The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-10-01 / 10. szám
October, 1975 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 9 JOSEPH REVESZ, president of the Hungarian Reformed Presbyter’s Association: THE CENTURY OF THE REFORMATION AND ITS PREPARATION 1520 — 1608 There are two striking facts about the Reformation in Hungary. One is the speed with which the movement spread, and the other is the strength of the movement as it swept across the country. Moreover, it spread despite the fact that throughout the first half of the sixteenth century, Hungary was cut up into three sections. First over a large part of the center and south of the country the Turks held sway, second in the east, Transylvania was at that period virtually a separate kingdom, and third in the north and west of the great Hungarian plain the Habsburgs were still able to hold on to some of their former territory and ruled what they still had from the city of Vienna with a rod of iron. Another factor militating against its spread was that neither of the two Christian kings to the east and to the west showed any sympathy at all with the movement toward Reformation. To the east the trade routes were cut off to Russia by the Turks. During this period Hungary was forced to turn toward the West to a greater degree than she had in earlier centuries, and with the discovery of America, her eyes looked West as eagerly as did the eyes of other nations. So linked had she become with the West, especially through the international nature of the two Roman Catholic Churches, that, for example, her own universities were prevented from developing a life and standard of her own. Hungarian youths by the hundreds were in the habit of going off to study in the neighboring countries, and there they naturally met up with all the new movements. At home the Gospel was preached in its simplicity and purity. For example, the sermon of Pelbart Temesvári went through as many as 52 editions until the year of 1498 when it had to be published abroad. A large number of religious leaders were in part prepared for the movement of reform so that when finally it reached Hungary the result was a church distinctive and fully Hungarian. In the year 1526 the Turks slaughtered the Hungarian Army at a town on the Danube called Mohács near the present Yugoslavian border. In 1541 the Turks pushed still further north and entered and took possession of the royal city of Buda, but by this move they conquered a land that had already known many of Luther’s tenets. Previously in 1521 the Primate of Hungary had felt compelled to issue the order that the Papal Bull (doctrine), which denounced the Lutheran doctrines, must be read from every pulpit in the land. All kinds of people had felt the influence of Luther. Some fled from teaching posts in Vienna because of their beliefs and had accepted appointments in Buda. Even the royal court at Buda had become a center of reformed teaching. During this period even the royal family kept asking for enlightenment from travelers returning from abroad. The new opinions were being passed on, not only from the pulpit, but in the market places as well. Traders brought hack news and information from the cities of the West. By this time also Luther’s writings could be bought in the streets for a few coins. As early as 1522 the Pope had been denounced from the pulpits even in German speaking cities with the result that in 1524 and again in 1526 envoys had to be sent to silence those outspoken preachers. The national assembly meeting in Buda threatened all with punishment, and this punishment was specified in 1525 as burning at the stake. Some fled abroad if they were lucky enough, but others languished in prison. The stakes were used sparingly, as the public would seldom allow such an execution to take place. The 1926 disaster at Mohács by the Turks reduced the population of the country by nearly 200,000, and by this great loss the Hungarian people were put on the defensive against the invaders. This sparked a strong Christian faith within the people which they needed to resist the invaders. Strong measures were used against the Hungarians, but such measures only served to fan the flames of faith, and the Reformation continued to spread steadily throughout the land. By the end of the sixteenth century Hungary had become a 90% Protestant country. In Transylvania, the leading figures in the Reformation were Gaspar Heltai and Francis David, both men of Saxon origin, but because of their close connection with Hungarians, both of them spent most of their time evangelizing the Hungarian population. In 1538 when the two bishops of the region sought to oppose the influence of these two reformers with the sword, John, King of Transylvania, intervened.
