringia surrounded the Castle of Murany, which
he regarded as the centre of the conspiracy, and the widow of
Vesselenyi, who now lost all courage, surrendered herself and
her papers into his hands, to be dealt with according to the
mercy of the sovereign. The countess was brought to Vienna
under arrest, but treated as became her rank, while Peter
Zwinyi and Frangepani broke out immediately into open hosti-
lities in Croatia, and Francis Rakotzy in Upper Hungary.*
Now came the misfortunes. Count Tattenbach was betrayed
* John of Hormaye, Hist, of Vienna, vol. iv. part iii. p. 125.
TR0TE8TANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 185
by a servant whom he had delivered over to be punished for
theft. Zwinyi and Frangepani, who had been surrounded by
General Spantkaw, escaped, and being betrayed by John Kery,
at whose house they stopped, they were imprisoned in the new
town of Vienna. Francis Nadasdy was taken out of his castle
Pottendorf, on the borders of Hungary, in the night of the 3d
September, and conveyed to the Landhaus of Vienna. Tokolyi
was besieged by General Heister, in his castle of Arva, and
died during the siege, so that, on the surrender, only his three
daughters were found, who were taken to Vienna, and made
Papists. The son, dressed as a peasant girl, escaped to Transyl-
vania. Count Francis Csdky died a natural death towards the
close of the year.
The trial of the prisoners then began. Contrary to the coro-
nation oath, the king chose exclusively foreigners to be judges,
and not a single Hungarian, in this very weighty cause.* On
the 30th day of March 1671, the trial was ended, and on the
30th April N&dasdy was executed. His body was preserved in
Lockenhaus, in Eisenberg county, where it lies to this day,
with the beard and hair of the head in full preservation. Four
millions of florins were found in his castle, in hard coin.
Zwinyi and Frangepani died at the same time, on another
scaffold, but not till after the rope had broken twice. Tatten-
bach was not executed till December. All the property was
confiscated, and the king ordered two thousand masses to be
read for their souls, out of the proceeds of the confiscated pro-
perty.
None but the young Rdkotzy escaped. He had fled to
Transylvania, and his mother paid well for the mercy which
she obtained. She sent to the cabinet forty-five thousand
florins, and large sums to private parties about court; the
Jesuits obtained a splendid gymnasium in Kashaw, and many
of Rakotzy's best castles were handed over to German troops.
Many of the nobility were involved in this conspiracy, and
there was a special court of assize held at Presburg to have
them tried. In this court, the archbishop as governor, Count
Rottel as president, General Heister, and other noblemen who
were completely submissive to the king, acted as judges. It
was here resolved to confiscate the property of Vesselenyi,
Csaky, Tokolyi, Michael Bori, Stephen Vittnyedi, and Andrew
* Engel, vol. v. p. 63 ; Fessler, 1. c. vol. ix. p. 197.
186 HISTOEY OF THE
Dobay. Some of these escaped to Transylvania or Poland.*
Still, about three hundred, chiefly Protestant nobles, were
brought to trial, and condemned to different punishments, some
to death, f In Presburg alone there were thirty-five distin-
guished men brought to trial, and some of them died on the
scaffold. Among these were Nagy of Fuged, and Francis
Bonis of Toleswa, who, in the hope of obtaining favour through
the Jesuits, sold their faith, and were then left by these
promise-breakers to meet their fate.
One of the most painful scenes was the execution of an old
man of eighty-four years, whose case we must here notice more
minutely. On the 4th of July 1671, in the 878th sitting of the
court, the case of Nicolas Drabik or Drabicius was called. He
was a native of Moravia, and in consequence of the persecutions
in 1629, he had fled to Hungary. He belonged to the Moravian
Brethren, and had with difficulty supported himself by dealing
in a small way in woollen wares : he still cherished the hope of
returning to close his days in his native land. Entirely destitute
of 'learning r, and knowing no other than the Bohemian language,
he fancied himself enlightened by the Spirit of God to see into
futurity, and he wrote a book full of prophecies of ill against
the house of Austria. \ He called the two Ferdinands and
Leopold covenant-breakers ; the house of Austria the house of
Ahab, a cruel, perjured house, which ought to be rooted out ; he
prophesied to the Catholics a speedy and utter desolation.
This man was' brought on a cart to be tried before the court
at Presburg. In consequence of age he was very weak, but,
not at all daunted, he took a seat near the Count Eottel, who
understood Bohemian. After a little he had no other place to
sit on than the ground.
When the archbishop asked him whether he were the false
prophet, he replied that he could not properly be called such.
He acknowledged the book Light out of Darkness to be his ; and
when the archbishop asked by whose orders and for what purpose
he had written the book, he replied, " At the command of the
Holy Spirit." " You lie," said the archbishop, " the book is
* Engel, 1. c. vol. v. p. 67.
t Wreisburg Kirch ii. Vihiil. snwl. p. 219, MS.
% The book was translated by John Amos Comeriius, out of the original
Bohemian into Latin, and was printed at Amsterdam in 1665, in folio, under
the title, " Lux e Tenebris novis radiis an eta."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 187
from the devil." " In this you lie," said Drabik, unmindful of
consequences. The examiners inquired what his belief was,
and he repeated the whole Athanasian Creed, asking the bishop
at the close, " And what do you believe? " u I believe all that,
and a great deal more which is also necessary." " You don't
believe any such thing," said Drabicius ; " you believe in your
cows and horses and your estates."
On the 16th July he was executed. His right hand was first
to be cut off, then his head ; the tongue was to be taken out and
nailed to a post, and his writings burned in the market-place
together with his body. Some say that the tongue was torn out
while he was still alive.
The Jesuits boast that they succeeded in converting him
before his death. The real state of the case, however, was this.
After many attempts had been made in vain to shake the old
man's faith, at length the Jesuit Peter Kubey or Kubmey suc-
ceeded in gaining his confidence so far, that in a moment of
weakness he yielded, and on the 4th of July did actually join
the Popish Church. What prevailed with him seems to have been
the promise of liberty ; he should be set completely at liberty, said
the Jesuit pater, and should have a conveyance to take him back
to his native land to die there in peace. So soon as he discovered
that he had been deceived, the vile deed that he had committed
stood in all its horror before him, he was deeply ashamed of
his cowardice, and exclaimed, that he would die in the faith in
which he had lived, and which he had only for a few moments
forsaken.
The foes of the Protestants — and after them Lampe and
Fessler — represented him as a Protestant pastor. His name
stands, however, on none of the lists. It was an invention to
blacken the character of the Protestant clergy, and represent the
rebellion as proceeding from them, that there might be some
pretext for exhibiting the most disagreeable spectacle which the
abuse of power, under the name of religion, ever manifested.
Respectable and influential men wrote the charges without giving
any evidence or having any proofs. Examples may be seen in
Francis Wagner the biographer of Leopold, in Damiani the canon
of Waitzen, and lately in the bigoted bishop Alexius Jordansky,
as well as the notorious Hohenegger, who sets all historical truth
at defiance.
Many Roman Catholics assert that the rebellion arose from
183 HISTORY OF THE.
taking away the revenues of the Calvinistic College of Saros-
patak and of other Protestant preachers. Had it been so, then
only the members of that confession should have been punished,
but five times as many of the members of the Lutheran Church
suffered. And if it was an affair of the clergy, why then should
the congregations and the churches be attacked also? Where
the punishment is not adapted to the crime, it is tyranny.
Where the transgression of civil laws is punished with the de-
privation of religious liberty, the civil authorities become then
rebels against God, while they usurp a power which the Most
High has never delegated. to man. Black is the crime and
heavy the guilt of the Popish Church in Hungary in this respect.
The plan of the Jesuits and their friends was quite clear ; they
wished to be faithful to their oath, and accordingly, by any means
whatever, utterly extinguish the Protestant Church.
To this end the Prior of Zips, George Barshony, wrote a book
entitled Truth laid before the whole World, in which he taught
that the king was under no obligation to tolerate the Protestant
sects. His reasons were, that the Peace of Vienna was made
under circumstances which take away all obligations ; that the
Protestants had themselves broken the treaty; that one of the
constituent parts of the state, namely, the higher clergy, had not
agreed to the terms ; and, lastly, the Lutherans and Calvinists
did not hold firm by their original confession.
The Protestants soon answered this work in a satisfactory
manner ; but the persecutions went on, and, as the Protestants
enjoyed the most protection in the royal free cities, under magis-
trates chosen by themselves, it was against these cities that the
principal efforts were directed.
In Upper Hungary, the Archbishops of Gran and Kalatsha,
Szelepcsenyi and Szechenyi, as also the president of the chamber,
Count Leopold Kollonitz, the titular bishops George Barshony
and Francis Szegedy, accompanied by Jesuits and dragoons,
passed over the land, and wherever they appeared the knell of
religious freedom tolled. Thus, in 1671, by the help of General
Spantkaw, the bishop took possession of the Protestant church of
Kashaw after breaking the doors, and, on a warrant signed by
Count Volkru, the Popish president of the chamber at Zips, the
six Protestant clergy, superintendent Michael Liefmann, Adam
Kiss, Christian Ekkard, Adam Pitto, Stephen Koszeghy, and
George Fisher, were thrown into prison. And this happened
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 189
notwithstanding that the city Kashaw had, in 1670, readily
opened the gates to the imperial troops, and had received the
assurance that their liberty of faith and worship should be
respected.
In Xeusohl the Scotch Papist and refugee Count Walter Leslie
arrived at midnight on the 18th November 1671, and surrounded
the castle, of which the Protestant church was a part, and where
the three pastors resided. By the help of ladders he took pos-
session of the chinch, and sent the German pastors away. On
the 2d February following, the Slavonian church was also seized.
The Archbishop of Gran, as proprietor of Bozok, summoned
George Zabonyik, the pastor of the church, who was also super-
intendent of three counties, Sol, Honte, and Thurotz ; and after
bringing him to his table and calling him sometimes a heretic
and a deceiver, sometimes a worthless person; then changing
the tone, promising him great kindness, and calling him a brother,
— when all this could not draw him over to Popery, he was
handed to a secretary, who was ordered to drive him out of his
parish.
Zabonyik died of grief, shortly after, at Karpfen, where Anna
Ujfalusy had taken him into her house. A short time previously
had Jeremiah Lucius, pastor of Schemnitz — whose son we shall
soon meet in exile, and who had been twice banished from his
parish — gone to the Father, there to wait till all the brethren
who should witness for the truth should also be brought to rest
with him under the altar, and to cry, " How long, O Lord, holy
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? "
After the churches in Trentshin and those of both confessions
in Skalitz had been taken away, the turn came to Tyrnau and
Sclmtt-Somerain on the 16th January 1672, where, by orders
from Count Pallfy, the clergy of both confessions must imme-
diately leave.
At Bartfeld, on the 20th April, the Abbot Stephen Koloovari
tried his fortune at this new game ; and being successful, he con-
tinued his tour, under the pretence of church visitation, so far as
Eperjes. Having met with no assistance from Melchior Hutter
the military commander, after two attempts in May and June he
desisted. In his place came the more experienced Szegedy , Bishop
of Erlau, who on the 6th July broke open the door, under the
pretext that the church had been built by Roman Catholics.
190 HISTORY OF THE
Four Protestant pastors, the college with ten professors, and two
churches, were lost to the Protestants, and four hundred stu-
dents were turned out of the town.
In the counties Barsod, Gomor, Tama, Saros, Abuivar, and
Zemplin, the Archbishop of Kolotsha, supported by German
dragoons, travelled round and took possession of the churches,
Szanto, Tallya, Mada, Tokay, Keresztur, and Liska. In the two
counties of Thurotz and Liptau, in the year 1672, Captain Lamb (!),
accompanied by Popish priests and soldiers, took possession of
above thirty Protestant churches in the course of one year.
Bishop George Barshony took possession of the Protestant
churches, Sprendorf, Smegen, Eisdorf, Slagendorf, Muhlenbach,
Hunsdorf, St Andrew's, Great Lomnitz, and Botsdorf, lying in
Zips, and he consecrated them to be Popish churches, sending
pastors and teachers to beg their bread in the wide world, while
he earned and received the highest praise from the Pope and
from all his own party. Accompanied by his brother, and
followed by some hundreds of wild Croatians, thirsting for
heretics' blood, he now set out for Neutra. They arrived in
July, prepared to visit the strong Protestant congregations of
Pritszod, Szenitz, Szobotistye, Turaluku, and Mijava. They
did their utmost to obtain possession of the churches, to banish
the pastors, and appoint in their place Popish priests, but the
inhabitants insisted that the king had given no orders to this
effect. As they then proceeded to use force, they met quite
unexpectedly with resistance. On the 14th July, in Mijava, it
came to blows. The bishop and his followers began to force
their way ; the country people, a strong race of men, resisted.
The Croats fired, and two peasants fell deadly wounded. The
peasants were enraged, and after having shot the brother of the
bishop, they attacked himself with flails, and should certainly
have killed him, had not the Protestant pastor, Daniel Kirmann,
the father of the distinguished superintendent of that name,
rushed in and saved him.
Matters went worse in Szenitz the next year, where Count
Valentine Balassa, Count Leopold Kollonitz, and John Majtheni,
had, in 1671, in vain attempted to take possession of the church.
The pastor was obliged to leave his place, and he found a home
and protection at the house of Count Christopher Kollonitz, the
nephew of his persecutor, and also with Baron Matthew Ostrosith
in St John's.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 191
In his absence, his library was taken and committed to the
flames. After a procession in June 1673, some Popish nobles
and soldiers, encouraged by the revenue officer, Stephen Har-
vath, attempted to force their way into the Protestant church.
The Protestants assembled round the church, and drove them
back till they sought for shelter in the dwelling of the Roman
Catholic priest. There happened to be a fair in the village that
day, and the people, inflamed with drink, crowded closer and
closer round the priest's house, out of which the soldiers now
began to fire. After one Protestant had been killed, and another
deadly wounded, the mob rushed madly on the house, killed
Harvath and some of the soldiers, and injured the priest so
much that he died in a few days.
The charge of riot was now brought against the Protestants,
and two regiments were sent to the town, who, lighting a fire in
the market-place, plundered and murdered to their very hearts'
content. As the precentor, the organist, and the beadle, were
proceeding to ring the alarm bells to summon the inhabitants of
the neighbouring villages, they were seized, cast into chains, and,
by order of the commanding officer, on the following day, 15th
July 1673, were all hanged. In Tura, Luka, and Miawa, these
valorous men cooled their rage by putting some of the country
people on the wheel, and impaling others ; some they quartered,
and others they hung up by the ribs.* In Szenitz, religious
liberty was now completely crushed. i
The citizens of Presburg were waiting with anxiety for the
fate which they saw awaiting them. On the 3d February 1672,
the Protestant and Roman Catholic citizens were summoned to
the town hall, to hear a paper read which was said to be an order
from the king. This decree commanded the Protestants to
surrender up their churches to the priests. The Roman Catholic
citizens declared themselves ready to obey his Majesty's orders,
and accept of the churches. The Protestants refused to sur-
render the keys, till by a deputation to the king they had learned
whether this really were his wish.f
On that very day a deputation went to Vienna, and among
* See the full account of these transactions by Stephen Pilarik in his
Curru Jehovce Mirabili.
t The paper was a decree of Ferdinand II., of the year 1636, and the
Jesuits were not ashamed to represent it as just now received from the
royal chamber.
192 HISTORY OF THE
them was John Vittnyedi, son of the deceased Stephen Vittnyedi,
who had been suspected of taking part in the late conspiracy.
As the deputation was crossing the Danube, they were fired on,
and soldiers hastening down took them prisoners in Begebsbrunn
to bring them back to Presburg. Vittnyedi was declared by
Count Nicolas Pallfy to be a rebel, and was detained in prison.
On the 5th of February, four other citizens started for Vienna,
and reached it in safety. On the 7th, they obtained an audience
of the king and handed in their petition. On the 18th, twenty
citizens arrived to complain of fresh injuries, and they presented
a second petition. On the 22d, a third petition was presented,
and in the meantime everything was done to urge the delivery
of the keys in Presburg. On the 18th March, the Canon of
Presburg, Benedict Szomolanyi, and the town-councillor,
Stephen Vattay, attempted to enter the schoolhouse by force,
but the wives of the citizens hastening to the place, succeeded,
by a few hard words and some blows, in driving them away.
The story was told in Vienna, that Protestant women had
beaten a priest till there was little prospect of his recovery.
This affair of the women was made the ground of a heavy
charge. On the 13th May, the citizens were summoned before
the archbishop, and in consequence of this, the twenty-three
women, the three pastors, and the deacon, were summoned to
Tyrnau on the 23d May, to give an account before an extraordi-
nary court, of the reasons why they had built the church, why
they had taken Vittnyedi under their protection, and why the
women had ventured to scold and drive away Szomolanyi and
Vattay.
There were in all thirty-nine citizens before thirty-six judges
and assessors, whose president was the bigoted Szelepcsenyi,
Archbishop of Gran. The other judges were either bishops or
Popish magnates, with the exception of one Protestant, George
Perenyi. The sittings lasted till the 13th June, when the
women were dismissed with a sharp reproof. The citizens, who
had been kept all this time as prisoners, must await their
sentence in the court of the archbishop's palace. The decision
was, " That all the Protestant inhabitants of Presburg had
been proved and found guilty of treason against his Majesty ;
that their lives and property were therefore confiscated, and
they must immediately deliver up churches and schools to
the Papists."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 193
All the citizens of Presburg at that time in Tyrnau were
immediately arrested and imprisoned, and among the rest the
venerable preacher and senior David Titius, who was obliged to
climb on a ladder into a most uncomfortable room, where he was
kept a prisoner, under hard treatment, till the 13th September.
After unwearied exertions, and by the intercession of the Elector
of Saxony, freedom was at last granted to those citizens whose
only offence consisted in not looking tamely on while their
holiest privileges were about to be wrested from them, that they
had taken part with a fellow-citizen who had not yet been
proved guilty of crime , and that they had not, like sheep, borne
every injustice without so much as bleating.
A month after the close of the trial at Tyrnau, the persecutors
proceeded to take possesssion of the churches and schools at
Presburg. On the 18th July, the bishop and president of the
chamber, Count Leopold Kollonitz, with several clergy and
laymen, appeared before the schoolhouse. The Protestant
pastors were brought thither, under an escort of fifty soldiers.
As the citizens had been strictly commanded to remain in their
houses, the pastors saw that all opposition here would be in vain ;
they accordingly, in obedience to orders, demanded the keys of
the church and schools ; the church officers, however, refused to
give them up till they had received express permission from the
citizens and from the congregation. Kollonitz then directed the
doors of the schoolhouse to be broken open by a pioneer, and he
marched in with thirty-four Popish clergy and his other retinue.
In like manner they acted with the German and with the Hun-
garian church, breaking the door with axe and hammer, and
by nine o'clock in the morning they had their whole work and
labour of love ended.
Kollonitz then ordered the clergy to be all thrown into prison.
Anton Reiser, Valentine Sutorius, the Hungarian preacher
Stephen Horetzky, were confined, and the German deacon
Christian Piringer was laid in chains, as he had spoken with
energy against the surrender of the church.
After administering an oath to them that they should never
return, they were allowed to leave the city. But first they were
plundered of their books, which were brought in five waggons
to the court-house, and each one was permitted to choose only
twelve.
Yet the Lord did not forsake these faithful servants in their
194 HISTOEY OF THE
exile. Anthony Reiser, a native of Augsburg, well known as an
author, became rector and librarian in his native town ; he was
afterwards made court chaplain by Prince Holier lohe-Aehringen,
and at last first pastor in St James's Church in Hamburg, where
he died in the year 1686, beloved and lamented by many dear
friends. Valentine Sutorius, a native of Franconia, was a short
time at Coburg, and in his last years was pastor and superin-
tendent in his native country. Christian Piringer became pastor
in Laufen, a town in ^Vurtemberg.
The senior David Titius fared the worst ; for, after being set
free in Tymau, he was not allowed to return, but must wander
with his family through Moravia to Breslau. Here the Lord
opened the heart of the Princess of Brieg, who provided for him,
and he became pastor and superintendent in Wahlaw in Silesia,
where he died after a tedious illness in 1679.
The Papists had now taken possession of the Protestant
churches without even a shadow of right or of justice. Their
own consciences appeared even to awake to the sense of wrong,
for it was not till after seven weeks that they ventured to read
mass there, and to give the building the appearance of a Popish
church, by painting red crosses on the pillars.
In like manner were the Protestants of Karpfen deprived of
their beautiful church. A first attempt had been made in a night
in June 1672, but the watchfulness of the citizens prevented the
attack from being successful. By means of flails, pitchforks,
and scythes, the Protestants drove Count de Souches and his
soldiers away from the place, but without any bloodshed. The
Croatian colonel Count Colalto, with five hundred wild Croats,
then came, and seizing the keys, by force took possession of the
church.
While the cause of the Protestants in Hungary was so low,
and while the constitution scarcely existed any more even in
name, the malcontents, who had fled to Turkey and Transyl-
vania, did their utmost to raise troops and money. Apaffy was,
however, a man of great indecision, and the Divan thought it
necessary for a little longer to keep up the appearance of friendly
relations with the Cabinet of Vienna,
Impatient, and in danger if they delayed much longer, a por-
tion of the malcontents, secretly supported by Apaffy, and under
the guidance of Stephen Petroczy, Gabriel Keude, Paul Szepessy,
and Matthew Szuhay, broke into Hungary over the stream
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 195
Szollos, about the end of August 1672. They had only five
hundred Turks from the Pasha of Grosswardein. The Haiduken
soon joined them, and increased their numbers by a few thou-
sands. General Spantkaw was obliged to yield, and the insur-
gents followed him as far as Kashaw. They were here joined
by Michael Teleky of Transylvania, Paul Yesselenyi, Nicolas
Forgoes, and others, to the amount of about twelve hundred
cavalry and infantry.
"Wherever they came, the Protestants had their churches and
schools restored. The College of Eperjes was also received
back. They injured their cause, however, very seriously, by not
resting satisfied with this restoration; they sought out those
who had been the most active agents in plundering the churches
and schools, and especially the Popish priests, whom they treated
very ill.* x4.t Nagy Szollos, two Franciscans, who shortly before
had taken possession of the Reformed church, were thrown
naked on a bed of thorns and thistles, and after being sadly
abused, they were left apparently dead. The Jesuits and Fran-
ciscans in Eperjes were treated as they had themselves treated
the Protestant pastors shortly before ; the cup of Divine retribu-
tion was poured on them in full measure by the hands of a sol-
diery driven to madness by the inhumanities which these men
had inflicted. It was Benedict Seredi who prevented their being
murdered.
In Homona, in the county of Zemplin, the insurgents, on the
4th October, seized and abused the Franciscans, plundered their
churches and monasteries, cleaned their guns with the conse-
crated oil, gave the priests' dress to be worn by the women, and
led away the monks in chains to Nagy Mihaly.
When, however, the field-marshal, Wolff Frederick Kopp
of Neuding, a second Alba in Hungary, with Count Paul
Esterhazy and a considerable body of troops, arrived to free
Spantkaw, who was shut up in Kashaw, the insurgents were
completely beaten, and compelled for the present to give up
their plans. The engagement took place on the 26th October
1672, at the village of Gyorke, not far from Eperjes.
This success made the king and his advisers only so much the
more severe, and the archbishop's entreaties to preserve the poli-
tical rights of the country were not regarded. The hardest mea-
sures were carried out. It was then not at all disagreeable to
* Fessler, 1. c, vol. ix. pp. 223, 228.
196 HISTORY OF THE
the cabinet, when in a fit of spleen the archbishop resigned his
viceregal post in Hungary, and it was on the 27th February
1673 filled up by the appointment of John Ampringen, a hard-
hearted man, who was capable of doing anything whatever which
was considered necessary for confirming him in his post.*
The archbishop now travelled so much the more freely through
his diocese, accompanied by the usual retinue of Jesuits and
dragoons, plundering the Protestants of their few remaining
churches and schools, and driving the preachers and teachers
into exile if they refused to become proselytes. In the royal
free cities they deposed all Protestant councillors, and appointed
Papists in their stead ; they disarmed the citizens, took away all
ammunition, and levelled the walls. The citizens of Eperjes
were required, on the 8th March 1673, to give up their churches
and college to the Papists after five months' possession. The
Protestant pastors were prohibited under pain of death from
every official act.
In 1673, this sacrilegious archbishop with his attendants took
forcible possession of the church in Sillein, in Trentshin county;
so Nikolas, Rosenberg, and Liptshe, in Liptau county ; Wartburg
in Presburg ; RackendorfT, Hungarian Altenburg, ZorndorfT, and
Gols, in Wieselburg county.
Though the Protestant Church was thus bleeding from hun-
dreds of wounds, still the progress in the conversion of the
country was much too slow for the taste of the archbishop and
his helpers. It was therefore resolved to banish all pastors and
teachers completely out of the country, but, for the sake of
security, it was considered best to begin on a small scale.
* John Hormayer, 1st Plutarch, vol. ix. p. 85.
PBOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 197
CHAPTER XII.
First Citation of Protestant Pastors to Presburg — The Charge — The Judges — The
Trial — Archbishop's Declaration — Count Illyeshazy treats with the Pastors — The
Pastors are prepared to go into Exile — The Conditions of Pardon — Attempt to
gain the Pastors to the Popish Church— Suhaj da — Stephen Fekete.
It was on the 25th September 1673 that the Archbishop of
Grari summoned before the viceregal court in Presburg thirty-
three Protestant pastors from Lower Hungary and out of the
counties Sol, Liptau, and Thurotz.
Only one of these, Caspar Geranczy of Karpfen, belonged to
the Reformed Church. They were summoned to appear in per-
son before the royal fiscus (attorney-general).
At the proper time they appeared in Presburg, strengthened
by a consciousness of their innocence, though by the laws of
the land, and by the resolutions of their synod, which had been
confirmed by the palatine, they were not at all bound to pre-
sent themselves before a spiritual court where prelates who
were their deadly foes presided. Their judges were Szelep-
csenyi, Archbishop of Grdn ; Szeehenyi, Archbishop of Kalotza ;
Kollonitz, Bishop of jSTeustadt; Klobusitzky, Bishop of Fiinf-
kirchen, and a large number of laymen, but among them not a
single Protestant.
Nearly all appeared when called in the archbishop's court.
The most distinguished among them were the two superinten-
dents, Kalinka and Tarnocsy — the superintendent beyond the
Danube, Stephen Fekete, though summoned, did not appear —
Clement Brecht and Matthew Porshius, Germans from Neusohl,
with Peter Sextius and Samuel Csernak, Slavonian preachers,
of whom the latter died during the trial ; Godfrey Titius and
Christopher Hofstetter, Germans, and Isaiah Pilarik, Slavonian
preacher at Schemnitz ; John Sextius, Slavonian, and John
Burius, German pastor of Karpfen; Daniel Sinapius, of Rad-
wany. John Burius, as eye-witness and sufferer in the transac-
198 HISTORY OF THE
tion, lias left us abundant materials for writing tlie history of
the trial. The charge appears at first sight so ridiculous, that
one can scarcely know whether to despise or to abhor the
judges.
We are bound to hand to the world a record of the manner
in which titled men and bishops of the Popish Church did not
blush to attempt to stamp men of honour and high character
with disgrace, and to lower them to the level of common felons,
that they might with more ease banish them from the country.
They were accused of having excited the people to rebellion ;
of hindering royal officers and clergy in the discharge of their
duty ; of deposing judges and town-councillors ; of rescuing
rebels from imperial guards ; of giving Roman Catholic children
horrible food ; * of having plotted the death of imperial ministers ;
of having been in correspondence with the Turks ; of sending
deputations to foreign powers ; of joining the rebels in arms ; of
having betrayed Popish priests to the Turks and rebels ; of
having cruelly murdered nine priests ; of having assisted the
Turks in taking the fortress of Fulek; of having instigated
rebellion in Szenitz, Tura-Luka, and Miawa ; of having despised
and trodden on the wafer of the communion ; of having stolen
the consecrated vessels, and having made flags of the priests'
vestments; of having blasphemed the Virgin Mary and the
saints ; of having called the Papists worshippers of false gods ;
of having given the consecrated host to the Turks ; of having
attempted to destroy imperial troops; and of having laid fire
with the intent of burning a fortress.
These charges were only read, and not, as the law requires,
communicated in writing to the accused parties. Not till the
2d October did they receive legal advice, and then two advocates
were appointed them by their judges. Mutual consultations
among the accused were not permitted, and as the superintendent
was at one time about to say something in self-defence, he was
informed by the archbishop that this was not allowed. " Mr
Kalinka," he said, laying his finger on his mouth, " there is no
leave to speak here ; the fiscus (attorney-general) is like a raging
lion, seeking whom he may devour."
On the 3d October the charges were extended. The attorney-
general assured Kalinka of having approved of the book of
* Katholischen Kindern den Koth evangelischer Prediger zti fressen
gegeben zu haben.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 199
Drabicius, and of having refused permission to the Popish arch-
deacon officially to visit the Protestant Church of Illawa in
Trentshin. Two other preachers were charged with having
ridiculed the figure of the cross, and with having thrown down
and trampled on it. He shewed a letter from Stephen Vittnyedi
to Xicolas Bethlen, and another signed J. B., which announced
that the Prince of Transylvania was approaching, and that the
Protestants had everything to hope from him. He shewed
another letter, in which evangelical pastors were invited to a
meeting, but that the subject of the conversation should not be
divulged.
The advocate Roessler replied on the 4th October, shewing
that the charges were unfounded, the evidence deficient, these
anonymous letters of no importance in the case, and that the
pastors were ready to clear themselves by oath from any of the
charges which were really serious. It was of no avail.
At the close of the sitting, the archbishop tinned to the
pastors, and said, — " My friends, I find no pleasure in killing,
for I love peace. I could not be even a cook, for when I hear
the fowls screaming I pity them, and could not look even on
the death of a hen. But here I sit as judge, and am compelled
to do that which the king commands and this court decrees.
Do the best, therefore, in your case, and obey ; as for me, I shall
leave nothing untried which I conceive to be for your advantage."
The poor men gave no reply.
On the 5th October they were summoned to hear their sen-
tence. The advocates, who had done their duty well, left them
with sorrow. Count George Illyeshazy now appeared, willing
to undertake the office of friendly mediator. He came to the
pastors in the waiting-room, and addressed them : " Venerable
and reverend pastors," he said, " listen to me. I was also once
a Lutheran, but I became convinced of the truth of the Roman
Catholic religion, and I therefore sympathise deeply with you,
some of whom were my fellow-students, and others my good
friends. Certainly, certainly you will have a terrible sentence.
Four of you shall certainly be put to the torture, then beheaded,
and have your hands cut off. The rest shall have a terrible
exile. I would therefore advise you to apply to the king for
mercy, and to beg also for those four, that no other evil may arise
out of their sufferings."
The pastors replied that they were conscious of innocence, and
200 HISTORY OF THE
were prepared to obey the king in all things save and except in
matters of conscience. The count, dissatisfied with this answer,
went into the hall, and returning shortly after, told them that
the four who should be put to the torture were the three super-
intendents and Daniel Sinopius ; the rest should be partly be-
headed and partly visited with other punishments. They replied
that they wished to obtain favour.
Returning after a little, the count informed them that, if they
wished for favour, they must, with the exception of the four who
were doomed to the torture, before the sentence, apply to his
Majesty for gracious consideration. The favour would, however,
be limited by the condition either to leave the country for ever,
or, if they remained, to resign all claim to be regarded as gospel
ministers, and to live as laymen. Scarcely two hours were given
for reflection, when they declared that, if it be his Majesty's will,
they were prepared to leave the country, and trust their fate to
Divine Providence. At last Illyeshazy returned to say that these
four could also obtain mercy if they immediately departed, and
never returned to any of his Majesty's dominions.
As they were, however, required to sign documents stating
that, " having been found guilty of rebellion, they of their own
free will went into exile ;" or if they wished to remain in the
country, they required to say, that " having abused their office,
they would in future abstain from every ministerial act;" new
difficulties arose, and it was only when wearied out by the un-
ceasing annoyances of the court that they at last yielded, and all
signed the reverse in one form or other.
Those who resolved to emigrate obtained thirty days to arrange
their affairs, and those who remained in the country obtained a
safe-conduct, by which they might reside as private individuals
wherever they chose in Hungary.
When the matter was so far advanced according to the wish of
the priests, all left the hall, with the exception of the Archbishop
of Gran and Bishop Kollonitz. The former now addressed the
pastors : " Respected brethren, what I have done was compulsory
upon me as judge. If you now join the Church of Rome, you
may remain in the country ; I will advance your interests ; and if
I had but one shirt left, I would sell it and give you the proceeds.
I am archbishop, and wish the salvation of all. Tell this to those
who are absent.* Think over what I have said, and if you do not
* Some of them were sick.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 201
choose to communicate with me directly, you can do it through
others, and I will hear and help you."
The Bishop Count Kollonitz added, " I also will assist you,
and furnish you with money out of the royal treasury so soon as
you form your resolution." None of them all accepted of the
proposal except the pastor of Warin, in Trentshin county, out of
whose name, Suhajda, was formed the anagram, " Ah, Judas !"
All who were distinguished by knowledge and zeal in their
profession went into exile — Kalinka, Tarnoczy, Fekete, Neckel,
Brecht, Isaiah Pilarik, Sextius, Burius, Sinapius, and others,
who, in Lausitz, in Saxony, and Silesia, found a place of rest.
Those who were old, or over-cautious, or who expected a speedy
change, remained at home, and led a miserable life, striving to
earn a livelihood by a profession to which they were not accus-
tomed.
Among the exiles we must take notice of Superintendent
Fekete, who had been a distinguished and successful preacher at
Guns, and who was now generously supported by Moritz, Prince
of Saxony, and the noble citizens of Naumburg. In November
1679 he ventured to return to Hungary, and lay some weeks
strictly concealed in Guns. As his wife, however, died at this
time, he then ventured to move about more publicly, and shortly
after going to the island Rabakos, where there was a castle of
Stephen OstfTy, he began, indeed without formal permission, to
discharge his pastoral duties, and to keep a school.
The Roman Catholic clergy hearing of it, sent a military de-
tachment and overturned the castle to the very foundation. Fekete
sought to escape to Germany, but was brought back in chains
to Presburg. Afraid of losing his life, he went over and joined
the Church of Rome ; he received the sacrament at the hands of
Kollonitz, accepted of large presents which were made him, and
was soon made Judge of Giins, where he exhibited himself as
one of the bitterest persecutors of the Protestants ! (Oh, Judas !)
The cowardliness of the pastors excited the indignation of the
country people, and did in every respect much injury. The con-
gregation at Schemnitz was very angry with its pastors, who had
decided to leave the country. In a manuscript of that time,
which has been preserved, it is stated : " The clergy might have
remained without signing that hateful document, had it not been
for their ridiculous timidity. Limpach and Dr Hellenbach had
laboured in favour of the mining towns, that they might retain
202 HISTORY OF THE
their Protestant services, and had begged the clergy not to sign;
but these hirelings, as if glad to have the work accomplished,
signed eight days "before the term was expired, and before they
were peremptorily called to do so."
There came a decree from Leopold, who was then residing at
Grratz, dated 12th October 1673, directing that for the present all
proceedings against the pastors of Schemnitz, Kremnitz, and
JNTeusohl shonld be suspended, and if any proceedings had been
already taken, they should be reversed, so that the pastors might
remain. But it was now too late.
In the mining districts of Lower Hungary the divine service
was almost completely suspended, for if a church did remain in
some places in the hands of the Protestants, there was no pastor,
and no permission to call one. The congregations at Schemnitz
and Neusohl laboured hard to obtain their ecclesiastical liberty
once more. They sent a petition to the king about the end of
the year 1673, which his Majesty handed over to Archbishop
Szelepcsenyi, to whom he had committed everything having
reference to religion in Hungary. The archbishop informed the
deputies on the 16th January that their request would be con-
sidered on the 5th of March; he refused, however, to give the
promise in writing.
Another petition was sent to the king, begging that each town
might have one church and one pastor for the Protestant citizens,
or at least a place appointed where they might meet ; but all this
received no reply. In Kremnitz, where a contract had been made
securing to the Protestants the hospital church instead of that
which was taken from them, and giving them a right to keep a
pastor, and to have public worship — it was only there that public
worship was still conducted ; and this privilege continued only till
the middle of December 1673, for, on the occasion of the pastor
baptizing his own child, the priest found ground of accusation,
and just at Christmas their meetings were dissolved and the
church sealed.
The pastors, who heard of another citation of the Protestant
clergy to Presburg, and who saw that no trouble would be spared
to drive them out of the land or sink them into disgrace, took
leave of their congregations in January 1674, and prepared to
leave the country. They were often stopped on the road, and
obliged to pay very considerable sums for leave to proceed ; but
after much annoyance and many delays, they at length arrived at
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 203
Brieg, in Silesia. The precentor, Matthew Demosh, the beadle,
Philip Oertel, and the schoolmaster, of Johannisberg, joined them
in their exile. In spite of entreaties, and regardless of the con-
tract, the archbishop took possession of the hospital church in
Kremnitz, and had it consecrated to become a Popisli chapel on
the 3d day of January 1G74.
204 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XIII.
The New Citation of the Evangelical Preachers— Conduct of the Pasha — The Trial —
The Sentence — Separate Sentence on the Pastors of Bosing, Modern, and St George
— Two hundred and thirty-six sign their Deed of Resignation — The rest refuse —
Treatment — Separation of the Lutherans and Reformed — Firmness of the Reformed
Pastors — Imprisonment — Treatment in the Prisons — The Jesuit Nicolas Kellio —
Petition to the Emperor — Condemnation to the Gralleys.
A second more extensive summoning of the Protestant clergy
was in course of preparation when the hospital church of Krem-
nitz was surrendered to the Roman Catholics. The first attempt
had succeeded so well that the priests could not suffer a very long
time to pass till they had made another attempt on a larger scale.
Thirty-two evangelical preachers had been covered with disgrace
and torn away from their congregations. The rest Were terrified
by the example. The king, the Popish magnates, and the army,
all prepared to assist in this great work of eradicating Protestant-
ism— what more could be desired ?
The Archbishop of Gran, who was now very old, strained every
nerve to have the work soon accomplished. He acted as if the
words of the Lord at the last passover had been directed to him,
" What thou doest, do quickly." Accordingly, on the 16th Janu-
ary 1674, he summoned all the Protestant clergy, not only from
the territory which belonged to Leopold, but also from that dis-
trict which was under Turkish sway, and at the same time several
teachers and some students, to appear at a special court of assize
at Presburg. At the appointed time the parties appeared.
Some Popish writers, wishing to conceal the extent of this
affair, represent the numbers to have been only two hundred and
fifty, while the Protestants speak of three or even four hundred.
We have evidence that two hundred and fifty of the Lutheran
Confession and fifty -seven of the Reformed Church, filling different
offices in their respective churches, attended the meeting. That
so few appeared from the counties of Gomor, Neograd, and
Pesth, is to be attributed to the fact that the pasha had forbidden
them to attend ; and, in consequence of Turkish protection, the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 205
proportional number of Protestant churches in the neighbourhood
was considerably greater than in other countries ; and even after
the Turks were expelled, the circumstances did not permit such
severe persecution as had taken place before.
The court consisted either of the same individuals or of
men of similar sentiments, and among them was not a single
Protestant. The old archbishop presided, as on the former occa-
sion; but this time legal advice was allowed to the accused,
and the advocates, Francis Szedeky, Melchin Heissler, and
Stephen Szalonty, undertook and earned the case through
with great tact and zeal. The grounds of the accusation lay
in the following two letters addressed to Nicolas Bethlen. The
former was written in short-hand, and the original was never
exhibited.
u Eperjes^ 10th May.
u I have to-day received your grace's letter at Eperjes. It is
at last resolved to assert our liberties with our blood, and to place
ourselves under the protection of the Turkish emperor. With the
Prince of Transylvania we will be of one heart and soul. The
king will furnish the money, and has declared his readiness
through a French ambassador. And if he should decline, we
will do so ourselves so soon as all is ready. No attention must
be paid to the idle tattle of Lobkovitz or to the false Montekukulli.
It would be well if the Prince of Transylvania wrote to all the
pastors to use their influence with the common people to persuade
them to pay the tribute, and also to prepare them for taking up
arms at the proper time. The Protestant party has done its duty.
The region beyond the Danube we have intrusted to the pastors
of CEdenberg and Gtins. Presburg, Kashaw, Eperjes, and the
other towns are organised by the superintendents and elders of
those districts. We will all fight and die for God, for our Church,
and for our liberty, and will teach the Papists, the dogs, a lesson
which they have yet to learn. Your grace will please not to lose
any time in treating with the Haiduken. Francis Rakotzy must
be terrified and urged on to the work. If God be with us, who
can be against us ? — Your sincere and obedient servant,
" Stephen Votnyedi of Muzsay."
The second letter was directed to Ambrose Ketzer, was writ-
ten originally in Latin, and dated Presburg, 30th December
1669. It announces that Stephen Vittnyedi, who, by the way,
206 IIISTOEY OF THE
was already deceased, had been in correspondence with the chief
pastors of Soma, Rayetz, and Thurna, and with the superin-
tendents, who had everything prepared with the greatest secrecy.
The elders of F. Z. were ready so soon as any one came from
M. H. or S. The superintendents had done their duty. Bills
of exchange to a large amount on Breslau and Danzig were
ready. The cock (Gallus, the Frenchman) was delaying, but
would soon shake his feathers.
These letters served now as the foundation of the charge.
The advocates did their duty so well in proving that the accused
had been guilty of no crime, and that the evil had proceeded from
the Roman Catholics, that two counts even in this court, Forgacs
and Szecsy, had the courage and the honour to declare that the
crime of rebellion was not proved. As this declaration was,
however, not agreeable to the rest of the judges, the archbishop
ordered " that the justification of the Protestant clergy from the
suspicion of rebellion should be erased from the acts." After a
month had been spent in superficial investigations and in debating,
these men, who were at the same time accusers, witnesses, and
judges, without making any distinction among them, or so much
as hearing what they as individuals had to say, on the 4th April
pronounced sentence on the clergy, and on the following day
the same sentence on the teachers. The sentence was, behead-
ing, confiscation, infamy, and outlawry.
No one has ever pretended that this sentence had even the
slightest appearance of justice. The design was to annihilate
the heretics, and fanaticism considered every means allowable.
This is sufficiently evident, not only from the manner in which
the legal proceedings were conducted, but also from the fact that
the pastors of Leutshaw were neither summoned nor annoyed in
any way, because they had shortly before peacefully surrendered
their church, with all its appurtenances, to the bishop.* This is
still further evident from the efforts which were unceasingly made,
till the Polish commissioners, under the influence and guidance
of George Barskony, Bishop of Zips, consented to banish all the
Protestant pastors and teachers from Zips, which at that time
was under the sway of the King of Poland.
A singular corroboration of the assertion that this trial was
only a mockery for the sake of gaining a certain object, may be
seen in the treatment of the evangelical pastors of Modern,
* Engel, 1. c, vol. v. p. 81.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 207
Bosing, and St George, by the archbishop. These pastors were
summoned to Presburg on the 5th March, in accordance with
the king's command, to surrender their churches and schools to
the Roman Catholics. Having demanded a copy of the royal
edict, they were informed by the archbishop, that " they were
not of sufficient importance that a special command should be
given on their account." Afraid of the consequences, they came
to an agreement with the attorney-general on the 28th February,
to surrender all their churches, schools, and church property to
the archbishop ; the attorney-general, on the other hand, de-
clared the charges to be annihilated and buried ; secured them
their private property ; directed them to appear previous to the
meeting of the court at Presburg, and sign some kind of docu-
ment, being a legal surrender of their church property ; they
should then have a right to meet privately for their own edifica-
tion, and to use the church bells and the burying-ground in
common with the Roman Catholics. Seven of the pastors, Chris-
topher Shedius, Michael Holier, and Stephen Pilarik, the first
two German, the last the Slavonian pastor of Modern, as also
Michael Risshaler, rector of the high school in the same town,
Christopher Bohmer and John Michael Weber of Bosing, Michael
Huber and Paul Galli of St George, resolved to go into exile ;
and the two Slavonian preachers of the latter towns resolved to
remain in the country as laymen.
The sentence of death, which was pronounced indiscriminately
on all who appeared at Presburg, was not carried into execution.
Leopold's conscience appeared not to be capable of stretching so
far. There was, however, so much gained by pronouncing the
sentence, that the pastors now stood completely in the hands of
their judges, and there was no choice left them besides volun-
tary exile or dishonour, and degradation from office in their na-
tive land. To the Protestant Church they were as good as
dead, and this was all which the enemy wished.
There were many, however, who refused to choose either
alternative, and preferred bearing whatever the Lord might lay
on them. These were annoyed in every possible way, and at
last treated with the most cold-blooded inhumanity. After
means had been used which were not always very creditable,*
yet so successful, that two hundred and thirty-six signed their
resignation, the majority of these going into exile, — the rest re-
* Engel, 1. c, vol. v. p. 80,
208 HISTORY OF THE
mained, in spite of all ill usage and threatening^, perfectly un-
moved.
Every intercession was in vain, and indeed even dangerous.
The Church of Rimasombath begged Count Adam Forgacs to
intercede for their pastor, but they received the reply, — " For
God's sake, let me rest in peace, for I solemnly protest I am
myself not safe, and if I spoke a word in your favour, I should
be immediately called a rebel and thrust into prison."*
For some time these men had perfect liberty to move about in
Presburg, with every opportunity for escaping, f Indeed, the
Jesuits, meeting them on the streets, asked, in apparent astonish-
ment, why they did not fly — what they were waiting for, — did
they not know what was being prepared for them ?
When the archbishop saw their perseverance, and discovered
that they were strengthening each other in their resolution, he
had four pastors of the Reformed Church arrested, namely, Ste-
phen Seley, superintendent of Papa ; Michael Miskolzy of Filek ;
Stephen Batorkessy of Wesprin, and Peter Czegled of Lewens,
and chaining them two and two together, had them thrown into
the dungeon. On the following day, George Lanyi, rector of
Karpfen school, a Lutheran, was thrown into the same prison
because he had refused to yield. On the 8th May there remained
still in Presburg one hundred and eighty of those who had been
condemned. The rest had signed the required documents and
were already gone, and this number was thinning fast.
While all this was going on in Presburg, Count Francis
Hohenfeld wished also to have a little opportunity of showing
his zeal for his Church. He sent orders to the chief magistrate
of Hungarian Altenburg, about eighteen English miles from
Presburg, informing him that it cannot be tolerated, that after
the men have become Papists, the women should venture obsti-
nately to adhere to the Protestant Church. Accordingly, they
should be proclaimed rebels, and at next Whitsuntide should be
compelled to join that Church in which alone salvation is to be
had. Every one who refuses should be fined for the first offence
in forty florins, and for every succeeding offence, that is, every
time they are required to partake of the communion in the Popish
Church and refuse, the fine should be doubled. This noble war-
rior, who wished to earn his laurels in the glorious battle with
women, concluded his edict with the modest request, that the
* Hist. Diplom., p. 74. t George Lanyi, Captivitas Papistica.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 209
judge would please begin at home, and place his own wife first
at the bar !
Time was passing on in Presburg, and still the majority of the
condemned seemed very slow in submitting to the wishes of their
judges. Accordingly, the members of the two confessions were
separated, and all the Lutherans were imprisoned in the arch-
bishop's palace. This step was, however, of little use, for the
Calvinists remained very obstinate. As they in general knew
the German language but very imperfectly, they had little pros-
pect of usefulness in a foreign land, and had too much honour to
sign their own degradation from the ministerial office, as the con-
dition of remaining in the country.* Only one pastor and one
schoolmaster, the latter quite a youth, on the persuasion of the
landlord, signed the document, and remained. Not one had gone
into exile.
At the end of May there were still forty-one of them in Pres-
burg. The other sixteen had either escaped before the sentence,
or were gone back to their churches, where they were protected by
the landed proprietors. Four were missing, either that the pasha
had forbidden their return, or that they were lying in some un-
known prison.
When the eiforts to persuade them to embrace the Popish faith
or to resign their office seemed in vain, they were taken out of the
prison and put into common country carts ; seven were brought to
Sarvar, as many to Kupuvar, and six to Eberhard, about three
miles from Presburg, and thrust into dark and filthy cells. Eight
days later, the rest of the Calvinistic preachers and teachers, after
being, by order of Bishop Kollonitz, plundered of all their little
property which had any value, were taken to Leopoldstadt ; one,
however, by name Basil Kopecsy, of Skaros, came to Komorn.
Of the Lutherans there were eighteen brought, on the 3d June,
to Leopoldstadt, of whom John Hodikim became a Papist. Five
came to Berutsh, nineteen to Komorn, and eight to Sarvar. The
amiable and gentle Bishop Kollonitz sent the hangman, as likely
to be an agreeable companion to those who were going to Leo-
poldstadt, possibly that the pleasant associations connected with
his office might suggest the prudence of joining the Roman
Catholic Church. When this individual had taken his seat be-
side the pastors in the cart which was to convey them to Pres-
burg, he immediately commenced to recommend his Church to
* Hist. Diplomatica.
0
210 HISTORY OF THE
them, and at the same time to exhibit his zeal in his own profes-
sion by beating them most unmercifully on the head with his
stick.*
Not less cruel was the old Archbishop of Gran, Szelepczenyi,
who on festive occasions, after his splendid dinners at the Castle
of Eberhard, summoned the Reformed pastors into his presence,
and, after the bitterest insults and mockery, he sometimes des-
cended to personal violence, because they still steadily refused to
sign the deed of demission. On one occasion he struck Stephen
Neinethy with a hammer so violently that his arm was rendered
almost completely useless.
No pen can describe the sufferings which these witnesses for
the truth were now required to endure. With such perseverance
and with such heartless calculations did the persecutors use their
power, that many wished for death. The prisoners at Komorn
declared at last that they could hold out no longer, they would
sign their demission. But now the Jesuit who had charge of
them was not satisfied even with this, and declared that nothing
could set them free but their joining the Church of Rome. Here
was the jailer inflicting another penalty than that which the court
had pronounced ; still there was no appeal.
At last, when completely wearied, seventeen Lutherans re-
nounced their faith, and there remained only two, Nicolas Buganyi
and Stephen Zedenyi, who, with their companion, the Calvinistic
pastor, continued true to their profession. This latter must now
experience the whole weight of Rome's fury, because it was
through his influence that the other two refused to yield.f
The renegades received fifty florins each, with directions to
assist in persuading the others to follow their example. In some
cases the priests gained their ends. In Sarvar, one Lutheran and
one Calvinist yielded ; in Buccaria, seven Lutherans and three
Calvinists.
Less successful were the efforts in Leopoldstadt to gain con-
verts, though here the sufferings were most severe. A Jesuit,
Nicolas Kellio, to whom a kind of general inspection was
committed, and a Popish schoolmaster of the place, who was a
poor cripple, strove to outdo each other in their invention of new
methods to torment and annoy the poor sufferers. They were
treated worse than criminals of the first class. They had no
* Andrew Small, and Lampe, Hist, rec, ref. ad annum 1674.
t Hist. Diplomatica ; Andrew Small, Eccl. Luth. Adversaria.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 211
intercourse with friends. Their food was coarse bread and water.
Without distinction of age or strength, all bore chains of the same
weight ; and when they protested against this treatment, they were
told by the jailers, " You are guilty of double rebellion against
the Church and the king ; and even though some of you may have
never thought of rebelling against the king, as I will readily sup-
pose, still your disobedience to the Church deserves the heaviest
punishment which can be inflicted."
In the fortress they were ordered to perform the meanest offices
in the middle of winter they were obliged with uncovered hands
to carry away the ice and snow, and to clean the sewers.* If the
consecrated wafer was carried past, they must fall on their knees.
As Gregory Illes, a frail old man, once refused to kneel, he was
struck so severely by Bene, that he bled. Even social singing
and prayer were prohibited.
As they were once ordered to dig themselves a new prison,
Stephen Harsanyi, a man of much learning, and highly respected
by the others, cried out, " You treat us worse than the most cruel
tyrants treated the apostles and martyrs ; their prisons were at
least prepared for them." " Very well," replied the overseers
with a laugh, "you will work the more diligently till yours is
ready."
By night they often suffered from thirst, and had no water ;
by day they were prohibited from receiving any assistance, either
in money or food. A man who attempted to give them some
food was severely beaten, and a woman who at another time was
discovered attempting the same was put into a kind of pillory,
and led about in disgrace through the streets — a species of
punishment in general reserved for harlots.
These men lay in narrow cells, partially exposed to rain and
snow, among thieves and murderers, who mocked them when they
prayed. Being driven by force once to church to hear mass, they
strove to turn back at the church door, upon which Kellio fell into
such a rage, that even during the mass he had two of them,
Szilvasy and Thurotz, stretched on the ground, and beaten in
such a way, with the ramrods of the soldiers' guns, that they did
not long survive.
Kellio seemed afraid that the story of his tyranny should spread
through the country, he accordingly for some time alleviated their
sufferings, and treated them with considerable gentleness. He
* And a Hungarian winter is often 40° to 60° F. below the freezing point.
212 HISTORY OF THE
then applied to them to sign a certificate acknowledging his atten-
tion to all their wants, and testifying that he had faithfully 'applied
all the money and food which had been given him for them, as
also certifying that he had allowed their friends free access to
them, Entirely in his power, and having of late obtained better
treatment than formerly, what was to be done ? What ought to
be done we can easily decide, but who can say what he himself,
under such circumstances, would do ? They signed the certificate.
The Jesuit immediately published it as a justification of himself,
and then treated them as cruelly as before.
Towards the close of the year they found an opportunity of
presenting a petition to Leopold,* and it may be that this had
some influence in ripening the resolution to set them free.t
After lying ten months in prison they had a change, but only
for the worse. The three pastors who had remained faithful in
Komorn, with thirty-three other companions in suffering, were,
on the 18th March 1675, brought out of a secret gateway from
the fortress, and committed to a company of about four hundred
cavalry and as many infantry, to be taken to Italy.
It is said that the king's order was to set them free, but that
Bishop Pallfy of Neutra found ways and means of falsifying the
edict, and of sending these detested heretics to the galleys. The
edict had stated that it pleased his Majesty to have mercy, and
to suffer them to go out of the fortress, to which the bishop added,
" that they might learn to pray in the galleys." Had this been
the king's wish, it was, instead of favour, a much higher punish-
ment.
Even Bishop Kollonitz could not have wished more than this.
He had once told the prisoners to their face, " You set too
much confidence in the king's mercy, but it will be of no use,
for if he should ten times give the most favourable decision,
I could find a hundred ways of preventing its taking effect."
The prisoners were brought by a circuitous route through
Moravia to Leopoldstadt, where the brethren who had been there
confined were brought out to join them. They embraced each
* Ribinyi, Mem., torn. ii. p. 451.
t The author of the Short Extracts gives himself trouble to attempt
to prove that such a petition was never sent or never received. That it
was drawn up and sent, there is not the slightest doubt, and if it did not
reach the king's hands, it must have been because it was the interest of the
priests to keep it back.
TKOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 213
other and wept, while they pledged themselves once more not to
yield. ' As Stephen Selyei, the superintendent of the Reformed
Church, saw the miserable state of the brethren in Leopoldstadt,
he cried, u 0 God, for what wondrous times hast thou reserved
us! Give thou strength that we may bear all the sufferings
which thou hast appointed us! "
With the two feet chained together, under the mockery of the
soldiers, they travelled on foot from Vienna to Trieste. Here the
very buttons were cut off their coats, their beards shaved off,
and even their heads shaved quite close, so that they could dis-
tinguish each other only by the voice. * They had lain at night
packed together in stables, and had scarcely obtained sufficient
food, so that many fell sick, and four of them died in prison at
Trieste, while two others died shortly after on the road. Their
daily provision was a quarter of a pound of biscuit and a glass
of water, with occasionally a little cheese. After some time,
they had about three halfpence English money given them each
day to feed themselves.
On the journey to Xaples, Gregory Hely, who was already
quite exhausted, and had been set on an ass to bring him for-
ward, fell on the road, and died on the spot. He was left
unburied on the public road. Near the end of the journey,
Michael Gotsh entered into his rest. Three of the prisoners
succeeded in escaping, — George Lanyi at Capra-Cotta, on the
1st May, and John Simonides and Tobias Illaver at the town
Liscerna, and, after much suffering and toil, arrived at last in a
place of safety.
Of the forty-one who had been taken away, only thirty entered
the galleys at Naples on the 7th May. They were here sold
for fifty Spanish piasters a-piece, and being divided among the
boats, were chained to the benches like other galley-slaves.
* George Lanyi, Captivitas Papistica.
214 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XIV.
Treatment of the Prisoners in the other Fortresses — Journey to Trieste — Hopes of the
possibility of Ransom — Ten join the Church of Rome — Greorge and Philip Weltz —
Appeals to Germany — Charles II. of England — The Vice-Admiral of the Dutch
Fleet — Hopes of Delivery, and Disappointment — Admiral Ruyter — The Galley-
slaves set free.
While this was going on, the fate of the brethren at Sarvar,
Kupuvar, and Eberhard, was still uncertain. The enemy had
hoped to break their spirit by a tedious imprisonment, but when
this did not prevail, they also, to the number of twenty — being
thirteen of the Eeformed Church, and seven Lutherans — were
ordered off to Naples, there to await their doom. On the 1st
July 1675, they were led out under the direction of Gabriel
Koever and an armed band 5 Stephen Kapossy and John Szent-
Niklossi were, by the king's command, set free in Hungary ;
and the other eighteen, worn and weary, reached the seaport
Trieste.
They were made to lodge in cow-houses, and when in Trieste
one succeeded in escaping, the others were shaved and kept
much stricter. The runaway was again taken ; and they de-
manded that he should mention which of the others were aware
of his escape. He did not mention any names.
Hopes were held out that they might be bought off if any
were willing to make the attempt, and both in Vienna and in
Venice considerable sums were raised for that purpose — and
actually paid; but the promise was soon forgotten, and the
money was never returned. Only one was set at liberty, and
that was Stephen Czusy, the Reformed pastor of Losoncz. The
rest of the prisoners were brought to Buccaria, a town on the
Adriatic, and their patience having been sorely tried, ten of
them renounced their profession of Protestantism, and joined
the Church of Eome on the 19th February 1676. It was the
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 215
seven Lutherans, Stephen Mensatoris, John Raphanides, John
Czabanyi, John Glogovius, John Rohacs, Philip Johannides, and
John Esutka ; three of the Reformed Church, John Goemaery,
Stephen St Peter, and John Szallay; three others of the
Reformed Church had died on the way, and had been buried
by their brethren, who sang the 88th Psalm over the lonely
grave.
Only a few now remained, and their lot was becoming still
harder. Their teeth fell out ; while yet alive, their bodies were
decaying. On complaining to the vice-prefect, Starko, of the
treatment, they were told that all was done according to the
strictest orders received from Kollonitz, Jthat the heretical
preachers should be very sorely tormented.
At last the hour of deliverance came for them as well as for
their brethren in the galleys at Naples ; but the manner is such
a striking manifestation of the Divine glory, that we must
examine it a little more closely.
Powerful kings, princes, and people had interceded for these
men, who had now been for many months chained to Turks,
Moors, and Negroes ; and yet, notwithstanding the suffering,
and notwithstanding the entreaty, the chains were not broken.
The Lord then shewed them mercy first, through that rich and
universally respected citizen of Naples, George Weltz, who,
with his brother Philip, visited twice a-week these men who
were the outcasts of society, and supplied them with food,
clothing, and money. To have the opportunity of doing so, he
made presents to the inspector, and invited the general, Nahrem-
berg, often to his house, and he had nearly brought matters so
far, that for a hundred ducats, a price which Weltz promised to
pay, these men were to have their liberty.
Still their situation was very lamentable. They therefore
resolved to draw up a statement of their case and present it to
the brethren of the Reformed Church residing in Naples or
visiting it, begging for aid. A similar letter was written to the
Dutch ambassador at Basle. With great zeal did the medical
doctor, Nicolas Zaffius, take up their case. He was a native of
Nuremberg, and a genuine Christian, and at this time residing
at Naples. He wrote most thrilling appeals to the Swiss
universities, as also to Holland, Germany, and England, and
thus awakened a deep interest in their sufferings. Comforting
replies were received from Professor Heidegger on 17th Sep tern-
216 HISTORY OF THE
ber 1675 ; from Dr Wazer ; from the Geneva Professor, Francis
Turrentine, and others ; and all these expressions of sympathy
Zaffius hastened to communicate.
Charles II. of England (of whom Macaulay says, " His con-
science did not much trouble him in reference to the question of
dispute which separated his Protestant subjects ")* also issued
a royal letter to the chief towns, the universities, the arch-
bishops, and the bishops, asking for contributions for those who
were oppressed for conscience' sake ; and these collections were
of great use to the prisoners after they were set free.
The Elector of Saxony wrote an earnest word to the emperor
at Vienna, under date 10th December 1675, but all was too
little to obtain freedom for the sufferers. The noble-minded
Weltz continued his exertions, and through him a representa-
tion was made to the Prince Regent of Naples, Peter Alvarez,
in which it was most satisfactorily shewn, that it was not on
account of rebellion, but for the sake of their religion, that, con-
trary to all Divine and human laws, they were thus condemned
to such horrid slavery. " Had we been really guilty of rebellion
or treason," they write, " there were scythes, and swords, and
gallows, and executioners in Hungary ; and it is not to be sup-
posed that the King of Hungary would thus surrender over to
the Spaniards and Italians his sovereign right of punishing his
own rebels, or that he would ask their aid to inflict the penalty
if the sentence had been just."
The prince regent replied that they were sold for life to the
galleys, and he could do nothing for their deliverance. The
same reply was given by the following regent ; and when
Weltz, supported by the English ambassador Littleton, offered
one hundred ducats a-piece to buy them off, begging at the
same time for compassion to be shewn to the aged and infirm,
the regent replied, " They are not Roman Catholics."
But when all hope was at an end, it was then that the Lord
remembered his promise, " I will redeem thee; I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee, saith the Lord."
It was on the 12th December 1675 that the Dutch fleet,
under Vice- Admiral John de Staen, sailed into the harbour of
Naples. The chaplain, Argid Vireth, was sent to the prisoners,
begging of them exact information on the ten following points,
so that the vice-admiral might, by Divine assistance, and by
* Macaulay, vol. i. p. 168.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 217
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, labour more efficiently on
their behalf.
The ten questions were the following : —
1. Why were you first called together at Presburg previous to
your imprisonment ?
2. Were you summoned by order of the king or of any
other person, and of whom '?
3. When were you summoned ?
4. What charge was brought against you, and why were you
imprisoned ?
5. How have you come out of your first imprisonment to be
put into the galleys ?
6. Is it by order of the king or of some other person that you
are here?
7. Have you been sold into slavery, and for what price ?
8. Give your names, and the names of the villages or towns
where you were placed as pastors ?
9. Are your brethren in Hungary doing nothing for your
release, or do they not care for you ?
10. What means do you consider most likely to obtain your
freedom and your former position ?
The prisoners gave such satisfactory replies, especially to the
2d, 4th, and 6th questions, that the vice-admiral, with some
officers and the chaplain, immediately proceeded to the Regent
of Naples, and begged their release. They were so kindly re-
ceived, that the chaplain hastened to the ships to inform them
that within three days they might expect to be free. As the
fleet had immediately to leave the harbour in consequence of the
war with France, the prisoners remained still in their chains.
But there is One who hears the sighing of the prisoners, and
bottles up their tears — the Lord of Hosts is his name, the
Lord great in might ! The fleet was not far on its way towards
Sicily till it met the admiral, Ruyter, who had been commanded
by the States-General of Holland to take up the case of the pri-
soners. At the same time, the admiral received a petition from
the martyrs themselves, and immediately writing to the King of
Naples, he forwarded the opinion of the Austrian ambassador
respecting the innocence of these men, and committed their case
to the Dutch ambassador, Cornelius Wandelen, and to George
Weltz. The papers were now handed over to the court of
assize, and after a close examination, the judges came, on the
218 HISTORY OF THE
22d January 1676, to the following conclusion : — u That the
pastors and professors at present confined on the boats are not
guilty of the charges laid against thein, and should without delay
be set free."
The Dutch ambassador hastened down himself with the
joyous message to the prisoners. George and Philip "Weltz. with
an Italian advocate, came soon after. Even the taskmasters
seemed moved, and wished the prisoners joy.
And yet their faith must once more be tried. The heavens
were once more black above them, and the mockery, and the
hard labour, and the sorrows were all renewed, for a report had
come that the Dutch fleet was going home. The last hopes
seemed to have died away, when, quite unexpectedly, Ruyter,
with full sail, entered the harbour of Naples. He had received
orders to postpone his expedition, and he accordingly ran into
the bay.
On the 11th February 1676, the chaplain of the Dutch fleet,
accompanied by several superior officers, went on board the
boats, and, as in a dream, the prisoners forsook the place of their
confinement, singing the 46th, the 114th, and 125th Psalms.
Having reached the ship of the vice-admiral, he received and
embraced them with unspeakable joy, and after the tears of gra-
titude had freely flown, they knelt down together to thank God
for their deliverance, and sung once more the 116th Psalm. Ee-
freshed and strengthened, with hearts overflowing with gratitude,
and then lips with praise to God, they spent the night on the
vice-admiral's ship.
The next morning they were brought before the admiral.
The veteran hero received them with every possible kindness,
and exclaimed, that " of all his victories, none had given him so
much joy as the delivering these servants of Christ from their
intolerable yoke." He would not listen to their thanks, u For,"
said he, " we are only the instruments — give all the glory to
God." The noble admiral had clothes provided for them at
his own expense, and took them with him. Of the thirty who
entered the galleys, twenty-six were still remaining, and they
went to Switzerland, Germany, England, and Holland, till such
time as they were permitted to return to their native land.
As the story was now spread over all Europe, it was found
necessary to give some explanation of the conduct of the court.
Accordingly the Jesuit Kellio, under an assumed name, published
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 219
a book, stating that it was on account of rebellion, and not for
their religion, that they had been punished.* George Lanyi,
who had escaped on the road to Naples, and who was now
living in Saxony, wrote a reply under the title Funda Davidis,
David's sling against Goliath, in which he proves thirty false-
hoods in the Jesuitical attempt to whitewash the court at Pres-
burg.
In vain was it attempted to prove that the Protestant clergy
were the originators or supporters of rebellion ; in vain was the
charge brought against them of having instigated the murder of
Popish priests. It was after the pastors were in prison, that three
priests and one civil officer in Neutra county were murdered.
The same was the case with the Franciscan in Keiskemar, and
with the Eremite, George Csapelanyi, in Fuza, who was found
dead not far from Erlau. In Neutra, three priests had been
found cruelly murdered in a stormy night by common robbers.
Nineteen individuals were suspected of the awful crime, were
put to the torture, and afterwards executed, but none of them
ever charged any of the pastors with having any part in the
matter.
"We have the more reason to assert again that the whole affair
was a mere Jesuitical trick, from the fact that, on the repeated
applications of the Elector of Saxony, Leopold ordered, on the
22d January 1676, that the grounds of the sentence should be
once more investigated. "When it was now confessed that the
sentence was unjust, the king, by a decree of the 24th January,
ordered it to be reversed, and the prisoners to be set free. The
clergy were afraid of them if they returned, and added the clause
that the liberated prisoners should not revenge themselves or
demand compensation, nor return to their country .f
* Extractus verus et brevis quo candide demonstratur acatholicoruru
predicantium ex regno Hungario proscriptionem et degradationem factam
esse respectu rebellionis non autem religionis ; easdem predicantes non in
genere sed in specie, convictos ac legitime esse condemnatos. Tyrnau, 1675.
How could three hundred prisoners be accused, examined, tried, and con-
demned separately, and all within four weeks 1 Why did they all deserve
exactly the same punishment 1
t See the admirable work of Heidegger — Amsterdam, 1684 — a book
written with great accuracy and judgment.
220 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XV.
General View of the State of the Protestant Church in Hungary and Transylvania at
the time the Pastors were released — The Pastors in the Woods and Caves— Cun-
ning of the Priests in attempting to find them — (Edenberg a favoured City — Princess
Eggenberg — Insurrection of the Hungarians — Tokely-— Attempts to make Peace.
While we have been confining our attention exclusively to the
prisoners on the galleys and at the Adriatic Sea, the Popish
priests at home were carrying out their great work of annihilating
the Protestant Church here, as they had already done in Austria,
Styria, Carinthia,. and Bohemia. And they had certainly very
nearly obtained their hearts' desire. For, except the provinces
under the pasha, where the Protestants enjoyed their religious
liberties, and a few districts on the Theiss, where, amid all
dangers and difficulties, the Protestants, chiefly of the Reformed
Church, had still been able to preserve a kind of liberty of wor-
ship— but for these alone, that part of the kingdom which owned
Leopold as its ruler had almost ceased to possess the gospel.
Putting their lives in their hands, there were a few pastors
who either had not been summoned to Presburg or who had
not gone, and in lonely glens, in woods and mountains wild, in
ruined castles and morasses inaccessible except for the initiated,
these men resided, and preached the gospel to the faithful who
were scattered over the land. From the dark cavern, scantily
lighted, arose the Psalm of praise sung to those wild melodies
which to this day thrill the heart of the worshipper. From lips
pale and trembling with disease, arising from a life spent in con-
stant fear and danger, the consolations of the gospel were pro-
claimed to the dying. The Lord's Supper was administered ;
fathers held up their infants to be devoted in baptism to Him for
whom they themselves were willing to lay down their lives ; and,
amid the tears which oppression wrung from them, they joined
their hands and looked up to Him who bottles up the tears, and
looked forward to a better land beyond the grave.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 221
This was especially the case in the mountainous countries of
Neutra, Trentshin, Thurotz, Liptau, and Arva, where, despite
the watchfulness of the foe, the Protestants continued in some
way to enjoy the exercise of religion.*
Among those faithful servants of Christ who, in the days of
danger, by the Divine blessing, and by the watchful care of their
friends, escaped the nets laid for them, some of the best known
were Daniel Kirmann, in Tura-Luka ; Martin Zener, in Belluds;
Daniel Reguli and Samuel Michalovitz, in Trentshin ; Nicolas
Venitius, Michael Zaborsky, in Thurotz ; Zachariah Clementis,
Balthasar Csip, and Thomas Coronides, in Liptau. But woe to
him whose dwelling was discovered, or who was seized ! Heavy
punishments and imprisonments were his lot, till he either re-
nounced his profession, or died in misery in his lonely cell. It
is Scid that priests, sometimes dressed in the simple garb of
Protestant pastors, and assuming as much as possible their
habits and forms of expression, went round and found out from
the unsuspecting people where the pastors resided, and who they
were. These wolves in sheep's clothing came offering their ser-
vices as Protestant pastors, and professing to have endured much
for the sake of their consciences, and easily gained the required
information. A dark cloud rested on the servants of the Lamb.
Only in the retirement of the closet, and in the family circle,
where no stranger whatever joined, did many of them venture to
engage in prayer. Out of the sacred Scriptures each sought
for himself comfort and encouragement, waiting for better days.
The shepherds were smitten, yet the sheep, though scattered,
were not lost or forgotten by the Great Shepherd.
In (Edenberg the brethren enjoyed wondrous marks of the
Divine care, for here the landed proprietor left still some traces
of religious liberty. On the 5th March 1764 their pastors had
been summoned with the rest to Presburg, but a clear view of
the aim of the enemy, as well as of his power, induced the
citizens to send a deputation to Vienna, to attempt to rescue as
much as possible of their freedom in the great trial. They suc-
ceeded in their mission.f They voluntarily surrendered the greater
part of what they held dear, that they might be sure to retain
something. On 28th February they made a solemn treaty with
the attorney-general, Nicolas Mailath, promising to surrender
* Mica Bury.
t Ribinyi, Memorab., torn. ii. p. 422 ; Mica Bury ; (Edenberg.
222 HISTORY OF THE
all churches, chapels, and schools, with all the emoluments
attached, into the hands of the attorney-general, and within
fifteen days to cause that all pastors, teachers, and church officers
should either leave the town, or pledge themselves not to dis-
charge the duties of their office any more, but reside quietly as
laymen in the city.
The attorney-general promised in the name of the king that a
place should soon be given them, where, under two pastors whom
they themselves should select, they and the foreign ambassadors,
and the members of the parliament who were Protestants, should
enjoy the free exercise of their religion. These two pastors should
have liberty to reside in town, and to discharge ministerial duties
in private houses. Besides, the Princess Maria Eggenberg
should have the privilege of retaining her own chaplain, whose
services might also be enjoyed by the Protestants residing in
the town. The Protestants should enjoy the use of the legacies
which had been left them by members of their own confession,
and should also have the use of the burying-grounds.
They should have equal rights in the hospital, and, instead of
the Yittnyedi house, they should have that which the Princess
Maria Eggenberg occupied. No one should be compelled to
become Roman Catholic or to emigrate, and all processes at pre-
sent pending should be quashed. On the 21st September the
king appointed the town of Eisenstadt as the . place where the
two pastors should proceed to hold the service for the present ;
it was about ten miles distant. Though this was not as they
had expected, still they obeyed, and sent their two pastors, John
Barth and Christopher Sobitsh, to conduct the services. While,
however, at the following Easter so many people came, that the
church could not contain them, a command came from the king
that none but citizens of (Edenberg should be admitted. It was
only at the end of the following year that they obtained the
place which they should permanently occupy as a church. Not
long after, the noble princess died, and she was soon followed by
her worthy chaplain, Matthew Long, whose influence had been
chiefly successful in obtaining these privileges for the Lutherans
of (Edenberg which they did not elsewhere enjoy. Of the rest
of Hungary it might well have been said, " Darkness covers the
earth, and thick darkness the people."
It was quite natural that, under such circumstances, the num-
bers of the malcontents increased with every day. Bloody affrays .
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 223
between these and the royalists were quite common. The con-
stitution was overturned, and those whose duty it was to watch
over it looked quietly on. The soldiers passed through the land
oppressing it as they chose, and making such exactions as they
saw fit.
Many fled to Transylvania, where, under the Prince Michael
Apafty, they found protection ; for, although he did not declare
himself publicly on their side till Louis XIV. of France sent
him aid and entered into a formal league, still he was at heart
a steady friend of their cause. When, therefore, the ambitious
Kara Mustapha became grand vizier, after the death of Ahmed
Kioprili, and when the hopes of assistance from the Divan
seemed tolerably certain, the malcontents, strengthened by Poles
and Transylvanians, and supported by French money, had
many successful engagements with the imperial troops.* This
Avar was, as might be expected, very cruel. The German soldiers
acted as they chose, impressing men and horses, and giving no
remuneration. The peasants were obliged to pay the same tax
three or four times. The most expensive food was always de-
manded, and received with expressions of the bitterest scorn. The
slightest resistance was visited with blows, and even with death.
The military officers were the only judges, and they were at the
same time in general the accusers. Children were threatened that
if they did not keep quiet the Germans would come. When a
complaint reached Leopold, he sent a warning to his generals, but
they were in a situation completely to disregard it.
Up till the year 1678 a Transylvanian nobleman, Michael
Teleky, led the rebels, and not without courage and prudence.
In consequence of a quarrel, however, with the French officer, he
resigned, and returned to his native land. Stephen Vesselenyi
had the command for a time, and was followed by Count Erne-
rich Tokely, the son of Stephen, who had died in the castle
Likava. He had scarcely attained his twentieth year, when he
had collected above twenty thousand men, with whom he roved
through Hungary, plundered the mining towns, and in 1680 con-
quered Kesmark and Leutshaw. Adorned with the qualities
which become a general — he spoke Latin, Hungarian, German,
and Turkish with great fluency. His followers fought with
bravery, but without reaching the desired end. The victories
were alternate; — to-day a victory, to-morrow a defeat; here an
* Mailart, 1. c, vol. v. p. 28.
224 HISTORY OF THE
advantage gained, on another spot a loss sustained. Wherever
the insurgents gained the day they gave the Protestants their
churches; in a few days, perhaps, the royalists entered and re-
stored them to the Roman Catholics. It was natural that pent-
up religious hatred here broke out, and that the party in power
abused its position for the purposes of persecution. The insur-
gents wreaked vengeance on the priests, and especially on the
Jesuits, whom they considered the originators of all the calami-
ties; and the royalists in their turn treated the Protestants with
similar cruelty.
The miserable state of the country, and the advice of several
influential men, seemed to incline Leopold to milder measures in
matters of religion. Perhaps, too, the birth of a prince was not
without effect. This prince was born of Eleonora, princess of
the palatinate, and his third wife, on the 26th July 1678.* After
recalling General Kopp, who was distinguished by awful cruelty,
and setting in his place Stephen Count of Wiirben, as commander-
in-chief in Upper Hungary, he sent a circular letter to all the
bishops and higher civil officers, to inquire what means they
thought most likely to restore peace. f
The gentler counsel of the Bishop of Waitzen was overcome
by the fiery and furious Barskony, Bishop of Erlau. The
opinions were so different, that the king could come to no con-
clusion. After the death of the Bishop of Erlau, he made
another attempt to obtain peace, by summoning a commission
to Presburg, carefully to inquire into the state of the country.
The whole affair, however, was rendered useless by Leopold's
imprudent step of appointing a German of the name of Hocker,
who had lately become a nobleman, to be the president of the
commission, and thus wounding the national prejudices of the
Hungarian bishops and nobles. When, therefore, the president
forgot himself so far as to call all the Hungarians rebels, a
storm arose in the council, and in the heat Count Thomas Pallfy
called the president a scoundrel, and naturally the discussions
were soon brought to a close.
A third attempt was made by the old Archbishop of Gran,
in the king's name, but equally in vain. He went, towards the
close of 1678, to the leader of the rebels, Tokely, to persuade
him to give over hostilities, f The archbishop was kindly re-
* Szirmay, Notit. Hist. Comitatis Zempl., p. 222.
t Engel, 1. c, vol. v. p. 87. % Fessler, vol. ix. p. 289,
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 225
ceived, and informed by Tokely that he would gladly cease
on condition that complete and full pardon should be secured;
that the constitution and the office of the palatine be again
restored; that the Protestants should again obtain possession
of their churches ; that certain priests should be banished ; and
that sufficient security should be granted that all these con-
ditions would be honestly and faithfully carried out.* As the
archbishop would not grant so much, streams of blood must
flow before there was peace. The work of peace was most
hindered by the two princes who accompanied the archbishop,
Swartzenberg and Nostitz, for they demanded that, before any
proposals should be made, General Tokely should lay down
arms.
Tokely once more drew the sword, and as the emperor had
now made peace with France, he was so much the more inclined
to try the chances of war. There was, therefore, no great earnest
on either side in seeking peace. The scourge of civil war was
equally terrible on both sides, and in 1679 a plague came to
help on with the work of death. So fearful was the mortality,
that from March till October even the war relaxed, and the
deputy-governor of the land was chased away by the plague.
After another attempt to arrange the affairs of the country had
failed, through the imprudent advice of Leopold's German coun-
sellors, the primate at length succeeded in obtaining a diet to be
held at (Edenberg on the 28th April 1681.
* Engel, 1. c, vol. v. p. 90.
226 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XVI.
Diet of (Edenberg, 1681 — Election of the Palatine — Petition to the King — Memorial
of the Roman Catholics — The Petitions of the Protestants without effect — .George
Gerhard's Motion — The Roman Catholic Deputy, Gabriel Kapy — Struggle of the
Clergy — The Roman Catholic Magnates and Nobles assist the Protestants — The
Imperial Decree — Further attempts of the Protestants — Close of the Diet.
This diet, which the Germans had so much opposed, was of great
importance for Hungary. By the fact of summoning the diet,
the king made the confession, that he did not expect, from the
unconstitutional proceedings of the past years, that amount of
prosperity for the land which was desirable, and that he was
resolved to govern the country from this time forward in a
different manner. And in fact we do find that from this time
forward he was less imperious in his manner of treating political
questions ; and though there was still much bigotry in Church
affairs, it was not carried to such an extent as before.
At this diet, which was one of the most splendid which had
long been held, there appeared two Hungarian archbishops, six-
teen bishops, eighteen royal barons and magnates, one hundred
and eight noblemen, and one hundred and thirty-four deputies of
the counties and free towns.* Tokely was also invited. But
though he had concluded an armistice with Leopold, still, he
and his friends thought it better to remain away. On the 24th
May the king opened the deliberations with a Latin oration after
ancient custom, and handed in the subjects of discussion.
In the very beginning of the diet, dark clouds seemed to
hover on the prospects of the Protestants. Contrary to ancient
privilege, the Protestant members of diet were forbidden to have
their preacher, and it was only with much trouble that they
* In the whole assembly of three hundred and fourteen, there were
only forty-five Protestants, — of these, twenty-nine Lutherans and sixteen
Calvinists.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 227
at last obtained permission.* It was with trouble that -the
Hungarians succeeded in electing a palatine. When, however,
from among the four Roman Catholic candidates, Paul Ester-
hazy was elected, the court expressed itself highly pleased, f
Immediately after this election, the Protestant deputies inquired
whether the diet were prepared to enter on the consideration of
ecclesiastical affairs. Being referred to the magnates, they
received the written reply, " that private affairs should be passed
over, and only grand general questions be brought forward for
discussion. The Protestants should receive no support from the
magnates, yet they should still have liberty to complain and to
petition." Having once more inquired whether the affairs of
all the Protestants in the nation should be considered a private
matter, the reply was sent, that the time from eight till twelve
o'clock each day should be devoted to public business, and
afterwards the Protestants could occupy themselves with their
own affairs.
The Protestants then met, and, under the guidance of George
Gerhard as president, resolved to send a deputation to the king,
the royal commissioners, and to the palatine, to recommend the
cause of the Protestant religion with modesty, prudence, and
zeal ; and they now begged the palatine to protect the Hungarian
pastor from the insults to which he was constantly exposed.
On the 21st June the deputation set out for the royal
residence, and on the 2 2d had an audience of the king, setting
forth their grievances, which are too important to be here
omitted. The paper which they presented was as follows : — \
11 Most Gracious, Imperial, and Royal Majesty, — We have no
doubt that your imperial Majesty will well remember the state-
ment which was presented to your imperial Majesty in 1662,
recounting the grievances and oppressions which the Protestant
subjects of your Majesty had borne, and how that petition
requested your Majesty to use your royal influence to put an end
to those grievances which were then definitely and specifically
recorded, with the proofs of the same. A request was made,
* It was on the 1st July that the Lutheran deputies held their first
service ; their place of meeting was a store in the little Pootshi Street,
and on the 10th July the Calvinists held their meeting in a similar
place.
t Engel, vol. v. p. 96.
X Hist. Diplomatics, in App., p. 87.
228 HISTORY OF TIIE
that your Majesty would please to restrain those who, contrary
to the constitution of the country, were hindering the free exer-
cise of the Protestant religion. While the same evils still
continue, and while those who are guilty of excess remain
unpunished, thus giving encouragement to more glaring acts of
oppression, unbounded liberty is taken in persecuting the Pro-
testants, till it appears scarcely possible to preserve even a wreck
of that religious liberty which was guaranteed by laws of the
land and by royal ordinances. Churches, schools, gymnasia,
hospitals, and all the property connected with them, which the
Protestants had quietly possessed in dependence on the law of
the land, have been taken away by threats, surprise, tricks, or
sometimes by arms — indeed, by processes in which all law and
justice are disregarded. Some of the buildings have been com-
pletely removed, and the materials used for stables and other
similar buildings. The dead can be buried in the churchyard
only after paying enormous fees. Protestant pastors and school-
masters have, under various pretences, been plundered by pre-
lates, magnates, and others holding civil and military offices,
even by foreign soldiers ; and then, chased out of their dwell-
ings and bound with chains, have been carried out of the
country. Some have been nailed on the ground on wood in
the form of a cross ; others have been bastinadoed ; others
only let loose after paying a heavy ransom. Many, under the
pretence of their having originated or favoured a rebellion, were
summoned to an extraordinary court at Presburg, and there
sentenced to banishment or to the galleys ; and, after three vain
attempts to hang a Protestant pastor, he was at last buried
alive. The rest were compelled to resign their office and go
into exile ; so that the most of the parishes are without pastors,
and the people without divine service of any kind, living like
the inferior creation, while the children are dying unbaptized.
" Both noblemen and peasants have been taken prisoners, and
led in chains to attend the service of the Popish priest. The
consecrated wafer has been thrust by force into the mouth of
some who did not wish it. Several Protestants have been un-
justly driven out of their property, and whole villages have been
plundered without redress. Many who were married by Pro-
testant pastors, or received other ministerial services from them,
were on that account summoned before the priests, and com-
pelled to change their religion. Protestant parties are even by
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 229
military force obliged to pay Popish priests. When Psalms are
sung or prayers offered in private houses, the parties, and even
sometimes noblemen, have been marched to prison by the officers
of foreign troops, as if they were common felons. On the military
frontiers your imperial Majesty has, by several special decrees,
granted freedom of religious exercise, and yet in such places
Protestant pastors have not been tolerated. In some counties
all Protestants have been indiscriminately dismissed from all
public offices, and therefore could not be elected to this diet. In
some cities the Protestants are completely, and in others partly,
deprived of their civil rights ; and the election of magistrates does
not take place, according to long-established custom, by the free
choice of the citizens, but by the nomination of commissioners of
the Royal Chamber.* In some towns and corporate boroughs
the Protestants are excluded from the common deliberations in
public matters ; and though your Majesty's gracious decrees were
directed to all, yet only the Roman Catholics were brought to-
gether to hear them read ; and, contrary to the customs of the
country, all Protestants were struck off the list of candidates to
be elected to the diet. Protestants, who have been born among
us, are either not admitted to the rights of citizens, or are
admitted under great restrictions, and they are absolutely pro-
hibited from acquiring property in houses and lands. Magis-
trates who, on not finding Roman Catholics fitted for an office,
have appointed Protestants, have been on that account fined and
otherwise punished by the attorney-general. Churches, manses,
glebe lands, schools, and private houses, have, despite the
patron's or proprietor's protest, been delivered over to Jesuits,
by which means the Jesuits have, contrary to law, obtained a
footing in the country, while the protests of the citizens have
been disregarded. Evangelical artisans are obliged to attend to
Popish ceremonies ; some of the trades' corporations have been
dissolved, and have again obtained their freedoms only on condi-
tion of expelling all Protestants from among them. Very often
has it occurred that our brethren were not admitted to learn or
to practise a trade till they had renounced their faith. Mar-
riages, baptisms, and other rites are often refused till the parties
* This had taken place on the 24th April 1675, in (Edenberg, by order
of the Royal Chamber, and in the year 1680 by Kollonitz, who removed
the last Protestant secretary of the Council of Eisenstadt, and filled up his
place with a Roman Catholic.
230 HISTOEY OF THE
have either actually joined the Church of Rome, or have pro-
mised to do so. Legacies, which were left for Protestant pur-
poses, have been wrested and applied to purposes contrary to the
wish of the testator. Much of our ills we leave untold, that the
petition may not be too wearisome to your imperial Majesty.
Still we are prepared at all times, if required, to give all the par-
ticulars of those complaints which we here mention in general,
and to furnish proofs of the same. While we therefore renew our
former complaint, we betake ourselves once more, with all be-
coming respect, to the throne of your imperial Majesty, begging,
for the sake of the mercy of God, that your imperial Majesty
would cause, during the sitting of the present diet, that our
distress may be relieved ; that we may be restored to the pos-
session of our former privileges which have been violently taken
away; that the disturbers of our religious liberties may be
punished according to law ; and that the political rights of the
evangelical party may be restored and guaranteed for all time
coming, as the law of the land directs.
" These favours of your imperial Majesty we shall not only
acknowledge by fervent prayer to God for a blessing on your
Majesty and on the house of Austria, but also by continued obe-
dience and loyalty. — Waiting for a favourable decision on the
part of your Majesty, we are, your imperial Majesty's most faith-
ful and most obedient subjects."
THE PEOTESTANT STATES OF HUNGAEY.
On the 30th June the Protestant deputies appeared before
Count Nostitz, the Bohemian chancellor, who declared, in the
name of the king, that his Majesty had really read their petition
all through, but, as it contained many weighty matters, he must
first hear the statement of the Roman Catholics. The Protestant
cause thus seemed likely to be completely crushed. At the same
time, on the 4th July, the Burgomaster of QEdenberg gave orders
that none but the deputies and the foreign princes should venture
to attend the preaching of the Protestant pastor, who was chap-
lain to the Protestant members of the diet.
The Papists had in the meantime also handed a memorial to
the king, and Nostitz now appeared to inform the Protestant
deputies that it was his Majesty's wish to settle the whole mat-
ter quietly, and it would be only in case of the friendly delibera-
tions proving unsuccessful that he would interfere as judge. The
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 231
Protestants requested a sight of the memorial of the Papists,
which the king refused, giving as a reason that it would only
increase the bitter feeling. By means of the palatine, however,
they got possession of the paper, and found that the Papists repre-
sented that they had only taken possession of such churches as
had been built by their party, and had been unjustly seized by
the Protestants. The Protestants had secured their religious
liberty by means of rebellion, and therefore they had no right to
it. While the greater number of the magnates had again joined
the Church of Kome, it would be very unseemly to take more
notice of the peasant than of the peer. Protestant pastors had
not been punished as such, but as rebels ; and those who had
been burned had deserved the punishment by being incendiaries
and tumultuous. They then related the most distressing stories,
how Popish priests were obliged to hide in bushes, and could dis-
charge the duties of then office only at the peril of their life ; how
in some counties only two or three Roman Catholic priests were
to be found, while hosts of Protestants were there ; how in one
county, Simeghij not a single priest was to be found, while a
hundred Protestant pastors were labouring in the county ; how
in another county fifty Protestant pastors were instructing the
people, and in the whole county not a single priest. Thus spake
the Roman Catholics.
The king was willing to appoint commissioners to settle the
whole affair, but the Protestants had already learned that no con-
fidence could be placed in such an arrangement, and therefore
declined. They preferred leaving all to his Majesty's pleasure,
for from their mighty antagonists there was little to be expected.
Bishop Kollonitz had given evidence of his feeling in a sermon
on the festival of Ignatius Loyola, in which he had, by way of
reproach, called the one party of Protestants " Augsburg mer-
chants," and the other " Swiss peasants."
On the 2d August the Protestants handed a second petition to
the emperor, in which they answered the charges of the Roman
Catholics. The emperor received the speaker of the deputation
very kindly, and promised to consider the contents closely and
conscientiously ; he would decide so as to satisfy the Protestants
of Hungary, and give them his decision through a commissioner.
The Protestants begged not to be asked to enter into treaty
with their antagonists, for they could yield nothing of their rights,
and royal decisions which had already been made must remain
232 HISTORY OF THE
sacred. They shewed the folly of supposing that the Protestants
had slipped into Hungary with fire and sword, or by the aid of
the Turks, and reminded the king how they had obtained the
assurance of full toleration, not by force, but by the royal free
will • for, in 1559, when his Majesty granted the toleration, there
was perfect peace in the country. In 1647 there were ninety
chinches restored to them which had been unjustly taken away,
therefore no charge could be brought that they were taking the
chinches of then opponents. The great majority of the inhabit-
ants of the country was still on their side. They shewed the
falsehood of the charge that the Papists had received more ill than
they had done to others, by the fact that no Popish priest had
been driven away by the Protestants ; and if individuals of the
latter had injured individuals of the former confession, the Pro-
testants had no means, as the Papists had, of protecting their
party from injustice.
While the Protestants were thus waiting between hope and
fear, a letter arrived on the 18th August. Afraid to open it
themselves, they laid it before the royal commissioners, so that
there might be no accusation of having in any way altered the
royal message. The commissioners praised them for what they
had done, and sent the letter back. It was a veiy harmless note,
simply advising them in then present critical position to be patient
and moderate. And a very good advice it was, for they were just
about to require an unusual amount of these virtues, when, after
one petition to the queen and four to the king, his Majesty, who
always received them kindly, could come to no decision in then-
case. Towards the end of August they began to absent them-
selves from the sittings, and, so soon as the king heard it, he
immediately wrote them a severe reproof They now addressed
themselves to the influential men about the king, such as Charles,
Margrave of Baden, the Bishop of Vienna, Counts Nostitz,
Zinzendorf, and Swartzenberg, as also to the Austrian chan-
cellor, Hocker,* who were favourably disposed towards them.
The diet had now been five months sitting, and still the Pro-
testants had gained nothing.
On the 1st October George Gerhard moved that the whole diet
* The chancellor said, " If your patience under such trials had continued
for ten days it would have been "wonderful, but that you could bear on for
ten years, ever since the Presburg Commission in 1671, it is beyond con-
ception."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 233
should unite to petition the king respecting the religious grievances.
The motion was ably supported by the Roman Catholic member,
Gabriel Kapy, and after a very warm discussion, they resolved
to send a deputation to the magnates, to move them that they
should cause all parties to unite in the petition. "When the de-
putation reached the council chamber of the magnates, they were
informed by the palatine that the time had not yet arrived for
discussing the religious affairs of the Protestants, but that he
would intercede with the king on then behalf. He kept his word,
and the very same day returned them an answer in the king's
name, " that Leopold pledges his royal word that the case shall
be decided, and begs that, till such time as the question comes
before the house, they should quietly proceed with business ; the
palatine would also earnestly and affectionately request them to
adopt that course."
On the 2d October Gerhard renewed his motion, and once more
Gabriel Kapy rose courageously to support him. He was well
informed respecting the exact state of the Protestants, and he
declared that it was the firm resolve of the Roman Catholic
deputies of thirteen counties to take the side of the Protestants.
The matter was the most important which could come before
them ; and he, for his part, would not return to those that sent
him till the religious disputes were settled. A storm followed
this declaration. The royal commissioners and the clergy de-
clared it to be a hasty resolution ; that the question stood later
in the order of discussion, being the sixth point ; the diet should
wait till the proper time came. The clergy added that it was
unbecoming their dignity to join in a petition in favour of the
Protestants, and that, moreover, all the Roman Catholic laity
were not so favourable to the motion as Kapy represented. Be-
ing thus challenged to express their opinion, all the laity de-
clared their readiness to vote in favour of the motion. The
magnates having acknowledged the justice of the petition, the
palatine, an upright, honourable man, declared that, even in
case of the clergy refusing to join them, the laity should of
themselves approach the monarch with their request. The king
was regularly informed of all these proceedings.
On the following day, the 3d October, the debates were again
stormy ; high words were interchanged. During the discussion
the vice-palatine arrived to say that all were agreed to send a
deputation consisting of members of all three estates to the king,
234 HISTOKY OF THE
the palatine Himself would take the lead, and thus a decision in
this matter should soon be obtained. This proceeding brought
Leopold at last to a decision, and in five days the following royal
message was delivered : —
" All states in the whole land, magnates, nobles, royal free
cities, and royal boroughs, should remain by their religion. This
privilege should also be granted to the soldiers on the borders.
Not only should there be full liberty of faith, but also fall and
complete liberty of religious exercise in every form. ISTo party
should have the liberty to depose the clergy of the opposite
party, or to banish them from the districts where freedom of
religious exercise is guaranteed. No more churches should be
taken away, but those which had been seized since 1670 should
remain in possession of the present occupants.* The Lutherans
should have liberty to build a church, and to exercise their reli-
gion in every county where no Lutheran church at present
exists. The 1st article of the Peace of Vienna is renewed in all
its clauses. Eoman Catholics have the free exercise of their
religion in every part of the kingdom. It should be especially
permitted to the Lutherans in Presburg to build a church in a
convenient place which should be shewed them.f The town of
(Edenberg should continue to enjoy her present liberty. All
coming disputes in religious matters should be settled without
the use of arms ; and the 8th article of the sixth decree of
King Ladislaus should be renewed and conscientiously observed.
Lastly, all the inhabitants should take special care not in any
way whatever to mock or treat with disrespect the religion of
any party at present in existence."
As this declaration was neither signed by the king nor sealed
with the imperial seal, the Protestants refused to accept of it.
The clergy were much offended. The royal messenger took the
part of the Protestants, and declared their demand, to have the
sign-manual and the seal attached, perfectly just. The clergy
were informed that it was the will of his Majesty, in case they
* We see how the clergy knew to provide for themselves. The most
notorious plunder was here sanctioned. Among these was the Presburg
church, as well as others which had been built by the Protestants, and
many of the ninety which had been lately stolen.
t Wondrous generosity ! — to have liberty to build a new church
instead of that splendid church and college of which they had been
deprived !
PEOTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGARY. 235
should continue obstinately to resist claims so just as those of
the Protestants, to take all necessary steps for carrying out the
resolution entirely independent of them. This firmness was of
some use, for on the 11th October the paper was handed to the
Protestants with all diplomatic formality. Bitter was the wrath
of Bishop Kollonitz, the president of the chamber, who could not
bear that so many Roman Catholics had interceded in behalf of
the heretics, and bitter was the opposition which the Protestants
might expect in carrying out their aims.
The king was often undecided as to which party he should
yield to, for he hoped to bring them nearer to each other. He
also expected that the Protestants would be perfectly satisfied
with what they had now obtained. When he found, however,
that the bitterness of party feeling did not subside, he issued, on
the 12th November, another decree, in substance the same with
the foregoing, but at the same time more specific, especially nam-
ing several places where ground should be granted for building
evangelical churches. The Protestants accepted all this as an
instalment. They felt that they had been driven out of their
rightful property, and had as yet only received a very small
portion in return. The royal decree was acknowledged by the
States on the 22d November, and exceptions were taken to some
parts of it. The States were informed that they might soon
expect a new decree. When the document appeared, it was
only an advice to the Protestants to be content with what they
had received. Instead of remaining quiet, however, they drew
up a list of all the cirurches, schools, property, &c, which had
been taken from them by force, and handed it to the king on
the 8th December. The paper received, it is true, no atten-
tion, but it contained the following statistical information : — It
stated that in counties under Leopold's sway, they had lost, in
(Edenberg, 27 ; Eisenburg, 97 ; Salad, 3 ; Eaab, 15 ; Komorn
14 ; TTiesselburg, 24 ; Wesprin, 8 ; Presburg, 46 ; Neutra, 50
Trentshin, 55 ; Arva, 10 ; Liptau, 35 ; Zips, 99 ; Sharosh, 7 ; Sol
33 ; Thurotz, 23 ; Abanivarer, 67 ; Szathmar, 5 ; Beregh, 12
Barsh, 25 ; Zemplin, 114 ; Gomor, 33 ; Tom, 20 ; Unghvar,
36 ; Hont, 22 ; Neograd, 10 : Borshad, 1 ; together, 888 churches
without counting the chapels (and houses for prayer).
At the same time that the Protestants handed this statement
to the king, the diet presented also a petition, with a request to
the palatine to support it. They demanded that from the diet
236 HISTORY OF THE
a decree should proceed, reversing all the involuntary resigna-
tions and exiles; that all the exiles might return home and
obtain possession of their property; and that all ecclesiastical
decisions should be made consistent with the royal decree; in
other words, that the decree should be made retrospective. On
the 17th December, a verbal message was delivered from the
king, that these matters should be all granted. The king was
willing in such cases, where inconvenient building ground had
been given to the Protestants, to have it exchanged for more
suitable places. Such of the Protestant churches as the Roman
Catholics already held, and which had not yet been consecrated,
should be restored, and the Protestants might bury their dead as
they chose.
Not satisfied with the verbal message, the Protestants sent
petitions on the 20th and 22d December, begging that all limita-
tions to the free exercise of their religion should be legally
removed ; and as the diet appeared to be drawing to a close,
they threatened to absent themselves from the sittings, if their
request was not granted. On the 24th December, they heard
the reply read, which required, " That all the resolutions of the
diet should be drawn up in perfect accordance with the will of
all the States ; and that the articles respecting religion should be
entered among the laws of the present diet. The king promised
that all religious matters still undecided should be brought for-
ward at the next diet." That was now the end of the exertions
which the Protestants had made. Leopold granted nothing
more. Only on the 29th December, the palatine brought them
the information, that in Modern, Kasmark, and Zeben, the king
permitted Protestant churches to be built. On the 30th Decem-
ber the diet was closed notwithstanding the protest of the
Protestants, and on the same day the king left the town. The
articles of the diet numbered eighty-two.
The bitterly- disappointed Protestants took the last constitu-
tional measure, of entering on 31st December, both with the
palatine and with the representatives of royalty, a protest against
the decision respecting the religious disputes.
The best article was the 25th, renewing the 1st article of
the Peace of Vienna, but there was an unfortunate clause added,
protecting the rights of the landed proprietor, which were de-
clared not to be affected. This article formally annulled all the
documents which the exiled clergy had been obliged to sign,
PEOTESTAXT CHURCH OF HUNG AE Y. 237
allowed them to return to their homes, and guaranteed that
no one should be in future disturbed in the exercise of his
religion, nor compelled to observe ceremonies contrary to his
conscience. In the 26th article this was still farther explained,
and applied to particular cases. This article granted the restora-
tion of such churches as had not yet been consecrated; and
named the commissioners who should in the different counties
grant land for building new churches, specifying at the same
time what churches should belong to the Lutherans and what
churches to the Reformed. Where the churches are not restored,
still the Protestants should have the use of the bells and of the
burying-ground. As had been resolved in 1647, no one should
be obliged to pay any fees to the clergy of any church to which
he did not belong. All the magnates had a right to build
chapels in common with their own palaces and castles. The
Protestants should be admitted to all offices in the state, whether
higher or lower; and it was finally admitted, that the Protestants
have a right still to claim much more than is here guaranteed,
and, notwithstanding the opposition of the clergy, the way was
declared to be open for them at a following diet.
If we look at the way in which the Protestants were at that
time oppressed, we see in these resolutions much cause of thank-
fulness, and we must acknowledge that it was the laymen among
the Roman Catholics, and neither the king nor the priests, to
whom the Protestants were indebted for the change.
If we look, however, at the law of the land, and at enactments
then in full force ; if we consider the steps by which the Protest-
ant Chinch had been oppressed, the churches taken away, and
the pastors banished ; if we reflect on the parties who, under the
holy names of religion and justice, themselves bearing the title of
ministers of Jesus Christ, caused this distress, — the words of the
Lord come involuntarily to our remembrance : " Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men : for ye neither go in yourselves, neither
suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' houses, and for
a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the
greater damnation."
Why should we call up names ? But the Archbishop of Gran,
George Szelepczeny, Bishop Leopold Kollonitz, and Ladislaus
Mattyashowski, made themselves so notorious in all these pro-
238 HISTORY OF THE
ceedings, that their names shall go down with disgrace to all
coming ages. The archbishop boasted that he had rescued
sixty-three thousand souls of heretics from damnation, and
brought them back to the Church of Rome. How had he done
so ? That was to a zealous Jesuit a matter of little consequence.
The equally zealous Bishop Barskony gave the Pope a list of
6768 heretics whom he had brought into the Church of Rome,
and for this great work he was made Bishop of Erlau.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 239
CHAPTER XVII.
Conduct of the Roman Catholic Clergy after the Diet — The Recorder of (Edenberg —
War with Tokely — Vienna beseiged by the Turks — Relieved by the Poles — The
Prince of Transylvania joins Leopold against the Turks — Ofen retaken after a
hundred and forty-six years' Possession by the Turks — General Karaffa — The
Court of Assize at Debrecsin and Eperjes.
We have not yet done with our charges against the Roman
Catholic clergy. History sits in judgment and condemns them.
Their acts after the diet were as bitter as their words had been
during the same. We cannot follow them into all the details,
but we select one case to illustrate the spirit which actuated
them in all their movements.
The free city of (Edenberg was one of the first to build a
church and a school, and thus to assert its rights in consequence
of the decision of the diet. The majority of its inhabitants were
indeed Protestants. In consequence of the diet having declared
Protestants capable of holding office, the citizens met on the
24th April 1682, and elected John Serpilius, a Protestant, to the
office of recorder of the city. Bishop Kollonitz presided at the
election as royal commissioner, and as he could ill brook not
only that a Protestant church was built, but also a Protestant
recorder elected in the city, he, on his own responsibility, set
aside the election, and appointed Nicolas Horwath, a Roman
Catholic, to the office. As the electors insisted, however, on
retaining Serpilius, and refused to acknowledge the nominee of the
bishop — going indeed so far as to carry the fasces, the insignia of
office, to the house of the former ; and as they on the following day
elected two Protestant senators, the enraged bishop left the city.
On the 8th October he sent Count Nicolas Draskowitsh, the
chief justice ; Count Erdody, the president of the chamber ; and
Count Zichy, the keeper of the crown, to instal Horwath, but
they were obliged to come away after three days without success.
240 HISTORY OF THE
On tlie 16th. November they returned to attempt to unite the
office of recorder and mayor in the same person, and thus settle
the dispute. Being once more unsuccessful, they returned on
the 10th December, and the chronicle records, — " While the
Protestants and Homan Catholics held together, it was at last
resolved that Gregory Natl should be recorder till the close of
the year, and in future the city should have the liberty of elect-
ing freely whom they would.
Under these circumstances, it was not to be wondered at if
the Protestants translated " Punica fides" into " Ne hidj neki
mest Papista."* It was no wonder if between the Court of
Vienna and Tokely the peace was only in appearance, and
each only watched an opportunity to gain an advantage over
the other. Each endeavoured to represent the other in as
unfavourable light as possible at the Court of Constantinople.
The disadvantage was just now on the side of Tokely. For
while, during the truce between him and Austria, matters
appeared so unfavourable to the Protestants at the Diet of
OEdenberg, and it seemed as if new persecutions were likely to
break out, he cunningly reckoned on the consequences, and
promised obedience to the sultan if he would support him
against Leopold. The warlike grand vizier wished nothing
more eagerly, and sent orders to the Yoyvod of Moldavia and
Wallachia, to the Pasha of Ofen, and to the Prince of Tran-
sylvania, to be ready to support Tokely in case of need with
money and arms. With such promises of assistance, he gave
notice that the truce should cease, and summoned the surround-
ing counties to join him. For this time, his summons was dis-
regarded, for the Protestants were afraid of injuring their
cause.
To protect himself against Tokely, who by the assistance of
the Turks was become too powerful for him, Leopold, on the 18th
June 1682, concluded the Treaty of Luxemburg with Saxony,
Bavaria, Hesse-Brunswick, Luneburg, and the circles of Swabia
and Franconia. An embassy was now sent to Constantinople
and to Tokely to mediate peace, but without success, upon which
a very bloody war commenced.
In the month of August 1682, Tokely had possession of
Szdthmar, Onod, Tokay, Kashaw, Leutshaw, and the whole of
Zips. He now issued a bulletin calling the Hungarians to arms.
* Don't believe him, he is a Papist.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 241
Leopold now made a truce, and Tokely availed himself of the
opportunity of sending an embassy to Constantinople to conclude
a solemn treaty with the sultan. This was in January, and on
the 28th April Leopold entered into a treaty with John Sobiesky,
King of Poland, promising him from the Pope, as head of the
league, three hundred thousand dollars for the use of troops.
With astonishing rapidity the Turk advanced, and so early as
the 14th July he stood before Vienna. He besieged the city
till the 12th September, during which time Tokely's troops had
possession of Eisenstadt, (Edenberg, Guns, and Presburg.
Wherever Tokely's troops appeared, the Protestants obtained
possession of all their churches and schools, little dreaming how
soon they must again surrender them. Tokely entered (Eden-
berg on the 15th July, and on the following day the Jesuits, to
the number of eleven, were removed from the town in three carts.
They received one hundred florins for their expenses on the road,
and twenty men to conduct them in safety. On the 17th July
the Protestants obtained possession of St George's Church, which
was consecrated by Pastor Acs ; and on the same day they were
again put in possession of the Latin school, and of the Church
property which, nine years ago, had been taken from them.
The Roman Catholic senators were about being dismissed, but
the Protestants interceded for them, and they remained in
office.
This possession of their churches and schools did not continue
long, for when Vienna was relieved by the Polish troops, the
slavery of the Protestants returned. At the same time with the
Turkish troops did Tokely's retire, and in the month of Septem-
ber all was again as it had been before the invasion. This could
not be said of every place, for where the victorious arms of the
league made way, there were the Protestants once more bitterly
oppressed. The cruelty and severity of the Popish clergy will be
best seen by an extract from the petition which was presented to
the king by the Protestants in 1687 at the diet.
In this petition the Protestants complain, " That the free
exercise of the rights of their religion is almost universally pro-
hibited ; that the pastors are being driven out of the villages, or
prohibited from discharging their official duties ; they are deprived
of their property and driven to beggary ; the churches are taken
forcibly away; the poor people, and especially the miners, are
compelled either to become Roman Catholics or lose their means
Q
242 HISTORY OF THE
of subsistence, indeed are sometimes imprisoned in heavy irons
in case of refusal, or cannot receive their week's wages except
they have been at mass.
" Almost universally has the Church property, consisting of
houses, gardens, vineyards, been taken away ; rectors and teachers
imprisoned ; nobles and peasants compelled to observe Popish
ceremonies and holidays ; Protestants obliged to sign declara-
tions by which they engage to decline accepting of any office
whatever simply on acoount of their religion, deprived of all cor-
poration privileges ; — and all this done as if by command of the
king.
" The tithes, which the Protestants are not bound to pay, are
demanded by the priests, and other payments made compulsory
in direct opposition to the laws of the land ; the fees at funerals
most oppressive ; the use of bells, and also of hospitals, denied ;
public and private worship disturbed in every possible way, or
prohibited; — and all this without redress."
The Protestant Prince of Transylvania, terrified by the defeat
of the Turks at Gran, 15th August 1685, and also by Tokely's
misfortunes, joined the league on the 28th June 1686, and
assisted the emperor very considerably in regaining Ofen, after
it had been in possession of the Turks for one hundred and forty-
six years ; still the prince was unable in any way to relieve the
Protestants. On the contrary, the persecutions above described
soon extended also to Transylvania. For when the unstable
Prince ApafTy, shortly after entering the league, refused to ob-
serve the conditions, his country was regarded as a conquered
province.
It is not consistent with the plan of this work to give a detail
of the cruelties of that time ; still we cannot overlook the fearful
human slaughter at Eperjes, as it casts some light on the com-
plaints and sufferings of the Protestants, and gives a bad notoriety
to the bloody and reckless men who, without shadow of law or
of justice, despotically ruled over their fellows.
After the misfortunes of the former year, Tokely had been
for some time cast into chains by the pasha, and, on recovering
his liberty, he made several attempts once more to stir up the
inhabitants of Upper Hungary to rebellion. The enemies made
use of this opportunity to injure the Protestants. Anton Karaffa,
the military commander of the district, a tyrant and a courtier of
the worst stamp, had laid a plan to accuse all the nobility of
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 243
Upper Hungary, who were chiefly Protestants, of having con-
spired against the king. It was represented that Gabriel Palasdy,
one of Tokely's generals, had written letters and sent money to
the fortress Munkacs, that the castle might be made the centre of
a new revolution.
Karaffa now went to Vienna, accused the nobility and the
citizens of Upper Hungary of preparing to rebel, and begged
full power to rescue the country and the emperor from this great
danger. The Austrian and Bohemian chancellors supported his
request, and Leopold granted him the desired power to examine
and punish the guilty according to the laics of Hungary, and
without molesting those who had already been pardoned*
It was after the impulse of his own unbridled hate towards
the Hungarians f that he summoned the extraordinary assize at
De'bre'csin and Eperjes. Men like himself, without faith and
without conscience, were made members of that court. In
Eperjes there were two Italian huxters, Federigo and Giuleani,
a native of Danzig and a Swabian, and Karaffa himself pre-
sided.
Sending out spies and emissaries of the lowest grade, he filled
the prisons with noblemen and citizens, with rich and poor, at
pleasure. Thirty hangmen stood in his pay, and he had given
six hundred florins for the invention of new modes of torture
and refinements in the art of beheading, torturing, hanging, and
quartering. \ So soon as the prisons were filled with men many
of whom had faithfully served their king and their country, he
opened the court on the 20th of February; and, according to
previous arrangement, the principal accuser and witness was an
abandoned woman named Eliza Ujhely, one of the most noto-
rious camp followers. The nobility of Zemplin saw that there
was, under these circumstances, only one way of escape. Through
the Bishop of Grosswardein, Augustine Boskowitsh, they sent a
present of four hundred ducats and twenty barrels of best Tokay
wine, and thus delivered themselves from further persecution and
from death.
On the 15th March the sentence of death was executed on
* Fessler's History, vol. ix. p. 393.
t A common expression with him was, that if he thought he had a single
nerve in his body favourably inclined to the Hungarians, he would cut it out
and throw it in the fire.
X Fessler, vol. ix. p. 396 ; Johannes Rezik, 1. c.
244 HISTORY OF THE
Sigismund Zimmermann, a distinguished senator and inspector
of the evangelical church, after he had "been four hours on the
wheel. His godfather, Julian, also a senator, and an Italian by
birth, stood by, good-naturedly watching the spectacle. At the
same time and place, Caspar Eausher, a retiring, modest man,
in the forty-fourth year of his age ; the noble-minded Andrew
Ketzer, of Lippock, also a Protestant, and one of the deputies to
the diet in 1662, who had then nobly defended the cause of free-
dom ; and Francis Barany, a senator of Eperjes, also a Pro-
testant,— having been first put to the torture, their right hands
were then cut off, they were afterwards beheaded, and the bodies
quartered and thrown into the streets. Karaffa then issued a
decree that, under pain of death, no one should venture to assert
that they died innocent.*
On the 2 2d March, five others were put to death. Gabriel
Ketzer, whose father had just been executed, and who was now
in his thirtieth year, ascended the scaffold, singing,—
" Lord Jesus Christ, my only light,
The rock on which I build."
With him were executed Martin Sharosfy, Samuel Medvetsky,
and the senators George Fleishhacker and George Schonleben.
Medvetsky's head fell as he had uttered the words, " Lord Jesus,
into thy" . These men were simply beheaded, and
quietly buried; and Fessler is not correct in saying that they
were quartered like the rest.f
A nobleman, Sigismund Guth, of Neusohl, who had been
already some time under the torture, was at the last moment
rescued by his relative, Michael Fisher, a favourite of Karaffa,
and he was afterwards made senator, for which favours he
became Koman Catholic.t
On the 9th May, Andrew Szekely of Doba, George Bezegh,
the wealthy and noble George Bavensky, Gabriel Palasdy, and
the senators Frederick and Daniel Weber, were put to death
with all the horrors and cruelty of the first execution. Bavensky
was before his death so long exposed to the fire, that his body
* Johannes Eezik, Prof. Ev. Coll. Eperjes, 1. c.
t Johannes Eezik. Simon Fieldmajer had taken his own life in prison ;
he had been a distinguished warrior, and had fought on the king's side at
the taking of Pesth.
t Eezik remarks, " It is the custom now that theft, homicide, or rebellion
is not punished if the culprit is a Lutheran and turns to the Church of Eoine."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 245
was half roasted. David Feya, the recorder of Kashaw, went
deranged under the torture, and died in prison, and in his place,
a poor butcher of Kashaw, Samuel Lanyi, was, without accusa-
tion or trial, set up and beheaded. After Feya's death the body
was hung on a gallows and quartered.
Michael Rosh, a nobleman from Neusohl, had been put to the
torture till his strength was nearly exhausted, when a friend suc-
ceeded in ransoming him for ten thousand dollars. Having been
for some time carefully nursed, he began to recover from the effects
of the torture. As he was explaining to some of the deputies of
the diet at Presburg what he had suffered at the hands of Karaffa,
one of them exclaimed it was impossible for the human frame to
endure so much ; but, on taking them aside and shewing the scars,
two of them immediately resolved to go to Vienna to demand that
an end be put to such tortures. With the assistance of the pala-
tine, Paul Esterhazy, these two deputies, Nicolas Berenyi and
Ladislaus Barkotzy, succeeded in having the court dissolved and
Karaffa recalled. The widows of Gabriel Ketzer and Sigismund
Zimmermann, who had been judicially murdered without any
just ground, had cried to the king for relief, and had received a
few hundred florins ; but though an inquiry was promised into
the transactions, yet not only was Karaffa not punished, but the
king even granted him a medal as a mark of approbation.
At the beginning of the diet in 1687 the Protestants handed
in a faithful account of their sufferings, and begged for redress.
They referred especially to the clause of the last diet — salvo jure
dominorum terrestrium — which had in so many cases rendered
the promised aid tantalising. But Leopold informed them that
though, by their dissatisfaction with what had been already
granted, they had forfeited all right to the privileges, neverthe-
less he was resolved of his own free favour to continue all the
liberties which had been granted in 1681, notwithstanding all
opposition on the part of the Popish clergy and some of the lay
proprietors.
This article was for the Protestants a source of much anxiety.
He declares that they had lost all right to their legal privileges
and freedoms, because they had raised their voice against the
illegal limitations of the same ; and he declares it to be free royal
favour if they should still continue to enjoy those rights. The
bishops entered a protest even against this article, and by so
doing, shewed what spirit was likely to actuate them for the
246 HISTORY OF THE
future. This time it wsts no relief to the Protestants, but, on the
contrary, a heavy stroke, that all the churches which had been
taken on either side since 1681 should be restored. This was
then interpreted to mean that all the churches which, by the
diet at (Edenberg in 1681, had been ordered to be surrendered
to the Protestants, were now to be returned. The royal com-
missioners accordingly took possession of them, and banished the
pastors. On the 24th January 1688, the Protestants handed in
a modest but solemn declaration to the diet, in which they stated
their grievances and their rights. An acknowledgment of the
receipt was handed to them by the representatives of the crown,
which acknowledgment they preserved, so that they might use it
in happier times. Whether Joseph, the son of Leopold, who at
this diet was crowned King of Hungary, realised the hopes of
the Protestants, shall be seen in the course of this history.
PEOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNOARY. 247
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM THE YEAR 1688 TILL LEOPOLD'S DEATH IN 1705.
The Royal Commissioners and their Excesses — Banishment of Pastors Sextius and
John Bury — Stephen Fekete a Persecutor — Bishop Matthew Rhadonai — Rakotz/s
Imprisonment and Escape — Civil War — Rakotzy Conquers Hungary and is elected
Prince of Transylvania — Treaties of Peace — Foreign Intervention — Leopold's
Death.
Scarcely had the Diet of Presburg been dissolved, when the
clergy found means of bringing the decrees of the Diet of GEden-
berg, which had here been renewed, to bear with terrible effect
on the Protestants. Under the direction of the powerful Arch-
bishop Kollonitz, was the new royal commission made to consist,
partly of priests, partly of such public officers as were completely
devoted to Rome's interests ; and this commission was guilty of
the most flagrant injustice, depriving the Protestants of all the
churches and schools which they had legally obtained since
1681. In Gomor county, which was mentioned in the 26th
article of the Diet of OEdenberg as one of those in which the
Protestants should retain their churches, an order was sent by
the royal commissioner to the commander of the Castle of
Murany, under date of May 30, 1688, directing that all the
preachers on the estates of Murany and Berensh should be
banished, and in case of opposition, should be thrown into
prison.*
In consequence of this decree, the clergy of Muranyallya,
Hossureth, Vizesreth, Chisne, Suvetes, Rakos, and Nagykoese,
left their congregations, and the churches were lost.
In Sol, the royal commissioners drove the people to the
necessity of emigrating. In Kremnitz and Schemnitz, the
emigration of the Protestants was so extensive, in consequence
* In some of the estates were from six to seven, in others ten or more,
villages. See Crudy's Eccles. Prot., 2 torn., MS., Appendix No. 16.
248 HISTORY OF THE
of the religious oppression, that the loss to the public revenue in
eight years amounted to several millions.*
In Schemnitz, the Count Erdody, Valentine Szente, and two
others, took possession of the Protestant church in the king's
name, and then proceeding to Neusohl, they demanded the keys
of the two churches, and ordered the organ and furniture of the
church to be within an hour brought to a private house, while
both the preachers must immediately leave the town.
The same work had already been done in the town of Dille,
out of which the pastor, Kortonius, was banished for the third
time. The commissioners, assisted by the vice-gespan, Samuel
Bonicsky, a renegade Protestant, went through the same process
in Bries ; and the pastor, Sextius, who was just returned from
exile, was ordered within a very few hours to leave the town.
With wife and five children, he left the town as an exile. The
old pastor, Nicolas Nicolaides, was also with the schoolmaster
ordered to quit ; but, on the entreaty of the congregation, he
obtained leave to remain, on condition of resigning all claim to
the pastoral office. The old man exclaimed, that he would
rather emigrate to Germany, even if he should die on the public
streets, than make such an engagement. The schoolmaster,
Martin Dubowsky, might also have remained, on condition of
educating the children in accordance with the tenets of the
Church of Rome, but he scornfully rejected the proposal, and,
with his faithful wife, accompanied the pastor in his exile.
In Altsol, the Protestants received a message requiring
that the surrender of the church should have taken place pre-
vious to the arrival of the commissioners. In Karpfen, orders
were received immediately to close the Protestant church, to
cease to use the bells, and to banish the Protestant preachers
without delay. In this church, John Bury, whose history of
the transactions has so often been quoted, was labouring all the
time, and he also was obliged to go into exile. An appeal to the
laws of the last diet was disregarded, and the only reply was,
that, on pain of death and confiscation of all his property, no
pastor should in future discharge any of the functions of his
office.
John Bury appealed once more to the laws of the land, but
was informed by the vice-gespan that " he had only executed
his orders, and did not wish to shew the Protestants' ways and
* Hist. Diplom., p. 124.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 249
means of remaining." Bury, who was at the time labouring
under intermittent fever, answered that he had always stood
under the special protection of the Most High ; even during his
thirteen years' exile the Lord had provided for him, and, under
the shade of the Most High, he and his children should never
want. " Certainly the Lord will not forsake you," said the
commissioner in a kindly tone, as if somewhat moved, to the great
astonishment of some and chagrin of others of his assistants.
The proposal was made that, by undertaking to resign the
pastoral office, they might remain in quiet — but this was de-
clined. A young priest, Emerich Kano, had in the meantime
taken possession of the church with all the silver ; and when he
found that, after three days, the two preachers were not yet
gone, he threatened to drive them away by the military power.
The vice-gespan quieted the young priest, however, bidding him
wait till Leopold's decision in the matter had arrived, and the
pastors had still a little quiet.
Many other parishes were treated in the same way, and all
appealed to the king for protection against the injustice done
them. After the deputations had waited for years at Vienna, it
was on the 2d April 1691 that Leopold broke silence by a de-
claration little calculated to relieve the Protestants. We may
enter more particularly into the consideration of this resolution or
decree at the proper time. It is sufficient here to remark that
the doubtful passage of the (Edenberg Diet was not explained,
and some of the enactments of that diet were overturned. The
persecutions were from this time forward intolerable. Often
were the ambassadors of England and the Netherlands requested
to interfere ; but when, by such means, a favourable concession
was made, it was either counteracted in a few days by another
decree, or was not carried out by those who had charge of the
execution.* As evidence of this, we shall present to our
readers only a few facts.
In the spirit of Popish fanaticism, the royal commissioner^
John French, deputed by the Presburg chamber, came to Trent-
shin. He deposed the Protestant senators, ordered the city not
to retain more than one Protestant pastor, and after forbidding
even him to baptize, to attend funerals, to marry, or to perform
* Hist. Diplom., pp. 126, 127.
t The commissioners were generally either bishops or men of distinc-
tion.
250 HISTORY OF THE
any similar ministerial office, he at last, in 1696, banished him.
The schoolmaster and some students were banished ; others
were thrown into prison. Respectable citizens were publicly
whipped on the market-day for no other crime than that of being
Protestants. The commissioner compelled the Protestants to
attend all the processions, and was in the habit of characterising
them, without exception, even in public, as rebels, liars, thieves.
This lasted for three years.
Females, whether of the nobility, gentry, or peasants, who,
from conviction, joined the Protestant Church, were immediately
banished, and threatened, in case of return, to be publicly
whipped by the hangman.*
In the year 1700, when the complaints had become very loud,
a new commissioner was sent to inquire into the cause of com-
plaint j but, instead of making matters better, he made them
worse. He compelled Protestants to carry the flags before the
Popish processions ; and if, in the places under his protection, a
pastor fell sick, no other could be admitted to supply his place.
In a similar way were the royal commissioners, Earl Lowen-
burg, Peterfy, and Meyer, perpetrating the most intolerable
cruelties in Schemnitz, Kremnitz, Neusohl, and Bartfeld, for
which they were never punished.
In Guns, the royal commissioner was assisted by the bigoted
Abbot Szalavar, and the renegade Stephen Fekete, once a Pro-
testant superintendent, now Popish recorder of the city. The
abbot had a soldier given to him as body-guard, and he abused
this privilege so far as, without any assigned cause, to employ
his guard in taking two Protestant senators and casting them
into prison in the Castle of Forchtenstein. Here they lay for
six weeks and three days, and were at last released by giving a
promise, which they had no intention of keeping, and which they
did not keep, of joining the Roman Catholic Church. Their
names were John Simon and Daniel Gombassy. The abbot put
the pastor in chains, and did not set him free till a thousand
dollars were deposited as security that within twenty-four hours
he should leave the town. On one of the citizens inquiring
on whose authority this was taking place, the abbot drew out
a pistol, saying, " This will answer the second question you
ask." *
In the meantime the abbot's military guard plundered fear-
* Hist. Diplom., 1. c. t Ex protocollo Jesuitorum Gunsii.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 251
lessly and shamelessly in the town and suburbs. By circulating
false reports in the king's name, and by giving to the Roman
Catholics certificates that they were good citizens, many of the
Protestants were driven into the forests, and during their absence
their houses were plundered. Little behind the abbot was the
priest George Ujvany in inventing new punishments. It was
this priest who, in the year 1700, introduced the song of the
night-watch, in which the following passage occurs : — " Glory
be to God and to our Lady — the clock strikes nine."
The hardest blow of all was the cruelty of Fekete against those
over whom he had once been placed as pastor. In his new office,
as recorder, he laid the heaviest portion of the taxes on the Pro-
testants, and acted on the whole in such a way as to earn the
most unbounded praise from the abbot.
And all this persecution in Guns was in the face of the special
royal protection which Leopold had granted them, and which
had been guaranteed by the palatine and by Kollonitz in the
year 1674, and renewed in 1701, in which patent Leopold de-
clared it to be his royal will and pleasure, that the strictest faith
be kept with the citizens of Giins, and that they be protected from
every foe , and from every attack on their just rights.*
But the Papists knew too well that they had the power in
their hands. Without regarding the royal patent, they took pos-
session of the Church funds, and of the money which had been
gathered for evangelical purposes — a part of which had even
been subscribed by brethren in foreign lands — and being now
deposited with the Protestant citizens of Giins, it was all taken
away, and never returned, f
In Bartfeld, the provost, Tarnocsy, with two priests, the re-
corder of the city, and sixteen soldiers, attacked the pastor,
Elijah Sartori (who had been appointed with Leopold's sanc-
tion), while engaged in public worship , drove him out of the church,
placed him on a cart, and ordered him to leave the town. Those
of the citizens who shewed any inclination to resist were thrown
into prison, and many were fined in two hundred florins ; dur-
ing which time the provost and his friends were eating and
drinking in the house of the pastor. This took place on the
10th April, and on the 10th of May following a similar scene
was enacted at Bartfeld.
The Bishop of Funfkirchen, Matthew Rhadonai, did not wish
* Hist. Diplom., 1. c. t Hist. Diplom., and (Edenb. Denkwtirdigk. MS.
252 HISTOEY OF THE
to be behind bis brethren in zeal. He accordingly sent a circu-
lar round his diocese, giving information that he would tolerate
within the bounds of his diocese neither heretics, nor Jews, nor
robbers, nor Calvinists, nor blasphemers, and. that everyone who
wished to reside in his diocese must embrace the Roman Catho-
lic religion — which alone can save them. If, however, the
preachers should refuse to listen to reason, they should be
treated like those of Nadasdy and Mobatz. " Be assured," he
wrote in another letter, " that if you sent me twenty-rive bushels
of ducats every day, I would not tolerate you in my diocese.
For I tell you that an ox or an ass, the creeping things and the
fish in the sea, yea, even the devil himself, would sooner be
taken out of the abyss and obtain eternal life than a Calvinist.
I know how dangerous the Calvinistic doctrine is. Robbers,
Calvinists, and Turks, I will not tolerate." This letter bore
date 17th March 1690.
In this spirit were his letters written. Even more zealous
than Kollonitz, he wrote in the following year to the landed
proprietors, directing them for this once to have some little
respect for the law of the land, nevertheless, to lose no oppor-
tunity of advancing the glory of the Church of Rome.
His next attempt was in writing " letters of conversion" to
the Calvinists, filled with threats. Those were directed to the
preachers in Kosmark, Darvocs, Siklos, and others. At the
same time he urged his clergy on to the most violent measures
in rooting out Calvinism. And it did not at that time require
much exertion to produce this much-desired consummation.
The clergy looked to their head, the Archbishop Kollonitz, and
acted as he did. He and the palatine, however, stifled every
feeling of justice and of humanity towards the Protestants.
The evangelical inhabitants of Gran were, without distinction
of sex, driven by force into the Popish Church, their Psalm-
books which they had brought with them were struck out of
their hands. In the country places, the churches of Bash,
Moros, Boosen, and others, were, without ceremony, taken pos-
session of by the Papists, and those who refused to turn to
Popery were driven, quite irrespective of age or sex, from house
and home.
About this time the cardinal obtained from Rome a special
licence permitting the palatine Paul Esterhazy to many his
brother's daughter. The licence was granted on the express con-
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 253
dition that he should use his utmost exertions to banish heresy
from the apostolic empire.* The prince was really in earnest,
and hoped by his zeal to atone fully for the sin of his marriage,
and for every other. He soon surpassed even the clergy. As
the richest landholder in Hungary, he abused his power to
take possession of all the churches on his vast estates. Whole
villages he compelled to become Papists. Whole districts he
banished from house and home on refusing to comply with his
wish, cast others into prison, inventing many new punishments.
All this he did in his private capacity. Then, as palatine, he
ordered all the lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties to
destroy these vermin out of the districts under their care. He
set aside the law of the land, and gave orders in direct contra-
diction to the decrees of the diets.
The Jesuits are not ashamed openly to boast of such things,
as appears in the book Phosphorus Austriacus, Vienna, 1699 ; in
which they report triumphantly that in one year above eighteen
thousand souls have been brought back to the Popish Church,
and that the number of chinches taken from the Protestants
cannot be counted.
It was in the same spirit that, to the great vexation of Joseph,
the court preacher Widmann, in Leopold's funeral oration,
mentioned the great merits of the deceased in rooting out the
heretics. By means of working on Leopold's weakness, and
often without his knowledge, the Jesuits have succeeded in
casting a stain on his character which remains there after his
death. The personal character of the monarch is represented
by many contemporaries as very different from that which we
have seen developed in ecclesiastical matters.
It was natural that the hatred of the Protestants for the throne
of Austria increased under such treatment. The number of malcon-
tents made by the persecution was increased by a host of honest,
well-meaning patriots, who saw with the bitterest sorrow, that,
notwithstanding the oaths and promises of Leopold to preserve
the Constitution of Hungary in all its rights and privileges, yet
Austrian ministers, and especially Cardinal Kollonitz and Pala-
tine Paul Esterhazy, had brought matters so far, that Hungary
was now treated only as a province of Austria.f All these
* The usual name of the Austrian empire at the present time,
t The cardinal's motto was, " I will make Hungary first captive, then
poor, then Popish."
254 HISTORY OF THE
liberal spirits were therefore hated by the ministry of Vienna,
and traps were laid for them, that they might be first provoked
to rebellion, and then betrayed.
They thus succeeded in betraying the young Eakotzy. His
was a character which even the training of Kollonitz and of the
Jesuits had not been able to spoil. Em-aged that he should
not join them in their counsels, they bribed his secretary, who
delivered up a letter which had been written by Eakotzy to
Louis XIV. of France, though that letter had never been sent,
and the secretary had been ordered to bum it.
Eakotzy and many of his most courageous friends were im-
prisoned, and the former would certainly, in spite of Leopold's
promises, and in spite of powerful intercessors on his behalf,
have died on the scaffold, if his noble spouse, Amelia, daughter
of the Landgrave of Hesse, had not promised Captain Lehmann,
who had charge of the prisoners, thirty thousand florins in case
of setting her husband free. Eakotzy escaped to Poland, and
Lehmann died on the scaffold, but the money was duly paid to
his family.
This young and talented prince, whom the King of Poland
refused to surrender up to Austria, now felt himself quite at
liberty, and even called on, to draw the sword for his poor
oppressed country. In April 1703 the first flame of civil war
broke out, and as the insurgents were without arms and disci-
pline, they might very readily have been oppressed.
Eakotzy's arrival out of Poland, his valorous declaration, the
delays of the Court of Vienna, which lay in perfect security, and
some advantages gained by his army in the commencement, put
Eakotzy in possession of the half of Hungary. The insurgents
swanned round the walls of Vienna, and plundered and burnt
all down. The repeated representations of the foreign ambassa-
dors in favour of Hungary had for years been disregarded, and
now the evident falsehood and insincerity of the Court of Vienna
prevented any reasonable expectation of peace, even in spite of
all the exertions of that best of patriots and most moderate of
priests, Paul Szecsenyi, Archbishop of Kalotska. " Who can
believe," wrote Eakotzy to the archbishop, " that the Court of
Vienna really intends to keep its word, when the Turks are
already invited to assist in quelling the discontent, and when
the Jews are promised a great reward for assassinating myself?''
And again, — " The king acknowledges that the laws of the land
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF. HUNGARY. 255
have been transgressed by his officers without his wish or know-
ledge, and yet he does nothing to cause the injustice to cease.
He refers only to some coming diet, but, after what we have
seen, we may rather expect the injustice and the oppression to
increase than to cease when the diet meets." *
Rakotzy was willing to enter into a treaty, but only on condi-
tion that a guarantee be given by the foreign powers that the
treaty shall really be carried out. Nothing could be more
disagreeable to the Court of Vienna ; but the circumstances were
such, that, owing to Rakotzy's success and talents, and to
their own mistakes, they were now compelled to admit George
Stepney, the English ambassador, and also the ambassador
from the Netherlands, to take part in the deliberations with
Rakotzy's deputies. These deliberations were conducted partly
at Paks, partly at Gyongyos ; but, owing to the changeableness
of the directions sent from Vienna, they came to no conclusion,
and Leopold continued to waste and plunder not only Hungary,
but also Transylvania.
The Protestants who lived under the government of Calvin-
istic princes had, since Botskay's days, about the year 1605,
lived in peace with the Unitarians and the Papists. On the
death of Apaffy, however, in the year 1690, this land was
also doomed to drink the bitter cup which the Jesuits mix.
With a prudent precaution, the States had, previous to their
union with Austria, taken every legal means of securing, by
repeated and varied enactments, their full civil and religious
liberty. Leopold had, in the name of himself and his successors,
in the most solemn manner, ratified these enactments, and bound
himself by a decree, dated at Vienna, 4th December 1691, to the
strictest observance. So early, however, as the 4th December
1693, the king published a declaration, by which all the con-
tracts were rendered of little avail, and in 1699 another, by
which the Protestants were reduced to the greatest straits.
For upwards of a hundred years there had been no Roman
Catholic bishop in Transylvania, and it was contrary to law for
any one to assume the title. A bishop made his appearance,
however ; and shortly after, in the year 1700, the College of
Weiskirchen was taken away from the Calvinists, and this was
done by a company of soldiers under the command of a priest.
Leopold had just a few years before sworn, " never to issue an
* Fessler, 1. c.,. vol. ix.
256 HISTORY OF THE
edict by which, the Protestants should be disturbed or hampered
in their religious rights and liberties." Soon after, churches
were taken away. They were in a short time obliged to restore
the college, but the chamber now refused to pay the professors,
and they were reduced to the greatest want.
A new royal edict appeared in 1702, respecting the tithes.
The tithes were to be taken from the Protestants, and they
were about to be excluded from public offices, when an agree-
ment was made — in which the Lutherans, however, had no part
— according to which the tithes were to be divided between
the Protestants and Roman Catholics. Even this, however,
brought no peace, for " what the Calvinists and the Unitarians
voluntarily surrendered, was kindly received by the Papists,
and what they did not surrender on demand was taken by
force." *
Wherefore, in the year 1703, in the midst of the war, a depu-
tation was sent to Vienna to beg the king to protect the Pro-
testants. The deputation waited long ; and before they had
received their reply, the king's general, Robutin, had laid the
town of Enyed, with its Protestant college, in ashes. This took
place on the Sunday before Easter, in 1704 ; and shortly after-
wards, or in the following August, Transylvania elected
R&kotzy to be prince.
Under such circumstances was the consideration of the condi-
tions of peace more earnestly taken up, in the presence and
under the assistance of the foreign ambassadors.
On the 1st May 1705, the king invited the English and
Dutch ambassadors to join with Szecsenyi in shewing that he
was prepared to remove all just ground of complaint. Rakotzy
demanded other securities, such as the occupation of the for-
tresses in the country by Hungarian soldiers, the removal of
foreign generals from the army, and of the foreign civil officers —
the blood-suckers of the country — according to the constitution ;
and also the enjoyment of equal civil and religious privileges
by all ranks and parties.
Whether the king would have kept such a promise is doubt-
ful ,* and the more so, when we see him regretting the privileges
which the Protestants had obtained at the Diet of (Edenberg.
On his death-bed he was distressed at the thought of the
devastations in his kingdom, and at the prospects which awaited
* Historia Transylvanise, p. 33.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 257
his son, Joseph I. In addition to this, a letter from the Elector
of Bavaria, Maximilian, to R&kotzy, was intercepted, and the
consequence was, that he gave the following wise advice to his
son : — " Whatever the ministers may say, make peace with the
Hungarians. Demand the fulfilment only of the conditions of the
last Presburg Diet and the right of inheritance ; and whatever else
the insurgents may demand, yield it, however hard it may appear ;
that you may then be able to protect the whole kingdom from
foreign invasion."*
Thus departed Leopold, on the 5th of May 1 705, in his sixty-
fifth year. People have given him the appellation of " The
Great." In as far as Hungary was concerned, he had no title
to it. This country could not call him even a just king. With
the sword, and with constant fear and jealousy, the Hungarians
must protect themselves from him and his courtiers, as from
robbers. The noblest of her sons died on the scaffold or in exile,
and Hungary must look quietly on. The deeds which Leopold's
emissaries perpetrated in the name of true religion, would have
brought disgrace on a heathen government. At Marienzell, the
famous place for pilgrimages, which Leopold often visited, he
usually began his prayers with the formula, u I, Leopold, the
chief of sinners, and the unworthy servant of the Holy Virgin,"
&c.
What brought honour on his name was the distinguished
general the Duke of Lutringia and Eugene of Savoy; his
ministers, Strattmann and Kannitz, brought him respect from
foreign courts ; but in as far as Protestantism in general is con-
cerned, or in as far as Hungary and its Church was connected
with him, we can only see him as the blind instrument of an
archbishop, and it is only as a heartless persecutor that he
deserves the epithet, " The Great."
* Fessler, Gesch der Ungarn, vol. ix. p. 566.
258 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XIX.
JOSEPH L— FROM 1705 TO 1711.
Election of Superintendents — Quarrels between the Pastors and the Lay Office-bearers
in the Church Courts — Pastor of Presburg banished by Kollonitz — Charles XII.
founds Scholarships — Synod of Rosenberg — Diet of Onod — Rakotzy Excommuni-
cated— Rakotzy and the Jesuits — Joseph favours the Protestants — Death of the
King — Peace of Szathmar.
With the banishing of a Jesuit, the notorious Widemann, who
had delivered the funeral oration over the late king, and with a
complete amnesty under date of 10th May 1705, Joseph the First
of Austria "began his reign. The conciliatory spirit with which
he commenced was also most firmly retained during life. What
a privilege was this for the Protestants ! Under persecution
and oppression, the inward life of the Church had suffered
severely, and little had been done for the schools. Their
principal members had been executed ; their pastors banished ;
and since 1672, they had no superintendents in all that part of
the country under Leopold's sway. It was in 1704, during the
disturbances under Rakotzy, that the Lutherans took courage
to elect Stephen Pilarik of Schemnitz, and by the assistance of
the Baron Godfrey Hellenbach, to appoint him to the office of
superintendent on the 19th of May. On the 22d May, Andrew
Bodo, of Szetnek, and James Zabler (just returned from exile to
his church at Bartfeld), were elected superintendents. The
nobility elected a fourth, in the person of Daniel Kirmann,
pastor of Sol, in the year 1706, and Stephen Pilarik ordained
him without any opposition on the part of the congregations.
There was just now great need of distinguished men at the head
of the ecclesiastical movements, for very unpleasant misunder-
standings existed in many cases between the pastors and the
elders of the churches. The elders and deacons of the churches
wished to place the pastor in a very dependent position, and the
PEOTESTANT CHUECH OF HUNGAEY. 259
clergy, on the other hand, did not always treat the lay repre-
sentatives of the Church with becoming deference. In Presburg,
the quarrel between the town council and pastor Christian
Krumbholz rose to such a height, that Cardinal Kollonitz inter-
fered, and banished the pastor. In Modern, the superintendent,
Stephen Pilarik, published a catechism in which the reply to the
question, " What is God?" stated, " God is a Spirit." Now,
in former catechisms, it had been added, u the most perfect ; "
which expression Pilarik omitted, and the omission was the
occasion of a quarrel, which rose to such a pitch, that Pilarik
had to resign his office and retire to Saxony. There he lived
many years as pastor of Meissen.
The loss of such men could be ill borne just at this time, and
was so much the more felt as they had by their learning done so
much for the schools. The Latin proverb says, u When arms
sound, the Muses keep silence ;" but the Protestants of Hungary
had always made good use of the times of peace to make the
schools efficient.
And notwithstanding all that had taken place, still the high
schools were in a tolerably satisfactory state. In GEdenberg,
Noeschel had introduced a new curriculum, in which the Hun-
garian language was made prominent — a measure which makes
GEdenberg to this day a place of no small importance as the
seat of a Hungarian college. In Presburg, Modern, Guns, and
Posing, as also in the mining towns of Lower Hungary, Krem-
nitz, Schemnitz, and Neusohl, there were distinguished professors,
who, like Bury and Pilarik, had won themselves a high place in
the hearts of many grateful students. In the free cities of Upper
Hungary, as Leutshaw and Eperjes, the Protestants were not
less zealous ; indeed, in the latter city, some thought them too
zealous, for, instead of the college which had been destroyed in
1672, they in 1684 commenced to build a new establishment,
which, from its splendour, excited the envy of their foes, and
brought on them much persecution. The Calvinists gave a
pleasing evidence here of their kindly spirit towards their Luthe-
ran brethren, in making a very liberal collection towards the
building fund.
While thus engaged in advancing the interests of the schools,
the Protestants were not only favoured by the victories of Ea-
kotzy, but also by the intervention of foreign princes. On the
28th July 1705, Charles XII. of Sweden decreed that four
260 HISTORY OF THE
Hungarian students of divinity should be supported at his
expense at Greifswald, and he at the same time undertook to
intercede with the king on behalf of the Protestant interests
generally. In the counties of Thurocs and Liptau, many
churches which, either by force or fraud, had been taken from
the Protestants, were, by the order of Rakotzy, restored. Among
these was the church of Libethen, where the first Protestant
congregation in Hungary had been formed. In the free election
of their pastors the Protestants were much less hampered than
formerly; and this may have arisen from a conviction on the
minds of the oppressors, that the dowager-empress and the king-
were tired of fighting, and in case of complaint were prepared
to shew the Protestants more justice.
It appeared, then, to be a proper time for holding a synod to
regulate the disorders which had crept in during the persecutions
of Ferdinand. Accordingly, in April 1707, the Synod of Rosen-
berg met. The burning of candles in daylight, and the chanting
of the liturgy, were, at this meeting, directed to cease, and in
their stead suitable portions of Scripture, and a selection of
prayers for particular occasions, were ordered to be read. The
singing of Latin hymns and the abuse of instrumental music
in public worship were forbidden, and it was directed in future
to abstain from funerals at night, as well as from carrying a
cross before the coffins. Another regulation was as impolitic as
it was opposed to the principles of the evangelical church,
namely, that the superintendents should bear the title " Excel-
lentissimus." Among other reasons, this was not without its
influence on the bishops in inducing them at the following diet
to urge that the decrees of this synod should be annulled.
It was at this time that Rakotzy summoned the Diet of Onod,
at which the throne of Hungary was declared vacant; and it
was resolved that Hungary should in future be a republic. From
this time forward Rakotzy 's good fortune began to forsake him,
and the ambitious friends who surrounded him, but especially
Count Beresenyi, the commander of the forces, drove him to ruin.
At this diet, all the four churches, the Roman Catholic, Luthe-
ron, Calvinistic, and Unitarian, were declared to have equal
rights and privileges, and preparations were made for banishing
the Jesuits.
Several of the deputies now raised their voices in favour of the
Jesuits, and brought charges against the Protestants. When a
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 261
petition had been prepared, setting forth the great benefits which
the Jesuits had conferred on the country, this Roman Catholic
prince not only expressed his astonishment, but also in a length-
ened reply expressed his entire dissatisfaction with the order
and its schemes. He reminded the States how it was the Jesuits
who had given him a spy in the person of Captain Longuevall,
who betrayed him to the government of Vienna by means of
the notorious letter to Louis XIV. ; how it was the Jesuits
who were raising triumphal arches for him in Transylvania,
and were supplying him with money for the war, while they, at
the very same time, were representing themselves in Vienna as
martyrs to the cause of the emperor.* All that they had done
for the cause of education — so thought Rakotzy — had been more
than counterbalanced by the persecutions, and the confusions,
and mischief which they had caused in all lands, but especially
in Hungary. f
The prudence of the prince prevented a schism in the ranks of
the insurgents, but this made it only the more necessary for
Joseph to take energetic measures for protecting himself from
the impending danger. Accordingly, while his generals, with
all manner of troops — among whom were even Danes and
Hanoverians — were watching every opportunity for successful
operations, the king published once more a complete amnesty.
He also summoned a diet to meet at Presburg in 1708, but,
notwithstanding all assurances of personal safety, not one of
Rakotzy's party appeared. The object of the diet was thus
lost, but the spirit of the times was still manifest ; for, when the
Protestants presented their petition for redress of grievances, the
Roman Catholic party obstinately resisted, giving as a reason,
that all the Protestants were rebels, and, as such, deserved no
sympathy. The diet separated without bringing the Protestants
any relief, and all appeared to go on as under the reign of
Leopold.
It was on the 12th December 1709 that the dawn of a better
day appeared. Under this date, Joseph issued an edict, together
with a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Gran, directing that
the priests should cease their clandestine persecutions; that in
religious matters, all should remain as it was before the Rakotzy
* Engel, Gesch., 1. a, p. 197.
t Petr. Bad. Hist. Eccl. Hung., tom. iii., MS. ; Ribinyi, Memorabilia,
torn. ii. p. 172.
262 HISTORY OF THE
revolution ; that the articles of the (Edenberg Diet of 1681
should be explained in their natural literal meaning, and should
be scrupulously adhered to ; and that no change should be made
except legally at the diet. By this step he gained the hearts of
many Protestants, who, weary of war, were only waiting for an
opportunity of laying down their arms with a good conscience.
Eakotzy's ranks began to thin. Soon, however, must he sustain
a heavier loss. Clement XI., in a bull of 18th December,
through the Cardinal of Saxony, excommunicated Eakotzy.
The Eoman Catholics, in great numbers, deserted him. Want
of money and disagreements among his generals now induced
him to take steps for a reconciliation with Joseph. His violent
but short-sighted Hungarian advisers now piled difficulties in
his way, and reminded him of his pledge, not to lay down arms
till complete civil and religious liberty had been gained for the
whole land. The war continued ; even the advice of the King
of Poland was rejected j and Eakotzy's cause went on sinking
fast.
One cause of Joseph's continued success was his faithfulness
to the Protestants, even when danger seemed to be past. The
clergy were again resuming their old tricks wherever Joseph's
arms were victorious ; and the Protestants of Schemnitz, Krem-
nitz, and Neusohl cried to the king for help against the royal
commissioners, and especially against Ladislaus Borsehitzky,
whose zeal in the restoration of the Catholic faith equalled the
olden time. • !
On the 10th March 1710, Joseph issued an order to the arch-
bishop and his coadjutor, * " That the Protestants should not
be disturbed in the possession of such church property as was
guaranteed by the (Edenberg Diet of 1681, and which they held
previously to Eakotzy's rebellion ; those who had returned from
exile should be allowed to remain quietly, and the Protestant
pastors should not be disturbed in the possession of their
revenues." The cardinal wrote a circular to the clergy, in
which he explained this edict in a way prejudicial to the Pro^-
testants ; but Joseph immediately issued a fresh order, in which
he declared that the churches which Eakotzy had taken from
* Christian August Duke of Saxony distinguished himself in the siege of
Ofen, and in the year 1692 joined the Eoman Catholic Church. In the
year 1695 he became Bishop of Raab, and coadjutor of the Archbishop of
Gran.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 263
the Roman Catholics should be restored, but the Protestant pas-
tors and schoolmasters should retain the revenues.*
In this way was Joseph seeking to restore peace and harmony
among his subjects, when the angel of death, in an unexpected
wav, entered the royal dwelling. Joseph the First was attacked
with small-pox, and very soon died.
In the meantime, Rakotzy was pursued and driven out of
Hungary to the borders of Poland. He had given his army
into the command of one of his generals, Count Karolyi, and,
though much smaller than formerly, still the numbers were con-
siderable. He heard, however, nothing of the death of Joseph,
and the communication having been stopped in consequence of a
prevailing epidemic, the Court of Vienna succeeded for the present
in keeping him in ignorance.
By great exertions on the part of Count Paul Pallfy, the field-
marshal, and Eleonora, the queen-dowager, a peace was at last
concluded, known by the name of the " Peace of Szathmar." It
was signed on the 10th of May 1711, and the conditions were
guaranteed on the part of England by the Earl of Sutherland,
and on the part of Holland by Baron Eechtan. It was a hard
battle which those men fought on both sides before they could
bring about a reconciliation. The manner in which they did
their work, however, may be learned from a memorial which the
same men, as representatives of their respective countries, handed
to Leopold before his death. In this memorial they stated,
u that the conduct of the landed proprietors, in compelling those
who resided on their estates to adopt the religion of their land-
lord, is in no way different from the awful French persecutions.
It is not to be expected that by such treatment the souls of men
can be brought nearer to God. If the dragoons and hussars are
proper persons to do the work of the apostles of Jesus Christ, he
would never have said, ' Behold, I send you forth as sheep among
wolves ; ' and besides, these dragoons are not fishers of men, but
' mighty hunters before the Lord,' who hunt for souls to drive
them to perdition."
The fruit of such representations these men reaped in the
* These were chiefly churches where the whole village was Protestant,
but where the church was claimed by the Catholics on the ground that
they had built it. In such places the priests enjoyed the revenue without
having a single individual under their care. In Harken, in (Edenberg
county, in Missdorf. and elsewhere, this may be seen at the present day.
264 HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH; ETC.
Peace of Szathmar, some of the conditions of which were as
follows : —
" The Transylvanians shall be treated according to their own
laws, rights, and customs. The ecclesiastical state of the Knma-
nians, Jasyges, and free Haiduken, should be regulated at the
next diet. The States have a right to demand at the diet what
appears to them to be a sufficient guarantee of the king's sincerity
in engaging to preserve the independence of Hungary and Tran-
sylvania ; to appoint none but natives to civil and military
offices ; and to grant the Protestants perfect freedom. It was
forbidden, under heavy penalty, to make the participation in the
confederation with Rakotzy any reason for punishment in time to
come. The royal generals and civil officers received the most
peremptory orders to treat all parties with perfect impartiality."*
* Fessler, vol. ix. p. 646.
€|)trtJ Pra'cto-
FROM THE PEACE OF SZATHMAE TO THE DEATH OF LEOPOLD E,
1712-1792.
CHAPTER I.
CHARLES VI.— 1712 TO 1740.
Rakotzy's Retirement — Coronation of Charles in Prcsburg — New Persecutions — The
King protects the Protestants — The Diet — The King still favourable to Impartial
Justice— Renewal of the Acts of 1681 and 1GS7— Quibbles — Proposed Oath to
exclude the Protestants — The Protestants placed entirely in the hands of the
King.
The bloody war which had laid the country waste for a period
of nine years, was now concluded at the Treaty of Szathmar.
Thousands of labourers returned to the cultivation of the land.
The nobility repaired the castles which had been burnt down,
and resumed their patriarchal relation to their dependants. The
amnesty had been universal, so that even Rakotzy might live at
ease, if he chose, on his estates. Full of mistrust, however, to-
wards the Austrian government, and of hatred towards his former
adherents, he preferred residing out of the country. With a
few faithful followers he went to Paris, where he resided for six
years. Some historians say he was supported by the bounty
of the French king, but this we cannot believe, as, by the Treaty
of Szathmar, he had full right to enjoy the proceeds of his
estates when and how he chose. He afterwards lived eighteen
years at Constantinople, and died at Rodosto in Bessarabia, in
his sixtieth year.
In the meantime, Charles hastened home from Spain to take
possession of the throne which had been unexpectedly vacated.
The Capuchin monks of Mount St Jerome helped him to escape.
266 HISTORY OF THE
The act cost the guardian and reader of the cloister their lives,
but at a later time Charles richly repaid the favour which had
thus been shewn him, by endowing that order of monks, on a
magnificent scale, at Vienna. Charles was crowned emperor at
Frankfort-on- the -Maine, and on the 25th January 1712 lie
reached Vienna. One of his first acts was to surrender the
royal crown of Hungary to deputies of the Hungarian nation,
that this monument of their national independence, which had
been so long shut up in the treasury at Vienna, might be in
their own hands.
A diet was soon summoned at Presburg, to take the necessary
steps for his coronation as King of Hungary. The coronation
took place with great splendour on the 2 2d of May, in the
Cathedral of St Martin. Immediately afterwards, the Pro-
testants presented an earnest statement of their case, and
expressed a hope that the confidence which they had placed
in him might be realised.
Since the death of Joseph, the Protestants had experienced
new oppressions, and, while the conditions of the Peace of
Szathmar were not yet carried out, the public worship of the
Protestants had already in some places been made to cease. At
Neusohl, the soldiers had been employed in this work, and the
empress-mother had been obliged to use her influence that the
disturbances should cease. She had written, " that, both in
Hungary and Transylvania, the rights of the Protestants as
established by law should be respected, and that they should at
all times have the liberty of presenting their grievances, either
before the king or the diet." The bishops had, however, found
means of evading the law and of manifesting their hatred to the
Protestants in many forms of oppression. The petition, there-
fore, which the Protestants presented at the coronation, was to
the effect, that those pastors who had in the meantime been
banished from their churches, or deprived of their income, might
be restored to their rights.
If we may judge from the number of decrees which Charles
published in favour of the Protestants, and from the circum-
stances mentioned in those edicts, we would infer, that the
spirit of persecution was as rampant at this time as it had ever
been. Though sometimes hardly pressed by the clerical party,
yet we find him shewing no favour to the arbitrary acts even of
those high in power. At the diet of 1712, he gave orders to
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 267
allow the Protestants every opportunity of bringing forward
their just complaints. And though he sent the archdeacon as
royal commissioner to visit the Protestant churches of Gomor,
yet he gave orders to the youthful Joseph Esterhazy on no
account to disturb the Protestant church of Bartfeld, and he
recalled and reinstated the Eeformed pastor of Lewens, after the
clerical party had banished him.
On the 14th August 1713 he issued an edict by which the
authorities of Kashaw were warned to keep within the bounds of
the law in their treatment of the Protestants ; that the clergy
should not be prevented from receiving their just dues from the
people ; that the tradesmen should not be punished for absenting
themselves from the processions on Corpus Christi day ; and that
the charge of having taken part with Kakotzy should no more
be allowed to prevent any one from enjoying his fall rights.
Such impartial justice filled the hearts of the Protestants with
rejoicing, but tended only to excite the priests to greater watch-
fulness to find grounds of accusation. It was bitter, they thought,
that when they had so nearly gained their great end — the annihil-
ation of the Protestant Church — a new respite should be afforded
the heretics to enable them to gather strength. Accordingly, if a
pastor preached, visited the sick, or discharged any pastoral duty
out of the bounds of his parish, a charge was immediately pre-
ferred against him. It was not unusual in such cases to excite
the people and to raise a tumult, while the pastors were then
charged as the cause of the riot.*
In consequence of such representations, the clergy obtained
from Charles, on 29th April 1714, an unfavourable edict for the
Protestants, in which they were ordered on no account to go
beyond the bounds of their parishes to open schools which had
not existed previous to Rakotzy's time, nor to retain any pastors
or teachers who were not actually and fully employed.
The difficulty of the king's position may, however, be readily
seen. Still his example had an effect on the cardinal-archbishop,
* This conduct was not confined to that period, for in 1840 the same
plans were with great effect carried out. A band of rioters, with the priest
at their head, disturbing Protestant funerals ; the pastor arrested for
assembling the children of his parishioners on a Sunday evening to cate-
chise them ; on the decease of a pastor, the widow not allowed to inherit a
commentary on the Bible, the property of her deceased husband, because it
was a book not in accordance with the doctrines of the Church of Eome ;
— such are occurrences in our own time.
268 HISTORY OF THE
for, when the Protestants of G-omor county presented a petition
complaining of the loss of their churches, he did not, it is true,
restore them, but on the back of the petition wrote a direction
to the Protestants and Catholics to live in peace with each other,
and to the authorities that they should faithfully carry out the
king's decrees.
On the 26th of June 1714 we find another edict directing that
the tradesmen who had been imprisoned for not attending the
procession on Corpus Christi day, should be immediately released,
and that the authorities of Kashaw should in future let religious
matters alone. On the 10th of June we find another royal letter
to the citizens of Eperjes, ordering them to obey the royal com-
missioners, and to restore the Protestant church and schoolhouse.
A very sharp reproof was also given to the Roman Catholic citi-
zens of Bartfeld for annoying the Protestants in the building of a
new church.
The last diet had been dissolved on account of the plague,
and Charles summoned a new meeting in Presburg, which
lasted from 19th October 1714 till 10th June 1715. In the
upper house the bishops, and in the lower house many of the
Roman Catholic deputies, evinced such a spirit of hostility to
the late conciliatory measures, that many presumed on this
fact to renew the persecutions they loved so well.
At the diet, an effort was made not only to annihilate the
conditions of the Peace of Vienna and Linz, but also of the
diets of 1681 and 1687, and to make the bishops supreme judges
in all matters pertaining to religion. The king, however, on
examining the proposed enactments, struck out such passages as
seemed to him severe. He erased one declaration, which pro-
posed to enact that no attention should be paid to any edict of
toleration for the Protestants previous to the year 1681, and
confirmed the following enactments : —
u The king declares it to be his royal will and pleasure that
the enactments of the diets of 1681 and 1687, in matters of dis-
pute between the Roman Catholics and Protestants, be con-
sidered as still binding, and are hereby renewed. Should any
one consider himself aggrieved by the execution of these resolu-
tions, he has a right personally, but not in a corporate capacity,
to present his grievance before the throne. Commissioners
shall be appointed by the king and the diet conjointly for carry-
ing out this decree."
PROTESTANT CHUKCH OF HUNGARY. 269
The kingdoms of Dalmatia and Slavonia, as also some free
cities, were to be left out of these enactments. The law had
some benefits for the Protestants, but they were burdened with
many disadvantages.*
The laws of 1681 and 1687 had been mentioned, but were not
entered ; it had been said that the enactments should be ex-
plained according to their real meaning ; but who should decide
what that is? Should the enactments of Leopold in 1691, of
Joseph in 1709 and 1710, decide? or should the diet pass a
declaratory act for explaining the resolutions ? Such questions
gave the Protestants much annoyance before the commission,
which soon met at Pesth. The quibbles were endless. It was
said this enactment is a declaration of " the royal will and plea-
sure," consequently the Protestants have no legal rights. It was
said that the old statutes were u still" binding, which might imply
that they could any day be suspended. Such were the quibbles
of men resolved to be partial.
The decision was also unfavourable, which directed the com-
plaints in future not to be laid before the diet, but before the
king. The number and the political weight of the Roman
Catholic commissioners was so unfavourable, that the Pro-
testants begged some alteration to be made. At this time, also,
the Protestant religion was solemnly abolished in Dalmatia, and
the Peace of Vienna thus openly violated.
In the decree which annulled the decision of the Synod of
Rosenberg bitter expressions were used respecting the Protest-
ants ; and now they were prohibited from holding any synod or
passing any decrees without the knowledge and approbation of
the king. The alleged reason was to prevent rebellion, but the
real reason was to undermine the independence of the Church,
an object which the Popish clergy kept always prominent, as
was evident from the violence with which they insisted on the
formula of the oath in future being, " I swear by the Holy
Virgin Mary, and by all the Saints," for with such an oath no
Protestant could accept office.
The priests represented the Protestant clergy as not adminis-
* The commissioners appointed for carrying out the enactments were
the imperial Baron George Berenyi, Councillor Michael Revay, Godfrey
Hellenbach, Andrew Hunyady, Stephen Barlock, Stephen Nagy, John St
Ivany, Joseph Sigray, Paul Skoliesany, Paul Roday, and others, amounting
to twenty in number.
270 HISTORY OF THE
tering the ordinance of baptism according to Scripture. And they
found a case which suited their purpose. The Reformed pastor
of Raab was a distinguished physician, and was often at dinner
with the bishop. On one occasion, after dinner, he asserted
that baptism was sufficient, if administered, not in the name of
the Holy Trinity, but in the name of Christ ; and he appealed to
passages in the Acts of the Apostles in support of his assertion.
This story was told at the diet with all earnestness as being the
" Protestant doctrine," and appears to have given occasion to
the decree of Charles VI. at a later time, in which he directed
that the Protestant pastors should be examined respecting their
views of baptism before they could be ordained.
With all their efforts to introduce the new form of oath, u by
the Virgin and all the Saints," the priests did not for the present
succeed. In another matter they were more successful, for
when the deputies wished a declarative act, that the patron had
no rights over the conscience of his subjects, the palatine and
magnates contrived to leave the restrictive clause completely
away, and thus give the landed proprietors the most unbounded
rights over their tenants. Many churches were by means of this
clause lost to the Protestants, and many trials had to be en-
dured.
The Protestants protested against the clause placing all their
liberties in the hands of the king, but the Lord had, for the
present, so arranged the matter for the best. They were just
now safer in the hands of the king than under the power of the
bishops, who had so many means at their disposal, and who
were so unscrupulous in the use of these means. From the Roman
Catholic Church no compassion was to be expected.
Whoever refused to acknowledge the Pope as head of the
Church, Mary as intercessor with God, while the Scripture said,
There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus, — whoever refused to go to mass, to kneel to
the host, or such like idolatry, — such an individual was to the
priests what the Jews were to the Samaritans. Shut out from
all compassion, and all the privileges of humanity, whoever
killed them thought he did God service.*
* A Jesuit preached in Lemberg in 1846. Among other edifying por-
tions of the sermon occurred the statement — "The Protestants have no
souls."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 271
CHAPTER II.
The Difficulties of the King's Position — The Roman Catholics seize the Protestaut
Churches in the newly-conquered Lands — Jesuitical Justification of the Acts — The
Churches of Komorn, Wesprim, Papa, and Lewens — The Tithes — Presumption of
the Priests— Attempt to reduce the Number of Preachers— Petitions to the King,
and his Reply.
The hatred to the Protestants had reached such a pitch during
the whole reign of Charles VI., that it appeared sometimes im-
possible for the king to protect them. The question respecting
the advantage of a measure was sometimes more pressing than
respecting its justice. Still Charles deserves the high praise of
endeavouring to do the best for the Protestants under existing
circumstances, and of always to the utmost of his power protect-
ing them from their sworn enemies the Jesuits.
The forcible removal of churches and schools was now most
felt in the districts where the Turkish crescent had been wont to
stand. The Jesuits said that all the toleration edicts had been
made for that part of Hungary which had stood under Austrian
rule, and not for the districts under Turkish sway ; conse-
quently the newly-conquered territories had no claim for relief,
at least under those enactments.
This argument was sufficient for the Popish zealots. Instru-
ments were found to do the work. The Protestants, who had
lived quietly under the Turks, were now exposed to violent
persecution under the Popish government.
The diet had scarcely ended, when Alexander Nedesky,
deputy-lieutenant of Komorn, began to banish the Reformed
clergy, and ceased only when the king ordered him to make up
a list of the churches which the Protestants had held before and
during the diet of 1681. The town of Wesprim must no more
have a church, a manse, or school, said the priests, for it is no
more a border town. For the same reason must the Protestants
272 HISTORY OF THE
in Papa, who were the majority of the inhabitants, give up their
claim to have a place of worship. In Lewens, the Protestant3
were deprived of their religious liberty, and an attempt was
made to reduce them absolutely under the power of the priests.*
In Barsch, the priests took possession of one church after an-
other, and made the people Catholic. The matters went so far,
that on the 2d December 1716 the king ordered an official report
of the proceedings to be handed to him.
What grieved the Roman Catholics was, that in places where
their religion had either entirely ceased, or where only few
adherents remained, the Protestants were in possession of the
revenues. The one party considered this most unjust, the other
party thought it perfectly reasonable. The Protestants thought
that a Popish priest and schoolmaster did not require any income
where there was no work for them to do. The Papists thought
that what had been originally built and endowed for their
Church must always belong to her. The king was often greatly
at a loss to know how to decide. This was evident from the
decrees at this time published, in which he acted evidently
without any fixed rule, yielding merely to the pressure of the
individual case. In Sol the tithes were given to the priests;
in Little Houta they were reserved for the Protestants.f This
was accomplished by the intervention of the obergespan, Stephen
Eokary, in April 1720.
The priests assumed to themselves a kind of territorial right,
and exercised the same authority over the Protestant as over the
Eoman Catholic parishioners. The priest of Bakabanya drove
this interference so far, that the Protestant knight, John Godfrey
Hellenbach, appealed successfully against him at the county
court.
It was a mark of a good Catholic to hamper the Protestants
in the exercise of every right. They sometimes could not con-
veniently take possession of a church or school ; and just at
that time it was no easy matter to get up a credible report of an
intended rebellion ; so there remained nothing over but to repre-
* The pastor of Garamsogh was summoned before the Bishop and
Chapter of Gomor, to answer to the charge of having performed pastoral
functions beyond the bounds of his parish, but the Protestant nobility
protected him.
t Only seven churches here and one in Neograd retained the tithes for
the Protestants ; but this arrangement lasted till 1848.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 273
sent the meetings of synod as very dangerous affairs. Indeed,
they obtained a decree prohibiting all synods. Another plan
was to represent the number of pastors and teachers in the
larger Protestant chinches as being quite too great for the cir-
cumstances of the place, and to suggest that they were supported
for other reasons than for the wants of that particular church.
Their perseverance was so great, that the commander of the fort
at Trentshin had, within two years, to receive three distinct
orders from Vienna to cease to annoy the Protestants. Notwith-
standing all these warnings, he succeeded in removing one of
the pastors, as also the high school, in the year 1719, and pro-
hibited those who resided in another parish from attending the
church.
The zeal of the commander went so far, that he was prevent-
ing the church from electing a new pastor in the place of the
aged and sickly John Blasius, and had also given orders that
the neighbouring nobility should have no access to the church ;
but a petition to the king set matters right, and the commander
of the fortress was ordered to let the Protestants alone.
In Neusohl the Protestants were more fortunate. Where an
investigation had been instituted to inquire into the reason why
this chmch supported three pastors, they were able to persuade
Charles to allow all three to remain. The Calvinists at Bets-
Volgye, in county Szalod, appealed successfully to the king
for protection ; and also at Papa, though they lost their church,
still they obtained permission to meet together elsewhere for
worship. No one from another parish was permitted to join
them. This was in 1720, and it was ordered that all should
remain as it was till the commission at Pesth had finished its
work, and given in the report to the king. This resolution was
adopted to quiet the Protestants, who were violent in their de-
mands for a speedy and final settlement of their grievances.
Orders were then issued to the commission to take up the com-
plaints of the Protestants, to examine them accurately, and to
give a full report to the king.
274 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER III
THE PESTH COMMISSION.
The Commission, which was expected to settle all the quarrels
in religious matters, was summoned at first to Ofen, but com-
menced its business afterwards at Pesth, under the guidance of
Stephen Kohaiy as president, on the 16th March 1721. The
basis of their deliberations should have been the 25th and 26th
articles of the (Edenberg Diet ; and if the commissioners had con-
fined themselves to their instructions, it would have been happy
for the land. The Popish part of the Commission, however, re-
solved to take as the basis of their transactions the decree of
Leopold of 1691, which had been falsified by Kollonitz, and had
never been recognised by the Protestants as genuine. They also
introduced another decree of 1707, which was very unfavour-
able to the Protestants, and in which the following sentences
occur : —
" That the Protestants of the Helvetic and Augsburg Confes-
sions shall have the liberty of publicly professing their religion
only in those lands which in 1681 were in possession of his Ma-
jesty ; but in the newly-conquered territories there should be no
liberty to profess any other religion than the Koman Catholic."
" In many cities, the freedom of religious exercises was ori-
ginally granted only because these cities lay on the border of
the kingdom ; as the kingdom, however, has been extended so that
these cities have ceased to be border towns, the religious tolera-
tion must also naturally cease."
" Religious toleration has not been granted for the purpose
of allowing members of the Roman Catholic Church to join the
Protestants. Accordingly, when any Roman Catholic attaches
himself to the Protestant Church, or any Protestant having
PEOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 275
joined the Roman Catholic Church, should he again return to
the Protestants, in all such cases the party concerned shall be
dealt with as a perjured person, and shall be delivered over
accordingly to the law of the land."
The Protestants protested so much the more against the intro-
duction of this mandate as the basis of the transactions of the
Commission, as it was so directly in opposition to the royal
decree of 1715. This decision had been as follows : —
" His Majesty commands that the three acknowledged con-
fessions in Hungary shall be tolerated according to the true
meaning of the articles of the Diet of CEdenberg; the king
will graciously take care that the guaranteed conditions shall
be faithfully carried out, and that neither the landed proprietor
nor any other shall avail himself of his position to" force the
conscience of any individual. If, however, contrary to his
expectations, such oppression should be threatened, the king
will prevent it with all his royal power and influence."
How different were the two decrees ! By adhering to the
latter, peace might be obtained. The following demand was
accordingly made on the commissioners : " That they recognise
that religious liberty continue to be the right of every one, in
every station whatever, in the land. That no difficulty be laid
in the way of calling and supporting the pastors. That in
the fortresses, in the capital cities, or in any other places, no
one shall be prevented attending divine worship when he
pleases ; no one shall be compelled to change his religion ; no
one's property confiscated on account of change of religion;
that no one should be deprived of his situation, or prevented
from holding office in consequence of his religious views. No
li priests' dues" shall be demanded from Protestants. They
shall have the use of graveyard and church bells like the
Catholics. No one shall be summoned before the deacons'
court for having become Protestant. No landlord to have the
right of compelling his tenants to become Catholics. The
Protestants shall have a right to elect superintendents. They
shall have their marriages under their own jurisdiction. They
shall not be subjected to visitations on the part of the Popish
bishops. Protestant pastors shall not in future be banished
from their churches or obliged to resign; they shall have free
access to the sick and the dying, to prisoners, and all others
who are members of their Church. When a pastor comes to a
276 HISTORY OF THE
town to visit the sick of his church, he shall not be prevented
from remaining during the night within its walls. Mixed
marriages, as also the baptism of the children of such mar-
riages, shall be left to the free choice of the parties connected.
Pastors may be called from one church to another. The
number of pastors in each church shall be left to the disposal
of the church itself. Evangelical books shall not be prohibited,
and those which have been taken away shall be restored.
Those who have studied at foreign universities shall not on
that account be expatriated. The Protestants shall not be
bound to attend the Roman Catholic ceremonies and processions,
nor to swear by the Virgin and the Saints."
These demands of the Protestants, which must be regarded
as perfectly just, raised a storm in the Commission, and gave
occasion to debates, the report of which fills several folio
volumes.
The difficulties of the Commission were increased by the num-
ber of complaints pouring in upon them, and by the great diffi-
culties which the clergy laid in the way of the Protestants, to
prevent them bringing legal evidence of their charge. When the
evidence was not immediately forthcoming, the clerical party
strove to represent the case as suspicious, or as having failed for
want of proof. It argued, however, anything but a sense of
justice to demand that in all such cases legal evidence should be
immediately presented.
It was especially against the pastors of the flock that the
hottest bolts were directed. On the very day that the Commis-
sion had opened its sittings, a royal decree was obtained, requir-
ing the authorities of Skalitz to search and report what the
pastor of Tura-Luka had to do in that city which occupied him
three full days ; what conventicles he had held, what money
he had collected, and whither it had been sent — all this must be
accurately reported. The authorities of Tyrnau and Skalitz put
a stop to an examination which was turning out favourably for
the Protestants. Such evidence was coming out as proved that
they had a right to recover their church, and also evidence
respecting maltreatment of a Protestant citizen named Lang-
haffer. The king, on hearing of this interference of the
magistrates, ordered them to assist the Protestants in their
investigations.
The clergy had, however, means at their disposal to counteract
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 277
all the royal decrees, and to enable the civil authorities to disre-
gard them. One of the heaviest blows on the Protestant cause,
at this time, was the transfer of the censorship of the press
entirely into the hands of the Jesuits. This was still not enough,
and, afraid of the influence which a Protestant deputation, with
the distinguished orator Paul Priletzky at its head, might
have on the king, the clergy protested against all further con-
cessions^
The bitterness of the parties was increased by the fact of the
Protestant commissioners at Pesth being forbidden to hold any
public divine service. At the same time, also, the Bishop of
Erlau, John Erdody, wrote a book on the theme, " Whether,
and how far, a prince, magistrate, or landlord can tolerate
heretics." (Tyrnau, 1721.)
The difficulties had reached the highest pitch ; passion had
closed both ear and heart against the voice of truth and justice.
The hall which should have been a temple of peace and reconci-
liation was become the arena of unbounded quarrels. The king-
had his choice either to dissolve the meeting or to adjourn it in
the hope that a time of quiet reflection might calm the boisterous
spirits. He chose the latter alternative. On the 24th July he
adjourned the meeting sine die, and when complaints were
brought before him of fresh injustice, he ordered everything to
remain as it was.
During this time of uncertainty, the clergy continued to op-
press the Protestants. Freedom of conscience and of religious
exercise was to be found nowhere but on paper. The complaints
and petitions to the king were numerous, and in the course of
time so bitter, that in March 1722 the king ordered the petitions
to be sent back. One ground of complaint was that the Jesuits
now began to search for all religious books, and even Bibles,
which had been printed out of the kingdom, and when such were
found they were confiscated.
The Reformed Church of Debre*csin had ordered 2894 Bibles
for their own use, and these were seized and confiscated in Ka-
shaw. In June 1723 the king ordered the Bibles to be restored
to their rightful owners, but the perpetrators of the injustice were
in no way punished. The command was also disobeyed, and
none of the Bibles ever came to Debrecsin.
With the anxiety with which those who are ready to perish
in the waters look to a boat approaching them, forgetful that the
278 HISTOEY OF THE
boat is still floating on the same element which is about to de-
stroy them, only hoping still for the possibility of relief — such
was the anxiety of the Protestants as they looked forward to the
approaching diet at Presburg, where the affairs of the royal com-
mission were expected to be in some way arranged.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 279
CHAPTER TV.
THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.
Hitherto Charles VI. had no male issue; the most earnest
desire of his heart was therefore to secure the kingdom to his
daughters. To gain this end, he was willing to make the
greatest sacrifices. And though the wise and valiant Eugene,
Duke of Savoy, had so low an opinion of the morality of his
time, that he ventured to say to the emperor, " that two
hundred thousand bayonets were a better guarantee than a
million oaths of all the courts of Europe," yet the emperor
exerted himself to the utmost to obtain the ratification of the
u Pragmatic Sanction." After having obtained the consent
of England, Holland, and soon after also of Spain, he thought
that all difficulty was removed, and little anticipated that
Eugene's warning would one day prove true.
In the year 1719 he informed the Bohemians, that in conse-
quence of the testament of Ferdinand II., their crown was
capable of descending in the female line. The whole of the
States were then summoned in 1720, and the Pragmatic Sanction
having been read, the States solemnly swore to protect it with
life and property. Charles then declared his elder daughter,
Maria Theresa, then in her third year, as the only heiress to the
throne of the inseparable Austrian crown lands. The same
ceremony took place shortly after in Moravia, Silesia, and
Austria.
In Hungary, the king was obliged to be more cautious in
urging forward this work on which his heart was so intensely
set. Independently of the oppression of the Protestants, the
Hungarians generally had good cause of dissatisfaction with
the king, for he had extracted nearly three millions of florins
from the land for the expenses of war, and had concluded the
280 HISTORY OF THE
peace of Passarowitz without asking tliem to take any part in
drawing up the treaty.
Charles, therefore, applied first to Transylvania, and on the
30th March 1720 they responded to the king's wish by ratify-
ing the descent in the female line, and promising to acknowledge
the daughters of Charles as the rightful heiresses of the crown,
and of the princely honour.
When all this had been done, Charles then summoned a diet
to meet at Presburg on the 27th June. The Cardinal- Arch-
bishop of Kalotsh, Emerich Csaky, and the palatine protonotary,
Francis Szluka, succeeded so well in gaining the hearts of the
deputies, that after high mass, when each had made an eloquent
and heart-stirring appeal to the assembled multitude, many
hundreds of voices cried, " Long live the house of Austria !
Hurrah for the female line ! "
The league between Hungary and Austria, acknowledging
the descent both by the male and female sides, was solemnly
ratified, and the glad tidings were forwarded to the king by a
splendid embassy. In a short time, the king appeared at Pres-
burg, to communicate to the States his wishes and plans, and
the Pragmatic Sanction was entered among the statutes. Accord-
ing to his coronation oath and the laws of the land, all that
territory which had been rescued from the Turks ought now to
have been united to the kingdom of Hungary. Among the
districts in this state, was the banat of Temes, with Belgrade,
Servia, and Bosnia. Hither had many of the most pious Pro-
testants fled in the days of persecution, to find rest under the
dominion of the Turks. But now that the territory belonged
once more to the worshippers of Mary, these men, who had but
lately escaped from persecution, were once more exposed to all
the terrors of other days.
The king having often had occasion to feel that the constitu-
tion of Hungary hindered him very much in carrying out his
sovereign will, manifested no particular desire, on this occasion,
to observe the laws of the land. As he wished to have those
waste lands cultivated, he, as Emperor of Germany, issued a
proclamation, inviting German colonists to come and settle on
the newly-conquered territory, guaranteeing them at the same
time full liberty of faith and worship. The banat of Kraiovia
he now granted to his Transylvanian general ; the banat of
Temes, containing nine thousand English square miles, he
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 281
granted to another general, Claudius Merry; and Belgrade and
Servia he gave to Alexander, Duke of Wurtemberg.
Under the guidance of the war-office at Vienna, and also of
the imperial chamber, it was not so easy for the Papists to deve-
lop so much of their sectarian spirit, and, under guarantee of the
emperor, whole troops of immigrants, partly Protestant and
partly Roman Catholic, with their pastors, priests, and school-
masters, arrived to settle in these waste lands. They drained
many of the marshes, they cultivated much of the land, built
villages, established schools and flourishing churches, and
changed the whole face of the country. Even to this day the
dialect, the pronunciation, and the dress mark these colonists
most distinctly.*
While the emperor was thus acting in the spirit of humanity,
and of high policy for the well-being of his land, the clergy
and their adherents at the diet were not only quietly hindering
every step towards redress of grievances, but were also openly
protesting against every concession which was being made to
the Protestants. On the 29 th June, under the guidance of Car-
dinal Althan, Prince of Saxony, a solemn protest was handed
in, stating, —
" That inasmuch as the Word of God, and the preservation of
the Catholic faith, is committed to the clergy, and as they have
never forgotten their duty to the citizens of Hungary, they must
now solemnly protest against any proposed toleration whatever
towards those who are not Catholics, and must solemnly resist
any proposal, either at the diet or elsewhere, to prejudice the rights
of the Roman Catholic clergy and of the holy faith. They beg
an authenticated copy of this protest."
This one act throws full light upon all the deeds of the
Church of Rome at all times, and shews us how much stress
should be laid on the writings of the Jesuits who have attempted
to free her from the charge of persecution. The fact is, that Rome
has never consented to allow those who are out of the pale of
her communion any rights or privileges whatever which she
could prevent.
The Protestants, full of anxiety, laid a counter protest in the
hands of the notary ; they sent a full report of the transactions of
the Pesth Commission to the king, and retired in sorrow from a
diet which had done nothing to mitigate their sufferings. Their
* Eibinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., torn. ii. p. 204.
282 HISTORY OF THE
regret was the more keen as they had hoped that, by acceding
so readily to the wishes of the court, they might expect some
little consideration in return.
It was not in the king's power, however, at all times to act as
he chose. The influence of the clergy was constantly around
him ; the constitution of the country hampered him ; and those to
whom the executive power was intrusted, being themselves en-
tirely devoted to the interests of Rome,* shewed little zeal in
giving a favourable turn to the statutes affecting the Pro-
testants.
It is not difficult to understand how an unfavourable report
might be sent in ; how the half of the truth might be told ; or
how, after the Protestants had with unspeakable exertions ob-
tained a favourable decision in any particular case, the authori-
ties might delay carrying it out till such time as suited their own
convenience, and this time was frequently very distant. The
decree which the emperor issued from Luxemburg on 12th June
1723, and which reflected so much credit on him, was never
executed. In that decree he ordered, under severe penalties,
that the Protestants should not be disturbed on account of their
religion, and that they should on no account be compelled either
to change their religion or to join in ceremonies inconsistent
with their conscience.
The persecutions still continuing, he issued in October a still
more stringent decree against the excesses. This was, however,
of little avail, for the Bishop of Waitzen took possession of the
Protestant churches in Little- Waitzen, Kis-Ujfale, Hatvan, and
elsewhere ; and though the king ordered an investigation, which
turned out favourably, still the oppressed must wait many a
weary day before obtaining redress. On 15th September, in
the same year, an order was sent for the fourth time to the mili-
tary governor of Trentshin, that he should prevent all opposition
to the building of the Protestant chapel ; and still the clergy
managed their affairs so well, that in December they persuaded
the court to issue an edict prohibiting the building of a chapel,
* The prince palatine was enrolled as a member of the "Society of
Mary," made some magnificent endowments on the festival of the " Imma-
culate Conception of the Virgin ;" at a great age he made a pilgrimage
on foot to Marienzell. The president of the Pesth Commission was also
a devotee of Mary, and left a legacy of thirteen thousand florins to the
society peculiarly dedicated to her service.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 283
but at the same time graciously permitting the Protestants to
purchase a house in which to hold their meetings.
Thus were both king and counsellors wearied out, till, instead
of the voice of truth, only that of policy was heard. The ques-
tion was not so much what is right, as what is convenient.
Indeed, the king was often sorely pressed in maintaining his
own just rights. For, as the wealthy and noble George Radvany
or Radvansky was about to marry Susanna de Reva, who was
related to him in the fourth degree, and as the priests refused
him the licence, he applied to the king. When the king had
examined the case, and had ascertained that it was only a late
law of Rome which extended the prohibition to the fourth de-
gree, and that it had been entered among the laws of Hungary
only in 1723 ; when he had farther ascertained that both the
parties were Protestants, and that, according to the laws of their
Church, the marriage was not forbidden, — he granted permission
that the marriage should take place, and solemnly prohibited all
parties whatever from raising any opposition. The ceremony
was, however, scarcely ended, when a summons was put into
the hands of the parties married, of the pastor, and of all the
witnesses, requiring them to appear before the Chapter of Gran
to answer to the charges which should be preferred against them.
The king settled the matter by writing to the dean and chapter,
that they had no right either to examine into the religious affairs
of the Protestants, or to punish for any religious act. It was
thus only by great energy and decision that he was able to pre-
vent the clergy from trampling openly on his decree.*
For these and similar evils the king hoped to find a remedy in
a new court which he constituted under the name of a Deputy
Privy Council. Though this court turned out ill, still it is evi-
dent, from all the circumstances of the case, that the king's designs
were good. This council consisted of twenty-two members no-
minated by the king, and they appointed their own subordinate
officers. The palatine was to be at all times president, j
The province of this court was to publish and to watch over
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Coni'., torn. ii. p. 192.
t Several Protestants assisted in persuading the king to organise this
court, in the hope that the new council should consist of an equal number of
Protestants and Roman Catholics. So soon, however, as the king had sanc-
tioned the formation of the court, the promise was withdrawn. " Hesreticis
nulla fides."'
284 HISTORY OF THE
the execution of the laws of the land. With the exception of
the fiscal matters and the courts of assize, all was intrusted to
them. They had the censorship of the press, the guiding of the
public education, the inspection of schools, churches, and public
charities was intrusted to them, and they usually decided by a
simple majority of votes.*
On the 21st March 1724, this council was opened by Count
Philip Louis Zinzendorf, in the castle at Presburg, with the
following words : — " Out of this high council the clergy may
expect honour and dignity, the magnates advantages, the nobility
rights and privileges, the citizens advantages in trade and com-
merce, the land alleviation of taxes, the whole kingdom the
highest prosperity, so that it shall be said, i See how righteous-
ness and peace kiss each other ! '"
We have only to deal with the politico- ecclesiastical work-
ings of this court, and the facts may be allowed to speak for
themselves to shew what benefits and what ills were thereby
conferred on the country .f
On the part of the Jesuits and the clergy very little was done
to realise the bright hopes held out by Zinzendorf. The first
field of operations was connected with the mixed marriages, and
with an ecclesiastical superintendence of the Protestant pastors,
churches, and schools. A nobleman, George Pathy, who was
about to marry a Roman Catholic lady, was told that he must
either within a year himself become a Roman Catholic, or pay a
heavy fine. He appealed to the king, and being a nobleman, he
found means of escape from the sentence of the council.
By a decree in June 1725, this council limited the rights of
Protestants to study at foreign universities, though many founda-
tions and scholarships existed for their support.^ It was now
resolved that permission must in each case be asked and ob-
tained ; and thus what was each one's right was exposed to the
* Under Maria Theresa the court had increased to ninety-four members,
and received a salary of eighty thousand eight hundred and fourteen florins.
The members were elected from among the prelates, the magnates, and the
knights.
f When the question was raised at the next diet, whether this court
should be abolished, the Bishop of Erlau, Anton Gabriel Erdody, strove
to persuade the Roman Catholic party to vote for its continuance, by assur-
ing them that it was the hammer of the heretics — "malleus hcereticorum."
X It was only a few months previously that a nobleman, Michael Kassay,
had endowed two scholarships at Wittenberg for Hungarian students.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 285
caprice or whim of men in power. In cases where noblemen
had built Protestant chapels on their own estates, an inquiry was
instituted by this council in how far they should be tolerated,
and the report was often highly unfavourable, and the matter
was then much worse than when the decision had formerly rested
with Charles. The Baroness Elizabeth Colisius de Eevay had
built a chapel for the Protestants on her estate, and this council
ordered it to be closed, as it had been built after the time of the
Pesth Commission.
On the other hand, the transgressions of the Roman Catholics
were either not punished at all, or not in proportion to the
offence. The Protestant inhabitants of Sol raised their voice in
vain, petitioning against the unbounded oppression of their Po-
pish landlord. In cases where the Protestants were far removed
from a Protestant pastor, they had their children baptized, and
their dead buried, by a priest. In such cases they must often pay
four or five times as much as was customary under such circum-
stances. It Avas only in a case of extremity that a formal charge
was brought, and even then it was no easy matter to bring evi-
dence sufficient to satisfy the judges, or to compel the priests
to make restitution. The priest of St Martin Kata drove his
oppressions so far that, by an order of council of 24th March
1726, he was directed to return to the Protestants what he had
unjustly exacted, and they were declared free from all priestly
exactions in all time coming. Yet a clause was added to qualify
this privilege, namely, " if the Protestants were free from these
exactions previous to the Pesth Commission."
Any little advantage which individual churches obtained
afforded them little joy when they saw how the whole Church was
suffering. In August 1725, shortly after the decree respecting
attendance at foreign universities, an order was issued to inquire
into the authority and jurisdiction of the Protestant superintend-
ents, and two years later a circular was sent to all the counties,
demanding accurate information on this head. The king's in-
fluence in favour of the Protestants had been decreasing since
the establishment of this court. In Pad the Reformed church
was closed and deprived of all its revenues in 1728 ; and the
pastor, Stephen Szecsy, being banished, the congregation was
entirely broken up. In March in the same year, an order was
issued for a return of all the apostates in the kingdom, that steps
might be taken to have them restored to the Church. In April
286 HISTORY OF THE
the Protestants were forbidden to make any public collections
for religious purposes. And the worst of all was, that all the
means of redress were taken away.
Charles summoned a diet at Presburg in 1729, and here the
Protestants hoped for some relief. But the passions of the clergy
had blinded many to a sense of justice, and when, in the beginning
of the sittings, some of the Protestants refused to take the " de-
cretal oath " for conscience' sake, they were, with much uproar,
turned out of the house. It is true that some of them had taken
the oath, but it is equally evident that no sincere Protestant could
do so with a good conscience. Among those who were thus
turned out of the assembly were Andrew Petay, deputy of Bor-
sod, Samuel Zsemberg, and Paul Katona. In addition to this
they were obliged to pay a fine of sixty-four florins ; and when
Paul Jessenack, the representative of Prince Eugene of Savoy,
proposed to leave the decision of the case to the king, he was
told that by such a . proposal he was bringing disgrace on the
prince, for it was only by the assistance of the Virgin Mary that
he had gained all his victories.
The distinguished lawyers Stephen Kenessy and Samuel
Bohas went immediately to Vienna to represent the case to the
king, but on their return they were solemnly excluded from the
sittings " as informers," till the king settled the quarrel by a
decision in favour of the weaker party.
In drawing up the articles of the diet, the clerical party in-
serted a clause, which had not been enacted at the diet, to the
effect that all witnesses should be sworn by the " decretal
oath." So soon as the Protestants discovered this, a deputation
was sent after the king — but it was too late, he had already
signed. The Protestants had then no other comfort than this
which many of the royal counsellors gave, namely, that they
were not bound by a law for which they had evidently not
voted. But when they looked back over the past, they found
little consolation in such statements.
And they had good reason to be concerned, for the noisy
quarrels respecting the " decretal oath " were made to bear
heavily against them in the explanation of the 9th article of
the a Resolutions of Charles;" and in their anxiety they looked
upwards like the disciples in the storm, and cried, " Help, Lord,
or we perish! "
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 287
CHAPTER V.
THE RESOLUTIONS OF CHARLES.
The Pesth Commission had long since given in tlieir report,
the Protestants had also forwarded their statements, bnt it was
not till the year 1730 that King Charles handed the minutes
to a commission to be examined. The commission consisted
of Counts Zinzendorf, Stahreinberg, Dieterichstein, Nesselrode,
Ferdinand Kinsky, and Lewis Bathyani, under the guidance of
the veteran warrior and statesman Eugene of Savoy as presi-
dent. The Hungarian prelates were excluded.
In consequence of their report, Charles issued, on the 21st
March 1731, the following resolutions, which the Protestants
had so anxiously expected, but in which their hopes were so
grievously blighted: —
I. The decree of Leopold, of 2d April of the year 1691, is to
be regarded as explanatory of the 25th and 26th articles of
1681, of the 21st article of 1687, and 30th article of 1715.
Private religious exercise is tolerated in all places, but the
public exercises only in the places mentioned in the 26th
article.
II. The pastors of these authorised churches must confine
themselves to the members of the churches living at these places
or assembling there ; there may be, however, as many preachers
in the one church as the wants of the place seem to require,
subject to the sanction of the king. In these places they
shall have the liberty of visiting the sick and the prisoners.
III. Family worship may be tolerated in other places, but
none beyond the members of the family shall be present on
such occasions. Such isolated families must employ the priest
for all ecclesiastical functions, yet they shall not be bound
to pay more than the Roman Catholics pay on similar occasions.
288 HISTORY OF THE
IV. Without interfering with the rights of the landowners,
yet if they intend to make any alterations in ecclesiastical
matters on their estates, they must first give a report to the
king, stating their reasons for the change, and must wait for his
decision.
V. Wherever the Protestants of both confessions elect super-
intendents, they must first obtain the consent of the king.
The jurisdiction of the superintendents shall extend only to
the lives and morals of their clergy. In civil matters they are
subject to the laws of the land, and in ecclesiastical matters
subject to the archdeacon of the Roman Catholic Church, who
shall be bound to take care that the baptisms are properly
administered, and that the clergy are properly instructed in the
nature of baptism. The marriages shall be all under the con-
trol of the bishops subject to the law of the land, and for this
purpose an appeal to the archbishop is allowed.
VI. The apostates, and especially those who had once been
Protestants, and who had joined the Roman Catholic Church,
shall be severely punished at the pleasure of the civil magistrate,
but each case must, previous to the infliction of the punishment,
be reported to the king.
VII. Mixed marriages can be celebrated only by the priest.
VIII. The Roman Catholic holidays must be observed also
by the Protestants, and the Protestant tradesmen are bound to
take part in the processions to the honour of Mary and the
Saints.
IX. The Protestants shall be bound on taking office, and on
other public occasions, to swear according to the formula of the
" decretal oath," with the express clause, " by the Mother oi
God and all the Saints." In criminal cases, the witnesses
shall be sworn after the usual formula, that no delay may take
place, and that the ends of justice may not be frustrated. Past
transgressions in religious matters shall be looked on as can-
celled. New transgressions, however, shall, on the charge of
the attorney-general, be immediately and irreprievably punished.
Each individual who thinks himself aggrieved can appeal to the
king in his own name ; the appeal, however, in the name of a
whole church is forbidden.
These were the famous royal resolutions. The Protestants
had heard something beforehand of what was to be expected,
and had sent a deputation on the 20th February, consisting of
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 289
John Radvan and Abraham Vay, to try and obtain as much
favour as possible.
So soon as the resolutions were published, the Protestants pre-
pared a petition, and handed it to the king on the 6th April,
protesting against the limitations of their rights ; when this pro-
duced no effect, they on the 13th September renewed their pro-
test, and on the 23d presented an extract of their grievances.
The priests were as much dissatisfied as the Protestants ; they
thought they had received far too little! Cardinal Althan,
Bishop of Waitzen, entered a most decided protest against the
resolutions, and declared his firm resolve to act as if they had
not been published. The king having twice summoned him to
appear at Vienna and withdraw his protest, on his non-appear-
ance ordered the protest to be openly torn in pieces at Pesth ; the
property of the bishop was ordered to be confiscated, and himself
to be banished. By the assistance of the Jesuits a reconciliation
took place, and the cardinal remained in the country. Though
the protest had been publicly torn in pieces, yet we soon find it
again in full health and spirits.
The churches and church property of the Protestants were
everywhere now seized upon, and directions were issued to draw
up an accurate list of all the churches that were not secured to the
Protestants by a positive declaration of the diet in their favour.
These were all confiscated. In Eisenberg county the Lutherans
alone lost forty churches ; and here, as well as in Neutra county,
the public worship almost completely ceased.
An excitement and commotion took place among the Protest-
ants, who held meetings to plan what was to be done. This was
especially the case in Barsh county, and the conscience-stricken
government issued an edict requiring that the Protestants should
remain quietly in their houses, but at the same time that the con-
fiscation of churches should cease, till such time as the fatherly
wisdom of the king should direct it to be resumed.
This fatherly wisdom soon found an opportunity of displaying
itself; for when all had become somewhat quiet, an imperial de-
cree appeared, directing all the churches still in possession of the
Protestants, which had not been guaranteed to them by express
enactment, to be immediately confiscated. It was mid-winter,
and a Hungarian winter ! One may picture the distress of the
people, but much more of the clergy and their families, who were
all turned out on the world. The priests were devoid of pity,
and the work went on. In the county of Presburg the progress
T
290 HISTORY OF THE
was slower than fanaticism might naturally have wished, and on
the 9th April 1732 a new edict appeared directing to hasten and
accomplish the work. The pastors betook themselves to the
king, but in vain. One received the reply from the lord chan-
cellor that this work could not be delayed. After all this perse-
cution one might expect that, in the free cities, and in the churches
guaranteed by the law of the land, if not a feeling of humanity,
at least state policy might have dictated some degree of leniency
and justice. The first and second resolutions had secured to the
pastors of these churches the right of visiting the sick and the
prisoners within their own bounds, and had also secured every-
where the right of family worship. But in the execution of these
decrees so little respect was paid to the wishes of the Protestants,
and to the necessities of the place, that a wing of one parish was
frequently attached to a far distant church, while the road thither
was sometimes impassable.
An order was issued from the viceregal court in December
1732, directing the magistrates of Scliemnitz to examine whether
the Protestant church in that city had any need of their third
pastor ; how many dissenters were in the city ; what was the
form of worship j whether the miners also partook of the labours
of these pastors • who were the principal supporters of the Pro-
testant cause; and how long they had enjoyed toleration. In
the year 1733 the viceregal court laid a proposal before the king
of a short and easy way for putting a stop to the church at Trent-
shin, where the church and schools had once been so flourishing.
An inquiry was instituted through the magistrates of Presburg,
why the church in that city had three pastors ; why they had
bought a common dwelling-house and fitted it up for a church ;
whether they paid taxes for that house ; whether they held their
schools, and what was the course of instruction. When the re-
port had been handed in, a royal order was issued prohibiting the
Protestants from having a school where anything beyond the
rudiments was taught, unless they could bring evidence that a
special permission to that effect had been granted. After many
appeals, a new inquiry was instituted through the magistrates,
whether it were safe to leave a higher school in the hands of the
Protestants.
The preaching on the Lord's Day was now indispensably ne-
cessary to strengthen the faith and to cheer the hopes of the Pro-
testants, and the people flocked to those cities where preaching
was tolerated ; but even in this respect every difficulty was thrown
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 291
in the way by the king, who at this time stood so completely
under priestly influence.
That this wholesale robbery was not always peaceably accom-
plished will be readily understood when we consider that some-
times whole churches consisted of noblemen, who, as such, had
many rights and privileges. In Lower Hungary they sometimes
assembled their vassals, and surrounding the church with dung-
carts, posted themselves behind the barricade. If no military
happened to be in the neighbourhood, the priests, with their
party, generally found it convenient to retire.
We must especially record the seizing of the churches in the
county of Neutra, and particularly the church of Miawa, which,
in the days of Leopold L, had suffered severely, but was now
made to drink the cup to the very dregs.
The pastor of this large Slavonian church was Daniel Kir-
mann, distinguished by learning and zeal in his office, as well as
by the melancholy fate which afterwards befell him. At the Synod
of Rosenau, notwithstanding the warning of John Bury of Neusohl
and Adam Mittach of Losing, he broke out into the most violent
invectives against the pietists, and adopted stringent measures
against them. Bury, protesting in vain against these measures,
burst into tears, and cried, " Let these tears witness against you,
for<^ curse shall rest on every one who loveth not his brother."
They were prophetical words which the enemy must put into
execution.*
The occasion of his misfortune was the conversion of a poor
man named Wenzel Mlimar from the Eoman Catholic Church.
This man had, under deep concern for his soul, fallen into me-
lancholy, and, by the instruction of Kirmann, had been relieved
from his mental agony. On learning the comforts of the gospel
he joined the Protestant Church. This was enough for the
priests. With a company of soldiers they came in the night to
Miawa to cany the poor man away. Some of the citizens, hear-
ing of the affair, hastened to ring the alarm bells, and the whole
village was soon in commotion. The superintendent refused to
deliver up the poor man, remarking that he would at all times be
* This same Kirmann was sent by Francis Hakotzy to Charles XII. of
Sweden about the time of the unfortunate battle of Pultawa, and obtained
from him twenty thousand dollars for the school at Eperjes, the funds of
which had been forcibly taken away by the Jesuits. He also obtained from
the King of Sweden a thousand dollars as his own travelling expenses, and
on returning to his own church he laboured to prepare a book of common
prayer for the churches under his inspection.
292 HISTOEY OF THE
prepared in the proper place to give an account of what he was
doing. On the 20th May 1731, consequently nearly two years
after this transaction, he was, without much inquiry, found guilty,
partly of blasphemy and partly of exciting his people to rebellion
by ringing the alarm bells, and was accordingly sentenced to be
imprisoned for life in the Castle of Presburg. Although not one
of the soldiers had been either killed or wounded in the affray,
yet the Protestants were ordered to surrender their church and
school buildings over to the priests. The unfortunate Mlimar
was imprisoned at Presburg, and in the year 1733 was secretly
taken out of the way.
Kirmann concealed himself for some time in the Carpathian
mountains, but on receiving an anonymous letter, stating that
it would be best for him to go to Presburg and cast himself on
the emperor's clemency, he, conscious of innocence, resolved to
follow the advice. He was cast into prison. On the 29th April
1732, Frederick William, King of Prussia, appealed to the em-
peror on Kirmann's behalf, and stated, through his ambassador,
that any favour shewn to the superintendent or his family, the
King of Prussia would consider as shewn to himself. But it was
all in vain. After five years' heavy sufferings in prison, he peti-
tioned the Emperor Charles, but also in vain. The Lord per-
mitted that after nine years' imprisonment he should die in the
prison. On his death-bed the priests forced the consecrated wafer
between his teeth, and then spread the report that he had abjured
his heresy, and had died in the communion of the Church of Rome.
To give this falsehood some decree of credibility a splendid
funeral was given, and a monument was erected to him in the
cathedral ! By so doing, however, they gave evidence that he
was not the criminal which they represented him to be. They
remind us of the words of the Lord, Matt, xxiii. 31, " Where-
fore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of
them which killed the prophets." u Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do : he was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him" (John viii. 44).
In the same way that Frederick William of Prussia had in-
terested himself for the single individual, in like manner he
appealed to Charles VI. for the whole Protestant Church of
Hungary. This appeal was ably supported by the ambassadors
from England, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. The Swedish
ambassador protested especially against the decretal oath, as one
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 293
which no conscientious Protestant could take ; and he succeeded
in so far, that some of the newly-elected officials of Presburg
and Neusohl were not required to take the oath.
Even this concession seemed to burden the tender consciences
of the Jesuits, as if they had been too gentle ; and in the follow-
ing year, 1733, an order was issued requiring that in all cases
the decretal oath should be demanded, and only in case of posi-
tive refusal on the part of the Protestants another formula
should be substituted ; all, however, who were to be admitted to
government offices should be prepared by all means to take the
oath.
The annoyances which arose from all these decrees can be
easily imagined. In 1734, in Szabolis, the newly-elected Pro-
testant officials having refused to swear by " Mary and all the
Saints," were, in spite of the law to the contrary, immediately set
aside, and others elected.
Deeply must it be deplored that the mind of the emperor was
now so completely under the influence of the Jesuits that his
former sense of discriminating justice seemed fast flying away.
Like an expiring taper, he seemed sometimes to rally strength,
and then fall once more into his torpor.
Charles VI. had become what his father Leopold I. always
was, and the Jesuits had glorious days in Hungary. The king-
dom was ruled on the principles of " Mariolatry." No promise,
no contract, no oath was kept with the heretics. Where no
positive royal licence for a Protestant church existed, there were
the Protestants compelled to perform all the ceremonies and join
in all the processions of the Koman Catholic Church.* By one
means or other, the schools were destroyed and the children taken
away.
Individual priests brought actions, frivolous and vexatious,
against Protestant churches, and the punishment was sure to
follow the charge — not the proof of the same.f Indeed, in some
cases a legal sentence was considered so entirely a matter of
course, that it was dispensed with, and the priests gave orders
in their own name, so that the king had to interfere to prevent
such glaring acts of revenge.:): *
* Intimatum Carl. Reg., anno 1733 and 1738, ad Magistratum Presburg-
ensium.
t Fiscal action in 1731 ^,nd 1736, 24th March and 10th July, against
the preacher Michael Marosy of Waitzen.
+ Royal decree of 15th March 1734.
294 HISTORY OF THE
Even the private religious exercises in the families of the
Protestant nobility were often prohibited on the most vexatious
and frivolous grounds, but especially if any stranger was per-
mitted to be present, or if the chaplain was ever known to be
guilty of visiting the Protestant families scattered through the
neighbourhood.
Thus in the family of Bossany in Kisprona, Ujfalenssy in
Divekujfelu, and in the family of Go stony in their castle at
Krems, the family worship, which had been kept up from time
immemorial, was, in 1732, forbidden. In county Wesprim the Pro-
testants had, with the consent of Count Zichy, enlarged their
chapel, when the sister-in-law of the count, the wife of John
Zichy, was stirred up by the priests to such an unholy zeal, that
she had the whole building torn down. In a neighbouring
village, Polotai, the Protestants had put a new door on their
chapel, and John Zichy fined the whole village for their presump-
tion ; and, that no one might say that his zeal was less vigorous
than that of his wife, he had the chapel levelled with the ground.
From the workshop of the Jesuits, the imperial chancery at
Vienna, orders were given respecting the baptism of children
dying in the act of parturition;* and in a later order of 1738,
directions were given to keep a close watch over the Calvinists
during the time of the plague, that their doctrine of predestina-
tion might not lead them to suffer the infected to remain among
the healthy.
Their police measures went farther, however, and interfered
with other matters than predestination. An example we find in
the case of Elizabeth Heritz. She was born of Protestant
parents, and educated in the Protestant Chinch, but when, as
widow, she was about to marry a Roman Catholic, and for that
purpose was obliged nominally to connect herself with the
Chmch of Pome, she thus brought herself under the power of
the priests. As her conversion had been only nominal, so as
to gain her end, she immediately returned to the Protestant
Church, and lived in that state for eight years. On her decease,
on the 7th August 1731, her husband, a tailor in Glins, obtained
permission to bury his dead out of his sight. The story reached
the ears of Cardinal Zinzendorf, who sent the hangman to raise
the corpse five days after the burial, to strip it and leave it naked
for three days under the gallows, and then to bury it in a span
* Wo shall see that the impudence of the monks brought them even far-
ther than this.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 295
deep of earth, as a warning that so it should be done with all
those who leave the Church of Rome.*
To sum up the picture of misery, we need only remember
that the Jesuits had the censorship of the press entirely in their
hands, and well did they watch over the spiritual food of the
Protestants. Their arbitrary decisions knew no limits. In the
year 1734 they confiscated the books of Stephen Szaboczly and
George Megyessay, though these books had all been examined
in Vienna, and declared to be free. What did it avail to shew
the permission of the imperial censor ? When the books reached
Bruck, they were carried to the chancery at Presburg ; and as
in the fable the tracks of the beasts at the lion's den are all
towards the den and none returning, so was it with these books ;
having once reached Presburg, they never came out.
The books of Stephen Banyai, the Reformed professor at
Patak, met with the same fate at Neudorf. Among other
books confiscated were several copies of his own work entitled
Balm of Gtleady intended to prove " that the plague is in-
fectious " ! Bookbinders had their whole stock of Bibles taken
away. Books taken for examination, however harmless they
might be, were seldom returned. How far the Jesuits went in
the exercise of the censorship of the press under Charles VI.
and Maria Theresa, may be seen froni the confessions of Alexius
von Tteva.
Pie acknowledges and confesses that Austria feared nothing
more than the books which young men studying at foreign
universities brought home with them. Therefore were the
edicts, bulls, and proscribed lists of books so numerous. This
nobleman acknowledges that the very name of Protestant used
to fill him with such rage, that he fell on their books like a
raging lion, but that, after glancing through them, he often came
away as a lamb.f
Under all these circumstances, the Protestants could feel the
force of the Scriptural direction, " Trust not in princes, nor in
the sons of men." The apparent favours which came from the
court at Vienna were in reality limitations of their rights and
freedoms. This was particularly the case with the royal per-
mission to elect superintendents which was granted in 1734.
Under the pretence that the visitation of the churches on the
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., torn. ii. p. 264.
t Esprit Post. J. Jos. e Comit. Trantsorm. Archiep. Viennensis, a L. B. cle
Reva, illustr., pp. 24, 25.
296 HISTORY OF THE
part of the superintendent was a burden, it was directed that in
future the superintendent should only watch over the clergy,
and not over the people. The numbers must therefore be
reduced to four for each of the sister churches, though the
Lutherans had five and the Reformed Church six districts.
The confirmation of the appointment was left with the emperor.
The favour was too small to be accepted with gratitude, and
too great to be thrown away ; wherefore both churches accepted
of the proffered boon. The Lutheran churches had at this time
sunk down to the number of two hundred and fifty.
The mining districts elected Samuel Michaellis of Neusohl, a
man of considerable abilities, and very eloquent, and he was
made superintendent in 1733.* In 1736, a substitute for the
imprisoned Daniel Kirmann was found in the person of Zaborsky,
an eloquent man, but without college training ; and just as the
instructions were being handed to him, appointing him to his
office, he was struck with paralysis and expired. In his place
was elected in the following year Elijah Mohl of Modern. The
third superintendent was Michael Torkosa; and in 1742, for the
district beyond the Danube, as fourth superintendent they elected
John Siphovis-Toth.
The Reformed Church, which had had six superintendents,
confirmed Stephen Major-Korsi as superintendent for the adjoin-
ing circuits on both sides of the Danube, and George Zovanyi
in Debrecsin. This latter died in 1757, old and full of days.
He usually went about half in Hungarian, half in Turkish dress,
with a huge knife hanging to his girdle.
Another arrangement of great importance for the protection
of the Protestants, was the appointment of a district inspector
on the part of the influential nobility, who should stand as
adviser by the side of the superintendent and protect the
people in their civil and political rights. All actions, lawsuits,
cases of oppression or of hardship, should be reported to him,
and he should stand in constant correspondence with an agent
in Vienna. The Lutherans elected to this office Christian
Kalitsh, Michael Ossfy, John Radovansky, and General Thomas
* A neighbouring priest was pleased, in a letter which he wrote to
Michaellis, to denominate him " predicans sceleratissimus, nebulo im-
postor, infernalis furcifer, draco tartareus, monstrum membrum abscissum
et mortuum, sacrilegus, idololatra," &c. ; and all this because the people
preferred going a long way to hear Michaellis, rather than sit under his
own preaching.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 297
Szirmay, noblemen strongly attached to their Church. Peter
Zay was the first general inspector.* The Keformed Church
appointed Stephen Vesselenyi, Michael and Ladislaus Teleky,
Ladislaus Bethlen, Ladislaus Balo, Joseph, Stephen, and Peter
Daniel.
By the assistance of such district inspectors, the superin-
tendents were to a certain extent protected, and the cause of
liberty better supported than by mere paid agency. By the
representations, the entreaties, and the influence of these men,
who had high connexions in Vienna, many a favour was
obtained, many a harsh measure was softened down, and many
acts of arbitrary cruelty prevented. Many pastors and school-
masters found in the hospitable abodes of the wealthy nobility a
place of refuge and means of subsistence for months, or even for
years. The remembrance of such things makes the clergy of
the present day very willing to share the church government
with the descendants of men who so ably and so zealously
advanced the best interests of the Church in days gone by. It
were much to be desired that the same brotherly-kindness which
generally characterised the intercourse of the Lutheran and Cal-
vinistic Churches at that time, should still continue ; for though
in 1732 the Lutherans refused to join the Calvinists in their
petition to the king, supposing the expressions to be too
decided, yet very shortly after we find both once more joining
in Pesth to send a united statement to the court.
The active agents in Vienna, Matthew Bodo and Joseph
Modori, assisted by Andrew Ottlick, laboured hard in the cause,
and it was chiefly by their exertions that permission was obtained
for the Protestant clergy to visit the sick and the dying of their
own communion, even in places where no licensed Protestant
church existed, only on condition of paying the priest the usual
dues. It may be, also, that the war with France at this time
made the court more inclined to listen to the appeals of the
Protestants, t
* Other noblemen strongly attached to the Protestant Church were
Gabriel Pronay, John Podmanitzky, Stephen Zeitkowsky, Paul Jessenak,
Von Hellenbach, Stephen Eadovansky, Alexander Podmanitzky, Adam
GEsovski, Stephen Szirmay, Ladislaus Pronay, Balthasar Pongracs, and
Alexander Vidas.
t As in consequence of the unexpected war with France the soldiers
were withdrawn from Hungary, and the Jesuits had therefore no more
power to carry out their schemes, Count Pallfy is reported to have
said, " The Protestants must either have God or the devil for their friend,
298 HISTORY OF THE
The nobles recovered their ancient right to hold religious
exercises in their castles, and many a thirsty soul came thither
to be refreshed by the Word of life. They tasted here some-
thing of the benefits of that light in their dark, dark night, and
the Word of God was sweeter to them than honey and the
honey-comb.
The brethren in other parts of the kingdom were, by tMs
success, encouraged to renew their efforts. The Protestants at
Trentshin, whose church and school buildings had been taken
from them, now obtained leave to build a wooden chapel in one
of the suburbs, and directions were given to the governor of the
city not to hinder them in their work. To prevent the Roman
Catholics, however, from being too much provoked by this
wondrous generosity, it was at the same time ordered, that no
one from Bohemia or Moravia should be permitted to attend the
preaching, and that neither the preacher nor the singing boys
should be permitted to enter the city.*
What labour the Protestants must have had in obtaining and
enjoying these crumbs which fell from the master's table, may
be seen from the fact, that on the third day of April 1737, Arch-
bishop Kollonitz handed in to the king a protest against all
these concessions. And it is hard to say whether he might not
have been successful, had not the war with the Turks broken
out, in consequence of which, mild measures were rendered
absolutely necessary.
The royal proclamations became less frequent and less fiery.
The superintendents called on all the churches under their care
to engage regularly in prayer for the success of the emperor.
The emperor's position was becoming more and more critical.
The Turks had Belgrade already in their hands, and were
masters of the Banat. They were now approaching steadily
towards Transylvania, which we have been obliged so long to
pass over, but to the state of which country we now return.
for, when everything is so completely in order for their annihilation,
there comes always some untoward event to prevent its being carried out."
— Smalii Advers., 1. c.
* Mandat. Eeg. 3d, c. 5. September 1735.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 299
CHAPTER VI.
STATE OF THE PROTESTANTS IN TRANSYLVANIA UNDER
CHARLES VI.
In this country, tlie Protestants enjoyed on the whole many
advantages. Since the resolutions of Charles they had been
occasionally annoyed, but as the Jesuits had not succeeded in
bringing the magnates and higher nobility to join them, they
were prevented from developing their full force. More than two
thuds of the population were Protestants, and completely to
overturn and destroy all their privileges appeared neither
desirable nor, indeed, for the present, practicable. On the
surrender of the country to Leopold I., father of Charles VI.,
the magnates had secured the fundamental principle, " that the
right of patronage in church matters should remain intact, and
that no clergy should be introduced to the country but such as
were already there."
This clause was directed against the Jesuits, who by the law
of the land were prohibited from settling in Transylvania, and
also against the settlement of a bishop. The last bishop had
been banished under Siegmund Bathory, and his estates had
been confiscated to the prince, and also to some of the magnates
who had deserved well of their country. In spite, however, of
this condition under which the emperor held the country, the
military governor of Transylvania, Francis Stephen Steinriller,
succeeded in the year 1716, in the king's name, in introducing
George Martonfy de Garancsfalva as Transylvanian bishop for
the Roman Catholic Church, and with him began scenes of
anarchy and arbitrary government such as Borne alone can
introduce.
The so-called Carolin residence in Alba Julia was fitted up
for his reception, and the superintendent with the professors and
the college must be removed elsewhere. As a recompence for
300 HISTOKY OF THE
the loss to the Reformed Church, fifteen thousand florins were
promised, but the money has as yet not been paid.*
In the train of the bishop came the Jesuits, who settled in all
the principal towns, — in Clausenburg, Alba Carolina, Hermann-
stadt, Kronstadt, and Advarkely. The different orders of the
Jesuits were carefully scattered over the whole country, and
thus, through the narrow passes of a clear and strict law, and
over the steep mountains of royal decrees and of binding and
existing compacts, had Home safely conducted her warriors into
a land which for a century had been closed against them.
The firmest positions had been taken ; the general very pro-
perly chosen ! Such battles as Rome, out of her unspeakable
love to souls, usually fights, should also soon follow.
In all places of learning and trust proper persons of moderate
abilities were introduced, to be ready, without making any stir, to
fill up all vacancies which might occur. This was all in full
operation in 1727, under the guidance of the heads of the cathe-
dral at Weissenberg and Kalos-Monastor. Proper persons were to
be always ready for proposing to the king to fill up every vacant
post ; and under the expression u proper persons," was to be
understood members of their order. How zealously the plan was
carried out may be seen from the fact, that among all who have
the charge of the instruments and apparatus of science in Tran-
sylvania only two at present are laymen, one a Protestant of the
Reformed Church, and the other a Roman Catholic.
A prohibition, now appeared forbidding the building of churches
and the opening of schools or academies without royal commis-
sion. The (Roman Catholic) Court of Inquiry was directed to
pay particular attention to those who should desert the Roman
Catholic Church. In the royal decrees it appeared in the pre-
amble " that many had joined the Roman Catholic Church to
obtain the royal favour or to avoid punishment for some crime
■{sic!) , and when they had gained their end they then returned.
Others who joined the Roman Catholic Church suffered so much
persecution that they again fell off." Now it should be ordained
that all who joined the Church of Rome, and remained steady,
should be taken under the especial protection of the government ;
those, however, who again fell off should be punished as the
emperor in each case should direct.
* Petr. Bad de Statu Reb. in Trans, sub Carolo VI., toni. iii. p. 2C1,
MS.
PEOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 301
When matters were thus far prepared that the Eoman Catho-
lics had more courage, and the Court of Inquiry was prevented
from taking decided steps, the priests proceeded to alter the laws
which regulated the mutual relations of the four confessions,
Lutheran, Calvinist, Unitarian, and Roman Catholic.
These laws had been in so far favourable to the Protestants
that they secured them the possession of their churches and
church property against the ravages of a robber-priesthood of the
Church of Rome. As, however, those laws had been made dur-
ing the time of the Turkish government, and many articles in
the laws required a certain line of conduct to be observed towards
the Turks, the priests availed themselves of this circumstance to
give them a plausible pretence for overturning the whole law.
They succeeded, too, in gaining the Court of Inquiry entirely to
their interests, so that the way seemed clear before them.
The Protestants saw their danger, and took alarm. They
reminded Charles VI. of his own solemn promise to them, as well
as that of his father Leopold I., his mother Eleonora, and his
brother Joseph, that they should still enjoy their rights as they
at that time existed ; and the danger was for the present removed.
The Protestants had to pay dearly for this. We do not men-
tion here the Turkish war, nor the plague which began to rage
very fiercely, but another event of vast importance which occurred
on the 29th March 1735. On that night imperial soldiers broke
into the castles of many of the most distinguished magnates, and
carried them away as prisoners to different fortresses.*
The same took place with the superintendent of the Reformed
church in Enged, whose house was searched in every corner, his
papers taken to Hermannstadt, and he himself to Alba Carolina.
Other prisoners soon followed him, as Siegmund Boronyai, doctor
of theology and professor in Enged ; Pastor Torsok-Szigeti and
Andrew Szaboslai of Neudorf ; as also a nobleman, John Thurotz ;
but these last were soon set free, without, however, any punish-
ment being inflicted on those who had denounced them, one of
whom, at least, was perfectly well known.
Count Emerich Bethlen was sent to Vienna to intercede for
* The names of those thus violently taken prisoners and carried out of
their castles were — John Sajar ; Ladislaus Rhedri, in his twenty-sixth year ;
Siegmund Toracky, sixty years old, and paralytic ; Francis Rhedri, nearly
sixty years old ; Michael Toldalagi, seventy years old deaf and blind ; and
Count Samuel Bethlen.
302 HISTOKY OF THE
the prisoners, and lie was so successful, that he obtained the ap-
pointment of a military commission to examine the case. After
a very strict investigation, all the prisoners were found not guilty
of the charges laid against them, and the emperor ordered their
innocence to be publicly proclaimed.
And yet the raging enemies found ways and means of keeping
them in prison till the 15th January 1739.* The magnates who
had been thus so unjustly dishonoured and imprisoned, demanded
the punishment of their accusers, but the court observed a strict
silence on this matter, and no justice was granted.
* Accordingly the statement of Fessler requires to be corrected. See
Petr. Bad. Eccl. Hist., sub Carolo VI., MSS.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 303
CHAPTER VII.
The Protestants summoned to Rebellion — Misfortunes of the Imperial Army-
Disgraceful Peace — Death of the King.
The war with the Ottomans becoming more and more serious,
occupied the attention of all Europe, and especially of the Pope
and the Emperor, so much that for some time few imperial orders
were issued. The few which came to the light, however, re-
minded the Protestants of their miserable state and of their
mighty foes. And yet, when the son of Prince Pakotzy, who
stood under the protection of the Turks, summoned the Protest-
ants of Hungary and Transylvania to revolt against the emperor
and join the Turks, they refused to listen to his proposals. Not
an individual of importance passed over to the Turkish ranks,
though at that time the victorious party.
In the unfortunate engagement of 23d July 1739 at Kroc-
ska, the field-marshal, Wallis, had been nearly routed when he
was relieved by the arrival of William Peinhard of Neupergs.
Peinhard had received secret instructions from Maria Theresa
and her consort to conclude a peace with the Turks ; but his un-
fortunate position and his own imprudence, together with the
cunning of Marquis Villeneuve, the French ambassador, who
wished to humble Austria, induced him to conclude that dis-
graceful peace on the 1st September, under the guarantee of
France, by which the fortresses of Belgrade and Szobacs, to-
gether with Servia, the whole of Austrian Wallachia, with the
island and castle of Orsova, were ceded to the Turks.*
The emperor's cheerfulness now forsook him. He sought soli-
tude, and not unfrequently shut himself up in his cell in the
Capuchin monastery, which he had built in the market-place.
* By this peace the fundamental constitution of Hungary was violated.
See Carl. III., Decret. 1715, art 41. See also Corpus Juris Hungarian
304 HISTORY OF THE
Sometimes he went to his palace at Halbthurm, in Wieselburg,
and here, by partaking of fruit and cold drink after the heats of
the chase, he brought on the disease of which he died in Vienna,
20th October 1740. The papal nuncio stood by him in his
dying hours.
The death of Charles VI. was no cause of joy to the Protest-
ants, nor of sorrow to the Roman Catholic priests, in as far as
the future was concerned, for his successor was his own daughter,
Maria Theresa.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 305
CHAPTER VIII.
MARIA THERESA— FROM 1740 TO 1780.
Dangerous Position of the Queen — She is delivered by the Hungarians — Fruitless
efforts of the Protestants to obtain their Religious Freedom — Forbidden to present
Petitions in Corporate Capacity — Extracts from a Petition to the Queen — Effects
of this Petition — Examination of the Pastors respecting Baptism — The Resolutions
of Charles VI. of 1731 renewed — Sorrowful Consequences — Persecutions —The
Protestant Schools.
Maria Theresa was crowned with the usual ceremonies on the
18th March 1741, and inherited from her father a land wasted
by war, by fanatical oppression, and by an army of officials.*
Having been attacked by Frederick the Great of Prussia, by the
Elector of Bavaria, as also by France and Spain, it seemed to be
hastening to its downfal.
Forsaken by faithless allies among the princes, she, contrary to
the advice of her German advisers, summoned a diet at Presburg,
where, with her babe of six months old (Joseph) in her arms, she
delivered such a powerful address in Latin, commending herself
and her child to the care of the Hungarian States — casting herself
on their generosity and valour — that when she had concluded,
four hundred and ninety-seven Hungarians drew the sword, and
cried, "Yes/ our life's blood for our king/ " t
The happy consequences of this proceeding of the queen, both
for herself and the monarchy, are well known. For Hungary
this was one of her brightest days. Pity that religious intoler-
ance and love of persecution cast a shade over the picture, and
that the inner life of this brave people should be so soon turned
to darkness and night.
The queen had sworn " to preserve inviolable all the rights
and privileges of the nation in all points, clauses, and articles, as
* The officials in one single department amounted to forty thousand,
who cost the land nearly ten millions of florins yearly.
t " Moriamur pro rege nostro Maria !" The title of queen is not recog-
nised in Hungary, even when a female monarch is actually reigning.
U
306 HISTOEY OF THE
had been settled between the king and the representatives of the
country." Still this was not so much the ground of the nation's
confidence as was that gentle and humane disposition which was
universally believed to characterise the person of the sovereign.
They thought, therefore, that now was the time to recover their
inalienable rights and freedoms, which, partly by force, partly by
fraud, had been wrested from them. As bitterly oppressed sub-
jects, they reckoned on the tender heart of woman for redress, and
took their measures accordingly.
To lose no time, the Protestants sent a deputation to Maria
Theresa in July 1740, but she replied through her chancellor
Pallfy, that she was not willing to receive so numerous a depu-
tation, and that it was besides contrary to law to approach the
throne with the complaints of a whole class. Disappointed in
their expectations, the deputies left the city, resolved to try some
other plan.
On the 20th January 1741, a deputation appeared in Vienna
from Hout and Neograd, and in April another deputation fol-
lowed j and as the queen seemed inclined to listen to them, the
deputy of the Eeformed Church, Abraham Vay, and of the
Lutheran Church, Maytheni, drew up and presented a petition
which was too important to be here passed over.
In the preamble of the petition it was set forth, that the pro-
hibition of petitions in the name of a class had reference only to
private interests, which were often so represented. It was also
set forth that, in the present case, the evil was of such a nature
that it could not otherwise be met than by a petition stating the
oppressions of the whole Protestant body. The different enact-
ments are recapitulated, according to which, " the Protestants of
Hungary should in no way whatever be disturbed in the enjoy-
ment of all their rights." The ten points of the Diet of (Eden-
berg, 1681, are recapitulated, and it is shewn that not a shadow of
religious freedom remains over.* Petitioners represent further,
how Protestant pastors are banished out of whole circuits, as in
the case of Arszeg and Tolsag in Eisenburg county, and that
the people are not suffered to go to hear the Word of God or
to receive the Lord's Supper in the neighbouring county. They
are not even allowed the quiet use of their own religious books.
When some have ventured to go to a neighbouring county to
hear the Word of God, they have been waylaid by the authorities,
* " Ut ne umbra quidem alicnjus libertatis appareat."
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 307
and their books and even clothes taken from them, without respect
to age, or sex, or station in life. Others are for the same offence
summoned before the county court.* Here they have been sen-
tenced to fines and imprisonments in chains. Some are compelled
to join the Eoman Catholic Church, or subjected to endless an-
noyances. The landed proprietors often abuse their rights so
far as to compel those residing on their estates to become Koman
Catholics, else imprisonment, banishment, and confiscation await
them. Even after some have paid the fine to obtain leave to
reside on the estates, they are even then banished. The decretal
oath shuts Protestants out of office, and very often brings them
to bear heavy persecution, simply because their consciences could
not bear the blasphemy contained in that oath. Parties are re-
fused marriage and other rites, indeed even Christian burial ;
corpses are torn out of the earth and thrown into some dishonoured
place, because it is feared that they have not died in the Catholic
faith. If Protestant domestics are taken sick, and the priest is
not sent for, that, too, is a crime to be punished with fines.
Those who had long before 1731 joined the Protestant Church,
are, under some pretence, seized, scourged as apostates, and
again handed over to the Church of Pome.
They complain that the Protestant schools are reduced to the
elementary classes, indeed sometimes completely prohibited ; and
that the books of the Protestants, such as the Bible, hymn and
prayer books, as well as works on dogmatic theology, are not
allowed to be imported into the country, or if found are confis-
cated. Even in places where the Protestant worship is tolerated,
the pastors are not allowed to visit the sick and the prisoners,
or to comfort the dying. In many places, indeed in the greater
number of the free cities in the entire kingdom, out of mere
religious hatred, the Protestants are not permitted to enjoy
the rights of citizenship ; and this measure extends not only to
strangers, but also to those born in the place. The nobility, who
in Hngary enjoy so many privileges, are excluded from office,
however well fitted to fill the post, simply because they refuse
to take the blasphemous decretal oath ; the post is then often
filled up by men not at all qualified, and the votes of the nobility,
who have a right to decide in such matters, are completely ne-
* This court, called the " Herrenstuhl," was perfectly arbitrary in its
decisions, and merely carried out the will of a few landed proprietors of the
county. It was the source of much oppression up till the year 1845.
308 HISTORY OF THE
glected. Petitioners inform the queen that all these complaints,
and many others even worse than these, could be proved by
documentary evidence. Petitioners further declare, that though
her imperial Majesty had reserved to herself the right of finally
deciding in all these matters, yet the grand cause of the evil lies
in the fact of all these cases being handed for investigation to
the very parties who have first instigated the injustice, that they
might report. In this way the complaining party is put com-
pletely at the mercy of the persecutors ; and if this course is con-
tinued, there remains nothing over for the faithful Protestant
subjects of her Majesty but persecution, misery, banishment, and
complete destruction.
Whilst it is impossible for her Majesty, with all her cares of
government, to examine all the charges and complaints of the Pro-
testants, and to decide according to the law of the land, the Protes-
tant States, who are not behind their Koman Catholic country-
men in devotedness to the throne, unite in the following petition : —
First, That the Protestants of both confessions, as members of
the kingdom, shall be treated like the Roman Catholic citizens,
and shall not on account of their religion be excluded from any
of the ofhces of state, or courts of law and appeal.
Second, That in all oaths, the formula, " by the Triune God,"
shall be reckoned sufficient, and no farther burden be laid on
the conscience.
Third, At the election of civil office-bearers, the vote of the
Protestants shall not be suppressed, but treated as of equal value
with the vote of a Roman Catholic.
Fourth, That the Protestant clergy shall, in matters pertaining
to ecclesiastical discipline, be subject to their own superintendents
alone, and to no foreign ecclesiastical authority 5 and that the
matters relating to marriage shall be decided according to the
acknowledged and authorised principles of the confession to
which the parties belong.
Fifth, That in the counties where the Protestants are in
possession of churches and chapels, and enjoy the privileges of
the public exercises of religion, it shall be permitted them to
repair their churches and to build manses and school-houses
where these do not already exist. That the nobility generally
shall have the right of building chapels on their own land, and
of supporting chaplains ; that those who come to attend divine
service should in no way be molested ; and that the peasants
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 309
who live beyond the prescribed bounds of the parish should
not be prevented from receiving the visits of the Protestant
clergy in case of need, and from obtaining the comforts of the
gospel in a dying hour.
Sixth, That those who join the Protestant Church should
in the fixture not be persecuted and punished as apostates, or
banished from the land of their fathers, and that those who are
already banished should be recalled.
Seventh, That the churches which, according to article 30th
of the diet 1715, had fallen into the possession of the Roman
Catholics,* should be restored, or, where that was impossible, at
least no more should be taken away mider such pretexts.
Eighth, That in the royal free cities the Protestant pastors
shall no more be prohibited from entering the interior of the city,
and that all the limitations of knowledge be removed, f
Ninth, That Protestants coming to reside in the free cities
should not, on account of their religion, be excluded from citizen-
ship.
Tenth, That the system of seizing chinches, chapels, schools,
and income of the Protestant clergy by force, should cease for
ever, and that the " customary fine " which at all times might
be levied from Protestants should also for ever cease, that the
peace of the country might not be for ever disturbed by such
unjust measures. And should complaints be brought to her.
Majesty, that she would be pleased to direct inquiry and redress,
not through the viceregal court at Presburg, but from the home
office, for the viceregal coiut often took the liberty of decreeing
exactly the opposite of what the court at Vienna had ordered.
Should at any time doubts arise, then, in the spirit of the
14th article of 1647, there should be a mixed commission, con-
taining an equal number of Protestant and Roman Catholic
members, appointed to examine the case, and when they had
decided, her Majesty would please to direct the local magistrate
to carry out the decision without the intervention of any other
party ; for experience had shewn that royal resolutions in favour
of the Protestants generally remained unexecuted.
* This was the case when a priest by force or fraud succeeded in reading
the mass or performing any other religious ceremony there.
t This referred to the exclusion of Protestants from professorships, and
also to the prohibition of anything beyond elementary schools in connexion
with the Protestant churches.
310 HISTORY OF THE
" By this means " — so said the petition at its close — u should
the nation of Hungary, so devoted to her Majesty's interests,
be delivered from much and grievous oppression. We, who
humbly present this petition before your Majesty, should, by
the granting of our supplication, be so firmly bound to your
Majesty's throne, that we should ever consider it an honour and
a privilege to shed our blood in defence of your Majesty's cause
against every foe." The petition was signed by " Her Majesty's
most obedient, ever faithful subjects of the Augsburg and Hel-
vetic Confessions, residing in Hungary."
A petition founded thus on facts, and supported by evidence,
could not pass without leaving a deep impression on the mind
of Maria Theresa, and so much the more as extracts of all the
laws made in favour of the Protestants had, in January 1742,
been handed to her and her councillors by that faithful nobleman
Gabriel Perenyi. He had been assisted and supported, in mak-
ing the extracts and presenting them, by John Botius and the
general inspector John Radvan.
The queen handed the petition of the Hungarian Protestants
to her chancellor, with directions to report upon it. The report
appeared on the 4th March 1742, advising that her Majesty
should condescend no reply to the petitioners. As she, however,
felt this suggestion incompatible with her sense of duty, she
summoned on an early day her whole council, to present the
chancellor's report, and to ask their advice. Her ministers
advised her to act as the chancellor had reported, and, accord-
ingly, no reply was given to the petition.
We see that the queen and the Protestant cause were still
in the hands of the Jesuits. This was soon made still more
evident. The Bishop of Funfkirchen, in the visitation of his
diocese, felt himself peculiarly pressed in conscience to look after
the state of the poor erring Protestants who had left his fold.
He not only inquired into outward and civil matters, but also
examined the Protestant pastors respecting their views of bap-
tism. Well, if Protestants were allowed to live, it was but
reasonable to expect that they should teach only such doctrines
as Rome approves. So at least thought the Bishop of Funf-
kirchen. Now, on the occasion of an examination at Szokal,
the bishop felt quite grieved in spirit at the answers which
the Protestant pastors gave on the subject of baptism, and,
astonished that any men pretending to hold the office of pastor
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 311
in a Christian church could differ so far from what the infallible
Mother Church teaches respecting the nature of the sacraments,
he in his zeal denounced these men in his report to Vienna, as
monsters of ignorance, who pretended to support by Scripture
their own views of baptism, which were not the same as those
of the Church of Rome. The bitterest part of the charge,
however — at least to Popish ears — was, that these Protestant
pastors caused many children to be eternally lost, by forbid-
ding the midwives to baptize in case of death in the act of
parturition.*
On the 15th September 1742, an order was published by the
viceregal court at Presburg, and directed to be read in all coun-
ties and parishes in the name of the queen. This royal decree
brought heavy charges against the Calvinistic pastors, and
directed that the authorities should prevent them, if necessary,
by force, from spreading their dangerous doctrines by which
any child may be suffered to die unbaptized. If any case of
the kind should occur, then the Calvinistic pastor and the mid-
wife are to be held accountable for the crime, and punished
accordingly.
A heavier measure awaited the Protestants, for in the follow-
ing December another proclamation appeared, by which the
queen confirmed to its full extent the unfortunate resolutions of
her father, of the year 1731. The desire of religious liberty
was now a crime, and Maria Theresa brought a heavy stain on
her character by sanctioning such a measure. From this time
we see her led by bigotry to demand the heaviest oppressions
and persecutions of her Protestant subjects.
The decretal oath, which Charles VI., at the instigation of the
foreign ambassadors, had allowed to be dispensed with, Maria
Theresa again introduced, by which means the conscientious and
influential Protestants were excluded from office. In this way
was Joseph Klobuschisky, who had been duly elected as a
member of the chamber at Presburg, removed from his office,
and another illegally appointed in his place, but for the illegal
steps there was no punishment inflicted on the parties con-
cerned. Similar cases might be brought forward by hundreds.
* It is the well-known principle of the Church of Kome, that children
dying unbaptized are therefore lost ; wherefore the midwives are directed
to baptize in case of need, to the saving of the souls of children. The same
practice prevails also in the Lutheran Church.
312 HISTORY OF THE
The greatest possible difficulties were laid in the way of young
men who wished to study at foreign universities. Not only was
the passport very expensive, but even before granting it, evidence
must be brought that the individual seeking such permission
had sufficient means to support him. In this way the rich
endowments and scholarships intended for Hungarian students
were rendered useless. If any one were too poor to study abroad,
he was prohibited from seeking assistance from friends for that
purpose.
The candidates of theology, who were residing abroad, were at
one time ordered home within . a month. Not even the poor
traders who lived on the frontiers escaped, but, under the pre-
tence that by their books they were spreading heresy in the
land, their Bibles and hymn-books were taken from them. The
Protestant carriers of Zips lost many religious books in this way ;
those of Arva lost forty Bohemian Bibles, and at that time it was
no trifle. An order of 1747, from the viceregal court, directed
the Reformed Church to destroy their catechism, and have it
immediately abolished. The old battles about church and school-
houses, and the claims of the priests on the Protestants, were
renewed and continued in the old way. The Diet of CEdenberg
brought matters so far, that in eleven counties divine worship
according to the Protestant form was to be tolerated only in two
places in each county. Six of these counties had been already
regulated ; the five remaining counties were to be examined with
the greatest care, that none but the two legal Protestant churches
should be tolerated, and when that was done the remaining nine-
teen counties should not rest long behind. We shall see with
what cunning the foes of light set to work.
In Paab the Protestant worship had occasionally been sus-
pended, but always restored again ; now, however, a charge was
brought that the Protestants had no legal permission to meet for
worship. No sooner had the charge been read in Presburg than
an order was issued, and accordingly churches and schools were
closed, the revenues seized, the pastors and teachers turned out
of their dwellings, and permitted to continue in Paab only on
condition of resigning all claim to be considered as office-bearers
in the Church. In parishes where perhaps scarcely three Pom an
Catholics resided, priests were forced upon the people. We
might name the places where this occurred, — for example, in
Dobschan in 1 746, in Ratho, in Csetnek, where very few Papists
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 313
resided, but, on the contrary, which was the residence of the
Protestant superintendent. In Asgyan the pastor had only but
expired of fever, when an attempt was made to introduce a priest
into his place. When the people protested, they were summoned
by the attorney-general and subjected to a tedious legal process.
When the congregation had found, however, in Stephen Borne-
missa, an able advocate and zealous defender, the Papists found
means of making him harmless by bringing an accusation against
himself. He lost his right to practise as an advocate — certainly
as a warning to all others not to be over-zealous in defending the
Protestants. With much trouble did this unjustly-persecuted
man again obtain leave to practise, but it was with the express
and significant declaration that this favour was shewn " only for
this time."
The plundering and the forcible seizure of churches and
schools continued; and the order of 1746, which was intended
to put a stop to the proceedings, was published only in a few
counties. Where the difficulties appeared insurmountable in
carrying out their plans, the Popish party contrived to allow the
churches to fall into decay. The repair was strictly prohibited.
And when, after many pressing petitions, the queen at last per-
mitted some of the churches to be repaired, the permission was
clogged with so many conditions as to make it nearly useless.
The court at Presburg threatened to tear down the whole build-
ing, if the slightest alteration was made in the plan of repairs
which had been sanctioned.
Faith, however, finds a way. By it is the world overcome.
In proportion to the difficulties is the strength of that principle
which the Holy Spirit works in the soul. When preaching
and the sacraments were forbidden, the people had strength and
courage to travel for miles to those places where public worship
was legal ; and the poor often spent their last penny in such
attempts to obtain nourishment for their souls. Though this was
not once to be compared with the pilgrimages which were custo-
mary in the Roman Catholic Church, neither in moral tendency
nor in expense, still the priests and the Popish nobles resolved not
to tolerate it. Thus the young Earl Szirmay punished his
tenants and vassals with great severity for attending divine
service in Jacobfalva and Zoben. It was well known how Baron
Stephen Klobuschisky sent his servants regularly on Saturday
evening to warn his tenantry, under heavy penalties, not to
314
HISTORY OF THE
venture to go to Eperjes to divine service on the following day.
To be sure that they obeyed this injunction, he ordered them
all to be present in the Eoman Catholic church. Whoever dis-
obeyed had the choice of being publicly whipped, or of paying
an indefinite fine !
Under these circumstances many emigrated to the neighbour-
hood of the Theiss, and such numerous Protestant churches
were there formed, that often twelve to eighteen thousand souls
were under the pastoral care of only two pastors. It was true
that those who emigrated were obliged to leave the greater part
of their property behind.
The Countess of Szent-Ivany imprisoned her tenantry on the
estate at Alho-Sebes, near Eperjes, for the crime of attending
a Protestant place of worship, and kept them in chains till
they joined the Roman Catholic Church. ; and when one woman
positively refused to accept of freedom on any such terms, she
was banished from the village, leaving her husband and her
property all behind. The miseries, however, of those who hap-
pened to have priests or — as at Stavnik — Jesuits for the pro-
prietors of the soil, are known only to the Lord, and cannot be
described by mortal hand.
Neither experience nor humanity seemed to have any influence
in moderating the struggles to convert the Protestants. The
deputy-governor of the county Houth once replied, as some one
exultingly told him of the conversion of a Protestant to the
Catholic faith, " that he knew no such fools as those who could
rejoice over such things ; for," said he, u if all the Protestants
turned over to us, there would not a single individual of those
who are now Roman Catholics be permitted to remain in office ;
for places must be provided for the converts."
Though the Protestant schools were closed or oppressed, and
the Roman Catholics were in their school system perfectly free,
still the intelligence of the former was in no way behind the
latter. The primate once exclaimed, in a consultation on the
state of the schools, — " In vain have we lowered the schools of
the Protestants ; in vain forbidden them to attend foreign
universities : notwithstanding all we have done, they still surpass
us in learning." And indeed it did appear as if the blessing
which once attended the light food of Daniel and his followers
rested here on the moderate opportunities which the Protestants
enjoyed for cultivating their mental powers.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 315
CHAPTER IX.
Ecclesiastical Visitations — Bishop Biro — Processions — Mixed Marriages — Children
taken from the Parents — Countess of Szent-Ivany — Persecution of the Protestant
Pastors— Matthew Bohil.
Next to the severe censorship exercised in the schools, the
heaviest trial for the Protestants under Maria Theresa was,
perhaps, the ecclesiastical visitation. The Popish bishops and
archdeacons meddled in a most provoking way with all the
affairs of the Protestant churches. Not only did they inquire
into the manner of dispensing the sacraments, and require the
sacrament of baptism to be dispensed in a way agreeable to their
wishes, but also fomented quarrels between pastor and people,
that they might have an opportunity of interfering to decide the
dispute.*
While the bishops thus visited and regulated the affairs of
the Protestant churches, the superintendents were forbidden to
interfere ; for, it was said, the congregation cannot bear the ex-
pense of a second visitation ; besides, it would be useless, as the
bishop must of course know best what to do. A Popish bishop
know best what to do in a Protestant church ! The pretence of
sparing expense was very futile, for the bishop usually came in
great splendour.
As a specimen of the way in which the bishops exercised
their power, we may look at Francis Barkotzy, Bishop of Erlau,
who summoned the Calvinistic pastors on the 18th June 1748 to
Nagy-Banya, to be examined on the nature and design of bap-
tism. On this occasion he treated them sometimes with parental
kindness, sometimes with episcopal severity ; and reminded them
that their freedom was not dependent on the law of the land
nor on the will of the sovereign, but on the words which occurred
* Letter of the Vicar-General of Kalotsh to the Eeformed Church in
Bagyaslo, 24th February 1748.
316 HISTORY OF THE
in the enactment [adhuc toleratur) — merely for the present is
toleration granted.
Martin Biro, Bishop of Wesprim, issued an order on the 20th
July, requiring the host to be carried through the streets to the
sick, with burning tapers ; and that every person, of whatever
religion he might be, who should meet the procession of the host
on the street, or past whose house it might be borne, should fall
on the knee to worship.
The trades' unions were obliged to take part in the ceremonies
of the Roman Catholic Church in the free cities, carrying the
flags of their trade. If any apprentice or journeyman absented
himself from the procession on Corpus Christi day, he was
fined in several pounds of wax or in six florins — for such times,
and for such people, a most fearful oppression.
The government were obliged to interfere, and decide, that at
Neusohl the journeymen tradespeople should not be obliged to
pay more than two pounds weight of wax ; as also, that the
household furniture of the Protestants, which had been seized
to pay these enormous demands in consequence of refusing to
take part in the processions, should be restored.*
None of the Protestants, however, were so much to be pitied
at this time as those who were married to Roman Catholics.
Their domestic happiness was entirely at the command of the
priests, who, partly by the influence of the confessional, partly
by orders from higher quarters, were empowered to interfere and
regulate the education of the children as they chose.
In many cases the marriage with Protestants was forbidden,
till the Protestant party joined the Church of Rome ; or if it
was tolerated, all the children were regarded as by right belong-
ing to that Church. The husband was no more " the head of
the wife " in this respect, but all must be subject to the priests,
who made themselves "lords over God's heritage."
How far this went, may be illustrated by a case which occurred
in the year 1746 at Nagy Saros. There appeared before the
Roman Catholic priest, P. Karasy, two pairs wishing to be
married. Both were intended to be mixed marriages, but in
one case the bride, in the other the bridegroom, was Protestant.
When the priest had tried in vain to persuade the Protestant
parties to turn to the Church of Rome, and all his arguments
* See decrees of viceregal court at Prosburg, 16th July 1743 and 28th
July 1745.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 317
seemed useless, lie at last took them over to the church, and,
without asking their leave, married the Protestant bridegroom to
the Protestant bride, and the Koman Catholic to the Roman
Catholic.
The fanatical attempts at so-called conversion penetrated into
all the circumstances of life. It was a matter of no unfrequent
occurrence that, where one of the parents had been Roman
Catholic, but had joined the Protestant Church, so that both
were now members of the Protestant communion, the priest
stepped in, took possession of the children, and had them edu-
cated in some convent in the Catholic faith.
The Jesuit Szanty, in the neighbourhood of Eperjes, was
particularly active in this way. A Roman Catholic who had
been compelled against his will to join that communion, and who
had married a Protestant, was training his son in the Protestant
faith, for he said he would sooner suffer ten deaths than see his
child Roman Catholic. When Szanty heard this, he went to
the house and brought the child — at that time six years old —
into the church, made him confess, and thrust the consecrated
wafer into his mouth — thus he was made Catholic. The discon-
solate parents applied to the preacher, Matthew Bohil, for advice,
and he had the child sent to friends in another country, where
it might escape from the men who were thus hunting after souls.
The Jesuit pater complained to the Countess Szent-Ivany —
the proprietress of the soil — and she had the father thrown into
prison with a chain round his neck, while the mother was
obliged to wander many a weary day and night among the
mountains and forests, that she might escape the same fate.
One child concealed himself for several days under a bed ;
and another lay in a shed for fourteen days, seeking opportunity
to escape from the attempts of the Jesuit to " convert " him ;
while the mother was thrown into prison for not revealing where
her boy lay hid.*
The Jesuit Schewscluck, whom the contemporaries called
the bloody miscreant, f surpassed his brethren in making prose-
lytes. Assisted by armed bands, he went from house to house,
seized the children of mixed marriages, shut them up, and
wrought on their imaginations by promises and threats, till they
joined the Church of Rome. Many females were also in a
* Smalii Advers. loc. c. § 66.
t " Blutiger Koth, und answurf der Holle."
318 HISTOEY OF THE
similar way imprisoned till they forsook their Church. The case
of the children of a powder manufacturer in Eperjes was very
severe. The widowed mother was obliged to surrender her two
eldest children to the priests as a necessary preparation for a
second marriage. She then married the Protestant citizen,
Michael Rastatsy, and educated the younger children in the
Protestant faith. The Jesuit, on hearing of this, carried the
children by force from the mother, and shut them up in the
college. On the evening of 30th June 1744, these boys, tired
of the chastisements to which they were subjected, broke open
the door, and fled to the Protestant pastor, who, without com-
municating with the parents, sent them off to friends in a dis-
tant country, to be there educated in the Protestant faith.
A worthy pupil of the Jesuits was the Countess Szirinay, of
the family of Barkotzy. Of a very different disposition from
her husband Thomas, she gathered her Protestant servants,
dependants, and tenantry to the castle, and had them whipped
till their eyes were sufficiently clear to see the excellencies of the
Church of Pome.
The priests have always known how to use superstition for
their own ends. Accordingly, the popular superstition that a
mother could not venture on any work or undertake a journey
after childbirth, without being " churched," was made the
occasion of winning many Protestants over to Pome. The
practice had come originally from the Jews, and the priests care-
fully taught that some great misfortune might reasonably be
expected, if this rite were not observed. They then in many
cases refused to perform the service, till the party concerned had
finally forsaken the Church of her fathers. If, however, the
mother ventured to neglect the observance of the ecclesiastical
ceremony, she was heavily fined.
It was no easy matter for the pastors to escape ; for many spies
were ever ready to inform if they ever crossed the bounds pre-
scribed for their labours. Whether it was to visit the sick and
dying, to administer baptism, to visit a brother minister, or
whatever was the object, they were seized and whipped. This
was the prescribed punishment for crossing beyond their bounds.
Among others who were thus treated, we find Matthew Bohil,
who, on passing through the village Podacs, on his way to visit
pastor David Meltzel, was seized by some students of Kashaw,
headed by the priest of the district, and openly, in broad day-
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 319
light, was whipped in the streets. The pastor of Bartfeld, who
was afterwards settled at Iglau, John Christopher Anders,
having once obtained permission from the archdeacon to come
within the walls of the city to visit a brother-in-law, for the
purpose of arranging some family affairs, was, under the pre-
tence of friendship, allured into the house of the archdeacon,
and there treated as a prisoner. As he protested against this
treatment, and was about to force his way out, the priest seized
him, tore off his wig, administered some orthodox blows, and
threw him out into the street with bare head. The boys before
the priest's door now began to throw stones, and it was with
trouble that some Protestant citizens were able to rescue him
from the danger.
An aged preacher, Andrew Hulvajdt, who had come to Uigfalu
to have his coat re£>aired, was seized by the priest of the place,
and was beaten. Andrew Gross, of Leutshaw, was seized by
the Minorites in the street, and confined in an upper room of
the monastery,* out of which he escaped, by binding his bed-
clothes together, to make a cord to let him down from the
window. His cord was too short, and the fall which he experi-
enced was the cause of a tedious illness.
Even within the bounds of their prescribed districts, the
pastors had many difficulties to encounter. In Bartfeld, Trent-
shin, and Eperjes, they were not suffered to go within the walls.
When, therefore, a member of the church residing in the city
fell sick, he must either remain without the comforts which his
pastor could afford, or else be carried out to the suburbs, there to
receive the consolations of religion. After many petitions the
queen ordered this regulation to be rescinded ; but the court at
Presburg, in transmitting the order to the civic authorities, in-
stead of saying that the pastors " must be admitted," as the
queen had directed, wrote that they " might be admitted into
the city." When now, in dependence on the queen's decree,
Matthew Bohil entered the city, he was threatened by the su-
perior of the Jesuits, and ordered immediately to leave.
Bohil, however, was not the man to be terrified. He knew
* The monks considered themselves justified in doing so, for a decree
had been issued from their workshop at Presburg, directing, that any
clergyman found travelling, if a member of the nobility, was to be handed
over to the attorney-general ; if not he was to be without ceremony im-
prisoned.
320 HISTORY OF THE
that the palatine Count John Pallfy had written to the governor
of the city to see that the queen's decree was executed, and in
dependence on him, and in spite of all priestly protests, he con-
tinued his visits to the sick. The Jesuits drove matters so far
as to appeal to Presburg that the permission might be reversed.
When, however, the priests could not gain their ends by legal
means, they took care that the pastors should be pelted in the
streets with mud and stones.
We cannot do better, however, than allow this faithful witness
to speak for himself, and describe his own experience and suf-
ferings.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 321
CHAPTER X.
Imprisonment of Bohil— Cause— Escape— A Jewish Rabbi— Persecution of the Friends
of Bohil — His Wife's Escape — Bohil's Works on the Ecclesiastical State of Hungary
The Papal Nuncio Camil Paulati and the Societies of St Joseph and St Stephen
—Duties of Members— Banishment of Professors.
0:: the 28th of November 1746 were gathered round the table of
Matthew Bohil* at Eperjes, his dear friend Bartholomew Klein,
pastor of Hermannstadt ; John Lougay, rector of the school at
Eperjes; Bohil's wife, and three small children, who listened
while the father told the tales of suffering of his childhood and
youth. A knock was heard at the door, and two town-coun-
cillors with two police officers entered, demanding that the pastor
should appear before the magistrates' court to give information
respecting a certain paper. Bohil, knowing the spirit of these
gentlemen, went into the next room, and provided himself with
a line on which his wife used to dry clothes.
The cause of the summons and of the examination, which
lasted two days, was a book which had appeared, entitled The
Rise and Progress of Popery , translated into the Bohemian, with
a supplement, containing the spirited address of the professors
* Matthew Bohil was born in 1706. His father had been four years in
exile during the reign of Charles VI. Matthew was distinguished by learn-
ing and piety, and was ordained first in Czersent, and afterwards, in 1734,
in Eperjes, one of the most sorely tried of all evangelical cities. In 1672
the Jesuits had taken possession of the college of the German and Sla-
vonian Churches, had turned out the Protestant town-council, and, because
there were no Catholics capable of holding office, had appointed strangers.
In consequence of the commission of 1681, the Hungarians and Bohemians
obtained ground for building a church in the suburb. The Germans, how-
ever, were shewn a place near the hangman's house, and when they refused
to build there, they were accused as rebels and despisers of the royal cle-
mency. In consequence of this, all their preaching stations were closed
for eighteen years.
These remarks will make some parts in the text more intelligible.
X
322 HISTOSY OF THE
at Wittenberg, which had been written a hundred years before,
to encourage the Bohemian brethren to remain firm in the faith
in the time of persecution.
Thirty-three questions were laid before him to answer, and he
was kept a prisoner in the house of Bogdany till the Jesuits had
leisure to examine all his books and papers. Among the books
they found a History of the Jesuits, by Hasenmuller, which in no
small measure excited their rage. Bohil's fate was now sealed.
To conceal, however, the real cause of their conduct from
the public, they spread the report that they had found among
the papers copies of a correspondence with Frederick the Great
of Prussia, urging him to war with Austria. They also said
that Bohil had two wives, of whom the one was still alive in
Saxony.
Bohil was conscious of innocence, and as every one had access
to him, he did not think of flight. When, however, from the
12th December no one but his wife was admitted to see him — all
his books, papers, and sermons were taken away to the Jesuit
college — his former guards were dismissed — he was advised to
bring his son, then five years of age, into the prison — his
new guards, casting ominous looks at each other, slept and
watched alternately by day and night; he felt that his fate
was sealed, that Kirmann's doom awaited him, and that he
should fall one sacrifice more to Jesuitical craft and cruelty.
He committed his case to God in prayer, and resolved to
attempt an escape. So soon as his resolution was formed, he
felt such joy and inward peace as if he were already out of his
prison, out of the city, and far away in some place of safety.
And in a wondrous manner did the Lord help him out of all
his troubles.
On the same evening, some members of his church brought
him a plentiful supply of wine and provisions, which he looked
on as a confirmation of his resolution. And yet when he
thought of his flock deprived of the spiritual comfort which he
had been enabled to administer; and when he reflected that,
without his resignation, no other pastor could be appointed,
but that, like the churches of Guns and Miawa, they would be
left to the mercy of the enemy, his heart sank within him.
Gladly would he have communicated with his flock, but there
seemed no way open. As he was thus engaged, he had a
severe attack of toothache, and as the pain was very violent,
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 323
the judge allowed his physician, Andrew Yensi, and his surgeon,
Stephen Hap, both Protestants, to visit him.
In the presence of his guard he revealed to these friends in
Latin his whole plan of escape. They took leave in tears, and
Bohil laid himself quietly down to sleep. Two guards stood
by him in the same room, and it was their duty to relieve each
other alternately ; but this night they seemed both inclined to
sleep. Bohil prayed that their sleep might be as that of Saul
and Abner when David passed unobserved through their camp.
It was midnight. Both guards were quite overcome with sleep.
Bohil took his clothes and the line which he had brought with
him from home, and, on reaching the door, he found the key still
there. With little trouble he passed to the yard. The dogs,
which were usually so fierce, were still to-night. Passing the
monastery of the Minorites, he turned to the city wall. Making
the cord fast, he pressed through a small aperture in the wall,
and let himself down with so little caution, that the flesh was
torn from his hands by the small rope. The cord was too short,
and being obliged to drop a considerable depth without its
help, he received some wounds on the head. But he might
now consider himself free. He praised God in the words of the
124th Psalm :—
" Even as a bird
Out of the fowler's snare,
Escapes away,
So is our soul set free :
Broke are their nets,
And thus escaped we.
Therefore our help
Is in the Lord's great name,
Who heaven and earth
By his great power did frame."
The second wail was easily passed. He wandered in the
neighbourhood for some days undiscovered. Though it was
winter, he slept in the woods ; often must he wade through the
melted snow ; yet at last he got safely away and reached Hol-
land. Here he met with a Jewish rabbi, to whom he told his
tale, and the rabbi generously took him into his house. Not
only had he food and clothing here, but his generous host pro-
vided a skilled physician who soon cured him of his wounds.*
* In his autobiography, Bohil concealed the name and the residence of
his benefactor, that he might not be made to suffer for his kindness.
324 HISTORY OF THE
On the 9th February he reached Breslau, where the kindly
reception which there awaited him made him forget his sor-
rows. How much was he now rejoiced to reflect that, on the
night of his escape, he had not turned in to bid farewell to his
wife and little ones ! for, so soon as his escape was known, the
strictest examination was made of all his relations and friends,
and under a terrible oath they were required to answer on the
following points : —
1. Who had advised him to escape?
2. Whether he had not communicated his plan to some one ?
3. Whether no one had seen him after his escape ?
4. Who had given him the cord, and helped him over the
wall?
5. Who had provided him with travelling expenses ?
6. Where he now is; whether any letter had been written
to him, or received from him ?
7. Whether he had seen his wife since his escape, and what
advice he had given her ?
8. Whether none of his accomplices are known ?
Bohil's wife was told that if she attempted to escape, the
strictest orders were given to have her arrested at the frontiers
and brought back, while in such case the heaviest punishment
would be inflicted on her. But she was worthy of her husband,
and found ways and means of bringing her three children and
an orphan girl who lived with her, after twelve days' travelling,
safely over the frontiers. She was received at Plessva with
true Christian hospitality, and soon reached her husband at
Breslau. Bohil was at the time engaged in writing a descrip-
tion of the miserable state of the Protestant Church in Hun-
gary, for the sake of awakening the sympathy of Protestant
churches and Protestant princes in their favour.* He here
opened the eyes of the Protestants who had been led to suppose
that religious freedom had been again perfectly restored in
Hungary, f
The most cursory view of the oppressions recorded in this
book might well tend to open the eyes to the true tendency of
Home's efforts. The aim of the priests was to eradicate the
* Tristissima Ecclesice Hungariae facies, &c, a Matth. Bohil, V.D.M.
Brieg, 1747.
t See Eesolution of Leopold I., 1691 — a masterpiece of Kollonitz eccle-
siastical toleration — part iv. p. 322. CEcl. MS.
mOTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 325
entire Protestant Church. They hoped at least to bring Hun-
gary as far as Croatia, Steierniark, Carinthia, and Austria had
already been brought.
This was the design of the societies which were formed in
1744 under the guidance of the nuncio, Camil Paulati, and of
the Bishop of Raab ; of which the one chose St Stephen, the
other St Joseph, for patron ; and one of the fundamental princi-
ples and conditions of membership was, that each member bound
himself to obtain annually one recruit for Rome, that is, one pro-
selyte to Popery, and use the utmost exertions to prevent the
Protestants from obtaining posts of influence or honour.*
These societies had a " religious fund," the contents of which
were freely used in every way to annoy the Protestants. The
poor were enticed by presents, others were promised lucrative
posts, and institutions were built expressly for the purpose of
receiving the proselytes. Orphan children were the especial
object of the care of the priests ; indeed, sometimes, when the
parents were still alive, the children were allured away and shut
up in monasteries, that they might be educated in the Popish
faith.t
The most distinguished Protestant teachers were expelled ; as,
for example, John Blasi, professor in Schemnitz, because he had
permitted his pupils to write an essay on a theme displeasing to
the Jesuits. J The chapels of ease were forcibly seized, and in
whole counties at once. § Such cruelties were exercised towards
the so-called apostates, that the queen was obliged to interfere
in their behalf.
* The statutes were printed in 1745 in Latin and German,
f See the orders of the viceregal court for the years January 1749, May
1764, July 1769, and July 1774.
% Royal decree, 12th November 1748.
§ Decree of 17th January.
326 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XL
United Petition of the Protestants — Martin Biro's Pamphlet — Dealings of the Court —
Appeal to Foreign Powers — Letter of Frederick the Great to the Archbishop of
Breslau, Cardinal Schaffgotsch — His Appeal to the Pope — The Protestant Prelate
Sweetmilk — The Archbishop of Canterbury interferes — The British Ambassador —
Effects of the Interference — Gabriel Pronay.
It was Ml time for the Protestant Church to raise her voice
once more, notwithstanding that an edict of 1745 had revived
the prohibition against joint petitions. A decree of the vice-
regal court of 17th January 1749 explained very minutely,
under nine heads, how the civil arithorities were expected to treat
the " apostates/' that is, all who had under any circumstances,
by force or fraud, been made members of the Church of Eome,
or who had been born in its communion, — if they should ever join
the Protestant Church. It was a piece of the greatest cruelty
which a fully ripened priestcraft could invent. Martin Biro, the
Bishop of Wesprim, had also written a pamphlet dedicated to the
queen, and containing the most extraordinary charges against the
Protestants ; * indeed, in the 21st page, the witty bishop, in de-
manding the extirpation or banishment of all the Protestants,
says, that as the Church of Rome was never blood-thirsty , she
would be satisfied with the burning of the heretics.
On the 3d August the Protestants handed in their memorial,
with a full statement of their grievances, and also of the resolu-
tions of the diet and royal decrees guaranteeing them the privi-
leges which were now refused. The documents are too long to
be here inserted, and contained only a statement of facts, with
which we are now familiar, shewing that under her Majesty's
* Euchiridion Martini Baronis, Padani, Episcopi Vespriniensis, de fide
hseresiarchiis et eorum sociis, in genere de Apostatis, &c. 4to. There is
also a German edition ; see Neue Zitzting von gelehrten Sachen. Leipzig,
1751, February 11.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 327
government no relief had been obtained. They reminded the
queen of her promise at the coronation, " to be a mother to all
her subjects," and yet that, under her reign, the landlords were
treating their Protestant vassals worse than the heathen treated
their prisoners of war. They declare their readiness to place
their life, property, and influence, unreservedly at her disposal,
in defence of the crown, if she will only grant them liberty to
worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience.
Though they had expected much from this representation, and
though petitions from single individuals were constantly pouring
in to keep her in mind of the case, yet history records no good
effects which ever proceeded from these applications. On the
contrary, the policy pursued was, that for every small favour
granted in any particular case, ten times as much was taken
away in some other form.
It is impossible to give a full and detailed account of the
doings of the viceregal court, but a few statements may here be
recorded as a specimen.
Shortly after the petition had been presented to the queen,
asking protection for the Protestants, the authorities in Sola took
possession of the chapel belonging to the Protestant congrega-
tion of Kiroly Falva, and turned them out. The chapel at Acsa
was ready to fall, and one of the wealthiest Protestant noblemen,
Gabriel Pronay, applied to the queen on 12th August 1749
for leave to rebuild it in a more convenient place. The court
now directed inquiry to be made, and especially respecting the
condition of the Eoman Catholic church in the place, and
whether the Protestants had had uninterrupted possession of a
place of worship there ever since 1681 ; and at last permission
was given to rebuild the chapel. The conditions attached were,
that it should be built of wood, and outside the gates, in a place
so full of water, that there would be no danger in case of the
wooden church taking fire.
Being dissatisfied with these conditions, they were kept wait-
ing a year and seven months, after which time, in reply to
numerous entreaties and representations, they obtained leave to
build a proper church, but with the condition that it should not
be ceiled.
Another order was issued for the whole kingdom, directing
that, in every case, the children of mixed marriages should be
educated in the Eoman Catholic faith. In the counties of
o25 HISTORY OF THE
Neograd and Gomor, a commission had been appointed to
investigate and report on the state of the Protestant churches ;
and when the report turned out too favourable, the commissioners
were dismissed, and new officers appointed, with directions to
bring up a report of another kind. The result was, that this
report, which might as well have been manufactured without the
trouble of investigation, gave the government an opportunity of
seizing the building.
The Protestants of Netzpol in Thurotz, obtained leave to
build a church on condition of its being built entirely of wood,
without any foundation of stone, and that it should have no
vestry nor other building attached to it.*
When parties were suspected of having once been members of
the Church of Rome, or when it was supposed that they ought
to be in connexion with that Church, the most tedious oppressive
lawsuits were commenced against them. One citizen of Neusohl,
Samuel Holler, a goldsmith, was on this account thrown into
irons, and no one but his wife was allowed access to him. The
school at Eperjes was becoming more and more hampered in its
operations ; and when, after many petitions, some of these restric-
tions were taken away, the superior of the Jesuits protested
against the royal patent in the presence of the magistrates, with-
out punishment or even rebuke.
On the 8th June, an order was issued forbidding the Pro-
testant pastors to leave their usual place of residence to perform
any ministerial act; forbidding the marriage, baptism, or burial,
of any stranger from another parish ; and requiring that the
fees of all ecclesiastical acts, or the stola dues, should be paid
to the priests, and that even by Protestant noblemen.f
Such annoyances, and others, which were more harassing than
one might suppose, led many to form the resolution of taking
the last legal step which remained open to them, that is, to
appeal to the foreign powers which had guaranteed their liberties.
It is very intelligible how they should, in taking this step, use
the utmost caution.
The Dutch and Hanoverian ambassadors wrote repeatedly,
remonstrating with the empress. Some of the most distinguished
Protestants gained access to the throne, and made their com-
* Decrees of the years 1749-1751, issued at Presburg.
f Decrees of 1750-51.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 329
plaints be clearly understood. And in addition to these, Frede-
rick the Great of Prussia threw his influence into the scale.
By comparing all the circumstances, it would appear that the
Protestant clergy of Hungary had sent the fanatical pamphlet of
the Bishop of Wesprim, together with a full description of their
circumstances, to the consistory at Berlin; and that the book
had been brought under the notice of the King of Prussia.
Frederick immediately wrote to Count Philipp Gotthard SchafF-
gotsh, cardinal and prince bishop of Breslau, under date 26th
February 1751, in which he takes up the principles of the
Boman Catholic bishops of Hungary, and particularly of Martin
Biro, declaring that one might suppose they had resolved to
extirpate Protestantism. The letter is, however, too valuable to
be passed over, and runs thus : —
" Frederick Bex.
. . . . " You will no doubt have heard, as we have done, what
hard persecutions and troubles have for some time past fallen to
the lot of the Protestants of both confessions in Hungary ; and
how, contrary to treaties guaranteed by the mediation of foreign
powers, one church after another has, on the most frivolous
pretences — indeed, under such pretexts as ought to make every
honest man ashamed — been wrested from them. They have also,
in their common rights and privileges as citizens, been so vexa-
tiously molested, that one might almost suppose that the design
of the government is to drive them to despair, and induce them
to try such illegal means of redress as would place them entirely
at the mercy of their rulers.
" Though we stand in no connexion with these people ; and
though they are prevented from applying to us, partly by the
recollection of their obstinate opposition to our interests in the
late troubles, partly by the strict orders of the court at Vienna,
forbidding them to do so ; and though, if we looked at the
matter merely in a political view, we should have more reason
to rejoice than to grieve at seeing them so bitterly punished by
their own countrymen, for their obstinate opposition to our in-
terests ; not to mention the fact that such persecutions in a
neighbour's territory must be most beneficial to us ; — notwith-
standing all these considerations, the miserable condition of so
many innocent people awakens our sympathy, and compels us
330 HISTORY OF THE
to make some attempts to relieve them. We would have had
no objection to apply in this case to the court at Vienna itself ;
but when we see that the most friendly allies of that court can,
with all their efforts, obtain no relief for the suffering Protestants ;
that they to whom said court is under weighty obligations are
powerless in this matter ; we feel that we should be much more
so, and would by our interference only give a colouring to that
charge which has so often been brought against the poor suf-
ferers, namely, that they gladly seek foreign aid against their
own government.
" We are so much the more dissuaded from applying to the
court at Vienna, as we are firmly persuaded that the guilt of all
these persecutions does not rest with the imperial Queen of
Hungary, whose well-known character would be entirely opposed
to such transactions, but with the Roman Catholic clergy in
Hungary, who have resolved on the entire eradication of Pro-
testantism in that land ; and they are so zealous in carrying out
their plan, that the wise empress, for the sake of having their
assistance in some other schemes, is obliged to give them theii
will in this case, or at least, not to oppose them with that energy
which she might well wish. In this opinion we are confirmed
by a scandalous publication of Martin Biro, Bishop of Wesprim,
which has lately seen the light, in which he rings the alarm-
bell against these so-called heretics, and stirs up his enlightened
sovereign to the bitterest measures against them ; not blush-
ing to assert the principles of his Church with such senti-
ments as must tend to loosen every bond of society, and which
fill every honest Roman Catholic with abhorrence. Under these
circumstances we have thought it most practicable to attempt to
bring influence to bear on the fountain of the evil, that is, on the
Roman Catholic clergy of Hungary, and to make them feel in a
suitable, but, at the same time, unmistakable manner, how a future
age will judge these proceedings by which the men who have
given the most satisfactory evidence of unwavering attachment
to the crown, and have offered their property and life cheerfully
in its defence, should, as a reward for their faithfulness, be
plundered of their most just rights and liberties, and be brought
to the very verge of despair. Yes, they should be brought to
feel what a terrible retribution awaits their Church, if a time
should come when the Protestant Church should by Divine per-
mission gain the mastery, and the term heretic then be applied
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 331
to the Roman Catholic — what a terrible retribution awaits them,
if these same principles which are now published should then be'
acted on.
" To give these clergy, then, such an intimation, we know of
no one so suitable as yourself; and we apply to you with so
much more confidence, as we have frequently had opportunity to
observe with pleasure that humanity, and the observance of the
first principles of all religion, are not banished from your mind,
and that you are very far removed from that superstitious pre-
judice which maintains it to be a sacred duty to advance divine
truths by unjust means. We know how embarrassing and in-
tricate such a commission is, but we have such confidence in
your wisdom and zeal, that we are assured you will find the
proper ways and means for making yourself be heard, and we
trust with good effect. By so doing, you would confer on us a
very especial favour ; and though we do not at all make you
responsible for success, yet, if your interposition should prove
successful, it would increase in no small degree our pleasure and
the obligations under which you have already laid us. We shall
be glad to hear a report from you at the proper time, respecting
the results of your exertion, and remain," &c. &c.
On the 28th of February, the Cardinal and Bishop of Breslau,
Count Schaffgotsh,* replied, and expressed his disapprobation of
what the Hungarian clergy were doing; declined writing to
them, however, as he had reason to believe that his letter would
not be answered, and would produce no effect ; he was willing,
however, to meet the wishes of his Majesty, and forward his
Majesty's letter to the court at Rome, with a request that the
matter might there be considered, and the result he would report
in due time.
The effects of this step of the cardinal's may be seen in a letter
of the Chief Counsellor of the Consistory and prebend of St
Peter's at Berlin, John Peter Sweetmilk, addressed to the super-
intendents of the Protestant churches in Hungary, dated 2d
August 1751, from which it appears that a most conciliatory let-
ter from the Pope had reached the town-council of Berlin through
the intervention of Schaffgotsh. The Chief Counsellor writes
that he cannot send them a copy of the letter, as it is feared that
p Count Schaffgotsh was born in 1716, was made bishop in 1747, and
the following year, cardinal.
332 - HISTORY OF THE
the publishing of it would not be agreeable to the Pope ; still, hav-
ing read the letter two or three times, he can give the substance.
The Pope declares that, after several consultations with the cardi-
nals, he cannot approve of the exertions {molimina) of the priests
in Hungary, and, in accordance with the wish of the King of
Prussia, he would interfere on behalf of the Protestants in
Hungary. He must, however, be cautious, so that he may not
be called a protector of the Lutherans. He would not write
direct to the court, but would take the proper means of letting
the bishops of Hungary know his will and pleasure. It is true,
he is responsible only before the judgment-seat of Christ, and
needs not be much concerned about the opinions of men • it is,
however, prudent, so far as conscience allows, to have due regard
to the circumstances in which one is placed. He would warn
the bishops to be cautious lest, while striving to benefit the
body of Christ in one place, they should injure it in an-
other, and thus cause pain in the heart, and bring grief to the
head.*
The Chief Counsellor Sweetmilk adds : — " May these words
contain truth and really bring relief! " He incloses a letter from
the Archbishop of Canterbury, from which it is seen that the
archbishop had received a statement of the case of the Hungarian
Protestants, and had laid it before the King of England, who had
given directions to his ambassador at Vienna, D. Keith, to in-
quire prudently into the case, and to put the Protestants in the
way of applying to him for assistance.
The archbishop declared himself ready at all times to be the
faithful advocate of his poor brethren in the faith, and expressed
the hope that the Pope would by his actions manifest as much
kindness as the wisdom and policy of his words would lead one
to expect, t He begs, in conclusion, that when any intelligence
of importance should be received from Vienna it might be com-
municated to him. J
The Pope gave directions to his ambassador at Vienna to con-
sult with the ministers respecting the way in which the rights of
the Roman Catholics and Protestants in Hungary might be so
defined, and in future so strictly observed, that no pretext should
* It was Benedict XIV., otherwise called Prospero Lanibertino, one of
the most moderate of the Popes, who held office from 1740 to 1758.
t (Edenberg MSS., Fasc. xii. No. 21.
1 The letter is dated at the Palace of Lambeth, 8th June 1751.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 333
be furnished to Protestant princes for making reprisals on the
Chinch of Rome.
And what were the consequences of these deliberations ? The
first fruit was, that the empress directed the pamphlet of the
Bishop of Wesprim to be confiscated.
The next fruit, however, was, that the noble Gabriel Pronay,
who was suspected of applying to the foreign powers, was threat-
ened with chains and with an action for high treason ; for it was
construed to be high treason to appeal to foreign powers on be-
half of religious grievances. During the sitting of the diet at
Presburg, he was summoned before Maria Theresa in the night-
time, to receive a reprimand on the subject.
So much were the Roman Catholics concerned on this point,
that when Samuel Polsky, a wine-dealer, and a Protestant, was
returning from a journey in Prussia, he was put to his oath,
whether he had communicated with Frederick the Great respect-
ing the religious state of the Protestants in Hungary.
334 HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XII.
The Queen's Promises — The Chapels of Ease taken away — General Persecution of
the Protestants — Riots at Vadosfa — Imprisonment of the Superintendent and
forty-four of his Church Members — The Seven Years' War with Prussia — Peace, and
Diet at Presburg — The Death of the Queen's Consort, Francis I.
Other fruits of the interference of foreign powers on behalf of
the Protestants we seek, as the Lord sought for figs on the
barren fig-tree, and find them not. He found leaves, and we
find here leaves also, — fair promises. The queen declares herself
entirely ignorant of those fearful oppressions concerning which
the Protestants complain ; declares herself determined not to
suffer the like ; only she expects that they will not attempt to
obtain relief by applying to foreign powers, but content them-
selves by stating their individual grievances to her.*
But the Jesuits and their colleagues, the bishops of Hungary,
permitted the queen to make promises ; the Pope and his nuncio
to hold councils with the Austrian ministers of state ; the Pro-
testants to pour out their grievances before all the world ; and
Frederick with his hand on the sword to take up his threatening
position in the front ground; and yet they went on unmoved,
unchecked, in their great work. According to the unsearchable
counsel of God, the Babylonian captivity of the Church was
doomed still to last a little longer.
Under the pretence of holding religious meetings without
leave, the churches of Csalonia in county Houth, and Estergal
in Neograd, were once more exposed to expensive lawsuits, and
the church-buildings of the former, as well as all the chapels of
ease in Zemplin county, were by a decree of the viceregal court
taken away.f
* Fessler, vol. x. p. 371.
t See decrees of 17th January, 14th March, 27th May, and 2d June,
1752.
PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 335
In Schenmitz and elsewhere, the Protestants were once more
removed 
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