§ 74. The Reformation in Poland and the Consensus of Sendomir. A.D. 1570.
Literature.
Consensus Sendomiriensis, in Niemeyer, pp. 561 sqq. The German text in Beck, Vol. II. pp. 87 sqq.
Joannis a Lasco: Opera tam edita quam inedita recensuit vitam autoris enarravit A. Kuyper.. Amstel. 1866, 2 Tom. The first volume contains his dogmatic and polemic writings, including the Responsio adv. Hosium (1559); the second his Confession, Catechisms, and Letters, including a few from Poland, 1556-59 (Vol. II. pp. 746-765). His Letters were previously published by Gerdesius, in his Scrinium antiquarium, Groning. 1750.
Dan. Ern. Jablonski: Historia consensus Sendomiriensis inter evangelicos regni Poloniæ et M.D. Lithuaniæ in synodo generali evangelicorum utriusque partis Sendomiriæ A.D. 1570 die 14 Aprilis initi. Berolini, 1731.
C. G. von Friese: Reformationsgeschichte von Polen und Lithauen. Breslau, 1786, 3 vols.
Valerian Krasinski (an exiled Polish Count): Historical Sketch of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of the Reformation in Poland. London, 1838 and 1840, 2 vols. German translation by W. Ad. Lindau. Leipz. 1841. Krasinski: Sketch of the Religious History of the Slavonic Nations. Edinburgh, 1851. The same in French (Histoire religieuse des peuples slaves), Paris, 1853, with an introduction by Merle d'Aubigné.
G. W. Th. Fischer: Versuch einer Geschichte der Reformation in Polen. Grätz, 1855-56, 2 vols.
P. Bartels: Johannes a Lasco. Elberfeld, 1860. In Vol. IX. of Leben der Väter der reform. Kirche.
Dr. Erbkam: Art. Sendomir, in Herzog's Real-Encykl. Vol. XXI. pp. 24-45. Dr. Erdmann: Art. Polen, ibid. Vol. XII. pp. 1 sqq.
The history of the Reformation in Poland is as sad as that in Bohemia. It started with fair prospects of success, but was suppressed by the counter-reformation under the energetic and unscrupulous leadership of the Jesuits, who took advantage of the dissensions among Protestants, the weakness of the court, and the fickleness of the nobility, obtained the control of the education of the aristocracy and clergy, and ultimately brought that unfortunate kingdom to the brink of internal ruin before its political dismemberment by the surrounding powers.
POLAND IN THE SIXTEEN CENTURY.
Poland became a mighty kingdom by the union with Lithuania (1386) and the successful wars with the Teutonic order in Prussia. In the middle of the sixteenth century it extended from the shores of the Baltic to the Black Sea, and embraced Great Poland (Posen), Little Poland (Warsaw), Lithuania, Samogitia (Wilna), Courland, Livonia, Esthland, Podlesia, Volhynia, Podolia, Ukraine, and the Prussian territories of Dantzic, Culm, and Ermeland. The population was Slavonic, with a large number of Germans and Jews. It originally received Christianity from the Greek Church, through Bohemia, but, owing to its close connection with the German empire, it became, like Bohemia, Roman Catholic during the tenth century. The government was in the hands of the nobility, which controlled the king. The power of the Church was restricted to spiritual affairs, and weakened by the immorality of the clergy.
THE REFORMATION.
Poland never showed special devotion to the Roman See, and during the Council of Constance manifested some sympathy with the reform of Hus. Waldenses, Bohemians, and all classes of Protestants, even Socinians and Anabaptists, found hospitable shelter.
The Lutheran Reformation was introduced by Polish students returning from Wittenberg, and by Lutheran tutors employed in the families of the nobles. It triumphed in the German cities of Dantzic (1525) and Thorn (1530).
Among the Slavonic population and the higher nobility, and in the University of Cracow, Calvinism made rapid progress. It was patronized by Prince Nicholas Radziwill, the Chancellor of Poland under King Sigismund Augustus II. (1548-1572). The king himself corresponded with Calvin, and read his 'Institutes' with great zeal. Calvin dedicated to him his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in some remarkable letters solemnly urged him to use the favorable opportunity for the introduction of the pure doctrine and worship of Christ before the door might be forever closed. In a large kingdom with strongly feudal institutions he would allow, for the sake of unity and order, and after the model of the ancient Church, the episcopal organization, with an archbishop and a regular succession; but he thought that under the circumstances the Reformation could not be introduced without some irregularity, since the papal bishops had become the open enemies of the gospel. He became at last discouraged by the indecision of the king, and lost confidence in the sincerity of the nobles. His fears were only too well realized. [1113]
Another powerful element were the Bohemian Brethren, who, driven from their native land in 1548, emigrated in large numbers and organized forty congregations in Great Poland. [1114] They were well received, and, by the affinity of race and language, their purity, simplicity, and strict discipline, they made a deep impression on the Slavonic Poles. The Brethren united with the Calvinists at the first general Protestant Synod held at Kosminek, 1555. The latter adopted the confession, liturgy, and episcopal government of the former. This step was highly approved by Calvin, who wrote to a Polish nobleman, Stanislaus Krasinski: 'From a union with the Waldenses [as the Brethren were sometimes called] I hope the best, not only because God blesses every act of a holy union of the members of Christ, but also because at the present crisis the experience of the Waldenses, who are so well drilled in the service of the Lord, will be of no small benefit to you.' He also advocated union with the adherents of the Augsburg Confession as this was understood and explained by its author. He was invited by the nobility to Poland, but could not leave Geneva.