Tumult of Thorn (Toruń)

Executions at Thorn (Toruń)

The Tumult of Thorn (Toruń) (Polish: Tumult toruński), also called Blood-Bath of Thorn^[1] (German: Thorner Blutgericht) refers to executions ordered in 1724 by the Polish supreme court under Augustus II the Strong of Saxony. During a religious conflict between Protestant townsfolk represented by mayor Johann Gottfried Rösner, and the Roman Catholic students of the Jesuit college in the city of Thorn (Toruń) in Royal Prussia, the Jesuit collegium had been besieged, profaned and devastated by a crowd of German Protestants. The mayor and nine other Lutheran officials were blamed for neglect of duty, sentenced to death and executed on 7 December 1724. The executions damaged Poland's reputation in Protestant Europe and among the German thinkers of Enlightenment.^[2][3]

Historical background

The city of Thorn (Toruń) was founded by crusading German knights of the Teutonic Order and granted Kulm law city rights in 1233. More settlers soon arrived with Franciscan and Dominican monks. In the 15th century, after becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the policy of the Order, citizen of the Order's monastic state organized themselves into the Prussian Confederation, and seceded in 1454 with the help of the Polish Crown. The resulting Thirteen Years' War ended in 1466 with the Second Peace of Thorn, in which the province of Royal Prussia was created and incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland ^[4].

After the secularization of the Teutonic Order, the newly formed Duchy of Prussia and the remaining Prussian territory adopted Lutheranism in 1525, the first state to do so. During the Protestant Reformation, also the mostly German-populated Royal Prussia adopted Protestantism in 1557, while the majority of the Kingdom of Poland remained Roman Catholic. During the tenure of office of the mayor (Bürgermeister) Heinrich Stroband (1586–1609), the city became centralised and power went into the hands of its city council. At that time, Poland was largely tolerant in religious affairs. However, this gradually changed with the advent of Counter-Reformation.

In 1595, the Jesuits arrived to promote the Counter-Reformation, taking control of the Church of St. John. Protestant city officials tried to limit the influx of a Catholic population into the city, as Catholics (Jesuits and Dominican monks) already controlled most churches, leaving only St. Mary to the Protestant citizens.

In the second half of the 17th century, tensions between Catholics and Protestants grew. In 1645, a Colloquium Charitativum, a discussion between the leaders of the rival creeds, resulted in no agreement. Just as the religious tensions in the rest of Europe settled down after the bloody Thirty Years' War and Peace of Westphalia, in the once very tolerant Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the situation was worsening. From 1682, St. Mary's Church had to be guarded by a Lutheran Bürgerwehr (militia) during the Feast of Corpus Christi processions, as the assembled Catholics might have occupied this church as well. More violent conflicts occurred in 1688 and 1721.^[5]

1724 Events

Johann Gottfried Rösner (21.11.1658 in Züllichau - 7.12.1724 in Thorn Toruń)

On 16 and 17 July 1724, when the Jesuits held another procession, fights between pupils of the Jesuits and Lutheran inhabitants occurred as Jesuit pupils accused the gathered Lutherans of showing disrespect to Holy Mary, by not taking their hats off during the procession and not kneeling before her statue. In the following argument, a Catholic student named Stanisław Lisiecki was arrested by Lutheran militia. In response, pupils of the Jesuits dragged a pupil named Jan Nagórny of the Lutheran Gymnasium into their monastery, demanding that Lisiecki be released. After which a crowd assembled in front of the monastery to demand his release. Rösner, who in that year served as president of the town council, ordered the town militia to dissolve the angry mob, but the commander disobeyed, as did the "citizen guards". Only the "crown guards", loyal to the king, could eventually pacify the scene, yet only after the crowd had entered the Jesuit building, causing damage.^[6] Several Jesuits were beaten, portraits of Catholic Saints were defiled, and the main altar was partially destroyed. Afterwards many books and paintings were thrown out into a pile and set on fire.

After this event, both Jesuits and Dominicans tried to persuade the mayor, Johann Gottfried Rösner, and ten other leading citizens, all of them Prussian German Protestants, to convert to Roman Catholicism. They declined, and stayed in the city despite the pressure when the Jesuits sued them at the royal supreme court in Warsaw. The court was held during the second monarchy of August II the Strong of Saxony in the era of the Silent Sejm, a time in which the Russian Empire dictated Polish internal policy. August, who had converted to Catholicism to be elected to the Polish throne, regretted not to be in a position to pardon the convicts.

Rösner and twelve other Lutherans were sentenced to death on 16 November. Prince Jerzy Dominik Lubomirski led a regiment of soldiers to the city to execute the verdict. Rösner and other officials were to be decapitated for "neglecting their duty and countenancing tumult", while two others accused of profaning the Virgin were to be mutilated, quartered and burned.

One of the convicts converted to Catholicism and was spared, as was Rösner's predecessor and proxy, Jakob Heinrich Zerneke (1672–1741), a well-respected citizen and historian who had written the Thornische Chronica ^[7] or Chronica Thornica^[8] in 1711. He received amnesty on 12 December and emigrated to Danzig (Gdańsk).^[9]

The only remaining Protestant church, St. Mary's, was also made Catholic again and given to Franciscan monks who celebrated a mass there on the day of the execution, 7 December 1724, which is now observed in remembrance of the Protestant martyrs.^[10] In addition, the majority of the town council was required to be Catholic from then on, but the citizens never elected that many Catholics to office since they were perceived as less educated. Lutheran possessions such as a school, a chapel and a printing press had to be handed over to Catholic control.

Aftermath

The event was presented by Brandenburg-Prussia as a proof of Polish intolerance.^[11] In large parts of Protestant Europe, the "blood court" or "blood-bath of Thorn",^[12] reminiscent of witch-hunts,^[13] damaged Poland's reputation of tolerance. Over 165 publications and countless newspapers reported about the event. Decades later, during the Partitions of Poland, Voltaire recalled the sentencing of Protestants an example "of the religious intolerance of the Poles".^[14]

A later pastor at Thorn, Franz Jacobi, researched and wrote about the events and stated that the onesided unjust convictions and executions outraged and nearly caused a European war.^[15]

In Polish history books, the event rarely finds mention.^[16] The Polish name Tumult Toruński avoids mentioning the ensuing executions, as does Tumult of Thorn, used by some historians. Norman Davies states that it was the sole event for which the name of Copernicus's birthplace was remembered in Protestant Europe.^[16]

Notes

1. ^ Google Books Search for Blood-bath of Thorn
2. ^ The new Poland: the story of the resurrection of a submerged people By Nevin Otto Winter. Page 161.
3. ^ As quoted from The English historical review (and) Essays in eighteenth-century history
4. ^ Daniel Stone,A History of East Central Europe, University of Washington Press, 2001, p. 30, ISBN 0295980931 Google Books
5. ^ Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg: Zwischen polnischer Ständegesellschaft und preussischem Obrigkeitsstaat, 1995 [1]
6. ^ (German) Johann Gottfried Roesner Vollbild mit Infos
7. ^ Jacob Heinrich Zernecke, Thornische Chronica, in welcher die Geschichte dieser Stadt zusammen getragen worden. Zweyte vermehrte Auflage, Berlin, MDCCXXVII [2]
8. ^ Nicolas Lenglet Dufresnoy, New Method of Studying History
9. ^ Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe, Akademie Verlag ISBN 3050038489, [3] [4].
10. ^ Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon: Märtyrer des Thorner Blutgerichts
11. ^ Karin Friedrich: The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569–1772, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 187.
12. ^ beheading the burgomaster and nine other leading Protestant citizens, an act of oppression which is known as the "blood-bath of Thorn."
13. ^ American Society for Reformation Research: [5] Archive for Reformation History, 1980.
14. ^ Martin Schulze Wessel, Jörg Requate, Europäische Öffentlichkeit Transnationale Kommunikation seit dem 18. Jahrhundert, Frankfurt/Main, 2002, ISBN 3-593-37043-3.
15. ^ Franz Jacobi, Das Thorner Blutgericht 1724, 1896.
16. ^ ^{a b} Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland: in Two Volumes, pp. 139–41.

Literature

• Ewald: Das betrübte Thorn. Erzählung aus dem Anfange des vorigen Jahrhunderts. 1826
• Krieger, Arnold: Empörung in Thorn. Weichseldeutscher Roman 1939
• Pederzani-Weber, Julius: Das Thorner Blutgericht. Erzählung um 1910
• Prowe, Adolf: Das Thorner Blutgericht. Eine Erzählung 1866
• Strobl, Karl Hans: Der dunkle Strom. Roman 1922
• Wichert, Ernst: Die Thorner Tragödie. Roman 1902
• George Gottlieb Dittmann: Beyträge zur Geschichte der Stadt Thorn aus guten und zuverlässigen Quellen gesammlet, Thorn, 1789 [6]
• Martina Thomsen: Zwischen Hauptwache und Stockhaus. Kriminalität und Strafjustiz in Thorn im 18. Jahrhundert, 2005, ISBN 3-87969-325-0 [7]

External links

• Deutsche & Polen: 1724 Das Thorner Blutgericht (German)
• Johann Gottfried Rösner (German)
• Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon: Märtyrer des Thorner Blutgerichts (German)
• EB1911: "blood-bath of Thorn"
• Visiting Toruń : Churches on the Old Town