In the September of 1732, an unusual scenario took place in Leipzig’s Roßplatz market place. Thousands of ragged figures entered the city. The people of Leipzig had already heard about them because the whole empire was talking about these poor people. They were religious refugees – Protestants whom the Archbishop of Salzburg had expelled from his and their country. Now they were on their way to Prussia, where the king had promised them land. Among the people of Leipzig was the Protestant pastor Christoph Sancke. Shortly afterwards, he decided to write a book about the fate of the Salzburg refugees. After all, they had a great story: it was about a tyrannical archbishop, inhuman Catholics and a merciful, philanthropic Protestant ruler who takes care of the desperate – exactly what people in the Protestant parts of the empire liked to read. Thus, it was a great opportunity to create a book that served the Protestant cause and would probably make a handsome profit. We have it in our library. Let’s start from the beginning.
Artikeltext:
Cuius Regio, Eius Religio
By 1731, the days in which questions of faith had led to war in Germany were long gone. In the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 and the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, the parties had agreed with great difficulty to a set of regulations that were supposed to create a balance between Protestants, Catholics and Calvinists. The basic framework of the complex resolutions was summed up by a lawyer as follows: cuius regio, eius religio – whose realm, their faith. This means: the ruler decided about the religion of his subjects. Of course, this had nothing to do with freedom of worship. Nevertheless, the rule eased the situation.
When the Archbishop of Salzburg learned in 1731 that many of his subjects were secret Protestants and therefore banished them from his territory, his actions were essentially legal. But the way he did it aroused a storm of indignation among the Protestant parts of the empire. The Archbishop had imperial soldiers come to Salzburg and forced the Protestants to leave the country, in some cases they had to do so within a few days – this was a violation of the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia. More than 20,000 people had to leave Salzburg in the following months without having the time to sell their houses and businesses or to take all their possessions with them. It is assumed that a quarter of them died in the course of the expulsion.
The Soldier King Seizes the Opportunity
The Protestant principalities were outraged, and the issue became a major media event of the time. The Prussian king saw an opportunity in this. In the February of 1732, Frederick William I issued the Prussian Invitation Order (Preußisches Einladungspatent) and sent envoys to spread the message among the refugees. According to the order, anyone from Salzburg who was willing to settle in Prussia was to receive privileges, land for settlement and building materials from the state. They would not be required to pay taxes within the first three years. Moreover, anyone who agreed to do so would immediately be considered a Prussian subject. Prussia promised protection and support for the journey, as well as much-needed food. This offer was irresistible for the desperate refugees, who were facing an uncertain future. Almost all of them moved across the empire to Prussia and were settled in East Prussia.
Flourishing Landscapes
Of course, this undertaking wasn’t a mere act of mercy on the part of the king. Like his grandfather, who had taken in the French Huguenots in Brandenburg 50 years earlier, Frederick William I wasn’t stupid. He knew very well that these people were an asset for his country. Large plague waves had depopulated East Prussia in previous decades, which is why there was sufficient land for the settlers. In addition, there were many talented craftsmen among the refugees, and these people were a considerable gain for any ruler. The cost for the support of 20,000 people was considerable, but the king was sure that it would be worth it. And he was right: East Prussia flourished, six new cities and 332 new villages are said to have sprung up at the time. Königsberg, the capital of the province, benefited from the skilled craftsmen who were particularly proficient regarding the textile and wood industry.
And then, of course, there was a huge gain in reputation. Protestants considered the king a philanthropist and a good Christian who had acted quickly and courageously, and spared no expense – an image that he was happy to reinforce.
A Protestant PR Campaign
The whole story generated an enormous response by the media of the Protestant world. Medals and pamphlets reported about the terrible expulsion and the king who mercifully welcomed the Salzburg refugees in Prussia. Of course, books on this subject were published too. The most popular of them is the Ausführliche Historie derer Emigranten oder vertriebenen Lutheraner aus dem Erz-Bisthum Salzburg (Detailed History of the Emigrants and Expelled Lutherans from the Arch-Bishopric of Salzburg). The author describes the Salzburg region, the history of the local Protestants, the circumstances of the refugees’ expulsion and migration to East Prussia. In doing so, he presents the factual situation in a well-researched manner – although the work is not particularly neutral. According to the title page, “everything was taken from credible historical writers and ... documents.” To this day, this compilation of events is considered one of the most important sources about the Salzburg Protestants.
The author Christoph Sancke (1700-1752) had seen a group of refugees in Leipzig. He was a deacon at St Thomas Church in Leipzig – yes, exactly, the one with the St Tomas Choir and Johann Sebastian Bach, who worked as a choirmaster there at the exact same time.
Shortly after, Sancke had his work on the Salzburg Protestants published anonymously. The topic was on everyone’s lips, so he could expect the work to sell well. The book was lavishly printed and beautiful engravings as well as fold-out maps were added. Our 1733 copy is already from the third edition, so the books must really have sold well.
The prospect of a nice profit was probably one reason for publishing the book – the other reason was a religious one. After all, the Protestant pastor certainly used the occasion to preach about good Protestants and bad Catholics to his readers in the preface:
“One can see from this how the Catholics are opposed to the Protestants, and what the latter can expect from them.” “They start to throw out and trample on” the regulations of the Peace of Augsburg and the Peace of Westphalia. “Where did a Christian bishop chase away so many thousands of Christians ... although they had not done anything wrong except to profess a religion that is tolerated everywhere in the Holy Roman Empire?” ... “We can understand from their [the refugees’, author’s note] example how God does not abandon those who rely on Him whole-heartedly and accept Him as their helper in need.”
And What about the Moral?
The emperor did certainly learn something from this story, although one may doubt whether it was the right thing: when 4,000 Protestants were to be expelled from the Alpine region in 1734 once again, he had them resettled by force to the outskirts of his own territory: to Transylvania in today’s Romania. By doing so, he avoided losing more subjects to Protestant rulers...
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You can find a digitized version of the third edition at the website of the Munich DigitiZation Center.