The term ‘Bohemian Brethren’, which has long been in use in German, refers to the members – both men and women – of a religious community that became established in Bohemia and Moravia during the second half of the 15th century. The geographically more precise term ‘Bohemian-Moravian Brethren’^[1], which was already in use in the early modern period, has not gained acceptance in research. The fact that the members of even the earliest congregations addressed one another as brothers and sisters was in keeping with their theological self-understanding, which sought to draw on the ideas and customs of early Christianity.

In addition to being named after the locations of individual communities (‘Kunwalder Brothers’), the early confessional writings contain the self-designations ‘Brothers of the Law of Christ’ (fratres legis Christi) and ‘Brothers of the Order of Christ’ (bratří zákona Kristova), which already express the significance of the New Testament for the brothers’ doctrine and way of life. It was only gradually that a distinct term emerged for the community as a whole: the ‘Brotherly Union’ (jednota bratrská, unitas fratrum, Brüderunität) always regarded itself as merely a part of the one universal Church of Christ. Particularly in Latin and German writings aimed at readers outside the Bohemian lands, the self-designation ‘Bohemian Brethren’ became increasingly common after 1600.

The Unity of the Bohemian Brethren, a religious community that emerged in Bohemia and Moravia after 1450 from various reformist groups within Hussitism, with its own bishops, priests and deacons, possessed a considerable degree of organisation and a well-established doctrinal tradition long before the Lutheran Reformation. In its homeland, it remained, alongside the Utraquist Church, the second denomination to emerge from the Hussite movement until the early 17th century, when its congregations were dissolved in the wake of the constitutional changes in the Bohemian lands. The Brethren, who initially lived mainly in rural communities, and who later became active in urban communities as well, lived in deliberate seclusion from society, strictly adhering to the Gospel; they rejected the sacraments and the priesthood of the Catholics and Utraquists, and committed themselves to a humble life rooted in faith, love and hope. The Unity was governed by synods and a council of bishops and elders (seniors).

Characteristic of the Brotherhood as an independent church were its firm rejection of violence in matters of faith as well as in questions of social order, a radical commitment to the principle of Scripture, Christian ecumenism, the simplification of ceremonies, an emphasis on the upbringing of children and religious instruction within the congregations—which were understood as communities of life and service—as well as the division of the Brethren community into incipientes, proficientes and perfecti. Contacts existed with Lutheran Wittenberg as well as with the Strasbourg reformer Martin Bucer (1491–1551). A Confession presented to Ferdinand I (1503–1564) in Czech in 1535, intended to convince the King of Bohemia of the Brothers’ orthodoxy, appeared three years later in Latin with a preface by Martin Luther; it remained the basis for all revisions of the Brethren’s Confession until the early 17th century.

The Brethren’s church constitution, revised by the synodal resolutions of 1494, underwent only minor changes in the period that followed. The highest governing body was the ‘Close Council’, comprising the – usually four – bishops of the Unity and eight to twelve further ‘elders’ from the Brethren clergy, who were elected for life. Chair of the central supervisory and legislative body – which was accountable to the Synod, comprising all church ministers of the Unity (seniors, priests, deacons and acolytes), was held by the ‘Judge’, that is, the eldest of the serving bishops at any given time. In the individual parishes, alongside the priest and his spiritual assistants, there were other office-bearers who ensured church discipline and adherence to the rules and administered alms. The Polish branch of the Unity elected its own seniors (the title ‘bishop’ was not used here) and – beginning with Daniel Ernst Jablonski (1660–1741), a grandson of Johann Amos Comenius (Komenský, 1592–1670) – an ‘external senior’. It was also from Jablonski that Zinzendorf received his episcopal consecration in 1737.

In the wake of the Hussite Revolution, the unity of ecclesiastical doctrine and canon law in Bohemia collapsed within less than two decades. The upheaval of the old order went far further here than in comparable movements within Latin Christianity, which were generally regarded as heresies prior to the Reformation. Consequently, a broad spectrum of new religious movements emerged – and with it the ongoing challenge of striking a balance between the various groups and fostering public tolerance. This religious – and inevitably also political and social – conflict characterised the two-hundred-year era of the ‘Bohemian Reformation’ (česká reformace), which also marks the more specific history of the influence of the Bohemian Brethren in their country of origin.

Alongside the two strongest, legally recognised religious groups in the country – Utraquism and Catholicism – the Unitas Fratrum emerged in Bohemia during the second half of the 15th century as a third denomination, albeit one not enshrined in provincial law. A clear break with the Utraquist Church – which the new movement, consisting almost exclusively of laypeople, accused of a growing rapprochement with Rome – took place in 1467 at the Brothers’ Assembly in the East Bohemian village of Lhotka near Reichenau an der Kněžna / Rychnov nad Kněžnou, in eastern Bohemia, where, for the first time – following the apostolic model by drawing lots – the movement elected its own priests. Whilst the first generation of the Brethren still came predominantly from the humblest of backgrounds, the second generation already included numerous educated men and women, as well as members of the knighthood and the gentry. As a result, alongside the existing congregations—which had been deliberately established in rural seclusion and outside the prevailing social order—new urban congregations emerged under the protection of the nobility, often with their own meeting houses and places of worship (sbory). The Brethren received a steady influx of members from Utraquist communities across the country, as well as from believers from further afield, such as the Waldensians from the Mark of Brandenburg. Lukas of Prague (c. 1460–1528), the most significant theologian of the Unity during that period, was also a former ‘Kelchner’ (Latin: calix, chalice; a follower of the moderate wing of the Hussites who had called for the laity to receive the chalice at the Lord’s Supper; see also ‘Utraquists’). It is estimated that the total number of Brethren, which was still between 1,000 and 2,000 around 1480, rose to around 10,000 by the turn of the 16th century.

The persecutions, which began as early as 1461 when King George of Podiebrad (1420–1471) reinstated the heresy decrees of Charles IV (1316–1378) in order to ease his strained relationship with the Papacy. King Vladislav II’s (1456–1516) so-called St James’s Edict against the ‘Picards’ proved particularly effective; this had been approved by both the Catholic and Utraquist estates at the Bohemian Diet in 1508. The mandate, which was renewed several times until 1602, prohibited the Brethren from any public practice of their religion and imposed severe restrictions on their community life. Consequently, tracts, devotional writings and hymnals produced in their own printing works became increasingly important for the teaching of the faith and public preaching; these were circulated in Latin and German editions even beyond Bohemia and Moravia, and the exchange with Luther (1483–1546), Bucer (1491–1551) and other Reformers. However, stepping out of their seclusion increased the risk of being drawn into the confessional political conflicts, which came to a threatening head in the 1540s.

The extent to which tensions between Utraquists, the Brethren and the Lutherans, as well as regional differences between the Bohemian lands, weakened the estates’ opposition to the sovereign—who sought to curtail the nobility’s and the towns’ rights of participation and oversight—became clear with the failure of the anti-Habsburg uprising of the estates in 1546/47. The confiscation of the estates of the rebellious Brethren nobility meant that, in many places, the Unity congregations came under the direct rule of the king and were thus subjected to increased persecution. In urban areas, too, the lives of Czech and German members of the Brethren community were almost completely suppressed. Numerous Brethren priests and believers were arrested, tortured and imprisoned; Bishop Jan Augusta (1500–1572) was held captive at Křivoklat Castle for 16 years. Faced with this situation, some of the Brethren in Bohemia decided to emigrate to Moravia, as well as to Poland and Prussia.

The formation of a Protestant religious party acting in unison at the political level – and, in this context, the efforts to secure legal recognition for the Brethren and Lutherans – was a defining factor in Bohemian domestic and denominational politics during the second half of the 16th century. With the Confessio Bohemica, which was drawn up at the Prague Diet of 1575, the various Protestant groups in Bohemia, including the Brethren, even presented a joint confessional document. However, theological and canon-law differences, particularly with the Unity of the Brethren, which strictly adhered to an independent church organisation, remained a bone of contention. The process of consolidation and organisation, spurred on by the onset of recatholisation, reached its peak in 1609 with the Bohemian Letter of Majesty issued by Emperor Rudolf II (1552–1612) guaranteeing freedom of religious worship and the ‘Compromise’ between the estates sub una et sub utraque, which was also incorporated into the Landtafel. Through the Letter of Majesty, which endorsed the Confessio Bohemica as the confessional basis for a Protestant church organisation in Bohemia, the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren was recognised for the first time by law and by the church authorities.

Under the protection of the Rudolphine Letter of Majesty, the Unitarian Church was once again able to hold public services after 1609 in Prague (Praha), in the royal towns and in the countryside. The Brethren were adequately represented in the newly organised consistory at the Theyn Church in Prague’s Old Town; the supreme Protestant ecclesiastical authority was responsible for supervising the clergy, ordaining new ministers and confirming appointments to parish and preaching posts. The second decade of the 17th century, during which the final revision of the Kralice Bible translation was published (1613), also represents a golden age for the Unity’s literary and publishing work.

Even if the Brethren were not‘Calviniani ante Calvinum’,^{[3] as} Lutheran theologians in particular claimed, the convergence of the Unity in Bohemia and Moravia with Reformed theology is nonetheless undeniable: in congregational development and church discipline, as well as in centres of learning, book printing and hymnals in Czech, Latin and German. Added to this was the influence of the Unity in Greater Poland. The Reformed regarded the Unity as belonging to them in any case and, without the Brethren’s knowledge, included their Latin confession of 1535 in their collections of symbolic books. There was, of course, strong resistance to the increasing orientation towards Geneva from those who called for a return to the earlier apolitical path and feared an escalation of the domestic political crisis. The Reformed networks played their part in the Estates’ Revolt of 1618 and, in particular, in the election the following year of Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596–1632), the most powerful Reformed territorial ruler in Central Europe, as King of Bohemia. He was crowned on 4 November 1619 in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague by the Brethren bishop Jan Cyrill (1569–1632) and the Utraquist administrator Jiří Dikastus (c. 1560–1630).

Just one year later, the rule of the ‘Winter King’ in the Bohemian lands collapsed completely following the military defeat at the Battle of White Mountain near Prague against the Emperor and his allies. This was followed by executions, expulsions, forced conversions and drastic interventions in the existing landownership structure. The Constitutional Octroi of 1627–28 established the Catholic faith as the only recognised denomination in Bohemia and Moravia. The massive exodus affected some 36,000 families in Bohemia alone, comprising around 150,000 people: Utraquists, Lutherans, Calvinists and members of the Unity of the Brethren, as well as Czech and German inhabitants from all walks of life. Faced with the choice of converting to Catholicism or emigrating, the majority of the Moravian priests and brothers – some 5,000–6,000 people – went into exile: once again to Greater Poland, where they joined established congregations, but also to Saxony, Upper Lusatia and Upper Hungary. Their churches and meeting houses were closed, their writings confiscated and burnt. Both constitutionally and in practical terms, the Unity came to an end in its homeland in the late 1620s. In his moving ‘Testament of the Dying Mother of the Unity of the Brethren’ (Kšaft umírajíci matky Jednoty bratrské) of 1650, written out of disappointment at the outcome of the Peace of Westphalia, Johann Amos Comenius urged his fellow Brethren to to pass on the legacy of the Unity – its love of truth, fidelity to the Bible, church discipline, cultivation of the mother tongue, educational work and its ecumenical spirit – to the other Protestant churches .

The public attention garnered by the Bohemian Brethren also benefited academic research. Not only church historians and theologians, but also several generations of general historians – from Antonín Gindely (1829–1892), a pupil of Palacký, through Kamil Krofta (1876–1945) to Otakar Odložilík (1899–1973), one of the leading figures in Czechoslovak historical research during the interwar period – devoted a considerable part of their work to issues relating to the Reformation era and, in particular, the history of the Brethren. A completely new situation arose as a result of the political and ideological upheavals following 1945. Although the scope of research into church and religious history steadily declined, Comenius research – which was comparatively well-resourced in terms of both institutions and personnel – continued to provide an important platform, open even to dissidents, for studies on the Reformation, the age of denominationalism and the legacy of the Brethren. Whilst other historical disciplines and sub-fields benefited from the reorientation of Czech academia following the political transition of 1989, a decline in both academic and public interest can be observed with regard to the issues at the centre of this discussion.^[5] New impetus for research into the Bohemian Brethren is promised by the cataloguing of the *Acta Unitatis Fratrum* – comprising 14 folio volumes and the most significant corpus of sources on the history of the old Brethren Unity – which was initiated in 2011 by a German-Czech commission.^[6]

• Craig D. Atwood: The Theology of the Czech Brethren from Hus to Comenius. University Park, Pa. 2009.
• Joachim Bahlcke, Winfried Eberhard, Miloslav Polívka (eds.): Handbook of Historical Sites. Bohemia and Moravia. Stuttgart 1998 (Kröners Taschenausgabe 329).
• Joachim Bahlcke: The Bohemian Brethren and the Reformed Model of the Reformation in Eastern Europe. In: Comenius Yearbook 161–7 (2008/09), pp. 11–23.
• Joachim Bahlcke: A History of the Czech Republic. Munich 2014.
• F[rantišek] M[ichálek] Bartoš: Bojovníci a mučedníci [Fighters and Martyrs]. 2nd ed. Prague 1946 (1st ed. 1939).
• Jaroslav Bidlo: Jednota bratrská v prvním vyhnanství [The Unity of the Brethren in their First Exile]. Vol. 1–4. Prague 1900–1932.
• Peter Brock: The Political and Social Doctrines of the Unity of the Czech Brethren in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries. The Hague 1957.
• Jolanta Dworzaczkowa: Bracia czescy w Wielkopolsce w XVI i XVII wieku [The Bohemian Brethren in Greater Poland in the 16th and 17th Centuries]. Warsaw 1997.
• Winfried Eberhard: Reformation Contradictions, Reformation Consensus, Reformation Formation in Bohemia, Moravia and Poland. In: Joachim Bahlcke, Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Norbert Kersken (eds.): Freedom of the Estates and State Organisation in East Central Europe. Supranational Commonalities in Political Culture from the 16th–18th centuries. Leipzig 1996, pp. 187–215.
• Henryk Gmiterek: The Bohemian Brethren and the Calvinists in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (mid-16th – mid-17th centuries). A Comparative Study [The Bohemian Brethren and Calvinists in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (mid-16th to mid-17th centuries). A Comparative Study]. Lublin 1987.
• Jindřich Halama: The Social Teachings of the Bohemian Brethren 1464–1618 [The Social Teachings of the Bohemian Brethren 1464–1618]. Brno 2003.
• Ferdinand Hrejsa: Sborové Jednoty bratrské [The Congregations of the Unity of the Brethren]. Prague 1935 [= 1939].
• Jiří Just: 9 July 1609. Rudolf’s Majestic Decree. Light and Shadow of Religious Freedom [9 July 1609. Rudolf II’s Majestic Decree. Light and Shadow of Religious Freedom]. Prague 2009.
• Franz Machilek: Bohemian Brethren. In: Theological Real Encyclopaedia 7 (1981), p. 1–8.
• Dietrich Meyer: Zinzendorf and the Herrnhut Moravian Church 1700–2000. Göttingen 2000.
• Amedeo Molnár: Boleslavští bratří [The Bunzlau Brethren]. Prague 1952.
• Amedeo Molnár: The Bohemian Reformation. In: Pavel Filipi et al. (eds.): Czech Ecumenism. Historical Development. Prague 1977, pp. 81–144.
• Joseph Th[eodor] Müller: History of the Bohemian Brethren. Vol. 1–3. Herrnhut 1922–1931.
• Otakar Odložilík: ‘A Church in a Hostile State: The Unity of the Czech Brethren’. In: Central European History 6 (1973), p. 111–127.
• Erhard Peschke: The Theology of the Bohemian Brethren in Their Early Days. Vol. 1/1: The Lord’s Supper. Studies. Stuttgart 1935 (Research on Church and Intellectual History 5).
• Noemi Rejchrtová: ‘The Land I Will Show You’. The Unity of the Brethren in the 15th–17th centuries and its emigrants’. In: Martin Prudký (ed.): Landgabe. Festschrift for Jan Heller on his 70th birthday. Prague 1995, pp. 238–244.
• Rudolf Říčan: *Dějiny Jednoty bratrské* [History of the Unity of the Brethren]. Prague 1957 (German ed. Berlin 1961, Basel 2007).
• Rudolf Říčan (ed.): *Bratrský sborník* [Anthology on the Unity of the Brethren]. Prague 1967.
• Martina Thomsen: ‘Against the Picards’. Discrimination and Expulsion of the Bohemian Brethren in the 16th and 17th Centuries. In: Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): Religious Refugees. Causes, Forms and Effects of Early Modern Confessional Migration in Europe. Berlin 2008 (Religious and Cultural History in East-Central and South-Eastern Europe 4), p. 145–164.
• Martin Wernisch (ed.): Unitas Fratrum 1457–2007. Jednota bratrská jako kulturní a duchovní fenomén [Unitas Fratrum 1457–2007. The Unity of the Brethren as a Cultural and Spiritual Phenomenon]. Prague 2009.

• Jaroslav Bidlo (ed.): Akty Jednoty bratrské [The Acts of the Unity of the Brethren]. Vol. 1–2. Brno 1915–1923 (Sources of Moravian History 3–4).
• Joseph Fiedler (ed.): Book of the Deceased of the Clergy of the Bohemian Brethren. In: Fontes rerum Austriacarum. Austrian Historical Sources, Section 1: Scriptores. Vol. 5. Vienna 1863.
• Anton Gindely (ed.): Dekrety Jednoty bratrské [Synodal Resolutions of the Unity of the Brethren]. Prague 1865.
• Anton Gindely (ed.): Sources on the History of the Bohemian Brethren, Particularly Concerning Their Relations with Germany. Vienna 1859 (Fontes Rerum Austriacarum 2/19).
• Jaroslav Goll (ed.): Sources and Studies on the History of the Bohemian Brethren. Vol. 1–2. Prague 1878–1882.
• Jiří Just (ed.): ‘I have sent my messenger to you today on purpose’. Clerical correspondence of the Unity of the Brethren from the Czech dioceses from the years 1610–1618 [‘I have sent a messenger to you today’]. The episcopal correspondence of the Unity of the Brethren from the Bohemian dioceses from the years 1610–1618]. Prague 2011 (Matouš Konečný Archive I/1).
• Jiří Just, Martin Rothkegel: Confessio Bohemica. 1575/1609. In: Andreas Mühling, Peter Opitz (eds.): Reformed Confessions. Vol. 3/1. Neukirchen-Vluyn 2012, pp. 47–176.
• Amedeo Molnár: Českobratrská výchova před Komenským [The Educational System of the Bohemian Brethren before Comenius]. Prague 1956.
• Michael Rohde: Luther and the Bohemian Brethren according to the Sources. Brno 2007 (Pontes Pragenses 45).
• Maria Sipayłło (ed.): Akta synodów różnowierczych w Polsce [Synodal Resolutions of the Dissenters in Poland]. Vol. 4: Wielkopolska 1569–1632 [Greater Poland 1569–1632]. Warsaw 1997.

• Acta Comeniana (Prague, 1969 onwards)
• Comenius Yearbook (St Augustin, 1993 onwards)
• Communio viatorum (Prague, 1958 onwards)
• Reformation Anthology. Studies in the History of Czechoslovak Religious Life (Vol. 1–8, Prague 1921–1941 [1946])
• Studia Comeniana et historica (Uherský Brod, 1971 onwards)
• Teologická reflexe [Theological Reflections] (Prague, 1995 onwards)
• Unitas Fratrum. Journal of History and Contemporary Issues of the Moravian Church (Herrnhut, 1977 onwards)
• Z kralické tvrze [From Kralice Castle] (Brno, 1967 onwards)

[1] Joh[ann] Gottlob Carpzov: A Study of the Religion of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren, from the Founding of their Congregations to the Present Day. Leipzig 1742.

[2] Edita Sterik: The Moravian Brethren, the Bohemian Brethren and the Unity of the Brethren. In: *Unitas Fratrum*. Journal of History and Contemporary Issues of the Brethren Community 48 (2001), pp. 106–114.

[3] See, for example, Joh[ann] Christoph Koecher: The Three Last and Most Important Confessions of Faith of the Bohemian Brethren [...]. Frankfurt, Leipzig 1741, pp. 488ff.

[4] Joachim Bahlcke, Lenka Řezníková: Johann Amos Comenius. In: Joachim Bahlcke, Stefan Rohdewald, Thomas Wünsch (eds.): Religious Sites of Remembrance in East Central Europe. Constitution and Competition Across Nations and Epochs. Berlin 2013, pp. 693–708.

[5] Joachim Bahlcke: Czech and Slovak Historiography on the Reformation and the Age of Confessionalism from the Second World War to the Present. In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 100 (2009), pp. 155–174.

[6] Martin Rothkegel: The ‘Acta Unitatis Fratrum’ editorial project. In: Comenius Yearbook 19 (2011), pp. 241–244.

Joachim Bahlcke: Bohemian Brethren. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2014. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32846 (as at 30 September 2021).