Band 8, Heft 1 - Special issue: 500 Jahre Rezeption der Reformation in Siebenbürgen und Ungarn: Anfänge und Netzwerke von Konfessionspluralismus in der Überlappungszone von Westund Ostkirche; Guest editor: Ulrich A. Wien

This thematic issue of the Journal of Early Modern Christianity focuses on the reception of the Reformation in Transylvania and especially on the development of Protestant churches oriented towards Luther and influenced by Melanchthon. In the late Middle Ages, Transylvania had become part of the cultural influence zone of Central Europe, but throughout the sixteenth century the region became permeated by religious developments in Western Europe too. Here, a very peculiar constellation of religious pluralism and co-existence emerged, and the different contributions examine the premises and networks behind these dynamics. In this joint effort, it becomes clear how Transylvania turned into a pioneer region of religious freedom, as it witnessed simultaneously the development of Catholic, Orthodox and various Protestant confessional cultures.

Due to the rather different source situation, comparing the formation of a Reformer’s image in the cases of Luther and Honterus is not an easy task. For Luther, the article therefore concentrates on the early historiography of his environment. In doing so, it becomes apparent that his role more and more was described as an active one. With this, the understanding of Reformation as liberation came to the fore. Hence, salvation-historical categories predominated. In contrast, the interpretation of Reformation as an educational event was in the foreground in Honterus, for whom above all some utterings of Schesaeus could be drawn upon. Despite this clear orientation towards the humanistic ideal, Luther still remained emphasized as spurring the entire movement. While Luther was seen as marking the shift in salvation history from the time of the Antichrist to the Gospel, Honter focused on the transition from a disordered society to one structured by education.

In the early phase of the Reformation in Transylvania, two church-regulating texts became particularly important: Johannes Honter’s little Reformation booklet for Kronstadt und Burzenland from 1543 and the church regulations published in print in 1547, which the Universitas Saxonum made binding for the entire area of Saxon law three years later. The essay focuses on these two important texts and analyzes their roots in the Reformation tradition of the Holy Roman Empire and the Swiss Confederation. Wittenberg and Nuremberg stand for two of the possible sources from which the Transylvanian church ordinances could have drawn. In view of more than a century of intensive historiographical debate on these questions, an attempt is made to present the different positions and to check them for plausibility. The influence of Swiss theology, which is important from a church historical perspective, is also analyzed here.

Originally, the local confessions served to account for the religious and secular authorities in matters of religion. They also formed a written basis for the legal unification of the affected communities, later they ensured the unity of the pastors in teaching, and finally they offered the community the legal basis for demanding new rights (the primacy or solitude of the denomination) based on old privileges. Over time, other functions were added to the original function of the confessions, so that a complex process of reception emerged. There was a general conception of ‘ Catholicity’ that was claimed by the creeds insofar as they referred to the tradition of the Christian church. The interdependence with the theological development in Germany is evident not least from the fact that literary models such as the Confessio Augustana were used to write these texts.

Groups of pastors in Siebenbürgen issued three confessions of faith between 1557 and 1572 – the Consensus Doctrinae (1557), the Brevis Confessio (1561), and the Formula pii consensus (1572) – in which they defended their view of the Lord’s Supper in line with Wittenberg teaching against medieval teaching and against challenges from Swiss Reformed theologians. These documents reflect both conditions in Siebenbürgen and the streams of thinking in the wider environment of Luther’s and Melanchthon’s followers. The Brevis Confessio was published with memoranda from four German universities and letters from several theologians supporting its formulations. The first two documents largely tend toward Luther’s expression of the doctrine of the real presence, while the third uses language employed by both Wittenberg teachers, avoiding controversial expressions. This last confession strives toward consensus among the followers of the Wittenberg preceptors.

The article is dedicated to the theologian Paul Wiener, a native of Carniola, who after his studies achieved a remarkable ecclesiastical career and turned into the most influential Church figure in Ljubljana. Under the influence of his colleague Truber, he was won over to the theological concerns of the Reformation, but was arrested by the Catholic ruler in 1546 for his Reformation stance. Under interrogation, he refused the suggested recantation and wrote instead a defense, which was considered a “complete apology of the Reformation” and referred to throughout Luther’s main Reformation writings. The trial ended with Wiener’s pardon, but he was exiled to Transylvania, where he was appointed preacher and town pastor. Elected the first superintendent of the Transylvanian Lutheran Church in 1553, he displayed a Wittenberg-oriented theology and ministry, especially in ordinations, where he placed the greatest emphasis on the Confessio Augustana . His Church leadership was, however, limited, as he died of the plague in 1554.

For decades, Melanchthon maintained intensive relationships with Hungary. Students from there formed the largest group of foreign students at Wittenberg University. Melanchthon supported them during their studies and kept in touch with some of them after they returned to their home country. Networks were necessary, so that letters and messages reached their recipients. By writing letters of recommendation to others, Melanchthon enabled his students to establish contacts and to build up their own network. At the Coetus Hungaricus existing at Wittenberg University the Hungarian students also made contacts, which were useful to them later. Edited correspondences allow to track down and describe such interlinking. A network of contacts in Hungary can be depicted between Johannes Honterus, Valentin Wagner, Georg Werner, Sigismund Tordai-Gelous, Mátyás Dévai Bíró and Gáspár Heltai. The relations between them as well as the close contact with Melanchthon provided mutual assurance and helped to control the doctrine adopted from Wittenberg.

Hardly any corpus doctrinae had as intensive a reception and as wide a dissemination as the Corpus Doctrinae Philippicum (1560). Situating it in the history of the concept of a corpus doctrinae and briefly sketching its origin and goal elucidate the function and significance of this collection of Melanchthon’s writings. An intensive investigation reveals however any connection of this work with the development of the Reformation in Siebenbürgen (ung. Erdély, rum. Transilvania) in the later 16th century. The records of the Siebenbürgen synods mention the Corpus Doctrinae Philippicum occasionally, revealing the extent to which it served as a norm for public teaching. Unique and characteristic for Siebenbürgen is that the Formula of Concord (1577) did not replace this Corpus Doctrinae ; it remained influential long into the seventeenth century. It was however interpreted within the horizon of a Wittenberg theology that was marked by the pre-confessional harmony and doctrinal agreement between Luther and Melanchthon while seeking to ignore Philippist interpretations and focusing on the common teachings of both reformers.