Moravian Settlement Research Articles

Slavery in Bethlehem: Difference and Indifference in Northampton County’s Moravian Settlements

ABSTRACT This article offers a new history of slavery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: how enslaved men and women were brought to Bethlehem, who owned these enslaved men and women, how some became free, and whether the lives of enslaved Moravians differed from those of free Moravians. The prevailing account states that the Moravian congregation itself purchased enslaved men and women soon after Bethlehem was settled to augment its labor force. But most Afro-Moravians got to Bethlehem, this article shows, through a haphazard process that the congregation did not manage: enslavers (Moravians elsewhere) sent men, women, and children to Bethlehem or brought them when they moved to the backcountry community. Moravian authorities claimed that there was “no difference” in Bethlehem between these enslaved people and White Moravians. The archive that the congregation produced tends to reinforce that view: church registers, membership catalogs, diaries, and memoirs are mostly silent, for instance, about individuals’ legal status. But amplifying voices that have been overlooked of enslaved and free Afro-Moravians, as well as exploring the neglected 1780 Register of enslaved persons in Northampton County, reveals that differences based on race shaped the lives of people of African descent in Bethlehem and Northampton County’s other Moravian communities.

Půdní vývoj v nivě řeky Dyje v předpolí hradby hradiska Pohansko u Břeclavi

This work provides comprehensive information on soil development on the floodplain of the river Thaya in the area of the foreland of the Early Mediaeval agglomeration of Pohansko near Břeclav. We evaluated the basic properties of late Holocene soils and their genesis, assessed the influence of humans and identified particular soil-forming processes based on a combination of selected physical (grain-size distribution, magnetic susceptibility), chemical (Fe, Mn, P, Ca, soil pH) and biochemical analyses (total organic carbon and soil organic matter) as well as micromorphological observations. Our research revealed three autochthonous soils: two buried soils and one recent soil. All the soils were identified as Gleyic Fluvisols developed from overbank deposits and affected by intensive oxidation-reduction processes. The A horizons of the soils evolved by the formation and accumulation of humus. The upper buried Fluvisol certainly evolved during the 9th and 10th centuries (presence of Great Moravian sherds). However, its pedogenesis possibly started much earlier and ended later. Despite the presence of macroscopic evidence of human activities in this soil, there is no evidence of any anthropic influence on soil formation processes. The basal buried Fluvisol developed even before the Great Moravian settlement. Nevertheless, due to a lack of dating, the exact age of this soil cannot be determined at this stage of our study. Future research focused on dating will advance our understanding of the Holocene dynamic and development of the palaeoenvironment.

Revision excavations of the Upper Paleolithic site in Moravany nad Váhom-Podkovica (Slovak Republic)

The Paleolithic site in Moravany nad Váhom-Podkovica is located in the north-eastern part of the Moravian settlement area and is among the most famous Upper Paleolithic sites in Slovakia. It is a key site of the Willendorf-Kostenkian and the so-called shouldered Point Horizon in Central Europe. Despite decades of research, interest during the previous century and the numerous existing – but lost or scattered – collections, the context of the finds and the characteristics of the cultural layers remain almost unknown. Modern research methods and the absence of the relevant chrono-cultural classification of the assemblages led to reopening the field research. This research aims to review and reassess the results of older excavations, to identify the exact location of the site and the conditions of the preservation of the layers. The goal is also to collect new material suitable for multidisciplinary analysis and dating as most of the old collections have been scattered. The new excavations conducted at the site in 2016 and 2019 brought interesting results, such as a preserved anthropogenic layer with an evident structure filled with datable material. This article presents the methodology and the results of this work with a focus on the first mineralogical evaluations, the analysis of faunal remains and an overview of the stone industry.

Virtual Intimacies: The Networks of Mary Penry

In July 1802, Mary Penry wrote a letter to Wales from a room in Lititz, a small Moravian settlement in backcountry Pennsylvania. Penry had lived in Lititz’s enormous single sisters’ house for nearl...

Pacifist Prophet: Papunhank and the Quest for Peace in Early America

Pacifist Prophet: Papunhank and the Quest for Peace in Early America

Pacifist Prophet: Papunhank and the Quest for Peace in Early America

Pacifist Prophet: Papunhank and the Quest for Peace in Early America

Residential mobility in Great Moravia: strontium isotope analysis of a population sample from the early medieval site of Mikulčice-Valy (ninth–tenth centuries)

Great Moravia was one of the first proto-states in East Central Europe. During the ninth century, Moravian settlements underwent rapid growth, development, and population increases. This study presents a first insight into early medieval population mobility in the area by investigating one of its major agglomerations and religious centres, the Mikulcice-Valy stronghold. According to strontium isotope analysis of human tooth enamel, 13–19% of 123 analysed individuals fall outside the estimated local 87Sr/86Sr ranges and represent migrants from at least three distinct areas. Furthermore, human 87Sr/86Sr ratios are shifted in comparison to faunal references, which could indicate a greater rate of migration from isotopically similar areas. No evidence supporting the presumed higher mobility of elite females was found, but immigration is more prevalent among elites, with an apparent lack of non-elite males among the non-locals. Possible factors contributing to mobility are questioned and might offer directions for future studies.

Literacy and Awakening: The Awakening of 1804/1805 in Hopedale, Labrador

ABSTRACT This exploration of literacy and awakening draws attention to the fact that the learning of hymns and the translation of the Passion narrative of the Gospels were instrumental in the acceptance of the Moravian faith among the Labrador Inuit. Literacy, made possible through systematic schooling since 1780, was thus an important factor in the awakening of 1804/5 in Hopedale and contributed to the indigenization of Christianity in the eighteenth-century Moravian settlements of Nain, Okak, and Hopedale. During the awakening a significant shift occurred in the religious self-understanding of the Labrador Inuit when people moved from a relatively superficial understanding of Christianity as a remedy for personal lapses and violations to an existential understanding of the drama of sin and salvation as well as a deeper identification with the religious community. The study also points out the fact that communication through written epistles between Labrador and Greenland may have established a wider religious bond of solidarity between Greenland and Labrador Inuit and encouraged the Hopedale Inuit during their awakening.

ZANIKLÝ MEANDR U SEVERNÍHO PŘEDHRADÍ ARCHEOLOGICKÉ LOKALITY POHANSKO U BŘECLAVI

The site is situated in the bottomland near the confluence of Dyje and Morava rivers. The junction area is split by many sides and inactive channels. The human impact (settlement establishment, deforestation and landscape management) is also reflected in the bottomland development. Processes lead to erosion, accumulation of sediments in river beds and changes in vegetation. One of the peaks of the settlement of the studied area can be considered during existence of the Great Moravian Empire when the settlement agglomerations developed directly in the floodplain. The area has been intensively archaeologically studied for a long time. In the context of the ongoing climate change and increasing intensity of floods the relationship between climate, natural conditions and the functioning of the human settlements comes to the forefront of scientific interest. For the reconstruction of the complicated floodplain development a combination of different research methods was used. For direct determination of stratigraphy an excavated transect through the sediments connecting the edge of the settlement (in the area of the so called Northern bailey) on the sand elevation („hrúd“) and lower flood-plain step in the area of presumptive paleomeander has been studied. Direct field documentation and palynological and sedimentological studies and 14C dating method were utilized. These methods have been supplemented by remote sensing methods: Geophysics (ERT, DEMP), Lidar. On their basis a digital relief model (extend of measured area was 54 000 m2) was created as well as a map of conductivity anomalies. The study documented a sequence of extinct riverbeds (a series of fluvial point bars) of various ages at the northern edge of Pohansko. Their stratigraphic position proves the stage when the active channel was eroding the edge of the archaeological site. The sediments stored in previous periods were destroyed by erosion in this space. The aggradation of the floodplain occurred in 14th–16th century. Results of pollen analysis indicate the presence of a mosaic of forested and open landscape of mesophilous alluvial woodlands and open areas. The immediate vicinity of the sedimentary area was not too much affected by agricultural activity at that time. Compared to palynospectra from sediments of the Great Moravian settlement, the deforestation intensity and the proportion of anthropogenic indicators were noticeably lower.

Evolyutsiya obshchinnogo uklada kolonii Sarepta na protyazhenii xix veka

The article analyzes the social and economic processes that took place in the Sarepta missionary settlement near Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd, Russia) in the 19th century. Those processes eventually led to dramatic changes in the life of Sarepta residents and to the loss of status of missionary settlement. Sarepta was founded in 1765 by the Moravians to fulfill missionary activities among the Kalmyks. Initially the life in Sarepta was based on communal principles. The Sarepta Moravians were organized into groups (choirs) according to their sex, age, and marital status. The choirs lived by strict rules and were supervised by superiors. The Sarepta economy was organized in a similar way with the single ruling centre and communal distribution of the production. In the course of the 19th century the Sarepta community was gradually disorganized under the pressure of a number of factors. The key factor consisted in the development of capitalism. Facing a severe competition from manufacturers of the region, Sarepta had to respond to the needs of time and introduce private entrepreneurship which was more effective but incompatible to the communal economic system. Another destructing factor was the inflow of non-Moravian population into Sarepta caused by the deficit of workforce in the settlement. Those newcomers were free from the restrictions imposed upon Sarepta Moravians by the community authorities. Alongside with the strengthening of their economic position they made more and more insistent claims on the Moravian communal property. Rights-of-ownership conflicts between Sarepta inhabitants and the Directorate of the Moravian church in Germany eventually led to exclusion of Sarepta from the system of Moravian settlements in 1892.

Regional identities of Czech historical lands

Bohemia and Moravia are historical lands, which constitute Czechia (together with a small part of Silesia) since the 10th century. Two entirely different settlement systems can be identified in Czechia: the centralistic Bohemian sett lement system surrounded by a ring of mountains, and the transitional and polycentric Moravian settlement system. The two lands were physically divided by a border forest. Although they have belonged always to the same state, their autonomy was relatively high until the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. In 1948, a new administrative division was introduced, which did not respect the border between the two lands. Bohemia and Moravia kept their importance as different cultural units only. The main research question addressed in this paper is how the Bohemian and Moravian identities are perceived by the people today and whether it makes any sense to consider the historical lands seriously when rethinking the idea of the Europe of regions.

Aaron Spencer Fogleman. Two Troubled Souls: An Eighteenth-Century Couple's Spiritual Journey in the Atlantic World.

Two Colorful Souls might be a more fitting title for this immensely entertaining book. Maria Barbara Knoll and Jean-François Reynier, who married in 1740, lived tumultuous lives and embarked on a number of adventures throughout the Atlantic world, from inadvertently booking passage on a Caribbean smuggler's ship to paddling up the Suriname River in a schul. Raised in Switzerland, the son of an apothecary, Reynier was a French-speaking Huguenot; Knoll was from the German territories and was probably Lutheran. Their paths crossed when they ended up at the Moravian settlement of Marienborn in Wetteravia in 1739. They married the following year not out of love but because Moravian leaders had chosen these two strangers to wed and the Lord had confirmed their union in the Lot. It proved to be an explosive pairing of two talented but discordant individuals: Knoll was a pious, idealistic, and strong-willed person who found solace in the religious communal lifestyle. Her husband was a stubborn, mentally unbalanced, and equally idealistic person who preferred finding religious fulfillment outside the cloistered walls of the Ortsgemeine, or congregation town.

The Viola in America: Two Centuries of Progress

Research on the viola in America has largely been confined to activities in the twentieth century. Recent efforts by the American Viola Society, notably the American Viola Project—which aims to preserve American viola compositions—have focused on the early history of the viola. This article provides a broad overview of the viola from the colonial period through 1920. From the eighteenth century, contributions by members of Moravian settlements are highlighted. A viola concerto by Peter Albrecht von Hagen and solo viola performances by his son, Peter “Albertus” von Hagen, are also detailed. In the nineteenth century, Theodore Thomas served as a great promoter of the viola, both through his programing of music and in his association with the viola soloists George Matzka and Charles Baetens. The viola also benefitted from increased interest by amateurs, composers, and publishers. The most well-known efforts are Charles Martin Loeffler’s chamber works, which have remained a staple of the viola repertoire. A number of prominent viola soloists appeared in the twentieth century including Émile Férir, Louis Svečenski, Louis Bailly, and Rebecca Clarke. 1919 was a turning point for the viola with the Berkshire Festival Competition for Viola and Piano, resulting in a tie between Ernest Bloch’s Suite and Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata.

Literary Activism: James Montgomery, Joanna Baillie, and the Plight of Britain’s Chimney Sweeps

JUDITH BAILEY SLAGLE Literary Activism: James Montgomery, Joanna Baillie, and the Plight ofBritain’s Chimney Sweeps N 6 FEBRUARY 1824, JOANNA BAILLIE NOTIFIED HER FRIEND WALTER vy Scott that Scottish poet James Montgomery, then living in Sheffield, England, had written to ask her for a poem on the plight of chimney sweeps, also known as climbing boys. A committee there was at work on a collection ofpoems to “engage the Public” to “sympathize with their mis­ eries” entitled The Chimney-Sweeper’s Friend, and Climbing-Boy’s Album (1824 and 1825). But Baillie, deciding the subject was too grim and too im­ portant for a simple poem, had already responded to Montgomery on 14 January 1824: . . . you must pardon me for being so presumptuous as to say that po­ etry, even from your pen or that of any of our most distinguished Poets, would not be so useful to them as a plain statement of their miserable lot in prose, accompanied with a simple, reasonable plan for sweeping chimneys without them. . . . There is a jealousy in peoples [sic] minds regarding every thing that is told them in verse, & or every thing which in that garb attempts to work upon the feelings.1 A practical thinker well acquainted with the London scientific community, Baillie understood that the public often mistrusted the sagacity ofpoets. So instead of a poem, she sent the editor something else, as she explained in her subsequent letter to Scott: I. Wellcome Library MS 5608 ££43—44, partially printed in Memoirs ofthe Life and Writings ofJames Montgomery, ed. J. Holland and J. Everett (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1853), 4:60-61. SiR, 51 (Spring 2012) 59 60 JUDITH BAILEY SLAGLE I received some time since an application which amused me a good deal, from Montgomery the Poet in behalfofa committee at Sheffield for suppressing the use of Climbing Boys for sweeping chimneys, that I might send them a Poem on that subject to be added to a collection ofsimilar poems. . . . Instead ofpoetry I have sent to the committee in plain simple prose an account of the old Scotch way of cleaning chim­ neys with a rope & a lead & a parcel ofbrooms & brushes tied to it, as a far better thing. For all the verses on earth will never make them give up the old mode of sweeping till they get one in its place nearly as easy to themselves and as cheap. Is this old way still in use with you or do climbing chimney sweepers universally prevail?2 Baillie’s letter also underscored the conflict in using verse for reform, a conflict with which Scott agreed. This essay, then, aims to combine a fac­ tual history of chimney sweep legislation with the activist literature in­ volved in hastening its execution. Poet and social activist James Montgomery (1771—1854) was born at Irvine in Ayrshire to an original Scottish family who had settled in Ulster. His father adopted the tenets of the Moravians, becoming a minister in the 1760s, and sent his son James to school at the Moravian settlement near Leeds in 1777; in 1783 his parents went to Barbados as missionaries. James Montgomery proved a liberal thinker early on and found his tenure with the Moravians stifling, so he ran away in 1787. He eventually returned to his teachers but soon left for London with manuscripts in hand. In 1792 Montgomery became a clerk for the Sheffield Register, and his career as an activist writer was launched.3 As a poet and a reform writer, Montgomery authored the popular Christmas carol “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and “had the distinction of going to prison twice for printing material that was unpopular with the authorities”; as later editor of the Sheffield Iris, he was determined to “do what was right.”4 Montgomery had written several book-length poems, including one on the Moravian mission to Greenland and another against slavery, but he is probably best remembered today for his hymns and for his fight against the deplorable condition of child chim­ ney sweeps. 2. The Collected Letters ofJoanna Baillic, 2 vols., ed. Judith Bailey Slagle (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999), 424. Further references to Baillie...

Chief Zibi Sidinane: Negotiating Moravian Christianity and Settlements in “Nomansland”

The overall context of this article is the interaction between black African rulers, the white Christian missionaries, and the white colonial authorities in late nineteenth century South Africa, as a rapidly changing society increasingly privileged the white population.1 Many black rulers tried to strengthen their positions in troubled and contested regions by calling on the help of Christian missionaries who in their turn saw these requests from black African rulers as golden opportunities for gaining access to peoples otherwise only reached with great difficulty. Thus, mutually beneficial relationships were possible even if, ultimately, the different parties had different agendas and desires. The analyses in this article deal with the triangular relations between the colonial powers, the mission society and black rulers, and tease out the strategies, motives and practices of the three parties.

The Camphill Movement: The Moravian Dimension

Abstract This essay explores the nature and extent of the debt that the worldwide Camphill Movement owes to the Moravian Church by focusing on the lives of its two principal architects, Karl and Mathilde (Tilla) Koenig. Particular attention is drawn to the time that Karl Koenig spent in Gnadenfrei, a Moravian settlement in Silesia, which was the birthplace of his wife. Karl Koenig later acknowledged that his stay in Gnadenfrei constituted a pivotal moment in his destiny. When he was forced to flee Nazi-controlled Austria after the Anschluss because of his Jewish family background, he went to Scotland, where he was committed to the idea of building a Christian community based on a model similar to that created by Count Zinzendorf. The day-to-day running of this first Camphill community rested largely with Tilla Koenig. Contemporary commentators agree that she wove a strong, discernible, and enduring element of Moravian practice into the fabric of Camphill life and work. Perhaps the greatest debt owed by the Camphill Movement to the Moravian Church is an appreciation of the real meaning of community living, the importance of religious experience in community life, and the spiritual value which is inherent in each community member.

Small towns: an important part of the Moravian settlement system

The paper brings characteristics of Moravian towns with inhabitants below 15 thousand. The towns still play an important role in the settlement structure. Their share in the coun-try’s population remains stable. As compared with larger towns and cities, the parameters of their natural and social environments exhibit a number of advantages. The future of small towns in Moravia is discussed with impulses for the conservation of urban functions being seen in the provision of central services for rural hinterlands and in specialization. Main future significance of small Moravian towns consists in the insurance of sustainable development of Moravian countryside, in the provision of alternative life style offer for a part of the population, and in keeping up local and regional identities in the process of globalization.

Small towns: an important part of the Moravian settlement system

The paper brings characteristics of Moravian towns with inhabitants below 15 thousand. The towns still play an important role in the settlement structure. Their share in the coun-try’s population remains stable. As compared with larger towns and cities, the parameters of their natural and social environments exhibit a number of advantages. The future of small towns in Moravia is discussed with impulses for the conservation of urban functions being seen in the provision of central services for rural hinterlands and in specialization. Main future significance of small Moravian towns consists in the insurance of sustainable development of Moravian countryside, in the provision of alternative life style offer for a part of the population, and in keeping up local and regional identities in the process of globalization.

A Description of the Moravian Settlement of Zeist, 1760

A Description of the Moravian Settlement of Zeist, 1760

A Description of the Moravian Settlement of Zeist, 1760

A Description of the Moravian Settlement of Zeist, 1760