By the middle of the 16th century as many as 90 percent of the subjects of the Bohemian Crown were Protestant. : 36 ff : 107 ff These were some of the earliest Protestants, rebelling against Rome some fifty years before Martin Luther. They received episcopal ordination through the Waldensians in 1467. Because of this, they considered themselves separate from the majority Hussites that did not hold those teachings. This group held to a strict obedience to the Sermon on the Mount, which included non-swearing of oaths, non-resistance, and not accumulating wealth. A brother known as Gregory the Patriarch was very influential in forming the group, as well as the teachings of Peter Chelcicky. Within 50 years of Hus's death, a contingent of his followers had become independently organised as the "Bohemian Brethren" ( Čeští bratři) or Unity of the Brethren ( Jednota bratrská), which was founded in Kunvald, Bohemia, in 1457. The Utraquists signed the Compacts of Basel on 5 July 1436. In 1434, an army of Utraquists and Roman Catholics defeated the Taborites at the Battle of Lipany. From 1419 to 1437 were a series of Hussite Wars initially between various Roman Catholic rulers and the Hussites, and then the political situation continued into a Hussite civil war between the more compromising Utraquists and the radical Taborites. However, Hus was summoned to attend the Council of Constance, which decided that he was a heretic and released him to the secular authority, which sentenced him to be burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. The movement gained support from the Crown of Bohemia. Since these actions predate the Protestant Reformation by a century, some historians claim the Moravian Church was the first Protestant church. Hus objected to some of the practices and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church specifically, he wanted the liturgy to be celebrated in Czech, married priests, and eliminating indulgences and the idea of Purgatory. ![]() The Hussite movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus (English: John Huss) in early 15th-century Bohemia, in what is today the Czech Republic. See also: Jan Hus, Hussite Wars, and Bohemian Reformation Jan Hus Jan Hus Preaching at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, a 1916 portrait by Alfons Mucha Jan Hus at the Council of Constance, a portrait by Václav Brožík The Moravian Church's emblem is the Lamb of God ( Agnus Dei) with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription " Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur" ('Our Lamb has conquered let us follow Him'). ![]() ![]() Moravians continue many of the same practices established in the 18th century, including placing a high value on a personal conversion to Christ, called the New Birth, and piety, good works, evangelism, including the establishment of missions, Christian pacifism, ecumenism, and music. The modern Unitas Fratrum has about one million members worldwide, continuing their tradition of missionary work, such as in the Americas and Africa, that is reflected in their broad global distribution. Its name is derived from exiles who fled from Moravia to Saxony in 1722 to escape the Counter-Reformation, establishing the Christian community of Herrnhut hence it is also known in German as the Brüdergemeine ("Unity of Brethren "). The church's heritage can be traced to 1457 and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which included Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and previously the Hussite movement against several practices and doctrines of the Catholic Church. The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( Czech: Moravská církev or Moravští bratři), formally the Unitas Fratrum ( Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the Unity of the Brethren (Czech: Jednota bratrská) founded in the Kingdom of Bohemia, sixty years before Luther's Reformation.
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