H4: Hoe's book, 200-year favorite, for South Germany; Salzburg expulsion of 1731

South Germany

      This continues from Part 3c (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series that began with Walther's 1871 announcement of the republished "little book" by Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, a book that gave instruction to south German Lutherans oppressed by Roman Catholics. — Walther's report in the 1871 Der Lutheraner that Hoe's "little book" was "a favorite book of the people in Germany for two hundred years" qualifies it as a most important book through at least the 1700s. It would be influential as a resource for Lutherans in their struggles against the oppression of the Jesuits and the Catholic Church.

      About a century after the time of Hoe von Hoenegg and Jacob Reihing, the south Germans were in a hot struggle for their faith. Where is "South" Germany? (It is sometimes known as "Upper Germany" or "High Germany") The map at left is the Wikipedia map for the dialect of the "southern German-speaking area" called "Upper German" and gives a general idea of the territory involved. It includes what is known today as Austria, including Salzburg.

     The "Red Brick Parsonage" blog has already, in 2017, given a good background for the history of south Germany here, stating: 

"The history of Lutheranism in the former Archbishopric of Salzburg (whose land now comprises part of Austria since being annexed in 1805) is one of repeated persecution, dating back to the expulsion of Paul Speratus in 1520, for expressing his evangelical views too openly, and the beheading of Georg Scherer (or Schärer) in Radstadt on April 13, 1528, for refusing to recant the Lutheran doctrine he was preaching. There were also exiles decreed in 1588 and 1613-15. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 was supposed to put an end to such persecution, but in the Archbishopric of Salzburg it did not."

The later date coincides with the time of Jacob Reihing's Jesuit activities in a neighboring territory, before his conversion to Lutheranism in 1621. Hoe von Hoenegg's 1603 popular "little book" would have certainly been known to these Salzburg Lutherans who were faced with their forced expulsion in 1731 by Roman Catholics. It was most refreshing to read the "Red Brick Parsonage" pastor state of these expelled Salzburg Evangelical Lutherans (my emphasis):

"I do not know how any historical development… can create such a sensation in their time, yet fly so low under the popular radar in the present, even within the confines of the Christian church."

Indeed!  Why is this?  Many secular scholars have written much about the Salzburgers and their expulsion, so why the silence within the Christian Church, especially the Lutheran Church? But this indifference in the present time was not the fault of Walther — he gave this history prominence in his Der Lutheraner articles. Prof. J. C. W. Lindemann also gave this history prominence in his essay on "Religious Freedom".

<<———  Where is this Salzburg territory? The map at left gives an idea of its location. 

Salzburger emigration, c. 1731-32

The map on the right depicts the general route of the Salzburg Lutherans after their expulsion.—————>>

 The more extensive history of the Evangelical Salzburg Lutherans is given by J. C. W. Lindemann here, and by a translation of a German language history by "The Red Brick Parsonage" here.

      As Lindemann relates, these Salzburgers had a "weakness of their knowledge", and during the "terrible pressure", "many were so tormented that they became Catholics again out of fear and pain".  May Hoe von Hoenegg's "little book" be a resource, along with many others, to strengthen readers who are, or will be, under persecution here in America.  May they, especially me, look "unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). Amen!

      In the next Part 5, we meet with the Salzburgers who travelled to North Germany and… America.