András Ehrenpreis (1589–1662) Bishop of the Anabaptists and the research of the Anabaptists in Slovak historiography

Abstract

The study presents the profile of the Bishop Andrew Ehrenpreis (1589–1662), prominent personality of the Huters. The Huters represented denomination of Anabaptist radical part of the Reformation, which established itself in the 16th century in the western Slovakia and Moravia. Outstanding position of A. Ehrenpreis in the history of Anabaptist religious-social movement emphasised the historian Robert Friedmann, when he called him as the “secondfounder of the Huters” A. Ehrenpreis was born in the southern German city called Illingen, in the family of Anabaptist, who with his wife and children moved in 1596 to Moravia. He was elected as a servant of the Word in 1621 in Nové Mlyny. After the expulsion of Anabaptists from Moravia he settled down in the Slovak town called Sobotiste – the new capital of a diaspora village. In 1639 he became the twelfth superior of the Huters. He died after 23 years of service in the Episcopal office. Because activities of the A. Ehrenpreis were directly related to the general state of society, when interpreting his actions it is important to see them in the context of that time (Thirty Years War, the anti-Habsburg uprisings, epidemics, adverse climatic conditions, militarisation of the population, etc.).