Magyar Egyház, 1976 (55. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-01-01 / 1-2. szám
6 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ the Roman Catholic church became persecutors and attacked the Hungarian Protestants. George Rakoczy I, the husband of Zsuzsanna Lorantffy, led his army against Vienna and, being victorious, he made them sign the Peace of Linz. (1645) The King promised that the Reformed churches which were occupied by Roman Catholics would be given back to the Reformed Christians. They promised that the Hungarian Protestants could practice their faith without fears or threats. Rut again they didn’t keep their word. They gave back only 90 churches out of the 888 that were taken. In many places they took them away again. The ministers were expelled from their churches and from their homes. The church members suffered all kinds of indignities, including imprisonment. It was also compulsory for them to take their children and have them baptized and confirmed by Catholic priests. In 1667 Frank Wesselényi, Frank Nadasdy, Frank Frangepan, and Peter Zrinyi discussed the misery of Hungary and planned a revolt against Vienna. This was reported to the King. Wesselényi died, but the others were doomed too to lose their heads and property. 1670. The conspiracy was purely political, and they were all Roman Catholics. They thought it would be a good opportunity to make one last battle against the Hungarian Protestants. Their plan was to make Hungary a colony of Austria. The Cardinals and Bishops of Hungary became allies with the Hapsburg Kings. They thought it was the right time to annihilate Hungarian Protestanism. One of the Bishops, Leopold Kollonics, hated Hungary and Hungarian Protestanism so much that at one occasion he said that his plan was “Faciam Hungáriám captivam, postea mendicam, deinde catholicam,” which means, “I will make Hungary a captive prisoner, afterwards a beggar, and at last Catholic.” We often wonder at the hatred and cruelty that was in the hearts of these high-ranked priests, who were supposedly the Lord’s servants. People who do not know church history can never imagine how much blood, cruelty, suffering, tears, and misery was on the soul of this Jesuit Order, which heartlessly tortured at the inquisition those who dared to confess a faith other than theirs. This Catholic conspiracy was to be the great opportunity to finish the Hungarian Protestants, the Hungarian freedom and Constitution. In 1670 there was an investigative court in Lőcse to which those Protestants who lived around the city were summoned. Many of these people lost their property and were imprisoned. On January 3rd, 1671 they summoned firstly 32 Protestant ministers. Later on March 4, 1674, they summoned 450 Protestant ministers and teachers. This bloody court was held in Pozsony. The charge against them was that they called the Catholics idol worshippers, they rebelled against the King, swore against Mary, despised the Saints, helped enemies of the King, and were allies with the Turks. They were doomed to death unless they chose to convert to Catholicism, surrender their office, or leave the country. The members of the Court tried to persuade and threaten these defendents. They tried to make them admit that they were rebels and ask for mercy. 236 ministers were willing to give up their offices. Some of them became Catholic. A group promised that they would leave the country. Those who would not give up their offices and betray their church were the ones who suffered. Immediately they were put into prison and chained. They could not sleep because they were chained to a pole. They were not able to sit or lie down. There were shackles on their feet and their hands. The prison was full of rats, filth, and bugs. The food they were given to eat was molded bread, and they drank stagnant water. Their clothing was ragged and full of insects. The men sent to guard them were those soldiers who had no feelings for their suffering. At the same time, Jesuits came into the prison to try to convert and molest them. Eighteen could not tolerate this unbearable life in prison and converted to Catholicism. Some of them escaped and some of them resigned from their offices. They were in the prison for one year. In 1675, 41 of them were forced to march through Austria to Trieste. On the road some of them died because their clothing and shoes were taken away; and in the springtime, the mountains were covered with snow and ice. From Trieste they were shipped to Naples. There they were sold for 50 pieces of gold as galley slaves. 30 were sold and chained to the oars on the galley in May of 1675. 22 ministers were in Buccari (close to Fiume.) Some of them died in the prisons. Some of them were set free for a high ransom. On the galley, six slaves were seated on one bench. Their hands were chained to the oars, and their legs were chained too. Their heads were shaven, and pieces of wood were put into their mouths so
