of that prince’s possessions into the hands of the Austrian house. During the Thirty Years’ War the depopulation of Moravia was so great that after the peace of Westphalia the states-general published an edict giving every man permission to take two wives, in order to “repeople the country.” After the Seven Years’ War Moravia was united in one province with the remnant of Silesia, but in 1849 it was made a separate and independent crownland. The most noticeable feature of recent Moravian history has been the active sympathy of its inhabitants with the anti-Teutonic home-rule agitation of the Bohemian Czechs.
See Die Länder Oesterreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild, vol. 8 (Vienna, 1881–1889, 15 vols.); Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol. 17 (Vienna, 1886–1902, 24 vols.); B. Bretholz, Geschichte Mährens (Brünn, 1893, &c.).
MORAVIAN BRETHREN, or Moravian Church, a Christian communion founded in the east of Bohemia. For some years after the death of John Huss (1415), the majority of his followers were split into two contending factions: the Hussite Wars began; and the net result of the conflict seemed to be that while the Utraquists, content with the grant of the cup to the laity, were recognized by the pope as the national Church of Bohemia (1433), the more radical Taborites were defeated at the battle of Lipan (1434) and ceased to exist. But with this result some of Huss’s followers, who wished to preserve his spiritual teaching, were not content. They laid great stress on purity of morals; and convinced that the Utraquist Church was morally corrupt, they founded a number of independent societies, first at Kremsir and Meseritsch in Moravia, and then at Wilenow, Diwischau and Chelcic in Bohemia. At this crisis Peter of Chelcic became the leader of the advanced reforming party. In ethics he anticipated much of the teaching of Tolstoy; in doctrine he often appealed to the authority of Wycliffe; and in some of his views it is possible to trace the influence of the Waldenses. He interpreted the Sermon on the Mount literally, denounced war and oaths, opposed the union of Church and State, and declared that the duty of all true Christians was to break away from the national Church and return to the simple teaching of Christ and His apostles. His followers were known as the Brethren of Chelcic, and wore a distinctive dress. His most noted supporter was John Rockycana, archbishop-elect of Prague. He was pastor of the Thein Church (1444), preached Peter’s doctrines, recommended his works to his hearers, and finally, when these hearers asked him to lead them, he laid their case before King George Podiebrad, and obtained permission for them to settle in the deserted village of Kunwald, in the barony of Senftenberg. It was here that the new community was founded (1457 or 1458). At their head was Gregory, the patriarch; a layman, said later to be Rockycana’s nephew; in Michael Bradacius, the priest of Senftenberg, they found a spiritual teacher; and fresh recruits came streaming in, not only from the other little societies at Kremsir, Meseritsch, Chelcic, Wilenow and Diwischau, but also from the Waldenses, the Adamites, the Utraquist Church at Königgratz, and the university of Prague. They called themselves Jednota Bratrska, i.e. the Church or Communion of Brethren; and this is really the correct translation of their later term, Unitas fratrum. At the Synod of Lhota (1467), they broke away entirely from the papacy, elected ministers of their own, and had Michael Bradacius consecrated a bishop by Stephan, a bishop of the Waldenses. At the synod of Reichenau (1495), they rejected the authority of Peter of Chelcic, and accepted the Bible as their only standard of faith and practice. In doctrine they were generally broad and radical. They taught the Apostles’ Creed, rejected Purgatory, the worship of saints and the authority of the Catholic Church, practised infant baptism and confirmation, held a view on the Sacrament similar to that of Zwingli, and, differing somewhat from Luther in their doctrine of justification by faith, declared that true faith was “to know God, to love Him, to do His commandments, and to submit to His will.” With the Brethren, however, the chief stress was laid, not on doctrine, but on conduct. For this purpose they instituted a severe system of discipline, divided their members into three classes—the Perfect, the Proficient, and the Beginners, and appointed over each congregation a body of lay elders. For the same purpose they made great use of the press. In 1501 Bishop Luke of Prague edited the first Protestant hymn-book; in 1502 he issued a catechism, which circulated in Switzerland and Germany and fired the catechetical zeal of Luther; in 1565 John Blahoslaw translated the New Testament into Bohemian; in 1579–1593 the Old Testament was added; and the whole, known as the Kralitz Bible, is used in Bohemia still. The constitution was practically Presbyterian. At the head of the Church was a body of ten elders, elected by the synod; this synod consisted of all the ministers, and acted as the supreme legislative authority; and the bishops ruled in their respective dioceses, and had a share in the general oversight. The growth of the Brethren was rapid. In 1549 they spread into Great Poland; in the latter half of the century they opened many voluntary schools, and were joined by many of the nobility; and the result was that by 1609, when Rudolph II. granted the Letter of Majesty, they were half the Protestants in Bohemia and more than half in Moravia.
At the very height of their power, however, they were almost crushed out of existence. The cause was the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War (1618). At the battle of the White Hill (1620) the Bohemian Protestants were routed; the Brethren were driven from their homes; the Polish branch was absorbed in the Reformed Church of Poland; and then many fled, some to England, some to Saxony, and some even to Texas. For a hundred years the Brethren were almost extinct. But their bishop, John Amos Comenius (1592–1672), held them together. With an eye to the future, he published their Ratio disciplinae, collected money for the “Hidden Seed” still worshipping in secret in Moravia, and had his son-in-law, Peter Jablonsky, consecrated a bishop, and Peter passed on the succession to his son Daniel Ernest Jablonsky.
The revival of the Moravian Brethren was German in origin. Of the “Hidden Seed” the greater number were Germans; they were probably descended from a colony of German Waldenses, who had come to Moravia in 1480 and joined the Church of the Brethren; and, therefore, when persecution broke out afresh they naturally fled to the nearest German refuge. With Christian David, a carpenter, at their head, they crossed the border into Saxony, settled down near Count Zinzendorf’s estate at Berthelsdorf, and, with his permission, built the town of Herrnhut (1722–1727). But under Zinzendorf the history of the Moravians took an entirely new turn. He was a fervent Lutheran of the Pietist type; he believed in Spener’s “ecclesiola” conception; and now he tried to apply the conception to the Moravian refugees. For some years he had a measure of success. Instead of reviving Moravian orders at once, the settlers attended the Berthelsdorf parish church, regarded themselves as Lutherans, agreed to a code of “statutes” drawn up by the count, accepted the Augsburg Confession as their standard of faith, and, joining with some Lutheran settlers in a special Communion service in Berthelsdorf (Aug. 13, 1727), had such a powerful unifying experience that modern Moravians regard that day as the birthday of the renewed Moravian Church. From that period two conflicting ideals were at work among the Moravians. In form the Moravian Church was soon restored. Before long persecution broke out against Herrnhut; the count sent a band of emigrants to Georgia; and as these emigrants would require their own ministers, he had David Nitschmann consecrated a bishop by Jablonsky (1735). In this way the Moravian orders were maintained; the “ecclesiola” became an independent body, and the British parliament recognized the Brethren as “an ancient Protestant Episcopal Church” (1749, 22 Geo. II. cap. 120). And yet, on the other hand, Zinzendorf’s conception continued long in force. It hampered the Brethren’s progress in Germany, and explains the smallness of their numbers there. Instead of aiming at Church extension, they built settlements on the estates of friendly noblemen, erected Brethren’s and Sisters’ houses, and cultivated a quiet type of spiritual life. It is true that they evangelized all over Germany; but this part of their work was known as the Diaspora (1 Pet. i. 1); and the idea
