In the beginning of 2016, a research team was formed of teachers of the Theological
Faculty and t... more In the beginning of 2016, a research team was formed of teachers of the Theological Faculty and the Department of History of the J. Selye University, whose purpose was to begin the systematic uncovering of the history of the Slovak Reformed Church, a topic which had been neglected. The research project is called The Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia 1919–1952 (Vega 1/0528/16) and is financed by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. Back in 2016, we suspected that the key issue and, at the same time, the most problematic element of the research was going to be the uncovering of the primary sources of church history, not only because it was going to be a groundbreaking experiment, but also because uncovering the sources was made difficult by numerous objective and subjective obstacles. Due to the consequences of historical development, the records of the Slovak Reformed Church are shared and stored among various archive institutions, none of which – for various reasons – considered the organization and processing of the materials a priority issue. Hence, our research had to expand over a broad spectrum of the local archives, such as the Slovak and Czech central state archives, primarily the Slovak National Archive and the Czech National Archive, as well as the church archives. According to our prior hopes, out of these latter ones, the central archive of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church located in Komárno, and the Scientific Collections of the church located in Rimavská Sobota were supposed to get the most important roles. However, it did not happen this way due to various reasons, such as the fact that the materials stored in Komárno are unprocessed, or that there is only a little amount of materials from the period in between the two world wars stored there. Luckily, we found open and collaborative partners in the Hungarian archives, more specifically, in the archive of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District located in Pápa and the Scientific Collections archive of the Reformed College of Sárospatak. One of the most important results of our research project is that our colleague, Ferenc Tömösközi, was able to compile a register of the records related to the Slovak Reformed Church stored in Pápa and Sárospatak, out of which the records collected from Pápa are already available in an electronic edition (Szlovenszkói Dunáninneni Református Egyházkerület és a Szlovenszkói Református Egyetemes Egyház Konventjének Pápán őrzött iratainak válogatott jegyzéke 1920–1938 között [The Selected List of Records of the Slovak Cisdanubian Reformed Church District and the Convent of the Slovak Reformed General Church stored in Pápa]). In our present collection, we carefully gathered materials from the first twenty years of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church in a way so that it reflected the process of the organization of the church the best way possible. The first chapter of our volume primarily contains the most important sources of this process. In this part, we focus on topics such as the reorganization of the incomplete church districts and dioceses annexed to Czechoslovakia, the practices and bishops occupying the episcopal positions, or the process of creating the church constitution and the continuous dialogue and struggle with the Czechoslovak government about its acceptance. The sources dealing with the issues of the reformed whose mother tongue is Slovak, especially with the issue of the intention of the government to establish a separate Slovak diocese are integral parts of this chapter, but at the same time, it is possible to interpret them separately, too. Simultaneously, the first twenty years also meant the establishment of the institutional network of the Czechoslovak Reformed Church, i.e. the establishment of schools, orphanages and foundations. The documents of the second chapter – the statutes, internal regulations and curricula of various church institutions – allow an insight into the internal life of these institutions. The vast majority of the 114 documents classified into the volume are archive materials. We also have, however, some documents which were published in the then-current ecclesiastic press, and which are not available today in their original form, or we could not find them in the archives, yet. The published materials of the convent symposiums held in between the two wars are also examples of these kinds of documents, which we also have a selection of in our volume. The documents are in the language of the found source, preferably in their original length and organized chronologically. It applies for all the documents in the first chapter that their header contains the place and time of their origin, and the source is introduced by a short regesta, in which we mark the most important features of the source. In the most necessary cases we attached footnotes to the documents. At the end of the sources, we indicate their place of occurrence, and possibly the place where they were published up until today. We publish the documents in a text-loyal, but not in a letter-loyal form; where it was necessary for comprehension and where the current spelling requirements demanded it, we modified the text. The parts of the texts which were omitted due to various reasons were marked [...]. The volume is extended by a bibliography, the short biographies of the most important people of the volume and an index. Our volume is partly bilingual. The preface and the regestas of the documents are translated into English so that people not speaking Hungarian could use it, too. The documents, however, are not translated, since that process would have created obstacles for our project both in terms of time and finances which we would not have been able to overcome. At the time of publishing this volume, the history of the Slovak Reformed Church is only uncovered and known in spots. We can hope, however, that this volume also contributes to the moving of the process of knowing and understanding forward.
In the beginning of 2016, a research team was formed of teachers of the Theological
Faculty and t... more In the beginning of 2016, a research team was formed of teachers of the Theological Faculty and the Department of History of the J. Selye University, whose purpose was to begin the systematic uncovering of the history of the Slovak Reformed Church, a topic which had been neglected. The research project is called The Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia 1919–1952 (Vega 1/0528/16) and is financed by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. Back in 2016, we suspected that the key issue and, at the same time, the most problematic element of the research was going to be the uncovering of the primary sources of church history, not only because it was going to be a groundbreaking experiment, but also because uncovering the sources was made difficult by numerous objective and subjective obstacles. Due to the consequences of historical development, the records of the Slovak Reformed Church are shared and stored among various archive institutions, none of which – for various reasons – considered the organization and processing of the materials a priority issue. Hence, our research had to expand over a broad spectrum of the local archives, such as the Slovak and Czech central state archives, primarily the Slovak National Archive and the Czech National Archive, as well as the church archives. According to our prior hopes, out of these latter ones, the central archive of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church located in Komárno, and the Scientific Collections of the church located in Rimavská Sobota were supposed to get the most important roles. However, it did not happen this way due to various reasons, such as the fact that the materials stored in Komárno are unprocessed, or that there is only a little amount of materials from the period in between the two world wars stored there. Luckily, we found open and collaborative partners in the Hungarian archives, more specifically, in the archive of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District located in Pápa and the Scientific Collections archive of the Reformed College of Sárospatak. One of the most important results of our research project is that our colleague, Ferenc Tömösközi, was able to compile a register of the records related to the Slovak Reformed Church stored in Pápa and Sárospatak, out of which the records collected from Pápa are already available in an electronic edition (Szlovenszkói Dunáninneni Református Egyházkerület és a Szlovenszkói Református Egyetemes Egyház Konventjének Pápán őrzött iratainak válogatott jegyzéke 1920–1938 között [The Selected List of Records of the Slovak Cisdanubian Reformed Church District and the Convent of the Slovak Reformed General Church stored in Pápa]). In our present collection, we carefully gathered materials from the first twenty years of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church in a way so that it reflected the process of the organization of the church the best way possible. The first chapter of our volume primarily contains the most important sources of this process. In this part, we focus on topics such as the reorganization of the incomplete church districts and dioceses annexed to Czechoslovakia, the practices and bishops occupying the episcopal positions, or the process of creating the church constitution and the continuous dialogue and struggle with the Czechoslovak government about its acceptance. The sources dealing with the issues of the reformed whose mother tongue is Slovak, especially with the issue of the intention of the government to establish a separate Slovak diocese are integral parts of this chapter, but at the same time, it is possible to interpret them separately, too. Simultaneously, the first twenty years also meant the establishment of the institutional network of the Czechoslovak Reformed Church, i.e. the establishment of schools, orphanages and foundations. The documents of the second chapter – the statutes, internal regulations and curricula of various church institutions – allow an insight into the internal life of these institutions. The vast majority of the 114 documents classified into the volume are archive materials. We also have, however, some documents which were published in the then-current ecclesiastic press, and which are not available today in their original form, or we could not find them in the archives, yet. The published materials of the convent symposiums held in between the two wars are also examples of these kinds of documents, which we also have a selection of in our volume. The documents are in the language of the found source, preferably in their original length and organized chronologically. It applies for all the documents in the first chapter that their header contains the place and time of their origin, and the source is introduced by a short regesta, in which we mark the most important features of the source. In the most necessary cases we attached footnotes to the documents. At the end of the sources, we indicate their place of occurrence, and possibly the place where they were published up until today. We publish the documents in a text-loyal, but not in a letter-loyal form; where it was necessary for comprehension and where the current spelling requirements demanded it, we modified the text. The parts of the texts which were omitted due to various reasons were marked [...]. The volume is extended by a bibliography, the short biographies of the most important people of the volume and an index. Our volume is partly bilingual. The preface and the regestas of the documents are translated into English so that people not speaking Hungarian could use it, too. The documents, however, are not translated, since that process would have created obstacles for our project both in terms of time and finances which we would not have been able to overcome. At the time of publishing this volume, the history of the Slovak Reformed Church is only uncovered and known in spots. We can hope, however, that this volume also contributes to the moving of the process of knowing and understanding forward.
Reformed diaconia and social work in the Reformed congregation in Komárno
The present study gives... more Reformed diaconia and social work in the Reformed congregation in Komárno The present study gives an insight into the history of the diaconal and social work of the Komárom Reformed Church. The congregation basically carried out congregational diaconia, which is the basis of the Reformed charity service. There were two social assosiatons carrying out this task. The women’s association, founded in the second half of the 19th century, was the first to organise regular fund-raising for the poor within a defined framework. It was establish by the congregation, rather than at the initiative of a higher ecclesiastical organisation, ensuring a stable background. The diaconal service was set up in the 1930s alongside the women’s association. Pastor Zoltán, Galambos set up the board of 40 members from the presbyters and church members to visit reformed Christian residents throughout the town and help those in need. Another of tasks was to maintain after the Reformed Poorhouse. The two associations mentioned above worked hand in hand in congregational diaconia of the until the anti-church measures of the state forced them to stop all public charity work. Keywords: Diaconia, social work, charity work, women’s association, diaconate, reformed poorhouse, Komárom Reformed Church.
The paper deals with the development of the diaconal service in the Reformed Christian Church in ... more The paper deals with the development of the diaconal service in the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia, not so much from a historical as a methodological point of view. The historical sources as they are currently processed are sufficient to examine the decisions and factors that have shaped the evolution of the diaconal ministry of the Church. The main aspect of the study are the available spiritual and material resources and the way they are used. The study points out that the focus of RCCS's diaconal service is congregational diaconia, which was largely based on individual initiatives, however, a clearly visible direction from the occasional to the planned services. In this paper, we propose to “measure” the community strength of congregations, which is the sum of external and internal resources, according to the power-intensive service they are able to perform.
This study deals with a corner of church history that is far removed from classical church histor... more This study deals with a corner of church history that is far removed from classical church history. It is remote because it is rare to find a pastoral career like that of Mór Kóczán. Rare is the Reformed pastor who not only plays athletics, but also went to the Olympic Games and won the bronze medal there. Next year will mark 110 years since he won the bronze medal, but this year's Olympic Games are a fitting occasion to remember a former Reformed pastor and Olympian, strong in body and in faith, in the year of the Olympics.
The present study provides an insight into the history of the Reformed Congregation of Komárom. T... more The present study provides an insight into the history of the Reformed Congregation of Komárom. The primary goal of this research is to present the history of the congregation through sources that were difficult to access or were previously unknown. The study cannot fully process the past 500 years since the Reformation, therefore highlights the most important events in the history of the congregation. From the second half of the 16th century the role of Komárom constantly appreciated, both from economical and tactical points of view. As a result, the city was not avoided by the Reformation, either the Protestant, later Reformed and Lutheran parishes established here played a significant role in the life of the city. There was a tough counter-Reformation response to the thriving Protestantism, the result of which was only restored and the Reformed parish rebuilt after the Edictum Tolerantiae. The study seeks to deal exclusively with the history of the Reformed congregation rooted in the city up to 1790.
Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai, Theologia Reformata Transylvanica, 2021
The situation of the Reformed elementary schools in the Reformed Diocese of Komárom in the 1920s-... more The situation of the Reformed elementary schools in the Reformed Diocese of Komárom in the 1920s-1930s. The present study provides an insight into the history of the Reformed church schools of the Reformed Diocese of Komárom in the territory of Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. Following geopolitical changes after 1920, the church school network had to be reorganized, which posed completely new challenges to the minority Reformed Church. Subsequent to presentation of the major school laws, the development of the diocesan school network is discussed. After the reorganization, teachers had to face a lot of grievances from state officials, which had a direct and indirect impact on both teachers and the educational policy of the Reformed Church. After outlining the problems of textbooks for use in schools, the diocesan schooling of the two decades under review is summarized.
The present study describes the history of the former Reformed congregation of Mohi from its fou... more The present study describes the history of the former Reformed congregation of Mohi from its foundation to its demise. It is not only a historical publication, but also a memoir. Despite the fact that the congregation survived the centuries, it was dissolved in the 20th century, not by itself, but by dissolution. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia decided that the situation and the geological conditions of the area were the best option for a construction of a nuclear power plant. After the plans were approved, the village was liquidated, and its inhabitants were moved to other villages and towns. At the same time, the parish was dissolved also, and the parishioners were moved to other congregations. Today, only the church and the cemetery remain as reminders of the centuries-old parish.
The life and work of the Peregrines who became ministers of the of the Slovensko TransDanubian Re... more The life and work of the Peregrines who became ministers of the of the Slovensko TransDanubian Reformed Church Diocese The study deals with the biography of some Slovakian reformed churchministers who were in charge in the so-called „on the north side of Danube” diocese, for instance Czeglédy István, Kovács Károly, Pap József, Sörös Béla, Szabó Zsigmond, Székely Dezső, Szűcs Árpád, Csekes Béla, Czibor József, Galambos Zoltán, Kiss Gyula, Parais Árpád, Zsemlye Károly. They were on study trips at various WesternEuropean universities in order to widen their knowledge of theology. They were from the Reformed Dioceses of Tekov and Komárno. This study not only created as database as it is customary in the classical peregrination history, but also it shows the life portraits of the ministers shortly, who returning from the peregrination were also active in theology just like church politics, beside the pastoral services. In some cases, the shortness of the biography is eye-catching. The reason is that the necessary data after W.W II. are completely missing. Except a few cases, they were not even studied which makes archive researches really difficult.
This study provides a glimpse into the history of the Cisdanubian District of the Slovak and Subc... more This study provides a glimpse into the history of the Cisdanubian District of the Slovak and Subcarpathian Reformed Church. Central stage is the conflict between the church districts of Bars and Komárom concerning the first episcopal election of 1921. The study tries to find answers to the questions about the purpose of electing Balogh Elemér and why did he get into the foreground. His name as a defining personality does not come up even once during the process of self-organization. Why didn't they elect Patay Károly, who as a senior and dean of the diocese fulfilled the duties of vicar bishop and saw most precisely the consequences of delaying self-organization.
Keywords: Slovak and Subcarpathian Reformed Church, Episcopal election, Cisdanubian Reformed Church District, Reformed Dioceses of Tekov and Komárno.
This study is about József Burg, a Roman Catholic priest from Vágfarkasd, who in the first half o... more This study is about József Burg, a Roman Catholic priest from Vágfarkasd, who in the first half of the 19. century decided to leave the Roman Catholic religion in order to join Calvinism. Nearly sixty years after Joseph II’ s Patent of Toleration a priest of a village from the bank of Vág decides to change his religion into Calvinism. What made him bring a decision like that, what where the causes, what kind of bureaucratic obstacles did he have to face and at the end, how did his conversion finally end? The archdiocese of Esztergom was firmly against this conversion and asked the directorate of the county of Komárom to arrest him. The county council sympathized with Burg, so they didn’t want to execute the archbishop’s judgement. As Burg saw this indefinite situation, demanded a passport to Switzerland, where he catholicized again. After that he emigrated to the United States where he became a missionary priest till his death.
The subject of the paper is to describe the events in Komárno, which took place shortly before
th... more The subject of the paper is to describe the events in Komárno, which took place shortly before the Pressburg courts with Protestant preachers in 1673-74. The reformed preacher Ján Száki was a central character of the events in Komárno in 1672. He was also a son of the Reformed preacher and Bishop Ján Száki from Szenco. In 1674, he was convened before a tribunal of Pressburg, where he voluntarily decided to go to exile, knowing the tragic fate of his son. His decision was confirmed by his martyred son, who was tortured in Komárno. There, in 1672, the Protestants were forced to hand over churches and religious possessions to the Jesuits and Franciscans. Already before that event, the Protestant clergy had also been banished from the city. After a short time, however, a fire broke out in the city and the churches were destroyed. Protestants were accused of starting a fire, namely the former Reformed priest from Komárno, Ján Száki, living in the nearby village of Ekel, his wife, and three other people. An investigation and judicial commission was very quickly formed in the city, composed of the imperial commander Hoffkirchen and the Archbishop of Kalocsa, Juraj Szécsényi. The accused were convicted of the death penalty without proper evidence. Ján Száki had to watch the executions of the other convicts first and then he was executed in a very cruel manner. The events in Komárno were an example of the culminating Re-catholization in the Kingdom of Hungary in the last third of the 17th century and a kind of introduction to the court trials in Pressburg. Nowadays, a commemorative plaque on the Reformed Church in Ekel and the Holy Trinity Statue, built by the Jesuits, on the place of execution in Komárno, remind us a tragic story of János Száki. Key words: Re-catholization, Protestants, Komárno, 17th century, martyrdom.
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Faculty and the Department of History of the J. Selye University, whose
purpose was to begin the systematic uncovering of the history of the Slovak Reformed
Church, a topic which had been neglected. The research project is called
The Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia 1919–1952 (Vega 1/0528/16) and is
financed by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. Back in 2016, we
suspected that the key issue and, at the same time, the most problematic element
of the research was going to be the uncovering of the primary sources of church
history, not only because it was going to be a groundbreaking experiment, but
also because uncovering the sources was made difficult by numerous objective and
subjective obstacles. Due to the consequences of historical development, the records
of the Slovak Reformed Church are shared and stored among various archive
institutions, none of which – for various reasons – considered the organization and
processing of the materials a priority issue. Hence, our research had to expand over
a broad spectrum of the local archives, such as the Slovak and Czech central state
archives, primarily the Slovak National Archive and the Czech National Archive, as
well as the church archives. According to our prior hopes, out of these latter ones,
the central archive of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church located in Komárno,
and the Scientific Collections of the church located in Rimavská Sobota were supposed
to get the most important roles. However, it did not happen this way due to
various reasons, such as the fact that the materials stored in Komárno are unprocessed,
or that there is only a little amount of materials from the period in between
the two world wars stored there. Luckily, we found open and collaborative partners
in the Hungarian archives, more specifically, in the archive of the Transdanubian
Reformed Church District located in Pápa and the Scientific Collections archive
of the Reformed College of Sárospatak. One of the most important results of our
research project is that our colleague, Ferenc Tömösközi, was able to compile a
register of the records related to the Slovak Reformed Church stored in Pápa and
Sárospatak, out of which the records collected from Pápa are already available in
an electronic edition (Szlovenszkói Dunáninneni Református Egyházkerület és a
Szlovenszkói Református Egyetemes Egyház Konventjének Pápán őrzött iratainak válogatott jegyzéke 1920–1938 között [The Selected List of Records of the Slovak
Cisdanubian Reformed Church District and the Convent of the Slovak Reformed
General Church stored in Pápa]).
In our present collection, we carefully gathered materials from the first twenty
years of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church in a way so that it reflected the
process of the organization of the church the best way possible. The first chapter of
our volume primarily contains the most important sources of this process. In this
part, we focus on topics such as the reorganization of the incomplete church districts
and dioceses annexed to Czechoslovakia, the practices and bishops occupying
the episcopal positions, or the process of creating the church constitution and the
continuous dialogue and struggle with the Czechoslovak government about its acceptance.
The sources dealing with the issues of the reformed whose mother tongue
is Slovak, especially with the issue of the intention of the government to establish a
separate Slovak diocese are integral parts of this chapter, but at the same time, it is
possible to interpret them separately, too.
Simultaneously, the first twenty years also meant the establishment of the institutional
network of the Czechoslovak Reformed Church, i.e. the establishment of
schools, orphanages and foundations. The documents of the second chapter – the
statutes, internal regulations and curricula of various church institutions – allow an
insight into the internal life of these institutions.
The vast majority of the 114 documents classified into the volume are archive
materials. We also have, however, some documents which were published in the
then-current ecclesiastic press, and which are not available today in their original
form, or we could not find them in the archives, yet. The published materials of the
convent symposiums held in between the two wars are also examples of these kinds
of documents, which we also have a selection of in our volume.
The documents are in the language of the found source, preferably in their original
length and organized chronologically. It applies for all the documents in the
first chapter that their header contains the place and time of their origin, and the
source is introduced by a short regesta, in which we mark the most important features
of the source. In the most necessary cases we attached footnotes to the documents.
At the end of the sources, we indicate their place of occurrence, and possibly
the place where they were published up until today. We publish the documents in a
text-loyal, but not in a letter-loyal form; where it was necessary for comprehension and where the current spelling requirements demanded it, we modified the text.
The parts of the texts which were omitted due to various reasons were marked [...].
The volume is extended by a bibliography, the short biographies of the most important
people of the volume and an index.
Our volume is partly bilingual. The preface and the regestas of the documents
are translated into English so that people not speaking Hungarian could use it, too.
The documents, however, are not translated, since that process would have created
obstacles for our project both in terms of time and finances which we would not
have been able to overcome.
At the time of publishing this volume, the history of the Slovak Reformed
Church is only uncovered and known in spots. We can hope, however, that this
volume also contributes to the moving of the process of knowing and understanding
forward.
Faculty and the Department of History of the J. Selye University, whose
purpose was to begin the systematic uncovering of the history of the Slovak Reformed
Church, a topic which had been neglected. The research project is called
The Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia 1919–1952 (Vega 1/0528/16) and is
financed by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. Back in 2016, we
suspected that the key issue and, at the same time, the most problematic element
of the research was going to be the uncovering of the primary sources of church
history, not only because it was going to be a groundbreaking experiment, but
also because uncovering the sources was made difficult by numerous objective and
subjective obstacles. Due to the consequences of historical development, the records
of the Slovak Reformed Church are shared and stored among various archive
institutions, none of which – for various reasons – considered the organization and
processing of the materials a priority issue. Hence, our research had to expand over
a broad spectrum of the local archives, such as the Slovak and Czech central state
archives, primarily the Slovak National Archive and the Czech National Archive, as
well as the church archives. According to our prior hopes, out of these latter ones,
the central archive of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church located in Komárno,
and the Scientific Collections of the church located in Rimavská Sobota were supposed
to get the most important roles. However, it did not happen this way due to
various reasons, such as the fact that the materials stored in Komárno are unprocessed,
or that there is only a little amount of materials from the period in between
the two world wars stored there. Luckily, we found open and collaborative partners
in the Hungarian archives, more specifically, in the archive of the Transdanubian
Reformed Church District located in Pápa and the Scientific Collections archive
of the Reformed College of Sárospatak. One of the most important results of our
research project is that our colleague, Ferenc Tömösközi, was able to compile a
register of the records related to the Slovak Reformed Church stored in Pápa and
Sárospatak, out of which the records collected from Pápa are already available in
an electronic edition (Szlovenszkói Dunáninneni Református Egyházkerület és a
Szlovenszkói Református Egyetemes Egyház Konventjének Pápán őrzött iratainak válogatott jegyzéke 1920–1938 között [The Selected List of Records of the Slovak
Cisdanubian Reformed Church District and the Convent of the Slovak Reformed
General Church stored in Pápa]).
In our present collection, we carefully gathered materials from the first twenty
years of the Slovak Reformed Christian Church in a way so that it reflected the
process of the organization of the church the best way possible. The first chapter of
our volume primarily contains the most important sources of this process. In this
part, we focus on topics such as the reorganization of the incomplete church districts
and dioceses annexed to Czechoslovakia, the practices and bishops occupying
the episcopal positions, or the process of creating the church constitution and the
continuous dialogue and struggle with the Czechoslovak government about its acceptance.
The sources dealing with the issues of the reformed whose mother tongue
is Slovak, especially with the issue of the intention of the government to establish a
separate Slovak diocese are integral parts of this chapter, but at the same time, it is
possible to interpret them separately, too.
Simultaneously, the first twenty years also meant the establishment of the institutional
network of the Czechoslovak Reformed Church, i.e. the establishment of
schools, orphanages and foundations. The documents of the second chapter – the
statutes, internal regulations and curricula of various church institutions – allow an
insight into the internal life of these institutions.
The vast majority of the 114 documents classified into the volume are archive
materials. We also have, however, some documents which were published in the
then-current ecclesiastic press, and which are not available today in their original
form, or we could not find them in the archives, yet. The published materials of the
convent symposiums held in between the two wars are also examples of these kinds
of documents, which we also have a selection of in our volume.
The documents are in the language of the found source, preferably in their original
length and organized chronologically. It applies for all the documents in the
first chapter that their header contains the place and time of their origin, and the
source is introduced by a short regesta, in which we mark the most important features
of the source. In the most necessary cases we attached footnotes to the documents.
At the end of the sources, we indicate their place of occurrence, and possibly
the place where they were published up until today. We publish the documents in a
text-loyal, but not in a letter-loyal form; where it was necessary for comprehension and where the current spelling requirements demanded it, we modified the text.
The parts of the texts which were omitted due to various reasons were marked [...].
The volume is extended by a bibliography, the short biographies of the most important
people of the volume and an index.
Our volume is partly bilingual. The preface and the regestas of the documents
are translated into English so that people not speaking Hungarian could use it, too.
The documents, however, are not translated, since that process would have created
obstacles for our project both in terms of time and finances which we would not
have been able to overcome.
At the time of publishing this volume, the history of the Slovak Reformed
Church is only uncovered and known in spots. We can hope, however, that this
volume also contributes to the moving of the process of knowing and understanding
forward.
The present study gives an insight into the history of the diaconal and social work of the Komárom Reformed Church. The congregation basically carried out congregational diaconia, which is the basis of the Reformed charity service. There were two social assosiatons carrying out this task. The women’s association, founded in the second half of the 19th century, was the first to organise regular fund-raising for the poor within a defined framework. It was establish by the congregation, rather than at the initiative of a higher ecclesiastical organisation, ensuring a stable background. The diaconal service was set up in the 1930s alongside the women’s association. Pastor Zoltán, Galambos set up the board of 40 members from the presbyters and church members to visit reformed Christian residents throughout the town and help those in need. Another of tasks was to maintain after the Reformed Poorhouse. The two associations mentioned above worked hand in hand in congregational diaconia of the until the anti-church measures of the state forced them to stop all public charity work.
Keywords: Diaconia, social work, charity work, women’s association, diaconate, reformed poorhouse, Komárom Reformed Church.
The study deals with the biography of some Slovakian reformed churchministers who were in charge in the so-called „on the north side of Danube” diocese, for instance Czeglédy István, Kovács Károly, Pap József, Sörös Béla, Szabó Zsigmond, Székely Dezső, Szűcs Árpád, Csekes Béla, Czibor József, Galambos Zoltán, Kiss Gyula, Parais
Árpád, Zsemlye Károly. They were on study trips at various WesternEuropean universities in order to widen their knowledge of theology. They were from the Reformed Dioceses of Tekov and Komárno. This study not only created as database as it is customary in the classical peregrination history, but also it shows the life portraits of the ministers shortly, who returning from the peregrination were also active in theology just like church politics, beside the pastoral services. In some cases, the shortness of the biography is eye-catching. The reason is that the necessary data after W.W II. are completely missing. Except a few cases, they were not even studied which makes archive researches really difficult.
Keywords: Slovak and Subcarpathian Reformed Church, Episcopal election, Cisdanubian Reformed Church District, Reformed Dioceses of Tekov and Komárno.
the Pressburg courts with Protestant preachers in 1673-74. The reformed preacher Ján Száki
was a central character of the events in Komárno in 1672. He was also a son of the Reformed
preacher and Bishop Ján Száki from Szenco. In 1674, he was convened before a tribunal of
Pressburg, where he voluntarily decided to go to exile, knowing the tragic fate of his son. His
decision was confirmed by his martyred son, who was tortured in Komárno. There, in 1672,
the Protestants were forced to hand over churches and religious possessions to the Jesuits and
Franciscans. Already before that event, the Protestant clergy had also been banished from the
city. After a short time, however, a fire broke out in the city and the churches were destroyed.
Protestants were accused of starting a fire, namely the former Reformed priest from Komárno,
Ján Száki, living in the nearby village of Ekel, his wife, and three other people. An investigation
and judicial commission was very quickly formed in the city, composed of the imperial
commander Hoffkirchen and the Archbishop of Kalocsa, Juraj Szécsényi. The accused were
convicted of the death penalty without proper evidence. Ján Száki had to watch the executions
of the other convicts first and then he was executed in a very cruel manner. The events in
Komárno were an example of the culminating Re-catholization in the Kingdom of Hungary in
the last third of the 17th century and a kind of introduction to the court trials in Pressburg.
Nowadays, a commemorative plaque on the Reformed Church in Ekel and the Holy Trinity
Statue, built by the Jesuits, on the place of execution in Komárno, remind us a tragic story of
János Száki.
Key words: Re-catholization, Protestants, Komárno, 17th century, martyrdom.