Martyrs of Eperjes
The martyrs of Eperjes († March 5 to September 12, 1687 in Eperjes (Slovak: Prešov) in what is now Slovakia , then part of Hungary as Upper Hungary ) were a group of 24 evangelical citizens of the city of Eperjes who were executed in the course of the Counter Reformation .
background
The reign of Emperor Leopold I began in 1657. He strongly supported the Counter Reformation. He also pursued a centralized policy that led to the magnate conspiracy . Although this was worn by Roman Catholic nobles, Protestant clergymen were accused of complicity. This enabled an intensive persecution of the evangelical faith.
In 1672 all churches and schools were withdrawn from the Protestant Christians in today's Slovakia. In Eperjes this affected all three Protestant churches that were handed over in 1673. There were numerous executions , expulsions and other punishments across Slovakia . Evangelical devotions were only possible in private houses and in secret places.
These events led to an uprising led by Count Emmerich Thököly . This allied with the Turks and with their help conquered the entire territory of today's Slovakia.
As a result, the emperor was forced to make concessions at the Ödenburg state parliament of 1681 . This included:
- Confirmation of the Peace of Vienna of 1606
- Return of the exiled evangelical pastors and teachers
- Return of 50 non-Roman Catholic churches
- Permission to build Protestant wooden churches outside the city walls, in two places per county and in some free cities
These resolutions led to some changes for evangelical Christians. The pastors were no longer appointed in the cities by the magistrates and outside the cities by the nobles; Instead, self-governing congregations with various bodies and offices were founded, so that the pastors were determined by the congregations themselves in a democratic way.
In 1683 the imperial army triumphed over the Turks in front of Vienna. Count Thököly fled to the Ottoman Empire.
In 1685 the imperial general Antonio von Caraffa conquered Eperjes.
In 1686 Caraffa had conquered all of Upper Hungary and became the commandant in Eperjes. Emperor Leopold ruled again without restrictions.
Eperjes blood dish
In 1687 the evangelical community of Eperjes asked in writing in more affluent cities for money for their grammar school, as they could no longer finance their teachers due to the war damage. The letters were delivered by Gabriel Pálasdy, a former Thököly gang leader. Caraffa accused the writers of the corresponding petition letters that the money was intended for a planned uprising. The prostitute Elisa von Ujheli, who was in Caraffa's service to satisfy the sexual needs of his soldiers, acted as the main witness.
Some wealthy citizens were arrested in February. As the alleged leader of the conspiracy, Sigismund von Zimmermann was arrested and imprisoned in his home on Sunday, February 16, 1687. Von Zimmermann was one of the richest citizens of Hungary, a nobleman, senator and inspector of the evangelical college. A bribe in the form of 20 barrels of Tokaj Erbruch and 400 ducats, which were brought to Caraffa by Grand Oradine Bishop Augustinus Benkovics and Franz Klobusiczky, ensured that some nobles from Semplin County , who had also been arrested, were released.
The remaining prisoners were tried and tortured from February 20 using methods modeled on the Spanish Inquisition . The torture was done by hanging and stretching with attached weights, twisting all limbs, putting on thumbscrews and Spanish boots , creating burns in the armpits with the help of wax lights, sprinkling with burning resin and pitch using specially made torches, and inserting pointed, glowing nails under the toenails and glowing wire in the anus and urethra. Witnesses noted that Caraffa was present during the torture, while having fun with companions, playing with dice and negotiating a ransom of 10,000 guilders with some of the tortured, for example Johann Roth von Kiralyfalva. The torture was sentenced to death. General Wallis was in the chair until March 20, then possibly officially Martin Görtz, but de facto General Antonio Caraffa; the court included four imperial soldiers and eight Hungarian nobles and citizens. One of the judges later described Caraffa's approach: The right to vote was restricted, the entire process followed Caraffa's will. The vote was made by everyone whispering their opinion to Caraffa. The votes of the non-Hungarian members had more weight and the verdicts did not match the voting result.
The executions began on March 5, and a total of 24 people died, spread over a few months. The procedure was as follows: First the right arm of the convicts was cut off, then the head. The bodies were then quartered and the body parts attached to the city gates. The heads were hung on the gallows.
Individual victims
On the 5th of march
The first victims, on March 5th, were councilor Sigismund von Zimmermann, Caspar Rauscher, Andreas von Keczer (64 years old, member of an old noble family, father-in-law of Sigismund von Zimmermann) and Franz Baranyay. Andreas von Keczer was brought on a sledge. The rest of them had to walk despite the previous torture.
Sigismund von Zimmermann first climbed onto the scaffold, which was surrounded by soldiers. The executioners of the camp, the executioners of Eperjes and Kaschau , and their servants were waiting for this . Von Zimmermann was accompanied by the Jesuit Peritzhof. The latter had led him back to the Roman Catholic Church and promised him that he would stay alive. Von Zimmermann now reminded him that the time had come to ask for mercy in the usual way. Peritzhof stroked Zimmermann's head and shoulders and said: “Take the blow of death calmly. It cannot be otherwise. It is grace for you, but with God alone. ”Sigismund von Zimmermann turned away from the Jesuit and called three times for grace in the usual way. The mounted staff officer replied: “From God - to hope.” The executioner was seized by Zimmermann, his right hand was stretched on the block, and the Eperjes executioner cut it off with two blows. Sigismund von Zimmermann again pleaded for mercy when the executioner from Kaschau cut off his head. The head initially remained hanging on the trunk in the area of the throat. The camp executioner severed his head completely and pushed his colleague reproachfully from the scaffolding. Antonio Caraffa, his wife, and some senior officers watched from Medvetzky's house. From another house, the von Keczer family watched the events praying, crying and lamenting.
Johann Reczik, professor of history and poetry at the Protestant grammar school and an eye and ear witness of the events, wrote the manuscript The Slaughter of Eperies in 1688 . It also contains a confession that von Keczer made before his execution:
“I confess with sighs and sincere pain that I am tainted with much sin. I willfully transgressed all the commandments of the most holy being by giving space more to the flesh, more to deceptive, perishable vanity than to the salutary commandments of God. I beg you, gracious, heavenly Father, do not let your anger flare up against me, do not avenge the reproach I inflicted on your name. Be merciful to my soul, O Father, do not look to the greatness of my sins, but to your mercy open to sinners. Give me a place in the apartments which my Savior Christ has prepared for those who believe in him. I hope you will hear my confession, you will not exclude me, who I come to you, and if hell is due to me because of my many sins, give me from your grace alone , for the sake of my Jesus' wounds , eternal life. "
Then Andreas von Keczer swore by God and his angels that he was innocent in the sense of the indictment. Then he said:
"You, who will now hear me speak for the last time, you will be the witnesses of my innocence on that last but terrible day of judgment."
He is said to have died without any recognizable emotion, as did Caspar Rauscher and Franz Baranyay. The work of the messengers followed, which consisted of dividing the bodies into four and pinning the parts, including the heads and hands, on top. The blood of those killed was licked by dogs and pigs. The body parts were displayed on stakes in the direction of Sebes, Saros, Leutschau and Kaschau. Germans often rode to these places in their spare time and mocked the women and children of those killed who mourned in front of the stakes.
On March 22
On March 22nd Gabriel von Keczer (son of Andreas von Keczer, just married) followed, Martin Sárossy von Nagy-Sáros (brother-in-law of Gabriel von Keczer, just 25 years old, was suspected because he was involved in his in Munkats while father had written a private letter), Samuel Medveczky and the noble councilors Georg Fleischhacker (a wealthy merchant who was city judge several times, including during the Schulzische siege), Samuel Medvetzky and Georg Schönleben. All of them were vigorously attempted to lead them to the Roman Catholic faith, without success. After they were beheaded, they were allowed to be buried. Susanne von Zimmermann had lost her young husband Sigismund von Zimmermann, her father Andreas von Keczer, her brother Gabriel von Keczer, her brother-in-law Martin Sarosy and enormous financial resources that were confiscated.
Daniel Guth was pardoned. He had converted to the Roman Catholic Church and was related to Martin Fischer, the administrator of the Spiš Chamber in Košice, a confidante of Antonio Caraffa. His pardon was given, although of all the accused he most deserved to be called a follower of Thököly. He was blind and suffered from gout; the soldiers in prison had often pulled his beard for pleasure, soiled his food and left him starving for days. Without the change of confession and the relationship, Guth would probably have been tortured and executed as well; but as it was, he received a council mandate in addition to the pardon.
Overall, the events on March 22nd seemed to have softened compared to March 5th. But this should change again.
After March 22nd
The former Kaschau city judge David Faja from Nagy Rako died on April 16 as a result of torture in prison, which had previously ripped him out of his mind.
On April 22nd, Andrej Székely de Ragy Ida, Jur Kováts, Ján Bertok, Gabriel Pallasthy and Juraj Radvanský were killed.
Andrej Székely was originally an evangelical reformist, but converted to the Roman Catholic creed and gave his two sons to the Jesuits. But he was beheaded anyway. Jur Kováts was a meat chopper from Košice; he was executed without trial. Bertok and Pallasthy were considered particularly courageous captains under Thököly, so that a slight suspicion was enough to execute the young men. Both had saved the brother of the Empress, the Prince of Pfalz-Neuburg, the life and freedom of the conquest of Ofen . That is why they had received pardons from him, but they were ignored by Antonio Caraffa, as he had a personal antipathy for both men. Radvanský came from a long-established and renowned family. He lost his mind under the torture and died. It had been fried and roasted on both sides. His body was beheaded, the right hand was cut off, and the body was quartered.
On May 6, Captain Simon Feldmeyer from Küstrin , an experienced soldier, killed himself with a knife. Under Thököly he had been in command in Eperjes. When he had left Thököly's service, he had joined the imperial troops and had excelled in the siege and storming of Ofen. By suicide, he now avoided torture and execution. His body was dragged by the tail of a horse and then quartered.
On May 14th, Georg Bezegh von Hajnik from Zohler Komitat, who had been a councilor to Thököly for many years and had now been intensely tortured several times, and the councilors Friedrich Weber von Tyrling and Daniel Weber were beheaded. An unknown farmer died with them.
Friedrich Weber was a city notary. He was considered work shy and addicted to alcohol. Elisa von Ujheli had reported him, to whom he owed a few guilders for wine. In order to get the money, she had claimed that she had brought him letters from Munkats. The Jesuit Peritzhof assured him amnesty, awards and financial compensation if he converted to the Roman Catholic Confession and confirmed receipt of a letter from Munkats. By responding to this, he not only harmed himself but also his brother Daniel Weber, who was a civil servant in Szolnok . Daniel Weber pronounced a curse against his brother at the place of execution, and said that he was hell, but he himself was certain of eternal life. Friedrich Weber's only reward for his willingness to cooperate was that he was buried and not quartered; but he did not escape beheading or the severing of the hand.
From the beginning there were violent protests against Antonio Caraffa's actions. This motivated him to gather evidence and confessions. No evidence was available. Confessions were only obtained through promises of amnesty and rewards.
On September 12, Emmerich Fazekas from Rosenau and a Calvinist clergyman were killed. The preacher's beheading no longer took place in the usual place, but on the small bastion, but he was brought out by the executioner to the place of execution and buried there. The master butcher Samuel Lányi from Košice was beheaded without prior torture or interrogation.
End of the blood court
After numerous requests from the Hungarian side, this procedure was finally ended by Emperor Leopold. The supreme command in Upper Hungary was withdrawn from Caraffa. However, he was not held responsible. Rather, he was appointed field marshal.
The events went down in Slovak and Hungarian history under the names Eperjeser Blutgericht , Eperjeser Schlachtbank , Marcellum Eperiessiense and Laniena Eperiessiensis .
Mary statue on the place of execution
On the site of the executions, an unknown artist commissioned the Jesuits to erect a baroque sandstone sculpture group in honor of Maria Immaculate in 1751 to commemorate the victims of epidemics that had led to the death of the majority of the population of Prešov. It is sometimes assumed that this monument, popularly known as the Trinity Monument due to its three-part structure , was placed at this point to prevent the place from becoming a Protestant pilgrimage site.
The construction was financed mainly by the citizen Ján Rudiger Feigenbuz with 1200 gold ducats from his estate as well as by the countesses Csáky and Petho. The group includes the statues of four male saints and is dominated by a gilded Madonna statue with baby Jesus, crown and scepter. Of the original statues, only those of Nicholas and John Nepomuk remained when the heavily damaged group of figures was restored in 1967. Another restoration took place in 1995–1997.
The group of sculptures is now in a small park.
Commemoration
A memorial for the executed was erected in 1908 on the corner of the building of the evangelical college.
On July 2, 1995 Pope John Paul II visited Prešov and prayed together with the Evangelical Bishop Ján Midriak in front of this monument. To commemorate this, a plaque with the image of the Pope and an inscription that translates as:
"Pope John Paul II prayed at the monument of the 24 Evangelical Martyrs from 1687 on July 2, 1995"
The commemoration day of the martyrs of Eperjes on March 5th is not included in the official evangelical name calendar .
swell
- The martyrs of Eperjes. in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
- Lecture by Andreas Metzl: From the history of the Protestant Carpathian Germans. (PDF; 195 kB)
- Wilhelm Edler von Janko : Caraffa, Anton Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 777 f.
- CA Schweigard: Austria's heroes and military leaders . Volume 2. Grimma 1853, p. 366 ff. ( Digitized version )
- Ignatius Aurelius Fessler: The stories of the Hungarians and their country residents. Part ninth. published by Johann Friedrich Gleditsch, Leipzig 1825.
- Society of Austrian Scholars: Magazine for History, Statistics and Constitutional Law of the Austrian Monarchy, Volume Two. Publishing house Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1808.
- Otto Michaelis : Protestant Märtyrerbuch , 2nd edition 1927, p. 211 f., Here an excerpt about Andreas von Keczer
- Joseph Freiherr von Hormayr : Paperback for the patriotic history , 26th year, published by G. Reimer, Leipzig 1837, chapter 8, pp. 133–162
literature
- Peter Kónya: The blood court of Prešov / Eperjes in 1687. In: Karl Schwarz, Peter Švorc: The Reformation and its history of impact in Slovakia. Church and denominational history contributions. (Studies and texts on church history and history, series II; 14). Evangelical Press Association, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-85073-242-8 .
- Johannes Rezik: Theatrum Eperiense, anno 1687 erectum, seu Laniena Eperiensis. Liptovský Mikuláš: Tranoscius, 1931. Translated by Gustáv Pogány. (Slovak)
- J. Holák: Beda odsúdeným , Osveta, Bratislava 1974 (Slovak)
- Szita László: Előadások és tanulmányok a török elleni háborúk történetéből (1686-1688) , Baranya Megyei Levéltár, Pécs 1989 (Hungarian)
- K. Papp Miklós: Caraffa és az eperjesi vértörvényszék , 1870 (Hungarian)
- Bidner Ákos: Az eperjesi vértörvényszék , 1941 (Hungarian)
- Mayer Endre: Az eperjesi vértanúk kivégeztetése , 1908 (Hungarian)
- Zoványi Jenő: Magyarországi protestáns egyháztörténeti lexikon (Hungarian)