A good resource regarding the formative years of the Moravian Church is The History of the Unity of Brethren (A Protestant Hussite Church in Bohemia and Moravia) by Rudolf Rican. First published in the 1950's, the available English translation (by C. Daniel Crews) came out in the 1990's. It's published by The Moravian Church in America.
The book begins with the martyr Jan Hus (1372-1415) and other
dissident movements in Bohemia such as the Waldensians. Petr Chelčický (c.1380-1460) also receives significant
treatment as he came to exert a great deal of influence on the early Brethren movement
– itself a derivative of the larger Hussite wave.
The
Unitas Fratrum or Unity of the Brethren arose in the aftermath of the Basel
Compacts or Compactata of 1436. The
more radical Taborites had been defeated two years earlier in 1434 at Lipany by
a joint Catholic and Utraquist army. Though largely forgotten today the
Utraquists or Calixtines were the moderate Hussite party that wanted reform but
were content to find a modus vivendi
with Rome.
With
the hopes of both the zealot Taborites and Biblically-minded Christians
shattered, by the 1450's various individuals and groups began to coalesce –
elements of disenchanted Utraquists and Taborites and other dissidents formed into
a group that would become known as the Jednota
Bratrska or the Unity of the Brethren – sometimes known by the Latin
moniker Unitas Fratrum and in other
cases simply the Bohemian Brethren. The 'Moravian' appellation known today
would come much later.
In
many respects similar to the already extant Waldensians, the Unitas flourished
in the latter half of the Fifteenth Century and this despite persecution from
Czech Utraquists and the ever present danger faced when coming in contact with
the agents of Rome.
Under
the leadership of Lukas of Prague (1460-1528), the Unitas would move away from
the hard-Biblicism and separatism of Petr Chelčický, and yet they found
themselves somewhat at odds with the Magisterial Reformation which they would
come into contact with throughout the 1520's. The Unitas leadership feared the
latent antinomianism in Luther's doctrine of Sola Fide – further evidenced by their contact with Lutheran towns,
and they were less than enthused about the magisterial aspect of the
Reformation's programme to transform Christendom. This is even after Lukas had
already mollified the non-resistance and non-participation doctrines of Chelčický.
For Lukas, the Reformation seemed a step too far and one in an unbiblical
direction at critical points.
And
yet the reality is that over time the Unitas would be greatly affected by the
Magisterial Reformation and pulled into its currents – as was the dominant
Utraquist party. Over the next two centuries the Unitas would vacillate between
various Lutheran factions and at times fall within the sphere of Calvinism.
One
of the most striking elements of the book was the transformation that took
place in the Sixteenth Century. Having eventually aligned with the dominant
Protestant interests, the Brethren found themselves caught up in the political
struggle and subsequently were shocked by the effects of the Schmalkaldic War
(1546-1547).
The
imperial Habsburg-led campaign against neighbouring Protestant Saxony alarmed
the Lutherans and some of the Brethren in Bohemia, though their Hussite
cousins, the Utraquists supported the imperial position. Revolting against the
Habsburg ruler Charles V, the Lutheran princes began to organise military aid
for the Protestant elector Johann Friedrich I and fellow Schmalkaldic League
member Philip of Hesse. Though Czech support never really materialised and the
effort fizzled, what was perceived as a 'Bohemian Revolt' resulted in severe
reprisals. Not of few members of the Unitas under influence of the Magisterial
Reformation had been caught up in the moment and were subsequently executed.
Previous to this, Unitas members who had been imprisoned and killed had
suffered for the testimony of the gospel. This activity represented something
different. From the perspective of the crown it was treason and participation
in an armed uprising. The warnings of Lukas about the new Protestant Reformation
had not been heeded.
There
were other issues that had upset Unitas members. The influence of the
Magisterial Reformation led to significant changes in their attitude toward
wealth and the ethics of interest or usury. This was not universal among early
Protestants, but generally speaking a notable worldliness (associated with the
movement) had crept in and this reality (along with the executions related to
the Schmalkaldic War) proved shocking.
The
popularity and growth of the Unitas had also led many from within the noble and
knightly classes to join their movement, a reality that was on the one hand of
practical advantage – as they would have financial sponsors and safe areas in
which to live and worship, but on the other hand they were being pulled into politics,
worldly conflict and risked confusing the Christian calling with a larger
struggle for power and all that goes along with it.
The
Unitas responded to the Schmalkaldic backlash and for a time reverted to the
teachings of Lukas which while less sound than Chelčický, were nevertheless
more Biblical than the worldly ethics of coin, politicking, and war promoted by
the Magisterial Reformation's theologians and political leaders.
By
1548, the Unitas had once more been forced underground. Due to the political
situation, Moravia became a haven and thus the group would in time become
associated with that eastern region of old Bohemia. Others would find a refuge
in Poland but in time they found there were difficulties even in Protestant lands
and they suffered occasional persecution by Lutherans who had fallen into old
sacral patterns and when in political favour would not tolerate any kind of
social or religious pluralism. At times it's clear the Unitas intelligentsia
became thoroughly disgusted with Lutheranism. This would result in a gradual
turn toward Calvinism throughout the remainder of the Sixteenth and into the
Seventeenth Centuries.
But
this was no solution and it didn't take long for the lessons of the early
Unitas and the Schmalkaldic War to be forgotten. Sponsored by nobility in parts
of Poland, the Unitas even found itself at times in a sacral state-sponsored
role. The Polish Brethren entered this arrangement half-heartedly and even with
regret and the subsequent disorganised and poorly managed polity failed,
leading to their displacement by the Lutherans and Reformed and a return once
again to a more Biblical understanding of the Church vis-à-vis the world. The
Polish Brethren would eventually break with the Magisterial Reformation in 1557
leading to harsh criticism from the pens of Bullinger and Calvin. The efforts
of the Polish reformer John a' Lasco would also fail to win them over. Though
generally still on the fringes of the Calvinist sphere and eventually
preferring Heidelberg over Wittenberg for theological study, the Unitas would
continue to pursue an independent course, never fully on board or of one mind
with the Magisterial Reformation.
It's
worth noting that in the coming years the Unitas and other Protestants would
face great persecution at the hands of the Jesuit-led Counter-Reformation – a
reality that would intensify in the latter part of the 1500's and culminate in
a near genocidal campaign in the aftermath of the Thirty Years War.
The
Magisterial Protestants relied on a sacral arrangement – their movement only
able to flourish when under some kind of governmental sponsorship that would
provide security and legislate the social and theological reforms advocated by the
Lutheran and Calvinist reformers. Thus due to political failings and the
machinations of the Jesuits, the Counter-Reformation virtually exterminated
Protestant influence in many of the lands of Central Europe including Poland,
Bohemia, Austria, and elsewhere.
In some
of these places Protestants had actually become the majority and yet today
their presence is almost non-existent. Once lands in which the Waldensians
flourished, their descendants (as Magisterial Reformation Protestants) were
swept away by the Counter-Reformation.
Hungary
(which included Transylvania) was the almost lone exception. Magyar politics vis-à-vis
the Habsburgs and the Turks were able to keep a Calvinist polity alive while it
perished elsewhere.
The
Unitas was now on its own and while they were almost eradicated in the tumult
and aftermath of the Thirty Years War they were able to survive it – eventually
finding a haven in eastern Saxony at Count Zinzendorf's Herrnhut which he founded
in 1722. Abandoning much of the Calvinist ideology they had come to embrace,
the Moravians (as they became known) moved decidedly into the Lutheran-Pietist
framework, and yet still retained some of their own distinctives. In the end,
like the proto-protestant Petr Chelčický (who influenced them early on) they
found themselves in a position that didn't quite fit into any of the mainstream
Magisterial Protestant camps.