The confessional complexíty of the Czech uprising against the Habsburgs and its reception abroad in the Protestants church
Abstract
Development oj religion in the lands of the Czech Crown has been specific since Jan Hus appearance and, in many respects, is incomparable with the state formations that adopted the Reformation in the 16th century. ft is accented that from the very beginning, the religious situation in the country was determined primarily by the Czech states. Thanks to this specific approach, the estate monarchy was able to achieve unprecedented development.
The Estates have stood disposed of as a political factor, and with the Counter-Reformation came harsh absolutism. Protestants abroad could do nothing, they provided maximum refuge to Czech exiles, of whom there were many.
Many of them became Reformed or Lutherans. Christianity, which was once a unity in multiplicity, in the beginning, clung too much to individua[ denominations and did not seek a common pathway.
Religious developments in Bohemia in the 15th, 16th, and early 17th centuries showed that a common pathway was possible. Severe social circumstances made it impossible for this model, represented by the Majesty oj Rudolf 11 and the Czech Confession, to develop further.
The two great Protestant denominations - Lutheranísm and Calvínism -first embarked on the path of seeking a common religion at the end of the 18th century, and later the whole ecumenical movement. The political development of Centra! Europe was tumultuous, but so was the development of religion, which often - as can be seen from the example of the Czech uprisíng - injluenced political events, and it remains to say that it is not always successful.