Rocky Cape Christian Community

The Danube at Beograd (Belgrade), capital of Serbia, whose modern buildings, visible in the distance, did not greet Solomon Böger on his arrival in 1607.

After months of anxious searching, narrow escapes, and walking for days without food from town to town in Turkish-held Hungary, Solomon Böger arranged a ransom for two sisters, Els the baker’s wife from Tvrdonice, and Elisabeth the Weinzierl’s wife from Prušánky. But before the church community, back home in Moravia, would send the money (Solomon had managed to lower the price from 200 ducats to 150) they wanted to hear more about what was happening. Waiting anxiously in Budapest, Solomon finally received this letter:

27 February, 1607, from Klaus Braidl and all the elders at Přibice in Moravia to Solomon Böger in Budapest, Hungary

May our Lord in heaven be with you always, dear brother Solomon! We got your letter from Budapest, written on the 11th of February, as well as your previous one from Komárom. Everything was read in a big meeting of the believers and carefully evaluated in the fear of God.

Since we do not learn anything more from your letter than that you have found two captive sisters and are in negotiations for them, and since we do not know the nature of those negotiations we felt it would be difficult to get everything arranged through the mail. We also felt it would be risky to send so much money so far, without a more certain way of knowing that it would even reach you. So we are wondering if you couldn’t quickly come back and explain everything to the whole community face to face. Then we could seek God’s direction and make further plans together.

Be sure to tell the captive sisters, if you see them, that we are very deeply concerned about their welfare and will do everything in our means to help them if possible. We would have sent some money along with this letter for your travelling expenses, but we are just not sure it would reach you. If you have to borrow any for your personal needs, do not worry. We will not let you sit.

Struggling with impatience, fearing all the time the fickle Turks would change their minds, or a fresh outbreak of violence would upset his plans, Solomon hurried back to Moravia. But he kept a respectful and brotherly attitude to his church leaders. He got the money, returned to Hungary, found the sisters and arranged for their safe passage home -- adding a note to the brothers to be sure to pay their escort and treat him kindly so he might be inclined to help on further missions.

Then, after two fruitless excursions to Esztergom, Solomon made a bold entry into the castle prison at the old Hungarian city of Vác. First the guards flatly refused him entry. The next day he managed to sneak past them, right when the gates opened in the morning. But someone soon spotted him and he could only speak a few words to Abraham the tailor, a captive brother there, before they hustled him out and sent him on his way. Soon after this, he wrote another letter home:

28 April 1607 from Solomon Böger in Komárom to the brothers and sisters in Moravia

Ali Pasha has sent David the tailor’s wife to his estate, 400 miles from here. Elisabeth the Weinzierl’s wife told me that during the ride down here one of the sisters went into labour. As soon as the baby was born the Turks put her back onto a horse and with great pain she had to go riding off, leaving her baby lying on the ground. The next day Elisabeth saw her in the camp but did not recognise her as a sister. The reason for this was that she was not wearing anything. They had taken off her clothes and a rough man was pouring water over her, again and again, to cleanse her from the birth of the child. As soon as he was done that shameless tyrant began to violate her again. One of our girls, a six-year-old from Velké Leváry who had been staying at Altenmarkt, was forced to watch it all and fainted from horror.

It seems Schellbaum’s wife drowned while crossing the March. Up to that time the sisters had seen her, but after the crossing no one saw her again. She must have fallen from her horse.

Elisabeth the Weinzierl’s wife also told me that she was in the camp with Judith Misslin from Tvrdonice. She could hear her screaming while the men shamefully forced and abused her. In her great need Judith later shared with her how sore and swollen she had become for not cooperating with them. She said she would gladly suffer everything, should the Lord require it of her, if only this terrible abuse and shame would stop.

So I plead with you dear brothers for all the captives. Do not forget them, plead with God for them, as it appears that only a few will yet find their way to the church community. They got scattered far and wide and one cannot find them.

Red dotted line showing Solomon Böger's journey from Altenmarkt in Moravia through Wien (Vienna), Bratislava, and Budapest to to Novi Sad and Beograd in Serbia, searching for his kidnapped wife, Gretl and their baby.

When a rumour of Hutterite captives in the city of Eger, northeast of Budapest, reached Komárom, the Austrian ambassador, Philipp Morgenthaler, sent a letter of inquiry to a German captive at that place and received this answer:

Salus in eo qia est salus omnium!  (Greetings in the one who is the source of all health!)

I greet you my dear Lord Philipp, Imperial Captain, and that you are fresh and healthy I learned with heartfelt joy. I got your letter and understand that you wish to know if there are any sisters from the Hutterite communities held captive here in Eger. Yes, I know of five. One is Lydia, a milkmaid. Her husband was Hans, a shepherd from Birnbaum (Hrusky). The other ones are Margret, wife of Asher Häring, Kathrina and Salome from Tvrdonice, and Elisabeth from Prušánky, married to Neudorf. All of these women beg you earnestly to do all within your power to free them.

After conferring with Solomon Böger, the Imperial Ambassador sent him back to Moravia with this remarkable letter in hand:

11 July 1607, from Philipp Morgenthaler, Commander in Chief and Imperial Ambassador in Budapest, to the Church Community in Moravia

Beloved Friends and Brothers in Christ, may you receive my greetings and willingness to serve you!

Your brother, Solomon the miller, has been here for the second time. He can tell you personally what I told him about your captive members in Hungary. I wish to inform you, however, that at least six of your people are still held by the Turks in the city of Eger, and Solomon has spoken to me about them because I live out that direction, in the city of Novigrad . He asked me to arrange a deal and bring them out from there — something I will only too gladly accept as my responsibility in Christian love. The only thing I need is the assurance that you will meet your part of the bargain.

I know of a captive Turkish woman held by the widow of the fallen general Hans Christoff Teufel. If I could pay for her I do not doubt I could trade her for three or at least two of your sisters. Please send me a letter and tell me what I should do.

I am willing and ready at all times to do what I can for you. Please greet my old friend and bathing companion, Daniel! May God protect and keep you always,

Philipp Morgenthaler

Oberhauptmann und Pfandschilling zu Ofen (Budapest)

"Beloved friends and brothers in Christ. . . " The Ambassador's words to the Hutterite community could hardly be more surprising, in light of the times. Shortly before this the imperial government at Vienna was still burning Anabaptists alive for what they believed. Shortly afterward they would commission the Jesuits to bring all Hutterite communities in Moravia and Slovakia to their disastrous end. But for the moment, in this time of common distress, the believers and their opponents took a little time-out on common ground.

Soon after this first letter, the Austrian officials at Budapest wrote to the church communities in Moravia again:

Beloved Brothers and Dear Friends,

We inform you that we have redeemed two of your poor captive sisters through your brother Solomon’s efforts. For the one we paid 126 Reichsthaler, and for the other 109 and 20 d, plus five yards of double taffeta. We paid cash and would like to know if you could send this amount in good German coins to Martin Steppen in Komárom and to Hans Andres in Vienna, as soon as possible. Hopefully you can do this promptly so we will be able to serve you further. May the grace of God keep all those that are dear to you!

Your constantly willing servants,

Lukas Pfeiffer and Philipp Morgenthaler

After fetching the money and entering Turkish Hungary for the third time, Solomon wrote another letter home:

24 August 1607, from Solomon Böger to the Church Communities in Moravia

I cannot tell for sure how things stand here. Not much has changed since I was here last. Everyone is waiting for the big meeting (Landtag) to be held between the Imperial officers and the Turks in Bratislava. Let all of us earnestly pray to God,. let us pray together, that he might soften the heart of the rulers as he softened the heart of the King of Niniveh. Things do not look good, but we know that God holds the rulers’ hearts in his hands and can guide them like he does the course of a stream. I trust he will not abandon any earnest soul that trusts in him.

I pray to the Lord Almighty that he will guide me on the way so I may not bring dishonour upon the church community of Christ, neither among the Jews nor among the heathen. My goal is to help and encourage every earnest Christian in an impartial way, treating all alike, those we know and those we don’t know, doing all I can for them in every way the government permits.

In Budapest Solomon looked for and found the wives of several Czech people from his home area. People who had promised to supply him with the money needed to redeem them, if he could. But when the church at home found out about it, the leaders were unhappy. "Into what extent of trouble might this lead us?" they wondered.

Solomon wrote back, “I did it for the good of the people in our neighbourhood, so that the Gemein might enjoy the good will and gratefulness of these rescued women's children for generations to come.” But he promised the leaders he would not get into further dealings and commitments with the unbelieving -- at least not where he could help it. Later on he did, nevertheless, find and help more Czech people rescue their lost companions.

About his own affairs Solomon wrote: 

I still cannot find any trace of my wife and child. As to living here among this bestial, godless and Sodom-like people, among whom a male is in nearly as much danger as a female, and for which one has to be on the watch all the time, I am sick of it. But in my heart I still entertain a good hope. If God Almighty brings it about that the big meeting (Landtag) between the Austrians and the Turks at Bratislava goes well, I hope in God that you will yet see many of our captive sisters with your own eyes again. . . .

Do not worry about me, brothers, but keep on praying for me and for all our captive brothers and sisters in the faith. As to the danger this involves, I took it all upon myself, and I will spare no effort in doing what I can to free as many as possible. I trust this will not bring the church community into any trouble or shame. I feel inwardly propelled to keep on looking for my wife until the end, whether she is dead or alive, so I may return to be with you and live out the rest of my days, however it may be.

During his time in Budapest Solomon learned of a proposal made by several Haiduk leaders who had come to see Ali Pasha. The Haiduks were a wild people (related to the Jewish Khazars) living in eastern Hungary. They offered to come with sixteen thousand men to attack and plunder Moravia again, and to press all the way through to Germany -- if only the Turks would fight with them.

Regarding this threat Solomon wrote home, warning the communities of impending disaster, yet reassuring them of his commitment to them:

Should disaster fall upon us and make it impossible for me to return from Hungary back into Austria and Moravia, I will make my way down to Venice. Either way I will keep the covenant I made to you brothers and sisters, to share all we have, whether in good times or evil.

For a long time Solomon had felt the urge to travel south of Budapest, down through Novi Sad to Beograd in Serbia, to see whether he could find Gretl and the baby there. Rumours had come of Hutterite captives down that direction. But the Austrians in Budapest warned him against going. The road, they said, would be suicidal for an unarmed man. What is more, he might anger the Turks and make it even worse for the captive sisters. About this, Solomon wrote home:

9 September 1607, from Solomon Böger in Budapest

The officers advise me against going to Griechisch Weissenburg (Beograd), but I think I should go anyway. If I could just sneak in somehow I might be able to bring the captive sisters a word of comfort and encouragement, after all the horrible things they suffered at the camps in Fräsl and Tyrnava. At least that way they might have a free conscience before God.

I believe it is right before God and the whole world that I keep the promises I made to my marriage partner, that I do not let what I promised become empty words (dass ich dasselbige im wenigsten nicht kraftlos mache). Even though it may cost me great tribulation and suffering, even though it brings me into prison and chains, I will do what I can, without bringing the Lord’s church community into trouble because of it. Whatever God Almighty hangs over me I am willing to carry by myself.

Finally, upon his insistence, Lukas Pfeiffer and Philipp Morgenthaler got a passport for Solomon from Ali Pasha and sent him off in the company of an Italian doctor travelling to Serbia. For six months the brothers and sisters back home heard nothing from him. Then they got this letter:

21 June 1608, Solomon Böger writing from Komárom on the Danube to the Church Community in Moravia

I found a young boy in Beograd. He had been keeping the sheep at our community in Kreuz [the former Gabrielite community near Hodonin], when he was kidnapped by the Turks and carried away. But by now he has become a Muslim.

I also found a young girl from Prušánky. She is the daughter of Jakob the pig man and Margarethe who does the painting there. Her name is Gretl and she has a brother Jäkl. This girl has also become a Muslim and has had two children from a Turk. The last one was an untimely birth through which she suffered so much that she has lost her senses and fallen into a state for which a stone would have to feel mercy (das es ein Stein erbarmen möcht).

I went to a Turkish judge to plead for her, and took her Turk along with me. He had purchased Gretl for 40 fl but has now taken another wife. He was willing to part with her because of her condition, and I was willing to take her with me. But we had to get a written permit from the judge because it would have been very dangerous for me to take a Muslim convert away from their people. The punishment for such an offence is death through drowning or burning alive.

The judge would  not give me any document because she was a supposed convert. I argued that she was neither Muslim nor Christian nor Jewish. She had lost her senses and was helpless in body and soul. They asked her if she professed the Muslim faith but one could not understand either yes or no from what she said. They kept this girl then and said she could live from begging.

I also heard, in Beograd, of a sister who had died there. They said she had been a fine sensible woman, greatly concerned about her only child. Her husband had been a weaver. I found out from the Turkish lady who had kept her that her name was Kathelina. I thought right away it might have been Kaspar the weaver’s wife, Christina. So I sent another message to the lady asking if she could hear the difference between Christina and Kathelina. She sent me an answer back and said it was all the same to her. This makes me pretty certain the woman must have been Kaspar’s wife. Her child is kept by the Turks in Esztergom, but no longer speaks German.

A day’s travel south of Beograd, in a city called Smederevo, we heard that many of our captives were being held. The Italian doctor travelled down there with me, but we did not find anyone.

This whole trip to Beograd took place with many frightful incidents and in constant uncertainty because of robbers. But God miraculously protected me. The winter was long and cold and I had miserable places to stay. Now I want to travel further south into Turkey itself with our brother Balthasar Goller. . . .

I did not learn of any more of our people in Beograd. Everyone tells me they were carried far into the south into Turkey and further into Tatar lands.

On his return from Serbia, Solomon heard exciting news. A large contingent of Austrians under the command of the Imperial Ambassador, Adam von Herberstein, had just left Vienna and was coming down the Danube en route to Constantinople and the court of the Turkish Sultan himself. Bringing a gift of 150,000 gold pieces (fifty thousand less than the Turks had bargained for) they hoped to make peace and stop the Turks from further aggression upon "Christian Europe."
 
Travelling with the Ambassador von Herberstein was his private doctor, a Hutterite brother named Balthasar Goller. Solomon knew this brother and thinking quickly, made plans to meet him when the contingent reached the fortress at Komárom.
 
Would his plan work? Would the Lord help him find Gretl on the long road to Constantinople or beyond?
 
With God, Solomon reasoned, all things are possible!
 
To be continued.
 
Peter
 
P.S. While translating last week's portions I missed changing two city names to their modern spellings. Raab, in Hungary, is now the city of Györ, just south of Bratislava. Gran is Esztergom on the Danube. Does anyone know which city the Austrians knew as Fräsl?
 
Rocky Cape Christian Community
19509 Bass Highway
Detention River, Tasmania 7321
Australia
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