Lutheranism in Hungary: Part 1

No man should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church and the ministry of the Word were instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together and one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn’t help, the prayer of another will.

- Martin Luther

I’m going to attempt to give you a summary of “A Short History of Lutheranism in Hungary”, a small book written by Tibor Fabiny. This book was given to me by Bishop Tamás. Lutheranism in Hungary is complicated. Even so, Lutherans take pride in their fight to keep their religion strong in Hungary.

The Hungarian legislature passed a law against the Lutheran Reformation during the 1523 St. George Day Parliament in Buda. All Lutherans and their patrons were sentenced to decapitation and to give up their land. Everyone who didn’t belong to the Roman Catholic Church, even if they had never heard of Martin Luther’s writings, were considered Lutheran. These measures were taken because the Hungarian nobility began to feel threatened. Those who didn’t understand the importance of the Reformation believed it was their duty to the nation to say all Lutherans were heretics. If they did this, there was a possibility that the Catholic Church in Rome would give them money.

There were some sporadic executions in Hungary, but it was not taken as seriously as the Hungarian nobility had hoped. In 1525, the law became even harsher, declaring all Lutherans to be burnt alive. But, this law was followed with even less discipline. How did Lutheranism in Hungary survive during this time? It was due to the anti-feudal sentiment of the previous decades that led to the quick acceptance of the Reformation ideas. In the 1520s, most of Hungary’s population judged the Church’s activity with indifference or disapproval. Eventually, the importance of the Reformation greatly influenced the number of Hungarian students visiting Wittenberg and the interests of merchants. Reformation thought made its way into the minds of people in all social classes. Hungarian intellectuals began to translate Lutheran ideas so anyone could read them.

The rapid spread of the Reformation in Hungary was due to the intellectuals in Hungary who lived in higher populated areas and graduated from foreign universities or from Hungarian schools. The attitude of the country’s nobility also began to change. For example, the Petrovics family (distinguished in Hungary at that time) and hundreds of lesser landowners began to side with the Reformation. This new attitude of the nobility trumped the laws passed in 1525 that sought to kill all Lutherans.

Church historians consider Matthias Dévai (pictured on the right at the table) to be the first Hungarian reformer. He authored the first Hungarian writings inspired by Martin Luther and courageously taught the Gospel. He stressed that “all in the community should read the scriptures”. Dévai’s most important theological work is a reference book based on the Lutheran catechism entitled “A Short Explanation of the Ten Commandments, the Articles of Faith, the Lord’s Prayer and the Seals of Faith” which he published in 1538.

Despite these advances, Lutheranism fought for its survival in the Hapsburg Empire, in spite of the fact that in the 17th century there was a Protestant majority even in Parliament and, at the beginning of the 18th century, most of the population belonged to Protestant churches. The Catholic dynasty, which was of Spanish background, and their clergy, who shared interests, considered the existence of the Reformation to be bad. The Counter-Reformation in Hungary used two weapons against Protestants, the first being the Society of Jesus. In the 1570s, the Jesuits offered to fight against heretics in the Hapsburg-controlled part of Hungary and even in Transylvania. The other threat was the introduction of the principle cuius region eius religio, which meant that landowners owned the religion of their subjects. The re-catholicization of influential landowners meant the loss of huge Lutheran congregations, as well as church buildings and schools. Protestant pastors were arrested in large numbers.

The first pastors were summoned in 1671, and others followed thereafter to choose between three possibilities to gain their freedom. They could convert to Catholicism, resign from their work and be watched for the rest of their lives, or they could be exiled. Two-thirds of the clergy decided to be exiled, and most moved to Germany to continue their service. The ninety people, including forty-six Lutherans, who rejected any of the three choices were transported to six different prisons in the country.

A prince named Imre Thököly (pictured on the left) took over an army in 1678 and led a war of liberation in Upper Northern Hungary. He employed Lutheran army chaplains. Lutherans were indebted to the prince for the recovery of several churches and, as a result of the Parliament of 1681 in Sopron, the institution of several congregations.

A new era started with the influence of Ferenc Rákóczi II, a Hungarian nobleman and leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-1711 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He ended the religious intolerance characteristic of the end of the previous century. The synod of 1707 at Rózsahegy started the work of reorganizing the Lutheran Church. The delegates decided on the establishment of four church districts, which included the territories previously occupied by the Turks.

The resolutions of the synod were never carried out because after the collapse of the war of independence, their decisions were qualified illegal, and thus were annulled. Hungarian Protestants faced another seventy years of persecution. During the 18th century, the open persecution of Protestant Churches ran rampant as authorities confiscated churches and harassed ministers and teachers. Forced conversions to Catholicism continued under Maria Theresa (1740-1780).

A turn for the better occurred in the life of the non-Catholic churches in 1781, when Joseph II (pictured on the right), the enlightened son of Maria Theresa, signed the Edictum Tolerantiae. This allowed public worship in all towns and villages where a minimum of one hundred Protestants or Orthodox families lived. According to the Carpathian Basin census taken at that time, sixty percent of the people were Catholic, the Reformed population was at fifteen percent, the Orthodox Church represented thirteen percent, the Lutherans were at nine percent and the Jews made up two percent. The Enlightenment advanced the idea of religious tolerance.

Hungarian Lutherans began to make an impact on culture by opening Lutheran school systems. During the Enlightenment and even afterwards, young Hungarians were also influenced by German universities. Printing presses and the literary activities of young Lutherans spread new ideas throughout the entire country.

In the first half of the 19th century the nation braved the Hapsburg oppression once again. Lutherans enthusiastically participated in the fight. All the bishops leading the four church districts of Hungary joined the cause of war for independence. The war took the lives of several Lutheran pastors and lay leaders. A bishop was sentenced to imprisonment. The bishops were replaced by “trusty persons” and all church meetings had to be attended by an imperial commissioner. The churches were forbidden to self-govern. The government closely monitored the sermons of Lutheran pastors. In 1854, the absolutist tyranny suddenly eased when Archduke Albrecht took over the military and civil governor-generalship, and the emperor married Princess Elizabeth of Wittelsbach. She sympathised with Hungarians, although church autonomy was still not granted.

I know this is getting rather long, so I'm going to split it up into two. Later, in March you will get the last half of the history of Lutheranism in Hungary.

See you then!