Calvin Synod Herald, 2012 (113. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2012-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 Bethlen House walls are up Photos by Rev. Albert W. Kovács XVI. Century of Hungarian Protestantism Trial of Mátyás Dévai Biro and István Szegedi Kiss The 16th century is one of the most significant periods in Hungarian history. The first decades of the century were marked by fighting between the lesser nobility and the aristocracy, on one hand, and an impotent royal power on the other. The Turks continued to present a threatening menace from the south. The country received no aid from allies and, in 1526, suffered a defeat by the Turkish army at Mohács, The king died in battle and his country, now divided into two parties, elected two kings, Janos Szaplyai (1526-1540) and Ferdinand Hapsburg (1526-1564). In 1541, Buda fell into the hands of the Turkish empire. As a result the country broke up unto three parts: Royal Hungary ruled by the House of Hapsburg, parts of Hungary under Turkish rule, and the Principality of Transylvania. The Reformation came to Hungary not long afterl517 in the midst of this strife. First it spread among the burghers and intelligentsia (specifically to the German-speaking people in the free towns of upper northern Hungary and to the Saxons of Transylvania). Merchants going throughout Europe, as well as teachers and pastors returning home from Wittenburg, Germany, were the first heralds of this religious renewal. After the Mohács disaster (1526), a great many of the lesser nobility and aristocracy (e.g. Tamas Nadasy in Sarvar) became the main supporters of the Reformation. Peasant villagers joined in the reformation of the Christian faith in country towns of Northeast Hungary and in the South. The Hungarian legislative Bethlen construction Bethlen new cottages -footprint for model home Bethlen Chapel new steps and parking lot
