Colonisation of Bohemian and Moravian Brethren in Łódź region from 16th to 19th centuries

Abstract

The article describes migrations and colonization of Bohemian and Moravian Brethren in Łódź region from 16th to 19th centuries, as well as their cultural heritage. The first stage of colonisation involved migrations from Bohemia to Poland at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. It began in 1547 after emperor Ferdinand Habsburg's edict forcing the Bohemian Brethren to convert to Catholicism or leave the Habsburg empire, and lasted until the Battle of White Mountain (1620) at the outset of the Thirty Years' War. At this time, thousands of religious refugees from Bohemia settled in Polan, mostly in Great Poland, with some in the Łódź region. Most of the Bohemian Brethren congregations in Poland ended their activities during the Counter-Reformation, in late 17th century. The second stage of Czech settlement in the region started at the beginning of the 19th century, simultaneously with German colonisation. The biggest settlement of Bohemian Brethren in Łódź region was the town of Zelów, where a large group of immigrants from Silesia already lived. Until the mid-19th century, Czech settlements covered a dozen villages near Bełchatów. The village Kuców, demolished in the 1980s due to the opencast lignite mine, became the centre of the settlement. Most Czechs settled in Łódź region were Bohemian Brethren, who joined the Evangelical-Reformed Church, but kept their separate language and service. After the Second World War, most of them returned to Czechoslovakia. Hundreds of people declaring Czech nationality and cultivating their culture remain in Zelów. Moravian Brethren is a religious denomination, founded in the first half of the 18th century in Upper Lusatia by Protestant religious refugees from Moravia. They founded their settlements around the world, including the Russian Empire. Important Moravian Church settlements in Łódź region were Nowosolna and Lwówek near Gąbin. At the turn of the 19th century, they have joined the followers of other Protestant churches in the region. However, the characteristic features of their material culture remained: urban planning, cemeteries and prayer houses.