Calvin Synod Herald, 1982 (82. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1982-02-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

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REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

division: Royal Hungary vs. Transylvania, and within Royal Hungary the Catholic magnates vs. the lesser nobility (mostly Protestants). As many Hungarians found out, despite some gains, the zealots of the counter-reformation were often

“worse than Turks.”

Thus the theme of Habsburg centralism vs. Hungarian chartered privileges continued unresolved. When the Turks again swept from the East, Leopold I was too preoccupied to defend the vassal state effectively; in desperation, Hungarians attempted to sue for peace separately, which was simply regarded as a conspiracy and grounds for eventual reprisals. Hungarians, acting out a theme replayed again and again in their history, were caught in the middle. The Catholic hierarchy seized the opportunity to press home the counterreformation. In a particularly bitter episode in the spring of 1674 in Pozsony, Protestant pastors and teachers were rounded up and ordered to renounce their faith or leave home. Four hundred and fifty who refused to do so were sold into slavery and forced on a “death march” to the Spanish galleys in Naples, Italy. Numbering less than 200 by that time, they rowed under conditions of harsh cruelty for two years on the Spanish ships. Finally, those remaining were freed, weeping, by the Dutch Admiral de Ruyter in 1676. To this day, the event is commemorated in Hungarian Protestant churches, including our own, as Galley Slave Day, and is held forth as an example of the martyrdom of our forefathers for the faith.

The Hungarian Constitution was suspended in 1673 and restored again in 1681 under tighter control of the Habsburg Monarchy. The period through 1699 was dominated by the sweep of conquering Turkish hordes who fought all the way to Vienna and were finally driven back again across the Hungarian countryside. The pillage, devastation, and ruin of the land, as well as the brutal effects on the population are hardly imaginable. By the beginning of the 18th century, Hungary was again “liberated,” but at a dreadful cost. The territories were all the more so vassals of the Habsburg Crown. Protestants were harried unmercifully, for the major policy of the Habsburg toward Hungary could rightfully be summarized: to pauperize, Catholicize, and Germanize.

A rebellion led by Ferenc Rákóczi II in 1703 failed due to lack of help from France or Poland. The Peace of Szatmár on 30 April 1711 reestablished earlier controls of the Crown. But Charles was more benign than his predecessors. The connections with Crown authority were sealed, but defined responsibilities for defense and an administrative sharing of powers brought about greater security and an improved format of home rule. Such measures at least recognized the national identity of the Hungarian people. At the same time, it must be remembered that the new privileges and facilities favored overwhelmingly the Catholic religious structures and the landed nobleman. Class divisions were deep, and the masses remained largely backward, agrarian, and economically repressed. The Carolina Resolution (Charles—1731) upheld Leopold’s earlier restrictions with regard to the Protestants and their brand of the Christian faith: (1) Protestant services could be held only in a few designated places —otherwise only private worship was allowed; (2) Conversion to Protestantism was forbidden; (3) Protestants had to observe Catholic festivals; (4) There existed a required ‘Catholic’ oath for those entering any public service; (5) Protestant students could not attend foreign universities. Under Maria Theresa enforcement of such strictures was even worse. The Protestants in Hungary maintained their schools and other open evidence of their faith only with great courage and sacrifice. Relationships between people —such as that between peasant and lord — were represented as God-ordained. And the state, of course, was the rightful authority to enforce the maintenance of this divine order.

Beginning with the reign of Joseph in 1780, however, some changes began to surface. The Patent of Toleration in 1781 granted full freedom of public worship, and equality of Protestants with Catholics in matters of civil and political rights. By the time of the early

19 th century, leaders with the courage to speak out against deeply embedded injustices were emerging and calling for complete reform. Count István Széchenyi wrote several short books in the 1830’ that attacked the problems and proposed remedies. He was the first major leader of stature to begin rallying the country in this era of reform. He loved his country and its people, and though a man of the upper class, he was merciless in pointing out the greed and self-defeating shortsightedness of the ruling classes in Austro-Hungary. He called for constitutional and economic reforms, and an end to the oppression of the peasants, who were hardly more than serfs. While he caused quite a stir among the ruling elite, he was but a forerunner to the man who truly captured the love and admiration of the common people of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth.

A Protestant, Kossuth had gifts of oratory and eloquence that nobly defined the people’s needs and aspirations. He ultimately led the democratic revolution of 1848 in Hungary, which sought a limited monarchy, extended suffrage, more equitable taxation, real equality for all under the law, an improved court system, freedom of religion, and liberty of the press and assembly. On April 14, 1849, in a Calvinist Church in Debrecen, Hungarian leaders declared national independence and Kossuth as their Governor. With the help of the Russian Czar, however, Austria soon crushed this war of independence. By August 11th, Kossuth had to flee the country. While some minor improvements resulted from his efforts, the revolution had failed. Austrian policies of repression, Germanization, and division continued. Sharp class distinctions prevailed, as well as the policy of supporting minorities (Serbs, Croats, Slovaks) who in turn opposed the numerically dominant Magyars —all with the result of thwarting a unified Hungarian nation.

Some internal integrity had been regained in 1867, but foreign and defense matters were “common” to the Habsburg Crown. The nationalities question was settled by law in 1868, giving the Magyars pre-