Pergen (Jihomoravský kraj, Czech Republic)

Pergen (Bergen; now known by the Czech name Perná and located in the South Moravian Region), a parish village near Nikolsburg, Moravia. Here in 1527 the first colloquy was held between Balthasar Hubmaier and Hans Hut, which was no more successful in leading to an understanding than was the second, which was held soon afterward in the castle of Nikolsburg. When Jakob Wiedemann, "one-eyed Jacob," and Philipp Jäger (Philipp Weber) grew more and more violently opposed to Hans Spittelmaier, who sided with Hubmaier, chiefly on the question of the payment of war taxes and the use of the sword, another debate between the two parties took place in the parsonage of Pergen. The division resulted in the expulsion of the "Stäbler" (as opposed to the sword) from Nikolsburg by Leonhard of Liechtenstein in 1528; two hundred adults and their children left Nikolsburg and Pergen with Wiedemann and Jäger and went to Austerlitz . In Pergen the Bruderhof that joined the Hutterian Brethren was able to continue. Here occurred the death of the preacher Matthias Legeder of Tyrol in 1552.

When Adam von Dietrichstein came into the possession of Pergen and summoned the Jesuits, the Hutterites in Pergen were subjected to oppression, in the first place because the Brethren refused to remove their hats before these zealous priests. The preacher of Pergen, who had said that the Jesuits did not conduct themselves like the spiritual persons they pretended to be, was placed in stocks and irons for a day and a half and his mouth stopped with a gag "which was painted with a sticky substance. They beat many Brethren because they did not remove their hats before them." The householder was put into the tower of the Nikolsburg castle in midwinter; with fines and imprisonment they tried to compel the Brethren to attend Mass, but the Brethren steadfastly refused to obey. Siegmund von Dietrichstein, who inherited the lands from his father, expelled the Brethren from Pergen and Voitelsbrunn, in both of which villages they had lived more than thirty years. He gave them eighteen weeks to take away their goods, some of which they sold on the spot, not without considerable loss; they had to leave behind their buildings and the grain in the fields. On 7 May 1591, they moved out, some going to Wastiz, the others to Sobotište.

Bibliography

Beck, Josef. Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 350.

Loserth, J. Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier. Brno, 1893: 132 f.

Wolkan, Rudolf. Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brüder. Macleod, AB, and Vienna, 1923.

Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943.

Author(s)	Paul Dedic
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Dedic, Paul. "Pergen (Jihomoravský kraj, Czech Republic)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Pergen_(Jihomoravsk%C3%BD_kraj,_Czech_Republic)&oldid=145954.

APA style

Dedic, Paul. (1959). Pergen (Jihomoravský kraj, Czech Republic). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Pergen_(Jihomoravsk%C3%BD_kraj,_Czech_Republic)&oldid=145954.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 146. All rights reserved.

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