by Kaye McCall, member

            Last summer I went to Hungary and Transylvania with a group of 7 UU’s from Georgia.  Did I see any vampires?  No…I did see Count Dracula’s birthplace. In Transylvania, Dracula is known as a national hero , not a vampire, because he saved his people from the Turkish invaders. Did I see Unitarians living in Transylvania?  Yes! And I saw the ghosts of Unitarians from the past. I found that in Transylvania, people treasure their history. Traditions are handed down to the young in the hope that certain things will never be forgotten.  In this land, there are still places made sacred by the acts of heroes and legendary figures.  It was moving to visit sites where historic events in the founding of Hungary and Unitarianism occurred… and to see for myself what some Unitarians would call their “holyland”.It was wonderful to meet present-day Transylvanian Unitarians, proud that we had come so far to get to know them.  I invite you to view some photos from this experience at http://nwuuc.smugmug.com/.

            Our leaders were Dr. Fred Howard, a UU minister, from South Georgia  and Eva Kellemen, the wife of a Transylvanian Unitarian minister from the village of Okland.  Each day, as we learned about Hungary’s past, our group had a devotional together.  Each night we wrote our reflections into a diary.  We began in Budapest, Hungary and learned about the history of the Hungarian people. Seven tribes of Hunar and Magyar warriors came from Mongolia in 896 AD.  They spread throughout Hungary to Transylvania.  In 1000AD, their first king, Stephan, converted to Christianity in Buda, and was crowned by the Pope.  Today on that site in the old fortress town of Buda where the royal palace still stands, there is a King Stephan monument. We had our first devotional there, overlooking the Danube River.  In the fifteenth century, King Matyas Corvin, loved by his people for being a just and wise king, married Italian Princess Beatrice, who brought the Renaissance culture to Hungary with her court. King Matyas, a learned man who spoke 7 languages and owned an extraordinary library, personifies the Hungarian reverence for education.  Our UU group saw that today, his birthplace is preserved as part of the University in Kolosvar.

            Transylvania with the city of Kolosvar as its capital was once a part of the nation of Hungary. But it was torn off and given to the Romanians after WWI in the Treaty of Versailles. It lies near modern Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. In medieval times, the Turks of the Ottomon Empire frequently invaded these areas.  So the Hungarian king made a deal in the early 15^th Century with Saxons and  Seckler Hungarians, to build fortress cities to protect the borders. In return they were granted rights to self-government. It was in these areas of the self-governing tolerant Saxons and Secklers, where Unitarian communities sprang up in the 16^th C. and have survived the ravages of the Turks, the Catholic Church, and more recently Communist oppression.

            Frances David, the first Unitarian minister, was born in Transylvania in 1510. He studied theology at the University of Wittenburg in Saxony, where Martin Luther taught and in 1517, began the Protestant  Reformation.  Initially, David returned to Kolosvar, a charismatic Catholic priest.  He quickly became bishop and was given the largest church, St. Michael’s Cathedral.  But, influenced by the Protestants, he converted and was made a Lutheran bishop.  Still later, John Calvin influenced his thinking and he converted again.  But in 1553, when Calvin and the Geneva Church burned Unitarian Michael Servetus at the stake, David became part of the backlash against Calvinism.  He said,   "We cannot learn anywhere from the Scripture of God, that his words and religion are meant to be spread by fire and sword."  Then he read Servetus’ book “The Error of the Trinity” and realized that there is no scriptural basis for the Trinity and declared himself a Unitarian.  Each time David changed his own ideas, he converted his congregation at St. Michael’s.

           In Transylvania, 3 state religions had been allowed since 1548.  It was ruled by a liberal and tolerant Queen Isabella.  As reagent for her son, the crown prince for 21 years, she deeply influenced his beliefs. In 1567,  he was crowned King John Sigismond and he needed a court theologian,  so to be fair, he held a debate.

            Frances David, debated the three Trinitarian bishops hoping not only to be made court theologian, but also to make Unitarianism a fourth state religion. During the debate, the frustrated Calvinist said, “If I win you will be hanged.” But David replied, “If I win, you will not be hanged.  Everyone will be allowed to follow their conscience and worship as they choose without fear.” And David won the debate.   In 1568, King John and the Parliament met at the town of Torda and declared the Edict of Toleration. Our Georgia group went to the building where, 450 years ago, King John and the Diet of Torda laid the basis for modern democracy and freedom of religion with their edict. 

                But, in 1571, the king died in a hunting accident. His mother died soon after.  We visited a very old Unitarian church in Julia Alba and saw for ourselves, the marble tombs of King John and his mother inside the church.

            After King John’s death, Frances David led the Unitarian church for 8 more years.  But in 1579, he refused to offer prayers in the name of Jesus, and the new Catholic king, arrested him. We climbed up to the mountain fortress where

Frances David was imprisoned and died a month later. We looked down on the

 city of Deva, where he might have looked as he went to his death.

            But the Unitarian Church in Kolosvar survived and Unitarianism spread throughout Transylvania.  When the Catholic Hapsburgs took over the Austro- Hungarian Empire, 150 years later, they took back St. Michael’s Cathedral for  Catholics and told the Unitarians to build another church. Today there is a lovely baroque Unitarian Church a block down the street, next to the Unitarian Seminary and College.  Our group attended a Sunday service at the church, led by the Unitarian Bishop of Transylvania.

     East of Kolosvar, in the Hamorrod Valley, are farming villages that are100% Unitarian. When Communist dictator, Nikoli Ceacescu, took power in Romania in the early1960’s, he offered incentives to Romanians if they would move into Transylvania to dilute the Hungarian population.  The communist state took away historical buildings, including the two Unitarian boarding schools and the Kolosvar Unitarian College and Seminary.  But after the Romanian Revolution, these were returned in 1990. Now the Hungarians are restoring their historic buildings, neglected under communism, and trying to develop their economy.

            In the rural Hamorrod valley, the isolated Hungarian population was not diluted, and Unitarianism is alive and well.  Project Harvest Hope, an American  foundation that works with Transylvanian Unitarians, is developing a dairy co-op for farmers and has started travel inns with Hungarian décor and cuisine. We stayed at one of these inns and walked up the side of a mountain to a high pasture where farmers pitched hay as we looked back over the small town below and enjoyed the breath taking view of the unspoiled countryside.        

            Traveling by car was a daunting experience.  Outside big cities, there are only old bumpy two-lane roads. Cars and trucks share the way with horse-drawn wagons. Villages are built according to customs of earlier times.  The stucco buildings all have a steep tiled roof. We were delighted to see that many have inhabited stork nests perched on top. Every home is surrounded by a fence, often with a hand carved wooden gate topped with ornate bird houses.  These gates have a large door for the animals and a small door for humans.  At dawn, herds of cattle, goats, and buffalo go up to high pasture to graze, and at dusk return to their owners in the village.  They recognize their own homes and turn into the opened gate.  It was amazing for an Atlantan to watch this “rush hour” where all humans stop and give the animals the right of way!

          Our group stayed with families in Szekely Udvarhely, a town of 40,000, many educated professionals.  Our partner church was built here 100 years ago in 1908. On our first day, church members welcomed us, and we met our host families at the church, beautifully refurbished with donations NWUU sent last year.    My hosts, Denes Marton and his wife, Eva, led me to their home, a short walk from the church and welcomed me with a meal of stuffed cabbage.  They showed me their home and garden, designed and built by Denes,  an architect. The next day we met at the church with 20 young people, funded by the scholarship program at UUCA to study at one of the Unitarian boarding schools.  We had lunch and toured the town with them. They all spoke English fluently.

            The following three days, we took short trips to some nearby villages where we were entertained by Unitarians at their churches and homes. In accordance with Hungarian custom, we would be offered a home-made fruit drink called “palinka” followed by several toasts. We ladies learned quickly that it had a very high alcohol content and that we should just politely sip a little, and let the men have the “religious experience” associated with this drink.

          Spotting the Unitarian churches from a distance is not difficult.  Atop a tall steeple is a brass ball rather than a cross, and over the front door, a Hungarian inscription says “God is One.” The oldest Unitarian church we saw was built in 1250 AD, at the village of Sekely Dierzs.  It changed from Catholic to Unitarian in the 16th C.  The church yard was surrounded by a high wall with barns for storing bacon and grain.  In most Transylvanian villages, old fortress churches like this, were a refuge for the population during raids by the Turks.  Inside most village Unitarian churches, the pews are painted blue and altar cloths and hymnal covers embroidered by the church women are typical. At the Okland Unitarian Church, I was astonished to see among the wooden ceiling panels , painted in the 18^th C., a diagram of the heliocentric Solar System.  These people brought science and reason into their churches, just like American Unitarians! 

            On Saturday, our last day in Udvarhely, the annual one-day “World Gathering of Unitarians” convened in a nearby recreation park.  At least a thousand Unitarians from Hungary and Transylvania attended.  The procession was led by a real brass band. The Hungarian bishop and the Transylvanian bishop in long black capes, led 80 ministers onto a stage.  Behind them rode twenty horsemen, in 19^th century dress with boots, feathered hats, and the Hungarian flag. Each bishop welcomed us and spoke for about an hour, and then they led us up a hill to the grave of a famous Hungarian Unitarian patriot, Orban Beles. The brass band played the Hungarian National Anthem as both bishops solemnly laid a wreath on the hero’s grave.  Then we descended the hill and had a picnic with sausages and beer, a wonderful end to our week in Udvarhely!

    The Transylvanians I met were warm, friendly, and kind-hearted. They are proud and hold their Unitarian faith and their Hungarian heroes and customs close to their hearts.  They preserve and pass on their heritage. Despite oppression, their faith and community have survived.   But now it is progress that will affect their way of life. While it will bring a stronger economy, better education, and improvements in health and medicine, there will be negative effects too, such as pollution and political problems. May progress not change what is really important in these people!   May this Unitarian “holy land” still be there for years to come to be experienced by future pilgrims!