Saturday, September 17, 2011

Religion - was it really important?

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9 comments:

  1. Those who were forced to leave the Austrian lands because they would not become Catholic are referred to as the 'Exulanten'.

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    1. Those who were forced to leave, did they tend to go to certain areas? Where?

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    2. Late answer, but: generally, obviously, Protestant countries, often German (of that time). There was e.g. an important community established in Herrnhut (although that was later), which is where present day Moravian church springs from.
      Comenius travelled around and that could give you an idea - Poland (which, though a Catholic country, was still tolerant religiously at the time), Sweden, Netherlands...

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  2. An interesting and informative book written by by V. I. (Vera Ivanovna) Kryzhanovskaia (1916)called The Torchbears of Bohemia also gives light to the good and bad of the importance of religion in the Czech lands. It shows the importance of the Jan Hus, his followers, and the less than righteous Catholic leadership during Hus' time.

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  3. Hello Blanka, I hope all is going well with your book! I have a question about religion in the 17th and 18th centuries. I have always assumed that everyone was Catholic because it was the state religion. And I know there was a large Jewish population in Prague. But I'm researching in southern Bohemia and finding surnames in the Catholic records that look very Jewish: for example, Abraham, Ssolomoun, and Levy. Was it fairly common at that time for Jews and Catholics to marry? Were Jews required to be recorded in the Catholic records (because the matriky doubled as vital records for the state)? Or is Levy just a normal Czech surname? I'm very curious about this. :)

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    1. I don't know about Jews in matriky, but Levy, written Levý, actually means "left" in Czech, so yes, that can also be a regular Czech name.

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  4. Question: are "Czech brothers" the same as the Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of Brethren (Moravian)?
    Thanks! ~ Jen

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    1. Yes, it's the same, my translation is wrong, I'll correct it in the post. Thanks!

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