Year:    2018

Author:    Dorfner, Thomas

Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung, Vol. 45 (2018), Iss. 2 : pp. 283–313

Abstract

During the late 1750s a fundamental shift in the perception of the Moravian Church took place among the upper classes of central Europe. The older view of reality dating from around the year 1750 according to which the Moravians were dangerous sectarians was replaced by the perception that the Moravians were hardworking, obedient, yes almost exemplary subservients. This resulted in the Moravian Church receiving over 100 invitations between 1758 and 1804 from aristocratic houses throughout central Europe to establish a community. This paper shows that the shift in perception took place because both among the subjects and the objects of this perception, fundamental attitudes had changed: from the late 1740s onwards, the Moravian Church had successfully developed its own manufacturing and commercial projects. The new generation of nobility however, which had taken over control in states and/or territories from the 1760s onwards, regarded the economic benefits as a raison d’état. For example, Catholic nobles such as Landgrave Frederick II of Hessen’Kassel were prepared to establish pietistic groups owing to financial considerations. At the same time, aristocratic councillors were turning away from a primarily quantitative population policy and paying more attention to the quality of the settlers. The Seven Years’ War served as a catalyser for this shift in perception because during the years 1757 and 1758, when the fighting paused, several hundred princes and nobles personally took a closer look at Herrnhut. The majority of the aristocratic invitations to establish communities were economically motivated and had the aim of setting up a manufacturing operation. According to the Moravians’ self–perception however, factories were not a sufficient reason to establish a new community. They only felt duty bound to fulfil the Great Commission of the Bible and therefore paid attention to whether an invitation offered the possibility of spreading the Gospel in a territory. Nevertheless, the governing institutions of the Moravian Church did not venture to accept or decline an invitation independently. They figured out the will of Jesus Christ with the help of (usually three) lots. The specific custom of drawing lots could lead to an invitation being declined that was initially favoured, due to a negative result when drawing lots.