Magyar Egyház, 1954 (33. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1954-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 ENGLISH SECTION FAITH OF OUR FATHERS II. EARLY BEGINNINGS OF THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY. One may find die cause of the oncoming Reformation into Hungary and the rapid spread thereof in the indistructible faith of the Magyar people for freedom and independence. Hungarian national feelings and aspirations often called the kings one after another, into conflicts with the ever encroaching hierarchical tendencies of the Pope. When the dominiering and anti-democratic pressure of Rome threatened the royal prerogatives, one of the best Hungarian kings at that time, almost severed the connection with Rome completely. On the other hand, in the XV century, Hungary, as one of the most powerful nations in the Middle Eastern Europe between the Baltic and the Adriatic sea, reached the height of her national and political life. Especially under the rule of King Matthias the Just, the country was not only vitally connected with the current western European civilization but also developed her own high cultural standard, making the soil for the seed of the Reformation thus, even more prepared in Hungary than in other parts of the world. Furthermore, the representatives of the Hungarian Churches traveled back and forth to those Reform Councils where teachings of the forerunners of the Reformation were discussed and they brought back with themselves new ideas of a cleaner and better Church life. When persecution hit hard upon the Waldensiens, Hussites, they found refuge in sporadic communities on the rim of Hungary, where they were called “good men” by different names who studied the Bible, prayed together and lived together. The geographical, commercial and political conditions of Hungary also hastened to spread the doctrines of Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in Hungary. The descendents of the settlers from Saxony, Germany, now in parts of Transylvania and Upper Hungary, sent their children to schools and universities in Germany. Students and merchants also often came back with new books of the Reformers, mostly those that were written by Luther. George Margrave of Brandenburg, the uncle and guardian of the youthful King Louis II, kept a close contact with his native land. While corresponding with Luther he attended some of the most important international conferences, and became one of the signers of the famous “protestantion” in 1529, from where Protestants derived their name. Mary, the young Queen, proved to be a very helpful support for the Reformation principles. Her court-priest Kordatus heaped ridicule and scouring upon bishops, cardinals and the Pope. After the Queen was compelled to dismiss him from office, Henckel, another Reformation sympathizer was called to be the court preacher, sowing the seed of the evangelical teachings. When Luther was informed about the loyal patronage of the Reformation cause of Queen Mary and on the other hand the fall of King Louis II in the battle of Mohács 1526, when Christian forces suffered a fatal blow from the Moslem Turks, he dedicated to her a translation of four psalms and a song in order to comfort her that she might be consoled. More and more priests with evangelical persuasion came to preach and teach in Buda, the capital city of Hungary: Grynaeus, Vinshemius, Speratus Preisner, Bogner and other nameless heroic pioneers. The reformation found its supporters not only in the royal court, among whom the Lord Chief Justice Pampflinger was the leader, but the new doctrines were well received with the middle class as well as with the poor of the country. First the magnates, then the civil magistrates and the ecclesiastical authorities also looked favorably upon the preachings of Franciscan Fathers and other evangelical minded clergy denouncing the wordly power, frivolity, carelessness and negligence of ecclesiastical hierarchy. As soon as the Reformation movement became significant, a vehement opposition broke out on the part of the Roman machinery, arousing the officialdom of the country. So they brought in the first serious measure of law against the new religion. The Diet of Buda in 1523 § 53 passed the law that called upon the king “as a Roman Catholic Sovereign, to punish all Lutherans, their patrons and adhearants, as public heretics and enemies of the Saint Virgin Mary, with death and confiscation of their property.” The enemies of Reformation slowly showed that they were choking with rage when the Diet of Rákos in 1525 § 4 brought the law “that all Lutherans should be extripated from the country, wherever they may be found, they should be burned.” (Luther ani omnes extirpantur and comburantur). There were many who suffered death for their faith, teachers, preachers and others who ONLY dinged to the Reformed Church. One man brought books with him from Luther and was captured on the boarder and burned alive with his books. In 1526 the Moslems inflicted a tremendous blow upon the decaying Mediaeval Christendom, the king, the nobles and the heroes all laid dead on the battle field of Mohács, countless thousands of people perished and the nation soon became divided into three parts: the Turks occupying the central, the Austrians with a Habsburg king the Western and the Hungarians the Eastern part of the country. Regardless of the constant warfares, the enduring trials and the endless tribulations in all parts of the country, the great Reformation movement went forward with a triumphant conquest. Dezső Abraham.
