Anglicans, Presbyterians, Quakers and other British Religious Groups in Gdansk in the 17th-18th Centuries

Abstract

This article presents the religious aspects of the community of emigrants from the British Isles, mainly Scots, in Gdańsk. They tried to provide for their religious needs already in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the existence of chapels and altars in some of the churches in Gdansk. After the success of the Reformation, mainly Scottish Presbyterians settled in Gdansk. Clergymen from their home country were brought in for their ministry. Both the Presbyterian clergy and the wealthy Scottish merchant elite of this denomination ruled the sacred building acquired in 1707, called the English Church. However, only few of the Presbyterians living in Gdansk identified with this building - according to legal arrangements, having the character of an “ethnic” temple - together with the Anglicans. Most Scots - by entering into family relationships - slowly melted into the community of the city on the Motława, using other Calvinist facilities. In addition to Presbyterians and very few Anglicans and Catholics there, English radicals, Chialists and Quakers, also tried to settle in Gdansk, but the city's unfavourable legislation and deterrent actions effectively prevented this transfer.