HUNGARY, POLAND, BOHEMIA, THE NETHERLANDS.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST REFORMERS AND THE FIRST PERSECUTORS IN HUNGARY.
(1518-1526.)
Few countries had so much need of the Reformation as Hungary. When, in
the year 1000, she abandoned paganism under King Stephen, she attached
herself to Rome, and Rome brought on her two evils. She sent into the
country large numbers of monks, priests, prelates, primates, and
legates; and these men led her—this was the first evil—to a mere outward
profession of Christianity, and oppressed the various tribes who peopled
the land—this was the second evil. Further, the people, rather more than
half a century later, assembled at Alba-Royal, rose in revolt against
the clergy. The former were defeated, many were put to death, and the
pope, boasting of the victory, wrote to the king, bidding him remember
that henceforth the pope of Rome was his suzerain. Shortly before the
Reformation, in 1512, the Hungarian passion for independence led them to
revolt again. But at this time they were destitute of true Christian
principles, and the only result of the movement was to cover their
country with devastation, and deluge it with the blood of sixty thousand
of its sons. This heroic nation was once more thrown into bondage. The
light and the power of the Gospel were needed to effect its
regeneration, and to infuse strength into it for resisting its two
enemies, the Grand Turk and the pope.
[Sidenote: The Magyars.]
If the tribes of Hungary were without a true and living faith, they were
nevertheless, the Magyars especially, among the races best fitted to
embrace the Reformation. They were characterized by a noble independence
of spirit and a nature endowed with higher cravings. When some Christian
men proclaimed among them the grace of Jesus Christ, they joyfully
embraced the spiritual truths which Geneva was then diffusing in Europe;
and the liveliness of their faith, the morality of their conduct, their
love of freedom, and the prudence of their character, soon rendered a
glorious testimony to the Reformation. But the cleverness and the
violent persecuting spirit of the Hungarian prelates and of the courts
of Rome and Vienna contended vigorously against the religious renovation
of this people, drew them back in part to the bosom of the Church, and
prevented the spread of evangelical doctrine into other districts of the
country. The mighty forces of the flesh engaged in a conflict with the
mighty forces of the spirit. The dominion of prejudice gained the
ascendency over that of truth. Faith, wisdom, virtue, originative
energy, freedom—all were crushed. God, however, by his power, kept for
himself a people in these lands; and a considerable part of the
Hungarian nation remained Protestant, but were constantly subject to the
inspection of priests and to oppression by the powerful.
Hungary, in common with the other countries of eastern Europe, had
received, before the Reformation of the sixteenth century and while it
was still in subjection to Rome, some rays of light which here and there
illumined it. Some of the Vaudois had sought refuge there; the doctrine
of John Hus had been spread in the land; some of the _brethren_ banished
from Bohemia had built churches there, and had acquired great influence.
In 1521 two young people, children almost, the hope of Hungary, were
united before the altar. The husband was Louis II., a son of King
Ladislaus, who had ascended the throne in 1510, at the age of ten. The
young prince, who was amiable, but easy tempered, weak, and addicted to
pleasure, was not capable of preventing the prevalence of disorder in
the kingdom at the time the Turks were threatening it with their
terrible invasions. He had little courage, a quality which was common
enough among his fellow-countrymen; he was obstinate, and yet allowed
his courtiers and his bishops to rule over him:
Et les prêtres en paix guidaient ses faibles ans.
The wife, named Mary, aged eighteen years, was of quite a different
character. A sister of Charles the Fifth, a daughter of the unfortunate
Joanna, queen of Castile and Aragon, who was kept in prison till her
death, partly perhaps because she preferred the Gospel to the pope, Mary
like her mother and still more than her mother had tasted the doctrine
of the Gospel. Of lofty character, with a kindly heart, a sound
understanding, and high intellectual abilities, well informed and able
to speak five languages, it was said of her that she was as competent to
rule over minds in peace as to command armies in war. She did not
actually march at their head, but she once caused a severe defeat to be
given to Henry II., the son of Francis I.
While still very young and residing at the court of her grandfather
Maximilian, she had read with delight the first works of Luther. ‘Her
chamber was her oratory,’ said Erasmus. She loved the chase, but she did
not start for this sport without taking with her her New Testament. She
was equally fond of pursuing on horseback the hart and the hare, and of
sitting under a tree to read the word of the Saviour. We have elsewhere
mentioned the fact that while she was at Augsburg in 1530, in company
with her brother Charles the Fifth and the archbishops, bishops, and
legates of the papacy, she courageously had the evangelical services
celebrated in her apartments. Melanchthon called her a woman of heroic
genius. She would fain have given her protection to the Reformation in
Hungary, but the influence of the priests over the king was stronger
than her own. Subsequently also she entreated the emperor not to submit
to the domination of the clergy.[522]
[Sidenote: Beginning Of Reformation.]
It was by a kind of thunder-clap that the Reformation began in Hungary.
In 1518 there appeared a work entitled, _De Horrendo Idololatriæ
Crimine_. In 1520 and 1521 the earliest writings of Luther, on
_Christian Liberty_, on the _Epistle to the Galatians_, and others
besides, were brought into the kingdom by traders who came from Germany.
The _Captivity of Babylon_ delighted the Hungarians, and led many of
them to separate themselves from the ultramontane Roman Church. Other
evangelical books explaining the doctrine of salvation were read with
eagerness. Nobles and townsmen declared for the Reformation; and this
they did with all the energy of their national character. The like
events were taking place in Transylvania.
Progress so rapid could not but provoke persecution. It was to begin
with anathemas, but it would soon go on to rigorous deeds, and would
rage almost without intermission.
Szakmary, archbishop of Gran, hoping to annihilate Reform at one blow,
assembled his scribes, and had a public document drawn up. In 1521
condemnation of Luther and of his writings resounded from the pulpits of
the principal Hungarian churches.[523]
Most of the Hungarians who heard this were very much astonished; and the
publication of the anathemas produced a contrary effect to that which
the prelate had aimed at. It awakened in the hearers a consciousness of
the important nature of the Reformation; so that its friends were
encouraged, and many were led to seek after the truth who had not
previously concerned themselves about it. Many ecclesiastics,
especially, who had been oppressed by the higher clergy, and had long
sighed for the time of justice and freedom, now lifted up their heads,
read the sacred books, and declared that Luther’s doctrine, founded on
the Word of God, alone was true. They did not remain inactive; but by
their living and powerful words they enlightened the minds of men.
Parishes, villages, and towns joyfully greeted the Reformation.
One of the first to proclaim the Gospel in Hungary appears to have been
Thomas Preussner. Others followed him. Cordatus at Bartfeld, in 1522,
Siklosy at Neustadt, Kopacsy at Sarospatak, Radan and Husser at
Debreczin, and George at Hermanstadt, proclaimed the tidings of a
salvation freely given to those who laid hold on Christ by faith.
Learned men at the same time were bearing witness to the truth at the
university of Buda. Simon Grynaeus, son of a simple Suabian peasant, and
afterwards a friend of Calvin, having from childhood shown a remarkable
disposition for study, had been sent at the age of fourteen to the
famous school of Pforzheim. Thence he had passed to the university of
Vienna, where he distinguished himself and took the degree of master of
arts. The king then called him to Buda. Grynaeus did not confine himself
to teaching letters there, but openly and boldly announced to the people
the great doctrines of the Gospel which he had embraced with all his
heart. Another doctor, Winsheim, also professed openly the same faith;
and, what was an unlooked-for event, people were talking at Pesth, in
the old capital of the kings, on the banks of the Danube, and near the
borders of Turkey, of that same Word of God which was giving joy to so
many Germans on the banks of the Elbe. The Reformation, like a broad
river, brought life and prosperity into these vast regions which extend
between the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and the Balkan. But, alas!
the river, dried up here and there by the parching heat of persecution,
was one day to shrink and be turned into a stagnant and sleepy body of
water like that which runs to lose itself in the dry sands of the
desert.[524]
[Sidenote: Hungarians At Wittenberg.]
These times, however, were as yet remote. The reformation of the Magyars
was still in its period of growth and life. The tidings of the struggle
which had begun in Germany excited in men’s minds a burning desire to
see Luther, to hear him, and to receive from his very lips the heavenly
doctrine.[525] This is a characteristic feature of the Hungarian
Reformation. The wish to go and drink the living water at its very
source became intense, and all who were able to do so hastened to
Wittenberg. Martin Cyriaci from Leutschau arrived there in 1522. He was
followed in 1524 by Dionysius Link, Balthazar Gleba from Buda, and a
great number of their countrymen.[526] Joyfully they greeted the modest
city from which light was shed over the world. They fixed their gaze
with timid respect on Luther and on Melanchthon; took their places on
the benches of their auditories; received into their minds and hearts
the words of these illustrious masters, and engraved them there more
indelibly than on the leaves of their note-books.
In Hungary it began gradually to be noticed that one student and another
was missing. The cause of their absence became known; they were gone to
Wittenberg. The bishops, provoked at these _heretical pilgrimages_,
denounced them to the king. These priests had no difficulty in getting
their views adopted by this young man, who, but a little while before,
had given proof of his character. Louis, who was king of Bohemia as well
as of Hungary, had gone to Prague for the coronation of the queen, Mary;
and as he passed through Moravia he had a parley with the townsmen of
Iglau, and had declared to them that unless they abandoned the Saxon
heresy he would have them put to death. At the same time he had ordered
their pastor, John Speratus, to be thrown into prison. This was the
wedding bouquet which Louis II. presented to his young, lovely, and
Christian spouse, on the occasion of her coronation.[527]
[Sidenote: Intolerance Of The Priesthood.]
The archbishops and the priests, in possession of all their privileges,
put themselves at the head of the opposition. Many of them, of course,
were actuated by a higher motive, the glory of the Roman Church; but in
general they had no mind to let what they had usurped be taken from
them. King Louis and other princes, pressed by the clergy, _lent them
their own power and authority_; but the ecclesiastics were the authors
of the persecution. A religious philosopher of the eighteenth
century[528] has said, ‘The clergy are the indirect cause of the crimes
of kings. While they talk incessantly of God, they only aim at
establishing their own dominion.’ This is a strong saying, and the
author forgets that in the Catholic Church there are, and always have
been, some good priests and good laymen. _Let us not exaggerate._ Still,
the empire of the clergy, the despotism with which it crushed
consciences, is a great historical fact. It concealed the Holy
Scriptures, but it brought out its tariffs of indulgences, its
exactions, its punishments with fire and sword. At a later time the
progress of Christian civilization no longer allowed resort to such
barbarous practices. But if evangelical Christianity is exposed
henceforth only to senseless accusations, and frequently to insults on
the part of the adherents of Rome, another adversary has appeared at the
opposite pole; and each is a menace to freedom, to truth, and to the
life of society. ‘If the European world is not to perish like the Roman
empire,’ a philosopher of our own day has said,[529] ‘some religious
symbol must be found which is adequate to the rescue of souls from both
the evils which at this day are contending for them—a criminal atheism
and a retrograde theology.’ This symbol is the Word of God.
The Hungarian priests dealt a hard blow. They wanted to exclude the
Reformation not from their own country alone, but from the whole world.
They said that it was necessary to dry up the fountain from which these
poisoned waters flowed. Hungary then could no longer have to fear a
Lutheran deluge. At their request the young king then wrote to the old
elector of Saxony: ‘How can you patronize Luther, who attacks the
Christian faith and the authority of the Church, who derides princes and
praises the Turks? Leave off countenancing this monk, and punish him
severely.’[530] Frederick the Wise was not of a nature to give himself
up to the leading of a young man without understanding. ‘To allege that
Luther teaches things contrary to the faith,’ he replied, ‘that he
insults the Christian princes, that he extols the Turks, and that in all
these misdeeds he is countenanced by me, is to heap calumny upon
calumny. I beg that you will let me know who are putting such fables
into circulation.’ Louis had not to go far to find them. It was the
priests of his court; but in his astonishment at the reply of the
illustrious elector, he took care not to say so.
This young, light-headed king no longer knew what to think. His bishops
spoke to him in one way; the wisest prince in Europe said just the
reverse. He had threatened with death the reformers of a small Moravian
town; and now, not only were Moravia and Bohemia full of the faith of
John Hus, but the Reformation appeared to triumph in Hungary, and
Transylvania likewise was beginning to receive it. Two ministers of the
Gospel, who came from Silesia and who had heard Luther at Wittenberg,
arrived one day at Hermanstadt. They distributed there the works of the
reformer, expounded the Scriptures plainly to the people, showed them
all the consolation that is in the Gospel, and vigorously attacked the
Roman Church. They were both of them ex-Dominicans; and their names were
Ambrose and George. Mark Pempflinger, a count and chief judge, an
eminent and very influential man, who was a reader of Luther’s writings,
gave his protection to the two evangelists. A third soon arrived, whose
name was John Surdaster. Animated with burning zeal, he began by
preaching in the open air; afterwards, owing to the intervention of
Pempflinger, he removed into St. Elizabeth’s church. The crowd which
came to hear him was immense, and in it were seen members of the
council. While giving their attention to men and women, the reformers
did not overlook children. They felt a warm affection for them, and
delighted to explain the Gospel to them in a simple manner adapted to
their understandings. They instilled into them the fear of God and an
abhorrence of sin, and sought to lead them to Jesus, and thus to give
them a simple but efficient piety. They knew that man having fallen must
be restored. They began to instruct children out of doors, in the public
place. This boldness gave the greatest offence to the priests, who
complained, in high quarters, that these foreigners were not only
instructing the young, but were teaching them false doctrines. The two
Silesian monks being summoned to Gran by the archbishop, were not able
to return to Transylvania.[531]
[Sidenote: The Procession On Corpus Christi Day.]
But the Gospel remained there. A fire had been kindled in the heart of
the people, and nothing could extinguish it. The Catholic rites were
deserted by a large number, the priests were removed from several
pulpits, which were then filled by ministers of the divine word, who
taught in their stead. ‘The power of the _truth_,’ says a historian,
‘brought souls to _freedom_.’ But while thoughtful minds were gaining
strength from the reading of the sacred books, there were triflers who
merely laughed at the superstitions which they had abandoned, and sang
verses about the pope. The Catholics, however, were not disheartened;
the procession on Corpus Christi Day took place as usual, with much pomp
and with large lighted tapers. ‘Do our priests believe then,’ said some,
‘that God has become blind, that they carry so many lights in full
day?‘[532] A serious and charitable reformation alone is a true one;
nevertheless the prophet Elijah overwhelmed with his irony the prophets
of the groves.[533]
The outcries increased. Never had so deadly a heresy been seen. The most
pious declarations of the reformers were taxed with hypocrisy; their
most sincere professions with subtility and falsehood; their most
Christian dogmas were atrocious. Never had the devil woven a more
dangerous doctrine. The archbishop was no longer equal to the occasion;
the thunders of the Vatican must roll. The denunciations increased in
seriousness. The archbishop of Gran betook himself to Rome. The papacy
was agitated at the report of the deeds which were denounced before it,
and Clement VII. sent into Hungary the celebrated Cardinal Cajetan,
furnishing him on his departure with every thing calculated to win over
the king. He delivered to the cardinal for the king a present of sixty
thousand ducats, ostensibly intended for the defence of the kingdom
against the Turks, but also designed to rekindle the zeal of Louis II.
against the reformers. The pope also entrusted him with a letter in
which he urged the king to destroy the heresy. How resist a request
which was accompanied by sixty thousand pieces of gold and earnestly
supported by the bishops? In 1523 a Diet was convoked, which was
skilfully managed by the clergy. The delegates of the latter said to the
king—‘Will your royal majesty deign as a Catholic prince to take severe
measures against all Lutherans, their patrons, and their adherents? They
are manifest heretics and enemies of the Holy Virgin Mary. Punish them
by decapitation and by confiscation of all their property.’[534]
[Sidenote: Lutheranism Proscribed.]
Louis II. acceded to this demand, and on the 15th of October, 1524, he
issued a severe ordinance against the Reformation. ‘This _thing_
displeases me greatly,’ he said. ‘We desire that our subjects should
keep pure from all stain and all errors the faith which we have received
from our ancestors; and we some time ago decreed that no one in our
kingdom should embrace or approve this sect.’[535] Next, he commanded
those whom he addressed, on pain of forfeiting life and goods, to do
every thing possible to stay the Lutheran heresy.
The archbishop of Gran, who was returning from Rome, and Cardinal
Szalkai caused commissaries to be appointed for the suppression of
heresy; and, as Hermanstadt was causing the greatest uneasiness, they
directed them first to this town. A good many people were astonished to
see these agents of the pope intent at such a time on persecution. The
Turks were threatening an invasion of Hungary; and was this the moment
to breed division among the citizens? Was there not a necessity for
establishing a good understanding among them all, and of uniting them in
heart and in will? Ought Hungary to be exposed, by a division of its
forces, to a frightful catastrophe? All these considerations were
ineffectual. The Roman clergy shrank from nothing. Dreading the Gospel
more than the Turk, they rashly flung their brands of discord into the
midst of a generous people.
The fire, however, did not burn so well as had been hoped. When the
commissaries arrived in Transylvania, they found opinions so decided in
favor of the Gospel, that they renounced their intention of burning men
and confined themselves to burning the books. The writings of the
apostles and the reformers were taken by force from the townsmen; a huge
fire was kindled in the market-place, and the best of the books were
thrown into it. The archiepiscopal commissaries could not deny
themselves the pleasure of being present at this execution, for want of
others, and they watched the flames with a joy which they could hardly
suppress. Meanwhile, a psalter on fire, caught up by the wind, fell upon
the bald head of one of them, and the poor man was so dangerously
injured that he died within three days. The death intended for the
persecuted overtook the persecutors. Executions of a like kind took
place in other Hungarian towns. The warden of the Franciscan convent at
Oedenburg displayed extraordinary zeal and ordered the works of the
great Luther to be burnt by the hangman. In the archives of the town may
still be read the following entry—‘Anno 1525, Monday after New Year’s
Day, paid to the hangman for burning the Lutheran books, 1 d. d.’[536]
This was not enough. What would it avail to have destroyed so many
printed sheets, if there were still left in the kingdom many living
voices to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ? There was one voice
especially which they longed at any cost to silence. The evangelical
light was shining brighter and brighter in the university of Pesth; and
this was mainly owing to Grynaeus, who zealously taught the truth there.
These Dominicans obtained a decree against him. This excellent man was
seized and cast into prison. But some of the nobles took his part, and
the prison doors were opened. ‘Depart,’ they said to him; ‘leave the
kingdom.’ Hungary’s loss became Switzerland’s gain. Grynaeus became
professor of philosophy at Basel; and twelve years later he welcomed
Calvin there after his expulsion from Geneva. Winsheim, a man more
prudent and more timid than Grynaeus, kept his post for two years
longer, but was at length banished in 1525, and became professor of
Greek at Wittenberg. It was mainly on the ground of their opposition to
the worship of the Virgin that these two disciples of Christ were driven
from Hungary. But neither prison nor exile could banish the Reformation.
The fire within was increasing and no one was capable of extinguishing
it.
Fresh students set out for Wittenberg. Martin Cyriaci of Leutschau
returned thence, impressed and strengthened by Luther’s teaching, and
applied himself immediately to the work. Some influential nobles and
some of the cities also declared for the Reformation. In 1525, the five
free towns of Upper Hungary pronounced themselves in its favor, namely,
Leutschau, Seben, Bartfeld, Eperies and Kaschau. In Transylvania a
Lutheran school had been founded; and while the priests were every
Sunday excommunicating those whom they called heretics, laymen protected
them against persecution. If any of the clergy wanted to erect
scaffolds, merchants and artisans rose and prevented it.[537]
The archbishop of Gran and the legate of the pope, who had counted on
destroying the Reformation by means of the royal edicts, were filled
with grief when they saw that these documents availed them nothing; and
they made more strenuous efforts still to use and to abuse the youth and
weakness of the king.[538]
The archbishop had assumed in Hungary the part of persecutor of the
Reformation; and he resolved, seeing that it was so hard to kill, to
give it a fresh blow. He wished the persecution to be at once more
general and more cruel. As a Diet was to meet in 1525, he determined,
with the cardinal’s assent, to promote a new edict. Having been formerly
governor to the king, the archbishop had great influence at court, and
knew perfectly well how to proceed in order to gain over his old pupil.
He manœuvred so cleverly that he got what he aimed at.[539] All that the
pious queen could say to the young king was powerless before the
influence of the two prelates and the sixty thousand ducats. The priests
gained over also the Catholic members of the Diet. They were led to
believe that if they once got rid of Luther it would be easier to effect
their deliverance from Mohammed. They were not to be long, however,
before they found out their mistake. Louis commanded Duke Charles of
Munsterberg, governor of Bohemia, to banish thence all the Lutherans and
the Picards; and an edict which became a law of the kingdom of Hungary
ordered the general extirpation, _by burning_, of the evangelicals.
[Sidenote: Burning Of Heretics.]
They now set to work. At Buda lived a bookseller named George, a marked
man with the pope’s party, as a seller of suspected books. George was
apprehended, his Christian books were carried off, and the pious
bookseller was burnt, together with his volumes, which served as his
funeral pile.[540] Louis ordered that the same course should be pursued
in all his dominions. He wrote to several magistrates at Oedenburg,
Hermanstadt, and other places; and particularly addressed Count
Pempflinger in Transylvania, enjoining him to extirpate heresy,
threatening him with the severest punishments if he failed to do so, and
promising him his royal favor if he executed his cruel edicts. Hungary
was to be covered with scaffolds. But a storm, gathering in the East,
was rapidly coming on, bringing Divine punishments. The sword of the
persecutor was to be broken, the disciples of Christ saved, and the
young and unfortunate prince, a victim of clerical intrigues, was to pay
dear for all his cruelties.
Footnote 522:
Spalatinus, _Relatio de Comitiis August_. 1530.
Footnote 523:
_Archiep. Strigon. comp. dat. Tyrnaviæ_, p. 96.
Footnote 524:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn, mit einer Einleitung
von Merle d’Aubigné_, p. 35. Berlin, 1854.
Footnote 525:
‘Incredibilem in multis accendit ardorem ad videndum
Lutherum.’—Scultetus, _Annal. Ev. rinovati_, p. 51.
Footnote 526:
‘Ex publicis academiæ matriculis constat.’—_Ibid._
Footnote 527:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 41.
Footnote 528:
Saint-Martin.
Footnote 529:
Paul Janet.
Footnote 530:
Seckendorf, _Hist. des Lutherth._, p. 603. _Geschichte der
Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 45.
Footnote 531:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 42.
Footnote 532:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 42.
Footnote 533:
2 Kings xviii. 27.
Footnote 534:
‘Pœna capitis et ablatione omnium bonorum suorum punire
dignetur.’—_Hist. Diplomatica_, p. 3.
Footnote 535:
‘Jam pridem ediximus ne quis in hoc regno nostro sectam illam auderet
amplecti aut approbare.’ This ordinance, hitherto unpublished, may be
found in the Hungarian journal _Magyar_, p. 524—_Figyelmezo_,
Debreczin, 1871.
Footnote 536:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 44.
Footnote 537:
Haner, _Hist. eccles. Transylvaniæ_, pp. 147-178.
Footnote 538:
‘Juvenis bonitate abutebatur.’—Scultetus, _Annales_, p. 62.
Footnote 539:
Baronius, _Annales_, anno 1525.
Footnote 540:
‘Georgium quemdam bibliopolam una cum libris evangelicis
exusserunt.’—Scultetus, _Annales_, p. 62. Luther, _Epistolæ_.
CHAPTER II.
SOLYMAN’S GREAT VICTORY.
(1526).
[Sidenote: Invasion Of Solyman.]
Solyman the Great, the conqueror, the magnificent, the most famous of
the Sultans, was marching at the head of a numerous army. His life was
to be for nearly half a century a series of battles and of victories.
Five years before this time the Turks had taken Belgrade and bathed
their feet in the Danube. The illustrious follower of Mohammed intended
to do more. He purposed to invade Hungary, Austria, Italy, and Spain.
The cross should be trodden under foot, and the crescent should wave
triumphantly above it. Europe was to become Mussulman. On the 23d of
April, 1526, Solyman, who was preparing to leave Constantinople, visited
the tombs of his ancestors and of the martyrs of Islam. Then, glorious
in his youth and strength—he was now thirty-two years of age—endowed
with the energy of his creed, inflamed with that passion for conquest
which had distinguished his forefathers, the prince set out from
Constantinople at the head of an army which was continually receiving
reinforcements. Ibrahim Pacha, who set out before him, was already
besieging Peterwaradin. He took this town; and at the moment of the
Sultan’s entering upon the soil of Hungary, at the head of three hundred
thousand soldiers, Ibrahim laid at his feet, as a token of welcome,
fifty Hungarian heads. ‘Forward! To Pesth!’ was the cry raised in the
camp of the son of Selim. This great army set out on its march along the
Danube.
In Hungary nothing was ready. All the land was seized with alarm. The
most enlightened men did not deceive themselves. In the assembly at
Tolna it had been asserted that ‘every kingdom is in need of two things
for its defence, armies and laws; now our Hungary has neither of
these.’[541] Division among the grandees and the pretensions of the
clergy had weakened the country. Places were bestowed only as matter of
personal favor; soldiers were parading and showing themselves off in the
streets of the capital, while the frontiers were left without defenders.
The young queen strove in vain to establish order in the state, for the
grandees opposed it. At their head was the powerful Zapolya, who proudly
relied on his seventy-two castles. This high and sovereign lord, of whom
a prediction had been uttered that the crown would one day be placed on
his head, asked for nothing better than to see the discomfiture of his
native land, for he hoped that it would thus become easier for him to
get himself proclaimed king.[542] Louis was entreated to exercise his
authority and to reform abuses; but things remained in that mournful
state of confusion which precedes the ruin of a nation.
Solyman had called upon the king, by a message of the 20th February, to
pay him tribute, threatening at the same time that if he refused to do
so he would annihilate the Christian faith, and bring both his princes
and his people into subjection to himself. The king, young and
thoughtless, had paid little attention to the summons. But when he
learnt that the Sultan had left Constantinople, he was excited and
perplexed; and he understood that it was necessary to put Hungary in a
state of defence. But it was now too late. He wished to levy taxes, but
money did not come in. He endeavored to form an army, but recruits did
not make their appearance; he appealed to the rich, but these chose
rather to employ their wealth in decorating churches. He issued the most
stringent orders; all Hungary was to rise, even the students, priests,
and monks; in the country one priest only was to remain for the service
of two parishes. But hardly a man moved. At last, when the enemy was
drawing near, when it was known that he was marching on Pesth, the
necessity was felt of occupying the passes on which it might be possible
to check his advance. But the prince had only an army of three thousand
men, and only fifty thousand florins to cover the expenses of the war.
This sum had been lent him by the banker Fugger on solid securities.
Young, inexperienced, and unenergetic, he was not at all inclined to go
to meet Solyman. But the magnates refused to march without the king.
Louis then formed a bold resolution. ‘I see well,’ he said sorrowfully,
‘that my head must answer for theirs, and I am going to take it to the
enemy.’ He took leave of his young wife in the island of Csepel, near
Buda. Although they were not much in agreement, they loved each other.
Their hearts were torn;
Digne épouse, reçois mes éternels adieux.
On the 24th of July the king set out with his small force. The
Christians numbered but one against a hundred of their enemies.[543]
Meanwhile, though marching against the successor of Mohammed, Louis had
not withdrawn his decrees against the disciples of Jesus Christ. Were
the reformers who did not set out to the war, the women, the old men,
the children, and those who were already prisoners for the Gospel’s
sake, to be cruelly put to death? The noble Pempflinger was greatly
distressed. He had from the first looked on the persecuting edicts as
unjust, and he now felt the necessity of declaring to the king that to
send the disciples of the Lord to the stake would be to call down the
judgment of God on Hungary. Nor could he endure the thought that every
other parish should be left without a pastor. He resolved therefore to
go to Louis. If every minister of religion remained in his parish to
take care of the afflicted, if the sentence of death which had gone
forth against the evangelicals were revoked, and if they were allowed to
go out to defend their country on the field of battle, the divine wrath
might perhaps be appeased and Hungary and the Gospel might be saved. The
monks already, taking advantage of the edict of persecution and of the
general excitement, were striving to stir up the people and to obtain by
violent means the death of the evangelicals. In their view these were
the sacrifices likely to avert calamities which were ready to fall upon
the land. The count set out with all speed; but ere long his progress
was arrested by terrible tidings.[544]
[Sidenote: The Hungarian Army.]
The young king, while marching at the head of his three thousand men,
had been joined by the Hungarian magnates and the Polish companies. By
the time he reached Tolna, he had from ten to twelve thousand men. The
troops from Bohemia, Moravia, Croatia, and Transylvania were not yet
under his banner. He received, however, some additional forces, and
reached Mohacz on the Danube, a point about half-way between his capital
and the Turkish frontier, at the head of about twenty-seven thousand
men. Hardly any of these had ever been under fire. In the middle ages
the command of armies had frequently been given to ecclesiastics. Louis
followed this strange custom, and entrusted his troops to Jomory,
archbishop of Cologne, an ex-Franciscan, who had previously served one
or two campaigns, and had won distinction. The king thought that an
energetic monk would be better, in spite of his frock, than a cowardly
general. But this nomination showed plainly into what hands the king had
fallen.
Solyman had, unopposed, thrown a convenient bridge across the river, and
his immense army had for the last five days been defiling over it. He
was acquainted with the art of war and with the scientific manœuvres
which had already been practised by Gonzalo of Cordova and other great
captains. He had a powerful artillery, and his Janissaries were
excellent marksmen. Louis, who was aware of the superiority of his
enemy, might have retired on Buda and Pesth, and have taken up a strong
position there while occupied in collecting additional bodies of troops.
But he was, like his subjects, blind to the feebleness of his resources,
and filled with hopes of the most delusive kind. The two armies were
separated by intervening hills. On August 29th the Turks began to appear
upon the heights, and to descend into the plain. Louis, pale as death,
had himself invested with his armor.[545] The monk commanding in chief
and the most intelligent of the leaders foresaw the disaster. Many
nobles and ecclesiastics shared their opinion. ‘Twenty-six thousand
Hungarians,’ said Bishop Perenyi, ‘are on their way, led by the
Franciscan Jomory, to die martyrs of the faith and to enter into the
kingdom of heaven.’ The prelate added by way of consolation, ‘Let us
hope that the chancellor will be spared in order to obtain their
canonization of the pope.’ The Hungarians, seeing the Mussulmans come
down the hill and approach, throw themselves on them. The Turks disperse
and retire, and the Hungarians, joyful at a flight so unexpected, reach
the top of the hill. There they discover the countless host of the
Osmanlis, but, deceived by the retreat of the vanguard, they believe
that victory is already theirs, and rush upon the enemy. Solyman had had
recourse to a common artifice in war. His soldiers had made a feigned
flight only for the purpose of drawing the enemy after them. At the back
of the hill he had planted three hundred guns, and the moment Louis and
his men came in sight a terrible fire received them. At the same time
the cavalry of the Spahis fell on the two wings of the small Christian
army, disorder began, the bravest fell, the weakest fled.
[Sidenote: Rout Of Mohacz.]
The young king, who saw his army destroyed, made his escape like the
rest. A Silesian ran before him to guide him in his flight. When he
reached the plain he came to a piece of black, stagnant water, which he
was obliged to cross. He pushed on his horse to reach the opposite bank,
which was very high; but in climbing the animal slipped and fell with
the prince, who was buried in the marshy waters. Melancholy
burial-place! Louis had not even the honor of dying arms in hand. All
was lost! The crescent triumphed. The king, twenty-eight magnates, five
hundred nobles, seven bishops, and twenty thousand armed men left their
corpses on the field of battle.[546] Terror spread far and wide. The
keys of the capital were brought to the Sultan. He pillaged Buda, set
fire to the town, reduced the library to ashes, ravaged Hungary as far
as the Theiss, and caused two hundred thousand Hungarians to perish by
the hands of his Mussulmans.
This victory, which appeared to ensure the predominance of Islamism,
filled Germany and all Europe with sorrow and alarm. There were some
small compensations. Pempflinger, having no longer to fear either the
priests or the king, saved the evangelical Christians who were
threatened by the fury of the monks. But this deliverance of a few did
not lessen the horror of the public disaster. At the sight of their
smoking towns, their devastated fields, their slaughtered countrymen,
and the crescent taking the place of the cross, the Hungarians wept over
the ruin of their country. The unfortunate Mary, a widow still so young,
lost at the same time her husband and her crown, and saw with distress
of heart the Hungary which she loved ravaged by the Turks.
This terrible blow was felt at Wittenberg, where the Hungarian students
had excited a warm interest in their native land. Luther on hearing of
the affliction of the queen was moved with lively pity, and wrote to her
a letter full of consolation: ‘Most gracious queen, knowing the
affection of your Majesty, and learning that the Turk has smitten the
noble young prince, your husband, I desire in this great and sudden
calamity to comfort you so far as God may enable me, and I send you for
this purpose four _psalms_ (with reflections), which will teach your
Majesty to trust solely in the true Father who is in heaven, and to seek
all your consolation in Jesus Christ, the true spouse, who is also our
brother, having become our flesh and our blood. These psalms will reveal
to you in all its riches the love of the Father and the Son.’ ‘Dear
daughter,’ said Luther further to the queen, ‘let the wicked oppress
thee and thy cause; let them, wrapped in clouds, cause the rain and the
hail to fall upon thy head and bury thee in darkness. Commend thy cause
to God alone. Wait upon Him. Then shall He bring forth thy righteousness
as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. God permits indeed the
righteous to fall into the hands of the wicked, but He does not leave
them there.
‘The pope and his agents condemned John Hus, but that was of no avail.
Condemnation, outcries, hypocritical tears, rage, tempest, bulls, lead,
seal, excommunication, all was useless. Hus has still lived on
gloriously, and neither bishops, nor universities, nor princes, nor
kings, have been able to do any thing against him. This man alone, this
dead man, this innocent Abel has struck a Cain full of life, the pope
and all his party; and in consequence of his powerful words they have
been acknowledged as heretics, apostates, murderers, and blasphemers,
they could not but burst with rage at it.’[547] It is difficult for
Luther to utter a word of consolation without adding a word of energy
and of reprobation. He sometimes adds a violent word. He could be a
lamb, but he was also a lion.
[Sidenote: The Queen’s Hymn.]
The trial and these consolations helped the young queen onward in the
path of piety. It was with pain that Charles the Fifth observed her
evangelical sentiments; and he and his ministers frequently made her
sensible of it. They would fain have taken from her her Gospel. But the
emperor loved her, and always finished by bearing with her. She gave
expression in a beautiful hymn to the consolations which she found in
communion with God. ‘If I can not escape misfortune,’ she says in her
hymn, ‘I must endure dishonor for my faith; I know at least, and this is
my strength, that the world can not take away from me the favor and the
grace of God. God is not far off; if He hide His face, it is for a
little while, and ere long He will destroy those who take from me His
word.
‘All trials last but for a moment. Lord Jesus Christ! Thou wilt be with
me, and when they fight against me, Thou wilt look upon my grief as if
it were Thine own.[548]
‘Must I enter upon this path ... to which they urge me ... well, world,
as thou wilt! God is my shield, and He will assuredly be with me
everywhere.’
This path, this vocation of which she speaks, could not but alarm her.
Charles the Fifth, knowing the great abilities of his sister, named her,
in 1531, Governess of the Netherlands. She re-entered the palace of
Brussels in which she was born. She had an evangelical chaplain; but
while endeavoring to soften the persecuting orders of the emperor, she
was often compelled to submit to their execution and to attend the
Catholic ceremonies in the court chapel. She was doubtless afraid that
if she offered any resistance to the inflexible will of her dreaded
brother she would be cast into prison for life, like her mother Joanna,
called the Mad.
If Mary was consoled by the words of Luther, the friends of the Gospel
in Hungary saw danger increasing around them. The king being dead, the
ambitious Zapolya at length attained the object of his desire. He was
crowned king on the 26th of November, 1526, in the ancient palace of
Alba-Royal, which had been for five centuries the abode of the kings. He
was not the only claimant of the sceptre of Hungary. The archduke
Ferdinand of Austria, relying upon the arrangement entered into with
King Ladislaus and supported by the partisans of his sister, the Queen
Mary, had himself crowned at Presburg. These two kings, each aspiring to
the support of Rome and of her clergy, had only one point in
common—their opposition to the Reformation—and in cruelty they were to
be rivals of the terrible Turk.
Zapolya published, January 25, 1527, an edict against the Lutherans, and
the priests immediately made use of it. The Gospel had gained adherents
in all parts of the country, and particularly on the mountains and in
the pleasant valleys of the Karpathians, rich in mines of silver and
gold. Libethen, a town of miners, had a flourishing church, all the
members of which lived in the most charming brotherhood. A rising of the
laborers in the mines was the pretext of which the priests availed
themselves to stir up persecution. They accused these men of peace of
having instigated the revolt. The pastor succeeded in hiding himself in
a deep hollow in the mines; but the rector of the school and six
councillors were seized and taken to the town of Neusol. ‘Abjure your
heresies,’ said the judge, ‘and disclose to us the hiding-place of your
pastor, or you will be burnt alive.’ The councillors, alternately
threatened and flattered, gave way. Constables (_sbirri_) descended into
the mines and seized the minister. The rector was burnt at Altsol,
August 22; but the pastor was taken to a greater distance, near the
Castle of Dobrony. His keepers having halted near this building, in the
midst of grand and solemn scenery, the priests called upon their
prisoner to forswear his faith. Nicolaï—this was the name of the
Hungarian martyr—remaining unmoved, was killed with a sabre-stroke and
his body was thrown into the flames.[549]
[Sidenote: Edict Of Ferdinand.]
While these things were taking place under the sceptre of Zapolya, his
rival Ferdinand issued at Buda, August 20, 1527, an edict for
persecution.[550] Imprisonment, banishment, confiscation, death by
drowning, sword, or fire, were decreed against heretics, and any town
which did not execute this royal ordinance was to be deprived of all its
privileges.[551]
A sky loaded with clouds foreboded to Hungary days of suffering, of
blood, and of mourning.
Footnote 541:
_Historia Critica Ungariæ_, xix. p. 89.
Footnote 542:
‘Sarei contento che quel regno si perdesse,’ &c.—_Relazione del Signor
d’Orio_, Dec. 1523. Ranke, _Deutsch. Geschichte_, ii. p. 407.
Footnote 543:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 45. Broderichus,
_Clades Mohacziana_, apud Schardium, p. 558. Ranke, ii. p. 409.
Footnote 544:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 47.
Footnote 545:
‘Wobei Tödtenblässe sein Angesicht überzog,’ &c.—_Geschichte der
Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 47.
Footnote 546:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 48.
Footnote 547:
These sentences are taken from Luther’s Commentary on Psalms xxxvii.,
lxii., xciv., and cix. See the Letter and the Commentary, Luther,
_Opp._ Leipsic, vol. v. pp. 609-640.
Footnote 548:
‘Herr Jesu Christ,
Du wirst mir stehn zur Seiten,
Und sehen auf das Unglück mein,
Als wäre es dein,
Wenn’s wider mich wird streiten.’
Bunsen, _Evang. Gesang- und Gebet-Buch_, p. 290. Rambach,
_Anthologie_, ii. p. 78. (Rambach supposes the hymn to have been
composed for the queen by Luther at the same time as the exposition of
the four psalms.—Editor.)
Footnote 549:
_Matricula Plebanorum_, xxiv. p. 463. _Geschichte der Evangelischen
Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 51.
Footnote 550:
See First Series, vol. iv. book xiii. chap. ix.
Footnote 551:
Ferdinand’s Mandat. Luther, _Opp._ xix. p. 596. _Geschichte der
Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, pp. 51-53.
CHAPTER III.
DEVAY AND HIS FELLOW-WORKERS.
(1527-1538.)
The triumph of the Reformation in Hungary was to be slow and difficult,
or rather it was never to be complete. The two kings, who after the
death of Louis II. shared the kingdom between them, fancied as we have
seen, that they should ensure victory to themselves by giving up the
Reformation to the Roman clergy. But the only result of persecution was
to advance reform. Many of the evangelical Christians at this time
quitted Hungary to go to Wittenberg. ‘A great number of Hungarians,’
said Luther on May 7, 1528, ‘are arriving here from all quarters,
expelled from Ferdinand’s dominions; and as Christ was poor, they
imitate Him in His humble poverty.’[552] The reformer welcomed,
consoled, instructed, and strengthened them. ‘If Satan employs cruelty,’
he said to one of them, ‘he acts his own part; Scripture everywhere
teaches us that this is what we are to expect from him. But for thee, be
a brave man, pray and fight in the spirit and the word, against
him.[553] He who reigns in us is mighty.’ Luther even called to him the
Christians of Hungary. He wrote to Leonard Beier, who was in the states
of Ferdinand—‘If thou art expelled come hither. We offer thee
hospitality and all that Christ gives us.’ The reformer’s charity won
hearts to the Reformation. These men, on their return to their own land,
became so many missionaries.
[Sidenote: Mathias Biro Devay.]
Not long after this there appeared at Wittenberg a man who was to be one
of the greatest Hungarian reformers. One day, in 1529, Luther was
visited by a young man who so completely won his heart that he admitted
him into his house and to his table; and, during his stay at Wittenberg,
the young Magyar had the privilege of listening to the pious discourses
and the witty talk of the great doctor. This student was born at Deva in
Transylvania, near the banks of the river Maros, in the waters of which
gold is found. The town stands on the road to Temeswar, which passes by
the defiles of the mountains and the Iron Gates, at a short distance
from the ruins of Sarmizegethusa, the capital of the ancient Dacians, on
the site of which the Romans afterwards erected Ulpia Trajana. Here
Mathias Biro Devay was born, at the beginning of the sixteenth century,
of a noble family. It is supposed that he was one of the disciples of
Grynaeus at Buda. In 1523 he went to the university of Cracow, where he
matriculated at the same time as his friend Martin of Kalmance. He
remained there about two years, and was known as a sincere Roman
Catholic.
Devay returned from Cracow towards the close of 1525, and having become
priest and monk he showed himself a zealous friend of the pope. He who
was to beat down the idol was at this time on his knees before it. It
appears to have been in the second half of the year 1527 and the first
half of the year 1528 that his mind was enlightened by the Gospel. He
embraced the faith in Christ the Saviour with all the frankness and
energy of his nature. The catholics, who had known his devotion to the
doctrine of Rome, were in consternation. ‘He has been a Roman priest!’
they said, ‘and a man most devoted to our Catholic faith!’ Devay felt
the need of getting established in the evangelical doctrine and of
qualifying himself to defend it. He therefore went to Wittenburg, and on
December 3, 1529, matriculated there.
While Devay was in Saxony, the Reformation was making great progress in
Hungary. The two kings had expected to destroy it, but an invisible
power, greater than that of courts, was widely extending it; and that
old saying in the Gospel was fulfilled—_My strength is made perfect in
weakness_. A powerful magnate, Peter Perenyi, who had embraced the
Gospel a year before, had declared with his sons Francis, George, and
Gabriel for the doctrine of Luther. The son of Emerick, the former
palatine of Hungary, he had just been made vayvode of Transylvania, and
he possessed numerous castles in the northern part of the kingdom. It
was at the court of Queen Mary, in the time of King Louis, that he had
been enlightened, by means of the frequent conversations which he had
held with the ministers Kopaczy and Szeray. Not content with allowing
the evangelical doctrine to spread in his demesnes, he exerted himself
personally to provide pious pastors for the people. Other magnates also,
particularly Laelany, Massaly, and Caspar Dragfi, had been converted to
Protestantism by the teachings of the ministers Osztoraï and Derezki.
Dragfi’s father was in his day vayvode of Transylvania; and King
Ladislaus had honored his nuptials with his presence. The son, now a
young man of two-and-twenty, sent for evangelical divines to his
estates; and Ovar, Isengen, Erdoeil and numerous villages were reformed
by their preaching. It was to no purpose that the bishops threatened
this young and decided Christian; he cared nothing about it, but gave
his protection to all those who were persecuted for the faith. Some
women likewise promoted the extension of the Reformation. The widow of
Peter Jarit, a venerated woman who had the most ardent love for the
Gospel, maintained preachers on her vast estates, so that all the
country which lay between the rivers Maros and Koeroes was brought
through her influence to the profession of the faith. The palatine
Thomas Nadasdy, Francis Revay, Bebek, the Podmanitzkys, Zobor, Balassa,
Batory, Pongratz, Illeshazy, Eszterhazy, Zriny, Nyary, Batthyani, the
counts of Salm and Hommona, with many other nobles and magnates, heard
the Word of God as the sovereign voice of the Church. The townsmen did
the same, and the greater number of the towns embraced the
Reformation.[554]
[Sidenote: Slackening Of Persecution.]
The report of all these conversions reached the courts of the two
princes who were at this time disputing the crown. They thought they had
better spare men of whose support they were ambitious. Persecution
therefore slackened, and the transformation of the Church profited
thereby. Liberty and truth made conspicuous progress. At Bartfeld,
Doctor Esaias preached against Romish traditions, called his hearers to
Jesus Christ, and stirred the whole town. At Leutschau, two evangelists,
Cyriaci and Bogner, returning from Wittenberg, proclaimed the word of
salvation; and the ultramontane churches, in spite of their incense,
their images, and their pompous ceremonial, were day by day being
deserted. At Hermanstadt the inhabitants, regardless of the outcries
against them raised by the priests and their adherents, quickly adopted
measures for positively abolishing the Roman services.
The court of Rome, more and more perplexed, was intriguing at Vienna
with a view to winning over Ferdinand. The pope wrote to the celebrated
general Francisco Frangipani, who had been enrolled as a member of the
order of St. Francis of Assisi, and was on this account under especial
obligation to obey the pontiff. He entreated him to support with all his
might the Catholic religion now so gravely threatened. The monks of
Hermanstadt, provoked at seeing that the cruel decree of Ferdinand
remained unexecuted, strove to stir up the people against their
adversaries; and there were frequent disturbances. The magistrate would
have consented that every one should be free to serve God according to
his conscience; but persecution on the part of the monks appeared to be
a rooted and incorrigible necessity. The council, despairing of
enlightening them, ordered them (February 8, 1529) upon pain of death to
leave the town within the space of eight days, unless they chose to live
in conformity with the Gospel. This order was variously received by the
monks. Some of them put off their cowls, dressed themselves like honest
citizens, and began to earn their bread. Others left the town. Three
days later there was not to be found in Hermanstadt a single Roman
Catholic.[555] Some people cried out that freedom was trampled under
foot by the council of Hermanstadt; others remarked that by the course
it had taken it suppressed culpable intrigues.
Liberty is a power which occasionally passes through very strange
phases, and of which history presents some singular features. This was
the case at this period in Hungary. The two rival kings, Ferdinand and
Zapolya, were supported by two powerful emperors, the one eastern, the
other western, Solyman and Charles the Fifth. This twofold movement at
once endangered and favored religious liberty in Hungary. In 1529
Ferdinand went to Spire, where the emperor Charles the Fifth had
convoked the Diet; and, submissive to the dictation of his august
brother, annulled there the edict which he had published in 1526 in
favor of religious liberty.[556]
But while the Austrian king was thus confirmed in intolerance by the
influence of Catholic Europe, the Hungarian king took a lesson of
liberty from the Mussulman emperor. Solyman was once more marching into
Hungary at the head of a hundred and fifty thousand men; and halting on
the famous battle-field of Mohacz, he there received Zapolya, who had
come to offer him homage. He took Buda on August 14, delivered the
evangelical commander-in-chief, Nadasdy, whom his troops with infamous
treachery had cast into a cave, and then marched on Gran, whose bishop,
escorted by eight hundred nobles on horseback and as many on foot, came
to meet him, and kissed his hand. Next, after presenting himself before
Vienna, the Grand Sultan returned to Buda, and there confirmed Zapolya
as king of Hungary. Although he was not a great admirer of freedom of
conscience, he pronounced against the oppression of the Protestants,
either because the Romish religion was that of the emperor his enemy, or
because the worship of images, which was one of the most conspicuous
parts of the Catholic religion, was impious in his eyes. The Gospel of
Christ enjoyed greater freedom at Constantinople than at Rome.
[Sidenote: Confession Of Augsburg.]
In the great year 1530, the Hungarian reformation received a fresh
impulse. The faithfulness and joy with which the Protestant princes
confessed the truth at Augsburg (June 25), in the presence of the
emperor, of King Ferdinand, and of several Hungarian lords—Nicholas
Duranz, Wolfgang Frangepertpan, Francis Ujlaky, and others—dispelled in
any prejudices. These noblemen on their return gave favorable accounts
of what they had seen and heard; and all who understood Latin or
German—and these were very numerous in Hungary—could read the admirable
Confession, which made many hearts beat high. From this time the
disciples of Christ who were desirous of diffusing His light increased
in number. The glorious instrument of Augsburg was like a bell, the
tones of which, far resounding, brought to Wittenburg, and thus to the
Gospel, a great number of students and even of learned men, who desired
to become acquainted, in the very seat of the movements, with the great
transformation which was taking place in Christendom, and to draw with
their own hands at the fountain of living waters.
[Sidenote: Devay’s Completeness.]
In the year which followed the Confession, in the spring of 1531, Devay
returned to Hungary. He felt himself impelled to publish in his native
land the great facts and the great doctrines of redemption, proclaimed
at Augsburg by the princes and the free towns of Germany. He had
attentively followed all the scenes of this great Christian drama; he
attached himself at the same time with sympathy to the teaching of
Melanchthon, whose mildness, prudence, and knowledge, and whose
anxieties even, filled him with affection and admiration. It was not
till later that the illustrious friend of Luther showed his leaning to a
spiritual interpretation to the Lord’s Supper; but the germ was already
there. Devay and other Hungarians followed this tendency with hearty
interest. Some reformers have perhaps been inconsistent; their doctrine
has not been in all points in harmony with the principles which they
professed. Devay and others went the whole length; they walked straight
along the road. Devay was a complete divine. He made progress. He did
not stop at a few beautiful figures in the picture, at a few grand
portions of the building; he saw the whole and embraced it. He
recognized with Melanchthon the spirituality of the Supper, and with
Luther the sovereignty of grace. Or, it would perhaps be more historical
and more logical to say that with Calvin he believed both; a complete
man _par excellence_, at least as far as man can be so. Further, he was
not a mere recluse, complete only on his own account; he was a teacher.
With a strong desire to know the truth, he combined a steadfast,
determined character. He feared nothing, he hoped nothing from men; his
hope and his fear were in God. He thought, as Pascal afterwards did,
that the fear of men was _bad policy_. There was no faltering in him, he
did not waver as some did, but went on with an intrepid heart and a
confident step. There are some divines who venture only to present the
truth by degrees, and this the human understanding frequently requires.
The very light of the sun goes on increasing from dawn to midday. But
the Hungarian reformer proclaimed at the outset the whole evangelical
truth, with a frank heart, completely and boldly. He demanded an entire
transformation of the life, a complete reformation of the church; and he
extolled the greatness and the certainty of the salvation of which he
was the herald. Distinguished for his theological attainments, he was
equally so for his decision of character and his courage.
Devay, highly appreciated and recommended, was settled in the capital of
Hungary. As pastor at Buda, which is united by a bridge to Pesth, so
that the two cities are virtually but one, he put forth all his energy
in diffusing there the principles of the Reformation by his discourses,
his writings, and his deeds. As the saints played an important part in
the religion of the country, he showed in one of his works the
nothingness of their invocation.[557] He composed fifty-two theses in
which, after confuting his opponents, he set forth clearly the essence
of a real Christian reformation, or, as he used to say, _the rudiments
of salvation_.[558] Unfortunately he had not at this time a
printing-press at his service, Hungary being much behindhand in this
respect. He therefore made numerous copies of his writings, as used to
be done before Gutenberg’s invention. At the same time he preached with
power. He appeared wherever he saw that any conquest was to be made. At
his word many turned to the Gospel, and among them some eminent men.
Devay was not alone in his endeavors to spread Christian life in the
Hungarian Church. Anthony Transylvanus was preaching the Gospel at
Kaschau and in the surrounding districts, Basil Radan at Debreczin,
Andrew Fischer and Bartholomew Bogner at Zipsen, Michael Siklosy and
Stephen Kopacsy in the comitat of Zemplin. Leonard Stoeckel and Lawrence
Quendel, who had studied at Wittenberg at the same time as Devay, soon
propagated the evangelical faith in other places. The Reformation was
thus quite peacefully, without great struggles or great show, making the
conquest of Hungary. The Gospel was not spreading there with the roar of
torrents, as it did in the places where Luther, Farel, and Knox spoke;
but its waters flowed smoothly. They did not fall rushing and foaming
from the mountains, but they came forth imperceptibly from the ground.
It was a conquest without clash of cymbals and trumpets, made by brave
scouts. Reform often began with men of the lower ranks. Some humble
evangelist would proclaim in a small town the words of eternal life, and
many hearts joyfully received them.
There were exceptions, however, to the calm of which we speak, and the
life of the greatest reformer of these lands presents to us tragical
situations such as abound in the history of the Reformation.
Devay did not remain long at Buda. He was called to Cassovia (Kaschau)
in Upper Hungary, then under the rule of Ferdinand, from which place he
was able to bear the heavenly doctrine to the banks of the Hernath and
the Tchenerl, into the whole comitat of Abaujvar, to Eperies on the
north, and to Ujhely on the east. Everywhere he labored zealously. Ere
long the inhabitants attached themselves with all their heart not only
to him, but to the Word of God. The nobles of one of the market towns of
the comitat of Zemplin, impressed by his powerful discourses, left the
Romish Church and received with faith the divine promises. The
inhabitants of several villages of the neighborhood were gained over by
this example. These numerous conversions excited the wrath of the Roman
clergy, and on all sides the priests called for the removal of a man so
dangerous as Devay. Thomas Szalahazy, bishop of Eger (Erlau), denounced
him to King Ferdinand. Agents of this prince made their way secretly to
the places where the simple but powerful reformer might be found, and
they seized and carried him off. A deed so daring could not be
concealed. The report of it spread among the inhabitants of the town of
Cassovia, and the people, who were warmly attached to the reformer, rose
in revolt. But all was useless. The tools of the bishop dragged Devay
into the mountains of the comitat of Liptau; but even there they did not
think him safe enough. They feared the mountains, the forests, the
defiles; they could not dispense with prisons, keepers, and thick walls.
They conducted Devay, therefore, to Presburg, and thence to Vienna; and
here he was very rigorously treated. Put in chains, supplied with scanty
nourishment, subjected to all kinds of privations, he suffered cruelly
in body, and his soul was often overwhelmed with sorrow. He wondered
whether he was ever to escape from those gloomy walls. He sought after
God from the depth of his soul, knowing that He is the only deliverer.
At a later time he frequently used to speak of all the bodily and mental
sufferings which he had undergone in the prison of Vienna.
John Faber, bishop of the diocese, a learned man and of superior
abilities, had at first taken much interest in Luther’s writings; but he
found the diet a little too strong for the weak stomachs of the people.
In 1521, being over head and ears in debt, and having nothing to pay, he
betook himself to Rome to escape from his creditors and to claim help of
the pope; and in order to make himself agreeable he composed a work
against the great reformer. Rome transformed Faber, and, on his return
to Germany, he began to contend against the Reformation, without,
however, being entirely proof against the Christian words of Luther. In
1528 he tried to gain over Melanchthon, offering him as the price of
apostasy a situation under King Ferdinand.[559] The same year he
contributed to the erection of the stake at which Hubmeyer was burnt.
Faber had been provost of Buda, and in 1530 he was named bishop of
Vienna. He cited Devay to appear before him. The bishop was surrounded
by many ecclesiastics, and a secretary or notary seated before a table
took down every thing in writing. The Hungarian reformer did not allow
himself to be intimidated by his judges, nor weakened by a wish to put
an end to his sufferings. He spoke not only as a cultivated and learned
man, but still more as a Christian full of decision and courage. He set
forth unreservedly evangelical truth. ‘You are accused,’ said Faber, ‘of
asserting that after the words have been uttered—_This is my body, this
is my blood_—the substance of the bread and the wine still exists.’ ‘I
have explained in the clearest way,’ replied Devay, ‘the real nature of
the sacraments, their character and their use. They are signs of grace
and of the good-will of God towards us; thus they console us in our
trials; they confirm, establish, and make certain our faith in God’s
promise. The office of the Word of God and of the sacraments is one and
the same. The latter are not mere empty and barren signs; they truly and
really procure the grace which they signify, but, nevertheless, are
beneficial only to those who receive them in faith, spiritually and
sacramentally.’[560] It is clear that the spiritual element predominated
in the theology of Devay, and that he was already almost of the same
opinion as the theologians of reformed Switzerland. He set forth his
whole belief with piety so manifest that the court did not feel
authorized to condemn him. He was therefore set at liberty.[561]
[Sidenote: Devay At Buda.]
Devay now went to Buda, where he had first exercised his ministry, and
which was now subject to John Zapolya, the rival of Ferdinand of
Austria. Zapolya, a capricious and despotic prince, was at this time in
a very ill humor.[562] He had a favorite horse, which the smith from
unskilfulness had pricked to the quick while shoeing it. The king, in a
fit of rage, had ordered the smith to be cast into prison, and had sworn
that if the animal died of the injury, the man who had pricked it should
die too. Hearing that the preacher who was branded by the priests as a
great heretic had arrived in his capital, his splenetic humor
immediately vented itself on him. Theologian or shoeing-smith, it was
all one to him, when once he was displeased. Devay was seized and
confined in the same prison with the artisan. Thus the reformer escaped
from a gulf only to be dashed against a rock; he fell from Charybdis
upon Scylla. He was in expectation of death, but he had a good
conscience; and, his zeal increasing in the prospect of eternity, he
ardently desired to win some souls to God before appearing in His
presence. He therefore entered into conversation with his unfortunate
companion in captivity; and finding him melancholy and alarmed, he did
what Paul had done in the prison at Philippi for the jailer trembling at
the earthquake—he besought him to receive Jesus Christ as his Saviour,
assuring him that this alone sufficed to give him eternal life. The
smith believed, and great peace took the place of the distress which
overwhelmed him. This was a great joy for the faithful evangelist. The
horse got well, and the king, appeased, gave orders for the release of
his smith from prison. When the jailer came to bring this news to the
man, the latter, to the great surprise of his keeper, refused the favor
which was offered him. ‘I am a partaker,’ said he, ‘in the faith for
which my companion is to die. I will die with him.’ This noble speech
was reported to Zapolya, who, although capricious, was still a feeling
man: and he was so much affected that he commanded both the prisoners to
be set at liberty. This second imprisonment of Devay lasted till 1534.
Devay went out of the prison weakened and broken down, but ever pious
and anxious to consecrate his days to the service of Him who is the
truth and the life. A Hungarian magnate, the Count Nadasdy, a rich and
learned man, who openly and actively protected the Reformation, and who
had at great expense founded a school with a view to promote the
cultivation of literature,[563] one of the Maecenases of the sixteenth
century, thought that the reformer, after his trials and his two harsh
imprisonments, stood in need of repose and quiet occupation rather than
a hand-to-hand fight with his adversaries. In his castle of Sarvar,
Nadasdy had a very fine library. He invited Devay to take up his abode
there, and to turn to account the studies in which he might engage for
the propagation of evangelical knowledge. The reformer accepted this
noble hospitality; and Sarvar became for him what the house of Du Tillet
at Angoulême had been to Calvin, after his escape from the criminal
lieutenant of Paris, and what the Wartburg had been to Luther. There
was, however, this difference, that Devay had already endured several
years of rigorous confinement, which was not the case with either Luther
or Calvin. He set to work immediately, and studied and composed several
polemical pieces. He had escaped from soldiers and jailers only to
contend with adversaries of another kind.
The whole life of an evangelist is one continual struggle; and what more
glorious conflict is there than that of truth with error? A champion
worthy of Rome appeared to reply to Devay. Gregory Szegedy, doctor of
the Sorbonne, and provincial of the Franciscan order in Hungary, having
become acquainted with the first manuscript works of Devay, had declared
that he undertook to refute them. He kept his word, and published at
Vienna a treatise in which he controverted the theses on _the rudiments
of salvation_.[564] This was the first work published by a Hungarian
against the Reformation. Devay applied himself to the task of answering
it, and his work was finished in the course of 1536.
During this period, towns, boroughs, entire parishes, and even some
members of the higher clergy embraced the evangelical doctrine. But at
the same time Szalahazy, bishop of Eger, caused Anthony, pastor of
Eperies, and Bartholomew, chaplain to the chapter, to be thrown into
prison; and King Ferdinand commanded the evangelical church of Bartfeld
to abolish all innovations, upon pain of confiscation and of death.[565]
[Sidenote: Devay At Wittenberg.]
Meanwhile Devay’s writings remained in manuscript, and he was
considering where he should get them printed. Szegedy had published his
at Vienna, but Devay had no inclination to return thither. He determined
to go in search of a publisher into Saxony, and set out at the end of
1536. At Nürnberg he fell ill, and was there attended by Dietrich Veit,
a former friend of his at Wittenberg, whom Melanchthon used to call
_suus summus amicus_. After his recovery he arrived at Wittenberg, and
there sojourned, as far as appears, in the house of Melanchthon,[566]
from the month of April to the month of October, 1537. These two men
became intimate friends; they were like brothers. ‘How pleasant his
society is to me,’ said Luther’s friend when speaking of Devay; ‘how
excellent is his faith, and how much prudence, knowledge, and piety he
has!’ He was not the only Hungarian who was attached to Master Philip.
As the majority of the Hungarians who came to Wittenburg were
unacquainted with German, Melanchthon preached for them in Latin,[567]
which made them more familiar with the mode of thought of this divine.
Moreover, even before the first return of Devay to Hungary, the doctrine
of Zwinglius was known and embraced there. As early as 1530, Luther
complained that this was the case with one of the pastors of
Hermanstadt. Nevertheless, Devay was also on brotherly terms not only
with Luther but with all evangelical men. He related to them the
progress of the Reformation in Hungary; he sought after every thing that
might make him more competent to promote it; and he found by experience
how much fellowship with those who believe strengthens the heart and
enables a man to fight valiantly.
Devay did not print his manuscript at Wittenberg nor in any other town
in Germany. Did he find any difficulty in doing so? We do not know.
When the time was come for him to depart, he begged his host to write to
his patron Count Nadasdy. A letter from the teacher of Germany could not
fail to be greatly valued by the Hungarian magnate. Melanchthon wrote a
letter, and entreated the count to do all in his power that the churches
might be taught with more purity; and, anxious to see teaching and
literature protected by influential men, he said, ‘In former times the
Greeks associated Hercules with the Muses and called him their
chief.[568] Every one knows that you Pannonians (Hungarians) are the
descendants of Hercules. On this ground the protection of such studies
ought to be in the eyes of Your Highness a domestic and national
virtue.’ The letter is of the 7th October, and is dated from Leipsic, to
which place Melanchthon possibly accompanied his friend.
[Sidenote: Devay At Basel.]
Devay did not go from Wittenberg direct into Hungary, although he was
eagerly called for there. He went to Basel. He was attracted to this
town of Switzerland partly by the desire to become acquainted with the
theologians of the country, partly by the celebrated printers of the
town, who published so many evangelical books, and partly also by the
presence there of Grynaeus, with whom he had probably corresponded. The
manuscripts which he took with him comprised three different works. The
first treated ‘of the principal articles of Christian doctrine’; the
second, ‘of the state of the souls of the blessed after this life before
the day of the last judgment’; and the third, ‘of the examination to
which he had been subjected by Faber in the prison.’ The volume appeared
in the autumn of 1537, with this inscription—‘Master, at thy word I will
let down the net.’[569] After this publication Devay left Basel.
On arriving in Hungary, he betook himself immediately to the count, to
whom he was to deliver the letter of the reformer. John Sylvestre, whom
Melanchthon called a real scholar, was at the head of the school of
Uj-Sziget, near Sarvar, founded by Nadasdy. This nobleman was a treasure
for Hungary. A wealthy man, a pious Christian, he took pleasure in
encouraging literature and the arts, and gave rewards and tokens of his
esteem to those who cultivated them; but above all he had at heart the
advancement of the kingdom of God. He perceived that Devay and Sylvestre
were men of the choicest kind, and associated them with himself. They
were all three convinced that schools and good books were necessary for
the education of the people, for the establishment of the Reformation in
Hungary, and for refining the manners and ensuring the prosperity of the
country. Devay asked the count for a printing-house, and this request
was immediately granted. The building was set up by the side of the
school, and was the first in Hungary. Devay at once began to compose an
elementary book for the study of the Hungarian language (_Orthographia
ungarica_). He took pains to make it useful, not only as a grammar, but
also as a means of Christian instruction. He taught in it at the same
time the rudiments of the language and those of the Gospel, remembering
the word of the Master—_Suffer the little children to come unto me_.
These three Christian men thought that it was essential to begin the
work of man’s restoration in his childhood, not merely to assist nature
but to transform it and to bring it into that new state of righteousness
which is a conflict with the original nature, to the end that Christ may
be formed in him. They believed, as M. de Saint-Marthe has said, that
children have in them a natural gravity which draws them violently
towards evil; that we must therefore be always on the watch lest the
enemy enter into their heart as into a deserted place, and do just what
he will there. It is also necessary that a faithful guardian should be
careful to remove from before their eyes and their feet whatsoever may
become to them an occasion of falling. Devay had added to his book some
prayers in Hungarian intended for children, for which he had laid under
contribution Luther’s smaller catechism. This volume was the first
printed in the language of the country. It passed through many editions.
But Devay did not neglect active evangelization. The scene of his labors
was especially the demesnes of Nadasdy, and the comitats of Eisenburg,
Westprim and Raab, near the frontiers of Austria, between the right bank
of the Danube and Lake Balaton (the Plattensee). This apostle used to be
met in his journeys along the roads on the shores of Lake Balaton and on
the banks of the nine rivers which flow into it. He preached the Gospel
in rural dwellings, in castles, and in the open air. He called all those
who heard him to come to Christ, and declared that the Saviour did not
cast away any one who so came. If he met with any who while they
believed were still uneasy and disturbed, he did not hesitate to
reassure them by announcing to them the election of grace. He told them
that if they had come to God it was because he had chosen them, and that
the Good Shepherd keeps in his fold to the end the sheep which he has
brought there.
[Sidenote: Conspiracy Of The Prelates.]
While Devay was laboring to the south of the Danube, Upper Hungary was
not neglected. Stephen Szantai, an eminent man and an earnest Christian,
was at this time preaching there energetically. He was full of faith and
a good dialectician, filled with devotion and enthusiasm in the cause of
the Lord. The prelates who had formerly imprisoned Devay took in hand to
do the same with Szantai. A clerical conspiracy was formed. The bishops
George Frater, Statilius and Frangipani, supported by the heads of some
of the monastic orders, besought Ferdinand to have the evangelist seized
and put to death. Statilius, bishop of Stuhlweissenburg, near the vast
forest of Bakonye, enjoyed the reputation of a master in the art of
persecution. A little while before, he had ordered the arrest of an
evangelical minister, had caused him to be beaten with rods, and, when
the men charged with this service had presented the victim half-dead,
the infamous prelate had thrown him to the dogs to despatch him.
Frangipani, formerly a military man, had indeed laid down the sword and
put on the frock; but he had retained a soldier’s manners, and held it a
maxim that business and men must be disposed of swiftly, and without
delicate considerations. He governed his servants with pride and
harshness, and, as it is said, gave his commands with a rod. This was
the man who took upon himself to obtain from the king the death of
Szantai. He had no doubt that the king would let himself be guided like
his servants. But certain very remarkable changes had been wrought in
Ferdinand’s mind. The Confession of Augsburg had given him a less
unfavorable impression of Luther’s doctrine. His confessor, who was a
Spaniard, when on his death-bed, had acknowledged to him that he had not
led him in the right way, and that Luther had hitherto taught nothing
but the truth. It appears that the children of Joanna of Castile all
resembled their mother in having some regard for the truth, while they
resembled their grandmother, the illustrious Isabella, in submission to
priests. King Ferdinand was therefore now less hostile to the reformers.
Nevertheless, he was far from decided, and Rome had not lost in his case
the influence which she knew how to exercise over princes. He had
nothing more than passing gleams of light, which the clergy called
caprices; he sometimes wavered, but always returned to the pope’s side.
He was looked upon sometimes as a friend to the Protestants, and
sometimes as their enemy.
However this might be, Ferdinand did not yield this time to the demand
of the priests; but he appointed (1538) a religious conference to be
held at Schässburg between the priests and Szantai. The perplexity of
the bishops equalled their astonishment. Not only did the king refuse to
condemn Stephen without a hearing, but he commanded them to enter into
discussion with him. Sensible of their incompetence, they were not at
all concerned about it, and began to look for a good Roman Catholic who
should be able to cope with the man they called _the heretic_.
There was among the Franciscans a monk celebrated for his exploits in
theological strife, one Father Gregory. He was now summoned to
Schässburg, and went thither accompanied by other monks. For umpires
Ferdinand selected Dr. Adrian, episcopal vicar of Stuhlweissenburg, and
Martin de Kalmance, rector of the school of the same place. These men,
in the king’s opinion, could not but be, considering their personal
character, impartial judges; and he said to them, ‘I exhort you to
conduct the whole affair in such a way that the truth may in no respect
suffer.’[570]
[Sidenote: Conference Of Schassburg.]
The disputation began. Roman Catholics and Protestants had come together
from all quarters. Stephen Szantai set forth the evangelical doctrine,
and supported it with solid proofs. The clever Franciscan was unable to
confute them; and the monks seeing this supplied by outcries and a great
disturbance the place of the arguments which were lacking on the part of
their colleague. A layman, John Rehenz, a learned doctor of medicine,
indignant at this strange method of argument, sharply rebuked the monks
and censured them for the uproar as a stratagem unbecoming a discussion
so grave; and taking up the replies which Gregory had made, he showed
their worthlessness. Szantai spoke again in his turn, and left on his
hearers a deep impression that the cause which he was defending was that
of the truth. The disputation lasted several days longer, during which
the doctrine of the Reformation instead of losing gained ground.
The discussion being finished, Adrian and de Kalmance had to pronounce
judgment. For this purpose they went to the king. They were seriously
embarrassed, and without being undecided were in a great difficulty.
‘Sire,’ they said, ‘all that Szantai has maintained is founded on the
Holy Scripture, and he has demonstrated the truth of it; but the monks
have uttered only words without meaning. Nevertheless, if we publicly
assert this, we shall be everywhere decried as enemies of religion, and
then we are ruined. If on the other hand we should condemn Szantai, we
should be acting against our own consciences, and we could not escape
the judgment of God. For this reason we entreat Your Majesty to devise
some plan which will furnish us a way of escape from this twofold
danger.’ The king understood the difficulty of their position and
promised to do all that he could for them.
This was in the morning. Ferdinand was almost as much embarrassed as the
two judges. In vain he reflected on this difficult case; he found no
solution. He acknowledged that the Protestants had a right to be
protected in their religious liberty; and he felt that it was dangerous
to exasperate so considerable a number of his subjects. But what would
Rome and the clergy say if he granted an amnesty to Szantai?
About three o’clock in the afternoon, word was brought to him that
several bishops, prelates, and monks desired to speak to him. Disquieted
by their defeat, they wished to put pressure upon the mind of the
prince. ‘Sire,’ said the bishop of Grosswardin, ‘we are the shepherds of
the Church, and we are bound to take care of our flock. For this reason
we have demanded that this heretic should be seized and condemned, in
order that those who are like him, alarmed by his example, may cease to
speak and to write against the Roman doctrine. But Your Majesty has done
the very reverse of that which we asked; you have granted a religious
conference to this wretched man, who has thus had an opportunity of
inducing many to take his poison. Assuredly the Holy Father will not be
pleased with this. There is no need of a discussion. The Church has long
since condemned these brigands of heretics, and their sentence is
written on their foreheads.’
Ferdinand replied—‘Not one man shall perish, unless he be convicted of a
crime worthy of death.’ ‘What!’ said Bishop Statilius, ‘is it not enough
that he gives the cup to laymen, while Christ instituted it only for
priests, and that he calls the holy mass an invention of the devil?
Assertions such as these deserve death.’ ‘Do you think, bishop,’ said
the king, ‘that the Greek Church is a true Church?’ ‘I do, sire.’ ‘Well,
then,’ replied Ferdinand, ‘the Greeks receive the supper in both kinds,
as they were taught by the holy bishops Chrysostom, Cyril, and others.
Why should we not do the same? They have not the mass, we therefore can
dispense with it.’ The bishops held their peace. ‘I do not take the part
of Szantai,’ added the prince, ‘but I wish the cause to be examined; a
king must not punish an innocent man.’ ‘If Your Majesty does not support
us,’ said the bishop of Grosswardin, ‘we will seek for some other means
of getting rid of this vulture.’
[Sidenote: Embarrassment Of Ferdinand.]
The bishops withdrew, but Ferdinand had about him men as passionate as
they were, who were bent on the destruction of the reformer. At nine
o’clock in the evening of the same day, the king, in a state of distress
and suspense, was conversing on these matters with two of his magnates,
Francis Banfy and John Kassai, when the burgomaster of Kaschau requested
an audience of him, and entered his presence followed by Szantai. The
king immediately addressing the reformer said—‘What then do you preach?’
‘Most gracious prince,’ replied the minister, ‘it is no new doctrine. It
is that of the prophets, of the apostles, and of our Lord Jesus Christ;
and whosoever desires the salvation of his soul ought to embrace it with
joy.’ The king was silent for some seconds; and then, no longer able to
refrain, he exclaimed—‘O, my dear Stephen, if we follow this doctrine, I
am very much afraid that some great evil will befall both thee and me.
Let us refer the cause to God; He will make it turn to good. But tarry
not, my friend, in my states. The magnates would deliver thee to death,
and if I attempted to defend thee, I should be myself exposed to many
dangers. Go, sell what thou hast, and depart into Transylvania, where
thou canst freely profess thy doctrine.’ The weak Ferdinand half yielded
to the fanaticism of the priests. He saw what was good and durst not do
it. He made a present to Szantai, towards the expenses of his journey;
and then he said to the burgomaster of Kaschau and another evangelical
Christian, Christopher Deswœs, who accompanied him—‘Take him away
secretly by night, conduct him to his own people, and protect him from
all danger.’ The three friends departed, and Ferdinand was left alone,
disturbed and _unstable in all his ways_.
Footnote 552:
‘Pulsi de regnis Ferdinandi, pauperem Christum in paupertate
imitantur.’—Luther, _Epp._ iii. p. 289.
Footnote 553:
‘Tu vero vir esto fortis, ora et pugna in spiritu et verbo adversum
ipsum.’—_Ibid._
Footnote 554:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, pp. 55, 56. Herzog,
_Ency._ xvi. p. 641.
Footnote 555:
Hanner, _Hist. Eccles._ p. 199. _Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche
in Ungarn_, p. 59. _Timon, Epit Chronol._ p. 118.
Footnote 556:
It had been voted on the 27th August, 1526, that while awaiting a
national council, each state should act in religious matters so as to
be responsible to God and to the emperor.
Footnote 557:
_De sanctorum dormitione._
Footnote 558:
‘Propositiones erroneæ Matthiæ Devay, seu ut ille vocat rudimenta
salutis continentes,’ said his adversary, Dr. Szegedy (Vienna, 1535).
Footnote 559:
‘Faber hortatur ut deficiam a causa habiturum me defectionis
præmium.’—_Corp. Ref._ i. p. 798.
Footnote 560:
‘Iis solis sunt salutaria qui _in fide spiritualiter_ et
sacramentaliter hæc mysteria percipiunt.’—Devay, _Expositio examinis
quomodo a Fabro in carcere sit examinatus_. Basel, 1537.
Footnote 561:
Revesz, in Herzog’s _Encyclopædia_, xix. p. 407.
Footnote 562:
_Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 62.
Footnote 563:
‘Intelligo te magno sumptu scholam constituere et optimarum artium
studia excitare.’—Melanchthon to Count Nadasdy, _Corp. Ref._ iii. p.
417.
Footnote 564:
_Censuræ fratris Gregorii Zegedini_, &c. Vien, bey Syngren, 1535.
Footnote 565:
Ribini, _Memorabilia Aug. Conf._ p. 38. _Geschichte der evangelischen
Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 64.
Footnote 566:
‘Talis hospes, ut Homerus jubet, ἀντι κασιγνήτου esse
debet.’—Melanchthon Vito Theodoro. _Corp. Ref._ iii. p. 416.
Footnote 567:
Em. Revesz., _M. B. Devay und die ungarische reformirte Kirche_.
Herzog’s _Ency._ xix. p. 410.
Footnote 568:
‘Olim Græci Herculem addiderunt Musis, earumque ducem
vocabant.’—_Corp. Ref._ iii. p. 418.
Footnote 569:
Luke v. 5.
Footnote 570:
_Hispaniai vadaszag._ This rare and remarkable book narrates the
disputation in detail, perhaps giving it an emphasis in favor of the
Reformation. See also _Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_,
p. 66.
CHAPTER IV.
PROGRESS OF EVANGELIZATION AND OF THE SWISS REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.
(1538-1545.)
The conference of Schässburg and the deliverance of Szantai, which put
an end to persecution in the countries subject to Ferdinand, had results
still more marked in the states of Zapolya. The impression produced by
these events was so powerful that many parishes and towns declared for
reform. The manner of its accomplishment in Hungary was characteristic.
It advanced, as we have said, by an almost imperceptible progress. The
pastors gradually came to preach in a manner more conformed to the
Gospel. Without attracting notice they changed the rites and usages, and
their parishes followed them. In some instances indeed, the flocks took
the first steps forward; but usually they waited patiently for the death
of their old Catholic priest, and then chose in his stead an evangelical
minister. There were no violent revolutions, no angry schisms. Parishes
embraced _en masse_ the evangelical confession, and kept their churches,
their schools, their parsonages, and their property. The love of order
and of peace was carried perhaps a little too far. The Lutheran pastors
maintained their accustomed relations with the Catholic bishops. They
paid them the dues as before, and were protected by them in their rights
and liberties, provided only that they did not pass into the ranks of
the Zwinglians or the Calvinists. It was an age of gold, says a
Hungarian historian. It seems to us that it was rather an age in which,
as in Daniel’s statue, a strange mixture was seen of gold, silver, iron,
brass, and clay.[571]
[Sidenote: Zwinglian Views In Hungary.]
This mention of the Zwinglians is remarkable. It reveals to us, if we
may use the phrase, the reverse of the medal, the dark side of the
picture. If evangelical truth was advancing in Hungary, there were
nevertheless troubles and divisions of various kinds. The doctrines of
Zwinglius had early penetrated into the country. Ferdinand had mentioned
them at the same time as the Lutheran doctrines, in his edict of
persecution of 1527. They were therefore at that time spread abroad, and
numbered amongst their adherents some persons of the higher classes. In
1532, Peter Perenyi, first count (_supremus comes_) of the comitat of
Abaujvar, had the first church for the disciples of Zwinglius built at
Patak, between Tokay and Ujhely. This state of things, in accordance
with the principles of religious liberty, and consequently just, had
nevertheless injurious effects. The conflicting views of Luther and
Zwinglius on the Lord’s Supper disquieted some persons, and most of all
those who most ardently sought after the truth. One of these was Francis
Reva, count of Thurotz, a Hungarian noble of highly cultivated mind, who
attentively studied the theology of the Scriptures, and had accepted the
Lutheran way of regarding the Lord’s Supper. The writings of Zwinglius
unsettled him. Being no longer at peace but suffering much anxiety as to
what he ought to believe, Reva determined to write to Luther. He laid
open to him his doubts in a long letter and implored him to dispel them.
Luther, very much engaged at the time, replied briefly. He exhorted him
to continue steadfast in the faith as he had received it, urged him to
remember the omnipotence of God in order to put an end to his doubts
about the mystery of the Supper, and added—‘Not a single article of
faith would be left to us, if we were to submit every thing to the
judgment of our own reason.’[572]
[Sidenote: Political Divisions.]
Divisions of another kind, which were to have far graver consequences
for the public peace, afflicted Hungary. Members of the same community,
sons of the same soil, the Hungarians found themselves divided into two
hostile parties, by the ambition of the two kings who had shared the
kingdom between them. Colloquies had been frequently held with a view to
put an end to this state of things, but the rival princes had looked on
them with no friendly eyes. At length an assembly which was held at
Kenesche on Lake Balaton agreed to a plan intended to bind up the wounds
of the common country. Men’s feelings were soothed, and the two kings
concluded an agreement at Grosswardin, in pursuance of which each of
them was to retain his titles and possessions; but after the death of
Zapolya the whole of Hungary was to be reunited under the sceptre of
Ferdinand, even if his rival left an heir. This took place in 1538, and
at that time Zapolya had neither wife nor children. Was this a subject
of regret with him? Had he a desire to perpetuate in his own family the
sceptre of a portion of Hungary? However this might be, he married in
1539 Isabella, daughter of the king of Poland; and in 1541, as he lay
seriously ill and on his death-bed, word was brought to him that he had
a son. Delighted at the news, he sent for the bishop of Grosswardin,
George Martinuzzi, a Dalmatian who was at once warrior, monk,
diplomatist, and prelate, Peter Petrovich, and Joeroek de Enged. The
bishop, perceiving the secret wishes of the prince, encouraged him to
violate the agreement made with Ferdinand. Zapolya named these three
persons guardians of his son, and added—‘Take care not to give up my
states to Ferdinand,’ a formidable legacy for the new-born child. The
Queen Isabella seized upon some pretext for breaking the compact, had
her son John Sigismund proclaimed king of Hungary, and feeling herself
incapable of resisting the power of Ferdinand placed herself with the
young prince under the protection of the Sultan. Thus was fidelity, the
faith of treaties and of oaths, trampled under foot by the ambition of
this new dynasty. Its dishonesty was plain.[573]
This step, as must have been expected, was the signal for great
disasters. The Turkish army which was to secure the crown to the son of
Zapolya advanced into Hungary in such force that Ferdinand could not
resist it. The land was now plunged in distress; evangelical religion
had to suffer much; it saw its most useful institutions and its most
venerated supports taken away. The school and the printing-house
established by Count Nadasdy at Uj-Sziget were destroyed. Devay and his
friends were compelled to fly precipitately, and many of them took
refuge at Wittenberg. Devay was in great affliction. He had continually
present to his mind the barbarity of the Mussulmans, carrying fire
everywhere and shedding the blood of his fellow-citizens and his
friends. The destruction of the modest institutions which he had founded
and from which he anticipated so much good for his country broke his
heart. Even the imprisonment which he had undergone at Vienna and in
Hungary had caused him less grief, for the Mussulman plague was not then
ravaging his native land. An exile, distressed and in deep destitution,
he could see no way opening before him by which he might be permitted to
re-enter the sphere of activity which was so dear to him. He poured out
his sorrow into the bosom of his friend Melanchthon, who felt himself
the most lively interest in the great misfortunes of the Magyars. A
thought occurred to these two friends. The margrave George of
Brandenburg had been one of the guardians and governors of the young
king of Hungary, Louis II., who fell at Mohacz. He had remained a friend
to the Hungarians; he possessed estates in the country, and favored
there the extension of the Reformation. Devay and Melanchthon considered
whether he would not be the man to reopen for Devay the door of his
native land. Melanchthon consequently wrote (December 28, 1541) to
Sebastian Heller, chancellor to the margrave. ‘There are now with us
some Hungarians,’ he said, ‘whom the cruelty of their enemies has driven
from their country. Mathias Devay, an honest, grave, and learned man is
one of the number. I believe that he is known to your most illustrious
prince. On this ground he implores, in these trying times, the
assistance and aid of the margrave. I pray you to support the holy cause
of the pious and learned exile. He has already been exposed to a great
many dangers from his own countrymen on account of his pious preaching.’
It does not appear that the margrave had it in his power to bring about
the return of Devay to Hungary; but perhaps he gave him some assistance.
Devay, finding that the doors of his country were closed to him set out
for Switzerland, which had a special attraction for him, not indeed so
much for the beauties of nature which are found there, as for its pious
and learned men, and for the simple, scriptural, and spiritual religion
which he knew he should meet with at the foot of the Alps.[574]
Meanwhile, Hungary was in the most lamentable state. Not only was the
country full of distress and disorder, but in addition to this a foreign
king, who hoisted the crescent on the ancient soil on which the cross
had been planted, was master of this heroic people. But we can not help
seeing that here was once more realized the truth that God often carries
on his work of light and peace in the midst of the confusion of states
and the dissensions of nations. Gradually the first rage of the
followers of Islam abated; and as they really cared very little about
the controversies of the Christians, they were inclined to leave them
full liberty to maintain their conflicting doctrines. What most of all
shocked them in the land which they were treading under foot was the
images and the worship offered to them by the adherents of Rome.
[Sidenote: Progress Of Reform.]
Owing to the impartiality of the Mussulmans, the Gospel was propagated
from the banks of the Theiss as far as Transylvania and Wallachia, a
fact testified by a letter addressed to Melanchthon.[575] Shortly before
the Mussulman invasion, Sylvestre had published at Uj-Sziget his
translation of the New Testament, intended for all the people of
Hungary. When the first storm was past, this precious book began to
circulate amongst the people. Ere long pious Christians endeavored to
evangelize the country. Many Hungarians, partly on account of the
persecution, partly for the sake of repose from their rude labors, and
to console themselves for their sufferings, went to refresh and
strengthen themselves at Wittenberg and afterwards returned to fresh
conflicts. Wittenberg with Luther and so many other Christians full of
lively faith was for these visitors an oasis in the desert. Amongst
those who went to take shelter under these cool shades and beside these
clear fountains were Stephen Kopaczy, Caspar Heltus, Emeric Ozoraes,
Gregory Wisalmann, Benedict Abadius, and Martin de Kalmance (the last
four afterwards adhered to the doctrines of Calvin). These were followed
by many others. There was a continual going and coming. In proportion as
the Mussulman ravages abated and fell off, the Christians took heart
again and increased their efforts to rebuild the house of God. Hungary
was like an ant-hill, where every one was astir and at work. God had
there created sons for Himself, who actuated by His Spirit set
themselves with unflagging earnestness to do the work of the Lord.[576]
Even in those districts which, from their nearness to Austria, were more
subject to clerical authority, the Gospel was also making progress. For
some time the struggle between the two doctrines was very sharp at Raab.
The evangelicals in this town were without pastors, and a military
prefect well-disposed towards the Reformation gave them one. At
Stuhlweissenburg the Roman Catholics beset the justice of the town with
their entreaties. ‘Prohibit,’ they said, ‘the preaching of the Gospel
and the distribution of the Supper in both kinds, and put in prison the
ministers and the communicants.’ The justice, a righteous and
God-fearing man, firmly replied—‘In this matter I will obey God rather
than men; in all things else I will fulfil my function.’ This man was a
soldier who knew the commander whom he must before all obey.[577]
It was, however, chiefly in Upper Hungary and Transylvania that ruin was
impending over the Roman Church. The influence of the conference of
Schässburg was still very powerful there. Many of the inhabitants of
these countries, hitherto heedless of the work of reformation, and even
full of prejudices respecting it, began seriously to reflect on this
great spiritual movement which was shaking the nations, and applied
themselves to the reading of the ancient Scriptures of God, in which
they recognized the active principles of the transformation of which
they were witnesses. Whole parishes, carried away by the power of the
truth and by the noble example of brave men who sacrificed every thing
for the cause of God, declared openly for the Reformation. At Bartfeld,
Michael Radaschin had preached the Gospel with so much power that all
the force of Rome seemed to be destroyed there. In Transylvania many
towns followed the example of Hermanstadt. The greater number of the
inhabitants of Mediasch and Kronstadt, at the eastern extremity of the
country, and of many other cities, declared that they were determined to
believe nothing but [Sidenote: John Honter.] what is taught in the Word
of God. The principal instrument of God in these districts was John
Honter. After studying at Cracow and at Basel, he had returned into his
native land, rich in knowledge, strengthened by faith, and inflamed with
zeal. He had established there a printing-house, which was the first in
Transylvania, as that of Uj-Sziget was the first in Hungary, and had
published a multitude of school-books and evangelical books. It was not
long before the whole of southern Transylvania, the country of the
Saxons, was gained over to the Reformation. Honter himself at a later
time published a narrative of these conquests.[578] The work, however,
appears to have been less solidly done in these districts than in
others. Transylvania was one of the few countries of the Reformation
into which Socinianism penetrated as early as the sixteenth century.
Conquests more solid and more complete were in preparation. Devay, as we
said, had gone into Switzerland. He had seen there the best men of the
Helvetic Reformation, and had attached himself to the principles which
they professed, towards which he had previously been attracted by his
intercourse with Melanchthon, by his own study of Holy Scripture, and by
his meditations in the prisons of Vienna. It was no longer the rather
superficial theory of Zwinglius, but the more spiritual and profound
doctrine of Calvin, that he had chiefly been in contact with. When he
learnt that the disorders of the Mussulman invasion had come to an end
and that it was once more possible to labor in Hungary to win souls to
the Gospel, he returned home. He did not make his appearance there in
any sectarian spirit. Christ crucified, the wisdom of God and the power
of God, and a new birth by the operation of the Holy Spirit, always
formed the basis of his teaching. But aiming at a close union with
Christ he said—_Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, ye have no life in you_; adding however as the Saviour did—_It is
the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing_. At Eperies and
other towns in the mountains, there were some Hungarian ministers,
disciples of Luther, who were astonished to hear that the man, who like
them had for his master the Wittenberg reformer, spoke like Calvin. To
these men it gave great pain to see that their fellow-countryman
disagreed with the great doctor whom they had so long held in honor.
They might, however, have rejoiced at the fact that Devay declared that
_the flesh of Christ is meat indeed and His blood is drink indeed_. The
real doctrine of Luther and the real doctrine of Calvin respecting the
Lord’s Supper approximate to each other sufficiently for Lutherans to
respect that of the Reformed Church, and for the Reformed Church to
respect the Confession of Augsburg. Both sides ought to have done this,
even had their difference on this point been greater than it really was,
since both said—_Christ is all in all_. But it was the misfortune of
that age that many fastened upon a few differences of detail rather than
upon the great truths on which they were agreed.
These Hungarian pastors wrote to Luther in the spring of 1544;
expressing their surprise that Devay, who had lately been at Wittenberg,
professed a doctrine on the Supper different from that which was taught
there. Luther’s astonishment on receiving this letter exceeded that of
the Hungarians; and his grief was still greater than his surprise. He
could not believe what they wrote to him. ‘What!‘[579] said he, ‘the man
who had such a good name amongst us!... No, it is too hard to believe
what they have written to me. One thing is certain, and that is that he
did not receive from us the doctrine of the sacramentarians.[580]... We
have constantly opposed it both in public and in private. There is not
with us the slightest appearance of such an abomination.... I have not
the faintest suspicion of Master Philip nor of any of the others.’
Henceforth the great and pious Luther, unfortunately somewhat irritable,
frequently inveighed against the Devay whom he had so much loved, and
loudly complained that he was teaching and practising rites very
different from his own.[581] Luther then forgot the beautiful concord of
Wittenberg to which he had been a party.
[Sidenote: Devay At Debrecsin.]
Devay, on his return from Switzerland, went to Debreczin, not far from
the frontier of Transylvania, probably in consequence of a suggestion of
Count Nadasdy. This town was a fief of Count Valentine Toeroek de
Enying, one of the heroes of Hungary and a great protector of the
Reformation. He was a near relation of Count Nadasdy. This magnate
settled Devay at Debreczin not only as pastor but also as dean. The
noble herald of the Gospel endeavored without delay to fertilize
spiritually the waste and barren lands in the midst of which the town
was situated. He gave instruction by his preaching, by his writings,
many of which however were not printed, and also by his hymns. One of
these began with the line—
Fit that every man should know—[582]
and it set forth in succession the great and vital doctrines of the
Gospel. This hymn was long sung in all parts of Hungary. A powerful
minister of the Word who had been a fellow-student with him at Cracow
was at first his colleague and afterwards his successor. This was Martin
de Kalmance. He was distinguished by two characteristics. One of these
was that doctrine of grace which is especially set forth by Paul and by
Calvin, and which had taken possession of his heart, joined with that
spiritual communion with Christ of which the outward communion is the
sign, the pledge, and the seal. The other was an animated and
captivating eloquence which deeply stirred and carried away the souls of
men. While his burning words extolled the eternal compassion of God who
saves the sinner by Jesus Christ, it seemed as if all who heard him must
fall at the Saviour’s feet to receive from Him the gift of life.
Probably not one of the Hungarian reformers had warmer partisans or more
implacable enemies. These last were so completely mastered by their
hatred that they left traces of it everywhere. Like a hero of the mob,
who sticks even upon the walls insulting names, a papist, who happened
to be at Cracow, wrote in the matriculation-book of the university,
beneath the name of Devay’s colleague, the following words—‘This
Kalmance, infected with the spirit of error, has infected with the
heresy of the sacramentarians a great part of Hungary.’[583] He was
perpetually pursued by fanaticism. One day, when he was preaching at
Beregszasz, a Roman priest, impelled by deadly hate, crept into the
church, concealing under his dress a weapon with which he had provided
himself, and shot him dead.[584] This humble minister was thus to meet
the tragical end of the illustrious William of Nassau and other great
supporters of evangelical doctrine. But this did not take place till
some years later, in 1557. This faithful servant of God and his
companions in arms had first to suffer many other assaults.
[Sidenote: Persecution Instigated.]
The Roman clergy, alarmed to see that the evangelical doctrine was
invading Hungary, were determined to unite all the forces at their
disposal, and give decisive battle to this enemy. It was on the slopes
of the mountains, and particularly in the comitat of Zips, that the most
fanatical and enraged priests were found. There also the doctrines of
the Word of God had made the most real conquests. Bartfeld, Eperies, and
Leutschau, the capital of the comitat of Zips, were towns filled with
adherents of the Reformation. In the spring of 1543, all the priests of
the comitat met together, and perceiving that all their efforts had been
useless, and aware also that they had not strength to conquer by
spiritual weapons, they resolved to have recourse to the power of the
state. King Ferdinand was at this time at Nürnberg; and they drew up a
petition and sent it to him there. They stated that notwithstanding all
the pains which they took to maintain religion, his subjects were drawn
away after what was worse. ‘For this reason,’ they said, ‘we request of
you that no preacher should be settled in any place whatsoever without
authorization of the Church. Do not allow any one to bring to your
subjects this new gospel, which wherever it goes brings in its train
divisions, sects, anger, debate, envy, ignorance, murders, and all the
works of the flesh.’ It was just at this time that Charles the Fifth was
attempting to conclude peace both with Francis I. and with Solyman, in
order to give his undivided attention to the suppression of the
Reformation. Ferdinand, whose intentions although more enlightened were
not very decided, and who did not think that it was proper for him to
act in a different way from his brother, issued (April 12) an ordinance
by which he placed at the service of the clergy ‘all secular authority
necessary for the upholding of the old and holy Catholic religion, the
confession of the Roman faith, and the praiseworthy rites and customs
which it enjoins.’[585] But this ordinance remained a dead letter. The
king’s moderation was well known in Hungary; and people believed that if
he had yielded to the clergy it was, in fact, only an apparent yielding,
and that his threats were not to be followed by action. The depositaries
of the temporal power, moreover, had no mind to use it in persecuting
men who were examples to all. The pro-palatine Francis Reva therefore
turned a deaf ear to it. The clergy, astonished and provoked at seeing
their petitions and even the orders of the prince without effect,
addressed to the king a second petition more pressing than the first.
Ferdinand, who was then at Prague, signed (July 1) an order more severe
addressed to the pro-palatine—‘I am astonished,’ said he, ‘that you did
not strictly discharge your duty towards the heretics and their
doctrine. I command you, upon pain of losing my royal favor, to punish
every one who separates from the true and ancient Church of God,
whatever may be his condition or his rank, and to make use for this
purpose of all the penalties adapted to bring back into the sheepfold
those who go astray.’[586] This order of Ferdinand, so far from
terrifying the champions of the Gospel, increased their courage and
their zeal. In the midst of tribulation they said—‘In all these things,
_we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us_.’ Even at
Leutschau the evangelicals, far from drawing back, determined to go
forward. They were still without pastors at the time their adversaries
wished to put them to death; and they heroically resolved to appoint
one. Ladislaus Poleiner, justice of the town, and founder of the
Reformation there, began to seek in all directions after such a man as
they wanted. Amongst the young Transylvanians who had been converted by
the ministry of Honter was one named Bartholomew Bogner, distinguished
for his faith, his knowledge, and his zeal. The courageous justice
called him to Leutschau, and Bogner immediately applied himself to the
work. He did this with the activity of a man whose natural powers are
sanctified by the Divine Spirit. His ministry bore rich fruit. Not only
did the word of God which he preached give to many a new birth unto
eternal life, but after a few years all the ceremonies of the Romish
worship were abolished in the very town in which the weapons had been
fashioned which were to destroy the Reformation.[587]
[Sidenote: Stephen Szegedin.]
A similar work of regeneration was being accomplished in the south of
Hungary, introducing there the Gospel and the spiritual faith of the
Swiss divines. A young man, named Stephen Kiss, remarkable from
childhood for his discretion and abilities, was born at Szegedin on the
Theiss, north of Belgrade, in 1505. He studied at various schools in his
own country, and afterwards at Cracow. Having been enlightened by the
Gospel, he had come to Wittenberg in 1540, being then thirty-five years
of age. Ere long he became not only the disciple and the guest, but also
the assistant of Luther and Melanchthon. These two great doctors
perceived in him the qualifications of a reformer; a lively piety which
led him to seek in every thing the glory of God, a modest seriousness in
his manners, his conversation, and his deportment; an accurate
acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, close application to work,
remarkable skill in the administration of the Church, and a lively and
powerful style in preaching the Gospel.[588] The Wittenberg reformers,
struck with these gifts, were glad to employ him in the important and
numerous affairs which they had on their hands.[589] He was usually
called Szegedin, after his native town, according to a very common
practice of the age.
On his return to his native land, Stephen settled at Jasnyad. Full of
remembrances of Wittenberg, and a friend to theological studies, as he
saw that the harvest was great but that the laborers were few, he
founded in that town, in co-operation with a few friends of the Gospel,
a school of theology of which he was the principal professor. He was at
the same time both preacher and doctor. In his sermons he showed himself
as a man of mind. He did not compose feeble homilies, nor confine
himself to diluting his text and uttering pious sentiments. In all that
he said there was a solid foundation of truth; in all his teaching there
was admirable method, and he set forth the leading thought of his
discourses with great clearness.[590] But at the same time his phrases
were vigorous, he struck heavy blows, he roused conscience, he convinced
sinners of their faults and their danger, and he so forcibly exhibited
the love of God in Jesus Christ, that suffering souls threw themselves
by faith into the merciful arms of the Saviour.[591] It was given to him
to present the truth with such persuasive power that it left a deep
impression on men’s minds. His contemporaries said that his memory and
his discourses would survive for ages.[592]
[Sidenote: His Writings.]
Szegedin was not only a great orator, he was also a learned theologian.
An indefatigable worker, it was not easy to turn him aside from his
studies. Work was to him not only a duty but a delight, the very joy of
his life. He shut himself up in his study with the Holy Scriptures, read
them, sounded their depths, and thoroughly fixed them in his mind. He
brought no self-love to the study of them; nor did he even publish his
own writings in his lifetime. They were published after his death by two
of the most distinguished divines of the sixteenth century, Theodore
Beza at Geneva and Grynaeus at Basel; and this fact is undoubtedly a
proof of their excellence. He produced analytical works on the prophets
David, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah; and also on the Gospels of
Matthew and John, the Acts, the epistles of Paul, and the Apocalypse. In
addition to these expository works, Szegedin wrote some on doctrine, and
particularly one entitled ‘Commonplaces of Sacred Theology, concerning
God and concerning man.’ This was in imitation of his master
Melanchthon. Deeply grieved to see the errors which afflicted his native
land, he undertook to contend against them. He pursued them, armed with
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; and evangelical
Hungary had no braver or more intrepid champion. He chiefly tried his
strength with the Unitarians and the Papists. He composed a ‘Treatise on
the Holy Trinity against the extravagances (deliramenta) appearing in
some districts,’ directing his attacks equally against Arianism and
Socinianism. The papal traditions he fought against in his ‘Mirror of
the Roman Pontiffs, in which are concisely delineated their decrees
opposed to the word of God, their lives and their monstrous excesses.’
There is also another work of his entitled—‘Entertaining Inquiries
(Quæstiones jucundæ) concerning the papal traditions.’ His devotion to
the truth and the force of his understanding shone out in all these
works, and his contemporaries were proud of them. ‘This man,’ they used
to say, ‘is indeed a theologian, and what is more, a true witness for
Christ; a serious, steadfast, and most energetic defender of orthodox
truth in countries infested, alas, with Arianism, Mohammedanism, and
other sects, to say nothing of the papacy.’[593]
Szegedin’s intercourse with Melanchthon had prepared him to understand
in respect to the Lord’s Supper, that _it is the Spirit that
quickeneth_. He adhered to Calvin’s view. His writings, as we have
mentioned, were published by the Swiss theologians; and we find his name
inscribed as a member of the Reformed synod of Wardein. He brought over
some of his fellow-countrymen to the same conviction. One of these, then
very young, bore testimony to it about thirty or forty years later.
‘Szegedin,’ said Michael Paxi in 1575, ‘was the second of those teachers
who, when I was still a youth, successfully corrected and completely
suppressed in our land erroneous doctrines respecting the Supper.’[594]
The first was undoubtedly Devay. Paxi was mistaken as to the victory of
the doctrine taught by Calvin. It was not so complete as he states. A
great many divines and faithful men held Luther’s view. It was
justifiable indeed for Szegedin and his friends on the one side, and for
the Lutherans on the other, to declare themselves decidedly for the
doctrine which they esteemed true; but it was not so for them to deny
that both deserved the reverence of Christians. The war which was
carried on between these two churches was, perhaps, the greatest
calamity which befell the Reformation.
[Sidenote: Banishment Of Szegedin.]
The activity of Stephen Szegedin, the decision of his faith, and the
vigor with which he attacked the Romish errors drew upon him the hatred
of papists and the insults of fanatics. In particular, the bishop, who
was guardian of the young son of King Zapolya, was beside himself when
the tidings were brought to him of the energetic efforts of this great
champion of the Gospel. One day, the evangelical doctor having delivered
a very powerful discourse, the prelate no longer restrained himself; and
in the first burst of his wrath he sent for the captain of his
body-guards—the bishop had his guards—and said to the man, whose name
was Caspar Peruzitti—‘Go, give him a lesson that he may remember.’ The
captain, a rough, impetuous fellow, went to the venerable doctor and,
addressing him in a saucy tone, gave him several slaps on the face with
the palm of his hand. Szegedin did not lose his self-command, but
desired to clear himself of the wrongs which were alleged against him.
The coarse soldier then knocked him down, and trampling on him in anger
and rage gave him repeated sharp blows with his heavy boots armed with
spurs. This was the method of confutation adopted by a Romish prelate in
Hungary in the sixteenth century. There were confutations, we must say,
of a more intellectual kind. The bishop did not stop here; he
confiscated the doctor’s precious library, which was his chief earthly
treasure and the quiver from which he drew his arrows. He then drove him
from Jasnyad. God did not abandon him. Szegedin renounced himself, took
up his cross, cried to God and besought Him to shed abroad His light. In
the following year he was enabled to devote his talents and his faith to
the cause of knowledge and the Gospel in the celebrated school of Jynla;
and not long after he was called to be professor and preacher at
Czegled, in the comitat of Pesth.[595]
Footnote 571:
Dr. Burgovzky, _Ungarn_. Herzog, _Ency._ xvi p. 641.
Footnote 572:
‘Sic nullum tandem haberemus articulum fidei, si judicio rationis
nostræ æstimandum fuerit.’—Ribini, _Memorabilia_, p. 44. Luther,
_Epp._ Wittenberg, 4 Aug. 1539.—_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche
in Ungarn_, p. 69.
Footnote 573:
_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 70.
Footnote 574:
Revesz, in Herzog’s _Ency._ xix. p. 409.
Footnote 575:
Melanchthon, lib. ii. _Epp._ p. 339.
Footnote 576:
_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 71.
Footnote 577:
Johannes Manilius in Collect. i.; _De calamitate afflict._ p. 139.
_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 72.
Footnote 578:
His book was entitled, _Reform der Sächsischen Gemeinde in
Siebenbürgen_, 1547. Herzog, _Ency._ xiv. p. 344.
Footnote 579:
‘Cum apud nos sit ipse adeo boni odoris.’—Luther’s letter of 31st
April, 1544.
Footnote 580:
‘Certe non a nobis habet sacramentariorum doctrinam.’—_Ibid._
Footnote 581:
‘Maxime autem invehitur in Devayum, quod ritus quosdam a suis valde
diversos doceret exerceretque.’—Timon, _Epitome chronologica rerum
Hungaricarum_.
Footnote 582:
‘Minden embernek illik ezt megtudni.’—Herzog, _Ency._ xix. p. 410.
Footnote 583:
‘Hic Calmanchehi spiritu erroris infectus, hæresi postea
sacramentariorum magnam partem Ungariæ infecit.’—Revesz, _Devay und
die Ungar. reform. Kirche_. Herzog, _Ency_. xix. p. 411.
Footnote 584:
_Ibid._
Footnote 585:
_Analecta Scepus._ part ii. p. 234. _Geschichte der evangelischen
Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 73.
Footnote 586:
_Analecta Scepus._ part ii. p. 234. _Geschichte der evangelischen
Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 73.
Footnote 587:
_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 74.
Footnote 588:
‘Tanta in homine fuerat pietas, gravitas et prudentia administrandæ
rei ecclesiasticæ.’—_Ep._ Michaelis Paxi, April 5, 1573, ad Simlerum.
Footnote 589:
‘Ut magno illi Luthero ac sancto Melanchthoni in magnis rebus gerendis
profuerit.’—_Ep._ Michaelis Paxi, April 5, 1573.
Footnote 590:
‘Ordinis in discendo et docendo ita amans, ut qui maxime.’—Skarica,
_Vita Szegedini_.
Footnote 591:
‘Seine an den Volk. . . mit grosser Begeisterung gerichtete
Predigten.’—_Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Ungarn_, p. 75.
Footnote 592:
‘Id quod conciones ejus, et imprimis quæ in publicum evulgatæ sunt,
sacra hypomnemata, luculentur testantur; quæque, ut ille de alio,
canescent sæclis innumerabilibus.’—Skarica, _Vita Szegedini_.
Footnote 593:
‘Orthodoxæ veritatis in illis arianismo, mahometanismo, aliisque (ut
de pontificiis nihil dicamus) sectis infestis regionibus propugnator
acerrimus.’—Skarica, _Vita Szegedini_.