printable copy

REFORMATION - There are two important facts about Hungarian Reformation. One is the speed with which it spread and the other is the way it was carried across the country. Hungary was divided into three sections: the centre and the south part of the country was held by the Turks; the west and the north was held by the Habsburgs, and Transylvania was held by the Hungarians. Hungary by having close ties with other nations, sent hundreds of students to the west to study. There the students met the new movements of thought and philosophy. Upon returning from the land of Luther and Calvin these students led a fully Hungarian Reformation without outside help.

At the beginning of the 16th century Hungary was ready for the Reformation, but then a great disaster took place. Fighting with the Turks, the Hungarians lost 20,000 people in a battle at Mohács in 1526. This great loss brought the rich and the poor together to fight the invaders, and the Reformation supplied the strength with the reinterpretation of the Gospel's Christian message. In the sections of Hungary where the Habsburgs were in power the new movements of religion were condemned. The leaders were put into prison, tortured and sold as galley slaves when they did not give up their new faith. After 300 years of oppression the situation became more tolerant in 1867 when all religions were given equal rights and people were allowed to change from one faith to another. By 1910 there were over 2.5 million Reformed people in Hungary, but the Treaty of Trianon severed almost a million people of the Reformed faith from Hungary; 75% of the land was given to the neighbours of Hungary. Romania alone incorporated over 1,000 churches of Hungarian origin. At the turn of the 20th century 1.5 million Hungarians left their homeland for the United States, and from there the first Hungarian immigrants came to Canada.

Since 1560 this has been the Coat of Arms of the Reformed Church of Hungary. In the shield stands the Lamb (Jesus Christ) on the open Bible. Over the shield there is a helmet with a crown on top, ornamented by the legendary Phoenix-bird, with stretched out wings gazing at the shining sun. It is being reborn from its ashes. With ever green branches of a palm tree in the background the Lamb is holding the flag of the Christian Church The transcription underneath is from Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"