Leszno z perspektywy herrnhutów w XVIII wieku

Abstract

This contribution discusses Protestant representations of Poland in the 18th century in primary sources of the Moravians’ archives in Herrnhut, Germany. The following visits of Moravians from Herrnhut to Leszno, a major centre of Polish cultural and spiritual life as well as refuge to the Bohemian Brethren, come under consideration: Heinrich Nitschmann and Andreas Lawatsch in 1738–1739, Johann Conrad Lange in 1741–1742, and Heinrich Friedrich Cossart in 1746, but also Count Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf 's brief incognito stays in 1743 on the way to Riga and on his way back in 1744. The sources are studied in the wider context of religious dissent in Poland during the Enlightenment, including a letter of protest by the King of England George II to the Polish King in 1731 and a declaration of conformity of “the Church of the Moravians at Herrnhuth” with the 39 articles of the Anglican Church by the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1736, both documented in the Moravian archives. Even though the Moravians made a rather good impression on the Senior of the Czech Brethren Christian Sitkovius, the latter had considerable misgivings about their activities in Leszno as they raised uncalled-for public attention in particularly difficult times, likely to be met with strong disapproval also amongst Protestant financial supporters of the Brethren in Switzerland, as well as by Lutherans in Leszno who held the majority in the town council and managed to have tough measures imposed on the Moravians in 1742. Some of these sources reflect the common trope of an allegedly disorderly “Polish state of affairs” at the time. More generally, the history of dissidents in Poland in the 18th century tends to be seen by Protestant historiographers as a process of global deterioration, some momentary appeasement in various places notwithstanding. However, a significant improvement is noted by others in the 1780s, supporting Wojciech Kriegseisen’s call for the need of a more varied and differentiating view of this history.