Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Moravians can be traced back to the United Brethren ( Unitas Fratrum ), a branch of the fifteenth-century followers of John Huss. After the death of the Bohemian reformer on July 6, 1415, the Hussites divided into two main factions. The aristocratic Utraquists had their seat in Prague. They derived their name from the practice of serving communion in both bread and wine ( sub utraque specie ). The radical and more democratic faction was known as the Taborites. Although these factions were divided by bitter strife, they formed a common military front under the leadership of John Zizka. In 1433 the Council of Basel granted the main claims of the Utraquists, effectively breaking apart the fragile Hussite alliance. The next year the Taborites were devastated by the Utraquists at the battle of Lipan. The United Brethren emerged in part from the ashes of the Taborites. Yet they represented a combination that included Utraquist and even Waldensian elements. They took their inspiration from the New Testament and the writings of Peter Chelcický, especially his Net of the Faith (1440). Their main aspiration was to emulate early Christian egalitarianism. They also discarded the violence of the Taborites and they themselves were pacifistic. In 1627, during the course of the Thirty Years' War, large numbers of United Brethren were forced to leave Bohemia or face re-Catholicization. John ... log in or subscribe to read full text