The History of the Protestant Church in Hungary from the beginning of the Reformation to 1850 is a commendable historical work. It value is both inherent as a historical text and in what can be extrapolated from it – which in some cases may result in observations and applications beyond the intention of the anonymous author. The work first appeared about 1854 and was translated into English by one Dr. Craig.
I was eager to purchase the work in 2001 when it was newly re-printed
by Sprinkle Publications. My 1997 trip to Hungary was still fresh in my mind
and over the years I have continued to probe the nation's rich historical and
cultural tapestry. I read the book in 2002 and have perused and re-read
sections of it ever since but I just recently decided to revisit the work from
cover to cover along with notes and maps – in other words to fully engage the
work.
I was already familiar with the broad strokes of the story
but this time the read proved to be more profitable due to twenty years of
acquired knowledge and reflection. There was so much more I was able to
contextualise and having some knowledge of the larger regional geography I was
able to make connections that an earlier reading might have glossed over.
Large sections of the book deal with the Counter-Reformation
and not just in Hungary (as it appears in contemporary maps) but it also
touched upon the situation in neighbouring regions such as Carinthia and Styria
(today's Austria and parts of Slovenia) and the larger region of old pre-1920
Hungary which included Slovakia, much of Croatia, and in particular
Transylvania. These lands (as well as portions of Serbia, Austria, Slovenia,
and even Ukraine) were lost to crown of St. Stephen in the aftermath of WWI –
an issue which vexes Hungarian nationalists and irredentists to this very day.
The reader is reminded of the brutality of the Jesuit-led
campaign that in addition to tearing congregations and families apart, their
Counter-Reformation programme oppressed any hint of resistance and sought to
penetrate and transform every facet of society – bringing all into conformity
with Rome. The evil fraternity laboured for centuries to roll back any attempt
at Biblical reform. The functional loss of these histories has certainly played
no small role in today's Evangelical rapprochement with Rome – an absolute
betrayal of their forebears. Rome was and remains a false church, a veritable
anti-christ and though today's Jesuits are much different – no longer the shock
troops of the papacy, they nevertheless remain enemies to the Gospel of Christ.
And yet sadly the Magisterial Protestants of Hungary fell
into some of the same political traps and schemes as their cousins in other
lands and their utterly wayward Evangelical descendants in our own day. Often
in connivance with the Turks (who were certainly better than the Habsburgs),
they plotted and pushed at every opportunity to get an upper hand – and
eventually just to get a place at the table. By the mid-17th
century, they had lost all, and after joining in with a series of revolts led
by Transylvanian princes (such as Bocskai, Bethlen, the Rakoczis, and Imre
Thököly), they were reduced to defeat and subjugation. Their last gamble had been to urge the Turks
to invade the Habsburg domains once more in 1682, culminating in the famous Siege
of Vienna the following year. Defeated by Sobieski and his Catholic coalition,
the Turks and their Protestant allies were driven back, and the Habsburg
alliance would not only break the siege and drive the Turks out of Austria,
they were able to re-capture Budapest and eventually drive the Ottomans out of
Central Europe and back into the Balkans. The Protestants of Hungary had backed
the losing side and would pay a terrible price in the 1700's. The tolerant (by
comparison) Ottoman Turks were in decline and one cannot help but also question
the morality of the Hungarian alliance with Louis XIV. For Hungarian
Protestants he was an enemy of their enemy (the Habsburgs) but at the same time
Louis was a monster and brutal persecutor of Protestants in his own land. All
their schemes and attempts to wrest away control of Hungary from the Habsburgs
ultimately failed.
The Habsburgs for their part were devious and evil. The
political arm of Rome in Central and Eastern Europe, the Habsburgs had
exploited Hungarian misfortune in the aftermath of the 1526 catastrophe at
Mohacs and had claimed Royal Hungary (Western Transdanubian Hungary, along with
a sliver of Western Slovakia) for the Reichsadler
of the Habsburg crown. When the Hungarian lands were liberated during the
1683-1699 rollback of the Turks, the Habsburgs then claimed the lands of St.
Stephen as their own – viewed as an outrage by the Magyar princes of Transylvania
who viewed themselves (with cause) as the heirs of St. Stephen and the House of
Arpad.
But once again all the Hungarian schemes failed and the
princes were subjugated to Vienna. And the Lutherans and Calvinists who
supported these princes and their many uprisings and wars against the Habsburgs
were also subjugated.
Overall it's a frustrating but moving story. In the midst of
the wearisome political intrigues and politicking there are stories of
harrowing winter escapes, fugitives hiding in the mountains, crossing frontiers
and seeking shelter abroad. There are terrible tales of torture, of stolen
children, intrepid preachers and evil sadistic clerics. Largely it is the tale
of churches trying to remain faithful as bit by bit, year by year, they are
worn down and defeated. And then (as if from nowhere) they were granted respite
– and it is with no small bit of irony that their deliverance came in the form
of an Enlightenment monarch – Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresa.
Their Catholic persecution was not ended by the fulfillment
of Magisterial Protestant dreams and political projects but by the social
pluralism born of the Enlightenment. Its concepts, while far from Christian
were nevertheless tolerant and willing to endure differences for the greater
social peace and its concept of flourishing freedom. It was the secular
triumphing over the sacral that brought respite. But as always there's a
dynamic at work and nothing is stable. That same force in another generation
can quickly turn against the Church – as indeed it would.
In this sense the situation in Hungary finds a parallel with
that of France. The Huguenots suffered terrible persecution when Louis XIV
revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and they would suffer a century of persecution
– relief only coming with the 1789 Revolution which smashed the Catholic sacral
state once and for all. In the case of both of these Protestant groups the
Enlightenment proved a blessing.
But for the Hungarians it would also prove a curse as they (like
the Protestants in so many other lands) would drink from its polluted wells and
begin to recast their Magisterial Protestant impulses in the form of
Enlightenment Classical Liberalism. In other words they continued their
political activism but it took on an Enlightenment revolutionary form – just as
it would in the American colonies. This would begin a process of syncretism –
the blending of Christian doctrine with concepts such as nationalism,
democracy, political and economic rights, the social contract, and even the
prerogative to rebel, all notions that either have no basis in New Testament
thought or are explicitly opposed to its doctrinal frameworks and ethical
imperatives.
Nineteenth Century Romanticism lionised the Reformation but
it was recast in nationalist terms. My mind went back to the powerful sacralist
imagery of Heroes' Square (Hosök Tere) in Budapest. Angels guide the Magyar
chieftains to the holy land and they are surrounded by the heroes of the
nation. The Right Colonnade is remarkable for its significant Protestant
presence. There are the great Transylvanian Princes, the Protestant lords who
fought against Habsburg rule, the aforementioned men: Bocskai, Bethlen,
Thököly, and Francis II Rakoczi. Men of blood all, Protestant historians
celebrate their piety, Renaissance humanism, and nationalism. Catholics and
secular historians will point out their brutality and in some cases their
outright murder. It was an ugly time in history and Protestant historians will
excuse and justify their bloody ethics as appropriate and necessary to the time
– that they were no worse than the Catholic ethics and entities which
persecuted the Protestant movement. It would be plausible argument but for the
fact that many contemporary Christians condemned these actions and spoke
against them. It's not as if there wasn't a Christian witness to the contrary.
And yet any student of history must admit it's easy to judge
with 20/20 hindsight. The circumstances were undoubtedly difficult and it isn't
difficult to see how people were caught up in thorny and even insoluble situations
but it's interesting that for all their efforts, the Protestant cause never
made any real gains. Every seeming victory was always followed by a series of
defeats. 'Victory' only came in the aftermath of the Enlightenment and the
reorganisation of principles to that end. And yet the 'victory' would
ultimately lead to a great defeat.
The final statue in Heroes' Square is one of Lajos Kossuth –
a Protestant, but in reality an Enlightenment-motivated 19th century
revolutionary who became a hero not just to Hungarians but to likeminded people
worldwide. Kossuth was the Hungarian champion of the 1848 uprisings which swept
across continental Europe. Ultimately the move to displace the Habsburgs
failed. After fleeing to the Ottoman lands, he would wander for many years, and
became a sensation in the United States where one still finds towns and Masonic
halls named after him – though virtually no one seems to know who he is
anymore. He was one of the very few foreigners to be granted the privilege of
addressing a joint session of the US Congress – at the time the only person
apart from the Marquis de Lafayette. He was a significant figure in the 19th
century and undoubtedly his impact and memory played a role in the US-led
dismantling of the Habsburg Empire during the WWI settlement.
But by the 1860's, Hungary had hitched its wagon (so to
speak) to the Habsburgs. The book ends with Kossuth and an endorsement of his
uprising – itself something of a betrayal of Reformation principle, though this
is not explored. In many respects it's an unfortunate point to end the book
because not only is the story far from over, in the years after it would take a
dramatic turn.
This is but one of the shortcomings of the book. Rather than
include the unhelpful and condescending foreword by the Theonomist Byron Snapp,
an afterward outlining of events from 1867 to the present would have been
helpful, to finish the story.*
For though Kossuth failed and lived in exile, the pressure on
the Habsburgs continued and not just from Hungary. The breakup of the Holy
Roman Empire by Napoleon in 1806 and the continued ascent of Prussia and its
quest to create a unified German state continued to squeeze and constrain
Austrian interests and by 1867 Vienna was forced to make concessions. They
could not prevent German unification which would happen just a few years later
when the Bismarck-led Prussians marched into Paris – an impulse that would find
its culmination in the Anschluss of 1938. And likewise they were forced to grant
Hungarian autonomy. Though Kossuth had been defeated in 1848, these were the
days of nationalism and the momentum could no longer be restrained. Ignoring
the protests and warnings of Kossuth, the Hungarians (led by Count Andrassy) compromised
and agreed to the Dual Monarchy. Hungary was still under the aegis of Habsburg
rule but it had its own parliament and governed its own affairs. In time
Hungary would actually become almost the dominant partner in the new political
arrangement known to history as Austria-Hungary. The nation experienced a
cultural renaissance and this period was the first since the Reformation that
Protestantism was able to exist unhindered.
And yet the Protestant churches also wed themselves to the
Hungarian state and its policies of Magyarisation – the oppressive and
authoritarian subjugation of the kingdom's minorities in the name of creating a
unified Hungarian society. These hated policies helped to bring about the collapse
of the Austro-Hungarian state during World War I and fueled the nationalism
that led to the Treaty of Trianon and Hungarian partition in 1920.
Kossuth had warned of this – warned against a compromise with
the Habsburgs. The Hungarian Establishment viewed 1867 as a victory as an
uncompromising radical Kossuth faded from the scene. And yet he warned that in
becoming 'partners' with Austria they would bring the whole nation down when
the Habsburgs themselves collapsed. And he was right.
Hungarian Protestantism enjoyed something of a golden age
from 1867 on, however the greatest enemy of all – theological liberalism was
knocking at the door. After WWI the various churches were nationalised and many
(such as the Slovak and Croat Reformed) have survived but only as empty shells.
Centuries of Catholic persecution and decades of Communist oppression could not
eradicate them but theological liberalism has done the work. Today these
churches are largely liberal and no longer hold to the Scriptures as
authoritative.
After World War I there was the brief communist interlude
under Bela Kun and then the dictatorial 'regency' established by Admiral Horthy
– leader of a nation with no navy and no king. Horthy would rule until he was
ousted by the Nazis in 1944 and then after the brief but incredibly violent
fascist period, and a few years of transition at the end of the war – the
communists would take control. It's no great surprise that a man like Viktor
Orban would emerge, gain traction and come to power in the years after the end
of the Cold War.
The Hungarian Church has experienced a minor revival since
the 1990's – but as of yet I'm not sure how deep are its roots nor if they've
been planted by the Spirit or by a revival of the sacral impulse – that which
motivates one such as Orban. He (like Trump) is the sort of figure that myopic
Christians think is a hero and redeemer and yet in reality he and what he
represents are the worst thing for the Church as it becomes confused and
entangled with a particularly odious form of nationalism.
It's a long and sad story with some of its most tragic
aspects taking place after 1850 – after the conclusion of the historical volume.
Overall I enjoyed re-reading the work and benefitted from it
however it does have serious problems in the area of accessibility. At some
future date I hope it is republished with notes and study aids. A gazetteer is
badly needed as the place names are largely in German. Many locales in central
Europe are known by multiple names and in the Hungarian world it's not uncommon
for towns to have both Hungarian and German names. And in Transylvania you can
often add a third option – that of Romanian.
I'm already familiar with many of the names and thus I didn't
have too much trouble, but I was conscious that most readers would be lost. On
occasion I would pause and walk over to the computer to look up a German name
from the volume to discover its Hungarian and contemporary equivalent. For many
readers this would be an essential tool unless they're simply going to ignore
the names and geography.
On that note, the volume could certainly use some maps that
could go alongside the gazetteer. The volume also provides little if no
historical context when covering great events. Its scope is fairly narrow and
the author either expected readers to know the larger context or to discover it
elsewhere. An edited volume could have some nice 'help' pages and sidebars which
would provide the requisite information for those unfamiliar with the events.
In other words as it stands, it's not a book for a historical novice. If you
don't know the broad strokes of Central European history from the 16th
to 19th century, you're going to struggle. And for those who do but
are unfamiliar with the geography of Greater Hungary – then they too are likely
to have some difficulty following events and the general flow.
As mentioned many will be surprised at just how much Protestant
history was taking place in nations such as Slovakia, Romania, Croatia,
Austria, and Slovenia – nations that few today would associate with
Protestantism. There is a rich history here and as hinted at elsewhere, one
even older that has been forgotten.
It's a worthy work but it needs some editing for modern
readers. My hope would be that such an edited and updated work would kindle an
interest in not only Hungary but the whole of Central and Eastern Europe. There
is a great deal to be learned and a lot of history that many in the West have
forgotten.
----
*Snapp's comments are tiresome. As a Theonomist he's critical
of their less than comprehensive 'world and life view' – because they tolerated
social pluralism and apparently their less than prosperous sometimes
guild-connected economics weren't sufficiently capitalist enough (viz. wealthy)
for him. And thus borrowing from Weber's more than slightly erroneous thesis,
he laments their loss of the so-called Protestant work ethic. I found his
commentary pedantic and even offensive.
But it was to be expected. While I was glad to see the volume republished I count it unfortunate that it came from Sprinkle Publications. A Baptist (with a name that doesn't fit), the late Mr. Sprinkle in addition to publishing the works of his faction, also seemed to have an appreciation for Theonomic and in particular Confederate-oriented works. I'm not entirely certain as to what motivated his republishing of this work other than the fact that there was a great deal of excitement about Eastern Europe in the 1990's and the possibility of Christian revival in the lands formerly behind the Iron Curtain.