The Islamic Ottoman

Influence on the
Development of Religious
Toleration in Reformation
Transylvania
Susan Ritchie

Towards a Model of Enmeshment the capital of Buda and much of lower Hun-
When Sultan Suleyman of the Ottoman gary for his direct control while granting
Empire first learned of the birth of John Sigis- Isabella and her infant son Transylvania to
mund, the son of the King of Hungary, he felt rule independently but under the ultimate
it was such a fortuitous event that he sent an suzerainty of Turkey. After some years of politi-
equerry to stand in a corner of Queen Isabel- cal contrivance and redefinition, Transylvania
la’s room to witness her developed into its new
nursing the infant identity as a border state.
(Goodman, 1996, p. 86). An odd slice of semi-inde-
Sigismund’s father, King pendence between those
John Zapolya, King of areas directly controlled
Hungary and Voivode of by the Hapsburgs and the
Transylvania, had died Ottomans, Transylvania
just two weeks after his eventually became one of
son’s birth that July of the safest places in
aladar korosfoi-kriesch’s famous painting
1540. On his deathbed, Europe for the develop-
of francis david and the 1568 proclamation
he had given instructions ment of progressive seasons
of religious freedom at torda. copies of
that his son be named this sepia-colored photogravure Protestantism, including
heir to his titles, a viola- hang in most unitarian churches Unitarianism. In 1568,
tion of a previous and in many homes in transylvania. the now grown-up king
| spring – summer 2004 |

agreement that promised and newly minted Unitari-

Hungary after John’s death to Ferdinand, the an John Sigismund issued the Edict of Torda, a
brother of the Hapsburg emperor, Charles. document which historians have proclaimed
When it became clear after John’s death that to be the first European policy of expansive
his successors had no intention of allowing religious toleration (Cadzow, Ludanyi, and
Hungary to become a part of the Hapsburg Elteto, 1983).
empire, Ferdinand responded by laying siege Though this much is well known,
on Buda. In 1541, with Queen Isabella’s American Unitarian historians have long
forces nearing collapse, Sultan Suleyman been tantalized by the prospect of making a
appeared in Buda with a large army, success- more specific connection between the Islamic
fully repulsing Ferdinand. Suleyman claimed Ottoman rule and the development of 59
 IT IS NOW WIDELY RECOGNIZED THAT documents written in both Hungarian and
THE CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM CULTURES Turkish.1 All these things comprise genuine
obstacles, but the most obvious evidences of
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, WITH THEIR
influence have been overlooked, I believe, as
EUROPEAN AND NEAR EASTERN
a result of our application of an inadequate
HINTERLANDS, WERE MORE IN CONTACT paradigm of East-West influence. We have
IN THE MIDDLE AGES THAN HAD BEEN imagined that the boundary between East and
ASSUMED BEFORE West has been relatively impermeable, a
border crossed once at a time, by a few spec-
Unitarianism in Transylvania, especially as tacular individuals or ideas. Yet the border
expressed in what has been described as its between Europe and its “Others” is one that
“most striking and distinguished” achieve- has existed much more strongly in theory and
ment: the advocacy and practice of what historiography than it ever has in cultural fact
Wilbur named the most “perfect” principle of or lived geography.
toleration (Wilbur, 1952, 164-165). The Edict It is now widely recognized that the
of Torda was, of course, not exactly Christian and Muslim cultures of the Mediter-
perfect, extending toleration to only four ranean, with their European and Near Eastern
state-approved churches and not to other hinterlands, were more in contact in the Mid-
Christian and non-Christian minorities. It was, dle Ages than had been assumed before, but
nonetheless, an impressive achievement; the only recently have we begun to imagine the
fact that the first modern principle of religious results of extending a similar understanding
toleration articulated by Europeans on the of cultural enmeshment to the early modern
level of state rule was articulated by Unitarians period. Furthermore, in the case of the Middle
under the ultimate political rule of religious- Ages, the recognition of mutual influence has
tolerant Ottomans seems too strong and basically taken the form of acknowledging the
obvious a connection to be mere coincidence. European debt to Arab learning, literature,
Yet there has also been despair over the and material culture (Menocal). The textual
possibility of ever finding direct evidence of nature of such influence has lent itself well to
mutual relation and influence (Kratochvil, traditional scholarly methods for tracing influ-
1999). While everyone agrees as to the ences and origins, especially to the historical
presence of the Sultan’s equerries standing philology that remains the legacy of the first
quietly in the corners of Transylvanian history, European Orientalists (Said). However, such
it has been harder to know their true methods are less helpful when the contact
| spring – summer 2004 | seasons

influence. between Christian and Muslim cultures is not

In what follows, I would like to suggest that primarily textual but rather cultural and socio-
uncovering the influence of Ottoman Islam political, as it is in the early modern period.2
on Unitarian development is not as hard a task Hence, I would recommend the adoption
as it has seemed. As much as it is sometimes of the more flexible historical methodology
suggested, I believe that our inability to of historians Lisa Jardine and Jerry Brotton
demonstrate the vital connection between for our purposes. Writing of the Renaissance,
Islam and Unitarian development is not Jardine and Brotton (2000) suggest that
appropriately attributable to the deplorable
Once it is recognized that … the bound-
lack of 16th century Transylvanian govern-
aries between what we will refer to here
mental documents, the resistance of the
as the East and the West were thorough-
contemporary Transylvanian church, or the
ly permeable in the Renaissance, …
60 shortage of Unitarian historians able to access
 Servetus before his arrival in Transylvania and
even in situations of conflict, … fresh
is freely acknowledged for bringing to court
possibilities for cultural cross fertiliza-
not only Servetus’s progressive Socinianism
tion and two-way traffic open up at
(Unitarianism) but also the rich traditions of
every turn. With these possibilities and
Italian humanism. It is also quite standard to
their implications comes the inevitable
note Queen Isabella’s familiarity with such
recognition that cultural histories
Western strains of thought; it is fairly well
apparently distinct, and traditionally
known that when she left Buda to journey to
kept entirely separate, are ripe to be
Transylvania, she carried with her a much
rewritten as shared East/West under-
thumbed copy of Erasmus and that she subse-
takings. (8)
quently insisted her son be educated in the
In what follows, I will attempt to rewrite values of classical humanism (Varkonyi, 1993,
the story of the Edict of Torda’s proclama- 100). It is only reasonable to assume that
tion of religious toleration precisely as such a Dávid would have shared these influences.
shared Islamic-Unitarian undertaking, as the However, any suggestion that the cultural
result not only of influence but of cultural influences surrounding the edict might have
enmeshment. In the process, I will make the included those of the Ottoman East is still
claim that there is indeed a direct relation- rather hotly denied, most expressly by the
ship between Ottoman rule that is based on extant Transylvanian church and Hungarian
Islamic theological commitments and the historians. Many of the most nationalistic
development of the Unitarian articulation of
religious tolerance. My goal in so suggesting Rev. Dr. Susan Ritchie has served as
is less the clearing of this one historical trail the minister of the North Unitarian
than it is the demonstration of a methodolo- Universalist Congregation since
September of 1996. Rev. Ritchie was
gy that might suggest how many of the
ordained by First Unitarian
apparently blind trails within history indicate
Universalist Church in Columbus
not the absence of influence so much as
in May of 1995, where she subsequently served as the
mutual influences so great as to become visi-
congregation’s first (interim) associate minister. She
ble only in the intersections of previously
holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Ohio State
separate stories.
University and a Divinity degree from Methodist
Theological School in Ohio. Rev. Ritchie has pub-
The Edict of Torda and the Anxiety of seasons
lished widely on Unitarian Universalist history and
Influence
theology and on comparative religion. Collegium, the
Currently, when the story of the Edict of Association of Liberal Religious Scholars, recently
Torda is told, it is most common to attribute honored her with its award for “Best New Scholarship
| spring – summer 2004 |

its expansive definition of religious tolerance in Liberal Religious Studies.” The Journal of
directly to the original and brilliant mind of Unitarian Universalist History published her
John Sigismund’s court preacher, Ferenc work, and one of her essays is currently being translat-
Dávid. If cultural influence is admitted to at ed into Turkish for a collection of the best articles of
all outside of this paradigm of original the last twenty-five years relating to Ottoman cultural
genius, it is most often the Western influence studies. Rev. Ritchie’s “The Promise of Post-mod-
of classical humanism. Giorgio Biandrata, ernism for Unitarian Universalist Theology” was
the court physician to Sigismund and most published by the Journal of Liberal Religion and
probably a member of the princely council was also translated into Hungarian for publication
that authored the Edit of Torda, had, as is by the faculty of the Unitarian seminary in Clug,
well known, been a follower of Miguel Romania.
61
 lived there before could carry on their lives
and their beliefs in the way that they chose”
(Holbrook, 2003). Toleration, then, was a
matter of Ottoman policy and Ottoman
bureaucratic structure and an expression of
the Ottoman interpretation of Islam, which
was in most instances stunningly liberal and
cosmopolitan.
Yet the most celebrated sources on the
development of progressive Protestantism
usually handle the Ottoman influence on the
Unitarian development of toleration as, at
1 5 t h - 1 7 t h c e n t u ry t r a n s y lva n i a most, a matter of indirect political influence.
Williams’ Radical Reformation is an example
Hungarian historians even reject what has here. Williams acknowledges in a footnote
long been accepted elsewhere: that the the possible impact of the Ottoman concern
Reformation could never have developed and with religious tolerance, yet his model of
matured in Hungary and Transylvania to the influence is exclusively political, negative,
extent that it did if it were not for the political and unidirectional. He suggests, in other
protection of the Ottoman Empire, which, at words, that the Ottoman policy of religious
the very least, protected the development of tolerance was simply a cynical political means
various Protestantisms by significantly delay- of preserving and developing such local divi-
ing the arrival of the Counter Reformation to sions as would enhance their own control
the region. Most moderate international his- (1105). This is of course partially true; the
torians accept not only that the political success of Ottoman domination was directly
protection of the Ottomans allowed for the connected to the famous Ottoman flexibility
development of progressive Protestantisms towards local custom. And yet, there is more
but also that the infamous permissiveness of to the story: the policy of tolerance was more
Ottoman administrative practice regarding than a matter of military strategy, and it found
local customs and religions must have had its expression not only in political structure
some influence with regards to the issue of tol- but in everyday cultural life.
eration. It has long been discussed, even in the Why, then, the resistance to this other
most traditional of sources, that, according to dimension of the story? We should not miss in
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the Islamic tradition of respect for all People all of this anxiety over Eastern influence the lin-
of the Book, any monotheist who was willing gering effects of Hungarian nationalism. One
to accept the political right of the Ottomans of the political results of the Reformation was a
was given protection and legal right by and certain identification of Hungarian patriotism
within the Empire (Sugar, 1983, 5). But those with liberal Protestantism, an association
scholars who specialize in Ottoman culture go which has motivated the representation in
even further, defining toleration as the chief some quarters of Unitarianism almost as a
component of Ottoman identity. As one such national religion, as something sprung fresh
scholar has put it, “The Ottomans are perhaps and whole from uniquely Hungarian soil.3 It
most unique for including and synthesizing remains threatening, not only in a theological
the cultural elements of the land through but in an ethnic way, to credit the inspirations
which they passed. They are known for creat- of Unitarianism to the influence of the histori-
62 ing structures by which the people who had cal enemy and ethnic other. Indeed, because of
this political climate, those who have dared to
suggest a connection between Islam and
Unitarianism have done so only to discredit
Unitarianism as un-Hungarian. Alexander
Sándor Unghváry’s The Hungarian Protestant
Reformation in the Sixteenth Century under the
Ottoman Impact provides an especially remark-
able example of this. In an attempt to dismiss
Unitarianism as a form of Islam (and therefore
discount it as a Hungarian Protestantism),
Unghváry suggests that Ferenc Dávid based
the entirety of his religious conviction on the
copy of Servetus’s work given to him by Giorgio m i n a r e t s o f o t t o m a n h u n g a ry
Biandrata and that Servetus himself was actu-
ally more Islamic than Christian, quoting, tion between Islamic theology, particularly
Unghváry claims, Mu^ammed with more rel- the Qur’an, and the development of
ish and frequency than the Bible. Oddly, he Unitarianism in Transylvania, claiming that
cites as his source for Servetus’s reliance on the the Transylvanian Unitarians themselves saw
Qur’an a page in Wilbur that in fact praises a complete correspondence between their
Servetus’s familiarity with and sophisticated non-Trinitarian theology and the unity of
use of the Bible and which makes no mention God as taught in the Qur’an. Anti-Socinian
of the Qur’an. Unghváry also falsely claims writers, such as de la Croze, were generally
that Dávid’s education was at universities writing out of the alarmed conviction that
“where Judaism and Islam then reigned Unitarianism might represent a stage towards
supreme” (Unghváry, 1989, 334; Wilbur, conversion to Islam, a belief partially inherit-
1945, 45). Unghváry’s distortions make his ed from the early days of the magisterial
claims easy to dismiss, yet his work raises the reformation, when the spread of Islam was
tantalizing possibility that it might be easier to seen as both an extension of anti-Trinitarian
read for tracks of Unitarian-Islamic influence heresies and as a consequence of divine wrath
in anti-Unitarian propaganda than it is in the over such apostasy. After all, none other than
sympathetic histories. Servetus was, after all, Martin Luther himself had famously blamed
genuinely interested in Islam, perhaps Dávid the spread of Islam on the Unitarians in exact- seasons
as well, and the connections that Unghváry ly this fashion, writing that “Arius’s
makes, while inaccurate and dismissive, are punishment in hell becomes greater each day
not entirely untrue. as long as this error lasts. For Mohammed
| spring – summer 2004 |

Indeed, the only other literature that has came from this sect” (5:206). The ultimate
consistently documented a connection concern about Unitarians was more than a
between Transylvanian Unitarianism and concern with heresy: the ultimate worry was
Ottoman Islamic influence is that of the anti- also political, with many Europeans fearing
Socinian (Unitarian) movements of 17th and that Islamic-happy Unitarians might possibly
18th century Europe. The French historian sympathize with Ottoman ambitions, a con-
Mathurin Veyssiére de la Croze, for example, cern that had more than an element of truth.
speaks in “Rèflexions historique et critiques As much as these works distort and propa-
sur le mahométisme et sur le socinianisme” gandize, these Western European anti-
(part of Dissertations historiques et critiques Socinians were not entirely incorrect in their
sur divers sujets, 1707) of an explicit connec- assessment of the Unitarian attraction to 63
 Ottoman political interests. In his Anti-Sociani- view against Leslie chose not to remind the
anisme (1656), for example, N. Chewney quite public of actual instances of Unitarian-Turkish
correctly cites Adam Neuser as case in point of a sympathies.
Unitarian whose theology led him not only to For their part, the 17th and 18th century
an attraction to Islam but to actually propose a European Socinians praised Islam as a pure
political alliance with the Ottomans. There is monotheism that had corrected many of the
also the colorful story of the British anti-Trini- theological corruptions that had befallen the
tarian Edward Elwall, preserved by no less a Christian church even as they repressed any
witness than Joseph Priestly. Elwall (1676- direct political connection to the Ottomans.
1744) saw so little difference between They tended to speak of Islam as a theological
Unitarianism and Islam ideal rather than as an
that he began to wear “a actual religion practiced by
Turkish Habit out of actual persons. In 1727,
respect to the Unitarian Andrew Ramsey spoke of
faith of the Mahometans” Socinianism approvingly as
(Champion, 1992, 177). the sublime religion which
And recently, there has stems from “Ideal Islam”
been some interest in recov- (Bastianensen, 1984, 21).
ering the history of the Henry Stubbe, John
London Unitarians, who, in Toland, Arthur Bury,
1682, intended to William Feke, and Stephen
approach the Moroccan Nye were similarly all
ambassador Mohammad Socinian authors who
ben Hadou with a letter strategically employed the-
(perhaps authored by Noel ological Islam as a means
Aubert de Verse) propos- of highlighting the devia-
ing a Unitarian-Ottoman tions from primitive
a n o t t o m a n t o m b i n bu da ( g u l ba ba )
alliance. The text of this Christian practice that they
bold letter suggests a plan for better Unitarian- found bothersome especially in the form of
izing Islam, suggesting that the remnant Anglican orthodoxy. Dealing with Islam on
“repugnancies” in the Qur’an could easily be this level of abstraction had a number of inter-
disregarded if the Muslims would only begin to esting results. It is J.A.I. Champion’s
read scripture in a historical and critical way, fascinating claim (1992) that we can find the
| spring – summer 2004 | seasons

just as the Unitarians had come to read the origins of both civil religion and the history of
Bible. It seems that the letter was never deliv- religion in the work of such authors as Stubbe
ered, but it is interesting that the only trace of and Toland, particularly in their examination
its existence was preserved not by the Unitari- of Islam as an ideal Abrahamic monotheism
ans but by the active anti-Socinian C. Leslie as and in their understanding of religion as pri-
evidence of the political untrustworthiness of marily serving social purpose. However, for
liberal Christians, who serve, in his words, as our purposes, what remains most fascinating
4
“scouts among us for Mohamet.” The letter about these authors is their willingness to
was the focus of intense anti-Socinian debate in describe the attractiveness of Islam in highly
England in the 1690s, and Leslie published the theologized and idealized terms, even, howev-
letter in 1708 as a part of his Socinian Controversy er, as they are busy covering up and denying
Discussed. For obvious reasons, in such a cli- instances of actual mutual influence. In this
64 mate, those defending the Socinian point of light, returning to the setting of the Edict of
Torda, we might not be surprised to discover form, as they often do, of narrations of the
that the strongest suggestions we have of “execrable Turkish custom of seducing Christ-
Unitarian and Islamic cultural enmeshment ian women” with the nefarious aim of creating
lie not in Unitarian sources but in anti- hybrid children.5 Surprisingly, these incredi-
Islamic and, ultimately, anti-Unitarian ble stories still make appearances in modern
propaganda. Hungarian histories, more often than not
cited as evidence against the claim that
Rereading Torda for Cultural Enmeshment Ottoman rule was helpful to the development
If there was one form of anti-Islamic propagan- of Protestantism (Tihany, 1975; Unghváry,
da that dominated Hungary contemporary to 1989). But the irony is that in their eagerness
the Edict of Torda, it would be the lurid and to demonstrate supposed religious intoler-
often quite popular accounts of alleged ance and generally beastly behavior on the
Turkish atrocities in Eastern Europe that were part of the Muslims, these accounts actually
published throughout the 16th and early 17th preserve interesting evidence of considerable
centuries. Most of these accounts were specifi- cultural enmeshment: Turkish guests at
cally intended to enflame ethnic hatred traditional dinners, Lutheran clergy convert-
against the Turks, and many were even explic- ing to Islam, Turks and Hungarians marrying
itly written for the liberal Protestants who were and having children together, and Europeans
living in conditions of serious oppression in relocating to the heart of the Ottoman
the Hapsburg lands bordering Hungary, who Empire.6
might, in their distress, have been tempted to Regarding marriage in particular, there is
see the Ottomans as most tolerant friends considerable evidence of intermarriage in
(Tihany, 1975). Their express point, then, was 16th and 17th century Hungary, both
to deny any mutual toleration between Turks between Turks and Hungarians and also
and Hungarians, but, as is so often the case, between the members of different religious
such a denial of influence actually betrays a confessions. Early 16th century Hungarian
considerable anxiety over the extent of a great Reformed canon law devotes enough energy
and actual influence. to the prohibition of Islamic-Christian inter-
Consider one story offered up in these nar- marriages to indicate the prevalence of the
ratives about a Lutheran minister, who, while practice, at least on the level of common law.
entertaining Turkish guests for dinner, was Meanwhile, the degree of intermarriage
supposedly tricked into replacing his hat with between members of the different churches of seasons
a turban. In the somewhat illogical progress Transylvania seems to have been great and,
of the story, the donning of the turban is con- interestingly enough, most likely predates the
sidered as the sign of a full, even if forced, Edict of Torda. Intermarriages were so accept-
| spring – summer 2004 |

conversion to Islam, subsequent to which his ed by the late 16th century that it was simply
guests force him to undergo an immediate commonly accepted that sons would follow
circumcision. This dinner-table operation is the tradition of their fathers and daughters
all the more hideous, the text informs us, for that of their mothers. For example, the con-
its supposed exclusion of the man forever temporary (early 17th century) historian
from Christian ministry. Kozma Petrityvity describes the rather compli-
It is not difficult to read such stories as origi- cated religious mix of his family as not
nating in fear of losing ethnic identity unusual. His grandfather was Unitarian, his
through conversion, assimilation, and the grandmother Catholic; his mother was raised
increasing cultural enmeshment of the Catholic, although many of her siblings
“other,” especially when the stories take the became Reformed; his mother then married a 65
 Unitarian, who raised his sons, including the Christian, it actually reflected the possibility
historian, to be Unitarians, while the daugh- of an attraction to Islam on the part of
ters attended mass with their mother Ibrahim (whose Hungarian name is
(Murdock, 2000, 112). unknown) predating his removal from
Consider as well stories of the supposed Transylvania. Berkes concludes, “If we go
forced relocation of Christian Europeans by back one century and trace the development
the Ottomans. Just as with the stories of forced of religious and political conditions in
conversions and marriages, we might learn to Transylvania, we shall not fail to appreciate
read there mutual influence where we have that neither Transylvanian Unitarianism nor
been asked to see only unidirectional oppres- Ibrahim’s folk were unfamiliar with or too dis-
sion. It was an acknowledged Ottoman tant from Islam” (Berkes, 1964, 39).
practice to take some young boys from Eastern In the traditional literature, we are also
Europe away from their homes and into the told of M. Péter Pérenyi: he was a 16th century
heart of Ottoman power in order to educate Protestant Hungarian noble with a reputation
them for Ottoman administration, yet inter- for the advocacy of religious tolerance who
pretations of this practice have varied widely. “left” his son Ferenc “in Turkish hands as a
In some instances, knowledge of this hostage, only himself to endure detention
Ottoman practice seems to have allowed for some years later” after having been accused of
the rewriting of stories of actual voluntary treason (Péter, 1996, 360). Upon further
relocation on the part of Hungarian investigation, this interesting man proved to
Protestants into stories about capture and be an unorthodox Christian, neither unfamil-
force. Niyazi Berkes, in his study of Turkish iar with nor distant from Islam, a minor noble
secularism (1964), has already pointed out who sought refuge with the Ottomans when
how Ibrahim Müteferrika was initially erro- his early advocacy of religious tolerance made
neously described in 18th century European him the target of his more orthodox neigh-
sources as a young Hungarian Calvinist study- bors.
ing for the ministry, captured by the Turks There were, of course, actual instances of
only to be enslaved by them and condemned the capture of Eastern European boys, and
to a life of misery in Ottoman lands. their actual presence was in Constantinople as
According to these same sources, this young wards of the sultan—technically, as slaves. But
Hungarian was forced to convert to Islam and while these boys were technically slaves, it cre-
take the name Ibrahim in order to escape slav- ates the wrong impression to leave the matter
ery. Now, we know that Ibrahim was in fact a there. They also received what many describe
| spring – summer 2004 | seasons

young Unitarian raised in Kolozsvar, a man as the best care and education available to
whose anti-Trinitarian convictions attracted children anywhere in the world at that time
him of his own free will towards Islam, and (Holbrook, 2003), and the desirability of
someone who thrived rather than suffered in being so “captured” is also reflected in the
the heart of the Ottoman Empire, eventually numerous instances of Turkish parents
establishing there the first modern printing attempting to disguise themselves as
press in a Muslim land. One of his own books Christians so that their children might be
published on his own press in 1710 had been afforded this honor. Indeed, the Ottomans
dismissed by 18th century historians as a pro- specifically groomed these and other
Islamic tract, but in fact it is a far more Europeans for positions of power within their
complicated and more Unitarian tome than administration, finding it safer to place
that. According to Berkes, Risale-I Islamiye was Europeans in the Empire’s highest post than
66 not only the clear work of an anti-Trinitarian Muslims who might belong to families with
rival dynastic claims to those of the Ottomans. Prepared, then, to find more cultural
Given that the Hungarian boys raised as enmeshment in our story than we might have
Unitarians often did the best with their otherwise expected, let us return to telling the
Islamic educations, it is tempting to speculate tale of the Edict of Torda.
on the presence of these Hungarian Muslim-
Unitarians in the highest of Ottoman places. Restoring the Pasha to the Edict
We know that of the twenty-one Grand Viziers It is my final assertion that the 1568 Edict of
most credited with Ottoman success (those Torda would have been unthinkable were it
who directed the imperial administration not for the direct political influence of the
between 1453 and 1623), eleven are Ottoman example and the indirect cultural
described as South Slavs. As for the eight influences that resulted from two cultures,
viziers who constituted the royal Divan of enmeshed in more ways that any textual evi-
Sultan Suleyman himself, only two are dence alone will ever adequately reveal.
described as Moslems at birth, three being Here is an example of the direct influence
Croatian, two Albanian, and one Hungarian.7 of Ottoman rule on the edict: on August 24,
Unfortunately, it does seem that most textual 1548, the Sultan’s representative in Buda was
traces of voluntary Unitarian-Islamic conver- requested by local authorities in Tolna to take
sion might be lost. Ironically, evidence of action against the Hungarian Protestant pas-
conversion has been denied not only by tradi- tor there, Imre Szigeti. Specifically, the
tional European accounts seeking to mitigate Catholic authorities in Tolna, offended by
Ottoman power but also by those seeking to Pastor Szigeti’s unapologetic and public advo-
retell the story of Islam without Western bias. cacy of reformed ideas, asked that he either
On a contemporary level, for example, be killed or driven from the city for heresy.
Edward Said’s Orientalism brilliantly demon- The chief intendant of the Pasha of Buda not
strates the anti-Islamic prejudices of even only communicated to the authorities in
those Westerners who devoted their life to the Tolna that the Pasha denied their request, he
study of the Middle East. Yet one of the cases also issued an edict of toleration which states
that Said cites as evidence of the European in part that “preachers of the faith invented
prejudice against Muslims is that of William by Luther should be allowed to preach the
Whitson (1667-1752), the successor to Isaac Gospel everywhere to everybody, whoever
Newton’s science chair at Cambridge, a man wants to hear, freely and without fear, and
fascinated by Arabic Islamic manuscripts. that all Hungarians and Slavs (who indeed seasons
Whitson was indeed expelled from wish to do so) should be able to listen to and
Cambridge for heresy in 1710. Said suggests receive the word of God without any danger.
this was a result of his affinity for Islam (1979, Because this is the true Christian faith and
| spring – summer 2004 |

76). Yet, actually, his reading of Islamic man- religion.”9

uscripts converted Whitson not to Islam but The Pasha’s edict is not mentioned in any
to Unitarianism, introducing him to the idea of the Unitarian histories, yet it bears much in
that the doctrine of the trinity was not common, in terms both of imagery and inten-
preached directly by Christ. Indeed, after his tion, with the later edicts of toleration to
expulsion from Cambridge, Whitson went on come from John Sigismund’s court. We have
to write three explicitly Unitarian books been taught that the radicalness of the 1568
(Arberry, 1960, 34-35).8 Edict of Torda over previous tolerations lies
It would appear, then, that the history of not merely in its extension of tolerance but in
Unitarian-Islamic mutual influence has been its unique assertion of freedom of individual
erased from at least several directions. conscience: “because faith is a gift of God; it 67
 springs from listening, which listening for- Additionally, we know that we have previously
wards the word of God” (Varkonyi, 1993, underestimated the influence of the
106). Yet this 1548 edict by the Pasha of Buda Ottoman legal system on the development of
establishes an even earlier connection the Reformation. During the 1550s, 1560s,
between true faith and free listening. and 1570s, the Protestants in Hungarian
While no direct textual trail exists, it is hard lands, directly ruled by the Ottomans, man-
to imagine that Dávid himself could have been aged to hold their doctrinal debates with the
unfamiliar with the Pasha’s 1548 edict when Catholics and issue their subsequent edicts
he laid the groundwork for the Edict of Torda under the direction of a presiding Turkish
two decades later. Like Dávid, Imre Szigeti pasha or bey who assured the Protestant tri-
had been a Hungarian student at Wittenberg, umph either through overt ruling or indirect
and, indeed, the record we have of the Pasha’s tampering (Tihany, 1975).
edict comes to us from a letter written by I would like to leave the story of direct influ-
Szigeti to his former classmate Matthias ence there, for it would not do to have, once
Flacius, a man also known to Dávid. In 1548, again, the allure of a direct trail detract from
while Szigeti was serving the Lutheran church what I hope instead gradually begins to
in Tolna, Dávid was serving the Lutheran emerge as a portrait of two cultures more
church in Bistrita (Beszterce), placing him in greatly enmeshed in patterns of creative con-
closer geographical range to Buda than flict, mutual attraction, and circular patterns
Szigeti. Recall also that the Magyar Lutherans of influence than we have imagined before.
elected Francis David as their superintendent There are of course, many pieces of the por-
in 1557, and the authority for the toleration of trait yet to be assembled, but when we assemble
the churches, which David administered, them, let us do so with an eye not towards
would have emanated directly from this partic- telling an ethnically distinct cultural history,
ular edict by the Pasha. but with an eye towards the many ways in which
Moreover, the Pasha’s action corresponds the borders between the Ottoman and
with what might be anticipated on the basis of Hungarian cultures were in this period
other more frequently recounted events. We crossed, renegotiated, and re-crossed. The
know, for example, that in 1574, in Lower basis for the Edict of Torda was established not
Hungary, two preachers championing the only in Francis David’s mind, not only in Euro-
Unitarian cause were persecuted for heresy by pean humanist influence, not even only
local authorities under outdated, pre-tolera- through the direct political and legal influ-
tion laws. Lukas Tolnai managed to escape, ence of the Ottoman Empire. The grounds for
| spring – summer 2004 | seasons

but George Alvinczi was put to death on order religious toleration were also prepared for in
of a church court presided over by the the everyday lives of actual persons, who expe-
Calvinist bishop. Influential Unitarians knew rienced the negotiations of intermarriage
to turn to the Pasha at Buda for assistance. before any legal proclamation of toleration,
Eager to assist the Unitarians, the Pasha and who knew the attractions of Islam and the
declared the execution of Alvinczi “inhu- safety it accorded progressive Protestants
mane” and ordered that the bishop and his before the publication of any theological
two fellow judges be killed. Only when the treatise.
Unitarian preacher at Pécs interceded, saying What if we were to spin out the implica-
that Unitarians did not want such dramatic tions of toleration as a shared East-West
revenge, did the Pasha remit the sentence; in undertaking beyond Torda? It has been com-
lieu of it, a heavy annual tribute was imposed monly asserted that John Locke’s even more
68 on the entire locale (Wilbur, 1952, 84-85). famous proclamation of religious tolerance
 5
was undertaken in ignorance of the Edict of Both the quotation and the story about the
Torda (Várkonyi, 1993). I’m not fully con- turban are from Paul Thuri-Farkas’ 1613 Idea
vinced by this denial of influence—we know, Christianorum Hungarorum. Farkas was a
after all, that Locke read Unitarian literature Lutheran clergyman, a rector of the reformed
from Transylvania and that he met and con- theological school in Tolna. His specific aim was
versed with Unitarians from Transylvania to stir up anti-Ottoman and pro-Habsburg senti-
prior to his articulations of the principle ment amongst Protestants living in areas
of toleration. I am also aware that Locke’s controlled by the Habsburgs. (Tihany, 1975,
statement originated from a time marked by 58).
6
more cultural crossings, more mutual The fascinating dynamic of “turning Turk”
Unitarian-Islamic interests than is usually is explored in Vitkus (2003).
acknowledged.10 Could it be that religious 7
Statistics from C.D. Darlington’s The
toleration, supposedly that most precious Evolution of Man and Society (NY, 1971), as cited
inheritance of the EuropeanEnlightenment, in Tihany, 1975, 382-383.
8
has always been a shared creation? It is espe- In fairness to Said, he does acknowledge
cially ironic that we celebrate the that “Access to Indian (Oriental) riches had
progressive, diversity-promoting character of always to be made by first crossing Islamic
the earliest European statements of religious provinces and by withstanding the dangerous
toleration, even as we describe them in ways effect of Islam as a system of quasi-Arian belief”
that erase Islamic influences. It is past time (76).
9
for a more perfectly realized version of the Tihany, 55. Tihany takes letter from Imre
paradigm of shared understanding that is Szigedi from Geza Kathona, Fejezetek a török
now itself centuries old. Hodoltsági reformáció történetéböl (Budapest,
1974).
Notes 10
Harrison and Laslett’s description of
1
On the lack of governmental documents, Locke’s library certainly suggests that, given the
see Péter; on the denial of influence, see number of Unitarian and Socinian histories
Kratochvil. owned by Locke, it as at least possible that he
2
For an account of how the assumptions of had reading knowledge of the Edict of Torda.
philology work against an understanding of Even more suggestively, though, when the
Ottoman culture, in this case specifically research by Harrison and Laslett and by
Ottoman literary culture, see Holbrook. MacLachlan and Champion are combined, we seasons
3
Unitarianism, for example, is often realize that Locke would have personally met
referred to in the nationalistic literature as Unitarians from Transylvania. We also know
being uniquely suited to the spirit of the that he read the Qur’an (Harrison and Laslett,
| spring – summer 2004 |

Hungarian people (Sisa, 1990, 86). While this 1971) and that the London of his time was far
association occurs most frequently in the litera- more marked by Islamic influence than previ-
ture of Hungarian Unitarians, it is interesting ously thought (Matar, 1994).
to note the degree to which many modern
American Unitarians maintain the connection. Works Cited
4
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