Fraternity-Testvériség, 1959 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1959-10-01 / 10. szám

4

FRATERNITY

HISTORY

OF THE

HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH

By

IMRE REVESZ, Th.D.

Translated by

GEORGE A. F. KNIGHT II

THE VICTORY OF THE COUNTERREFORMATION

1608—1715

(Continuation)

Condemnation to the Galleys

But 89 of this 400 refused under every threat to give way to this show of force, and all of these 89 were imprisoned and then put to heavy labour under the lash. Every means was tried to break their obstinacy. Three died under their treatment, 18 turned Catholic, one agreed to resign from his charge, and one escaped from prison. The others languished for another year in jail, and then in March, 1675, 41 of them were impelled by forced marches through Austria to Trieste whence they were taken by ship to Naples and sold as slaves to be used in the galleys. Some of the 41 died on the road to the sea and never reached Naples, and three managed to escape. But the 30 remaning were sold and chained to their oars in May of 1675.

One of the condemned slaves managed to send a message back to Hungary in which he gave a heart-rending account of the horrors he and his fellows were going through at the hand of merciless task-drivers, and he described how day and daily their whole physical frame was racked by