The Hymnal (1543) of Andreas Moldner: Spiritual Openness and Ethical Emphasis in the Urban Reformation of Kronstadt (Transylvania)

Abstract

ABSTRACT A Hymnal of Eight Songs from Kronstadt in Siebenbürgen/Transylvania (Braşov/Romania) has long not enjoyed the reputation it deserves. Only one copy is extant, only coming to light 1883. Along with the Reformatio Ecclesiae Coronensis and the Constitutio Scholae Coronensis, this early hymnal belongs to the three ‘programmatic texts' of the humanist municipal Reformation (Germ. Stadtreformation) of Kronstadt. These were all printed in 1543 by the print-shop of Honterus. The content indicates a relationship to the Anabaptists and Bohemian Brethren, which has until now been considered incompatible with the city-Reformation praised by Wittenberg. This essay presents plausible research that spiritual openness was an expression of the self-understanding of the prominent figures of Kronstadt's reformed church. They formulated this in polemical demarcation from the attempted reforms by the Old Believers (those faithful to the pre-Tridentine/papal faith). Heavily emphasizing ethical behaviour in their piety of the heart, the Humanist reformers in Kronstadt integrated the Bible-oriented norms of the Baptists and Bohemian Brethren into their concept of reformation.