Hutterite History

A.D 33 Jesus

33

On the date A.D. 33 Jesus son of God was executed. Three days after his death he was resurrected washing us clean from all our sins and giving us choices to follow his teachings. Four of Jesus apostles wroth books in the New Testament that we still read today.

45-100 AD The Gospels and other NT books are written

45

There was a lot of debate on what should be added into the Testaments.

So God fearing men followed this criteria.
- the author must have either been an apostle or a close associate of an apostle
- the document cannot contradict other "inspired" writings with respect to doctrinal teaching
- the document must share the overall "feel" and "character" of other inspired writings, AND
- it must have been cited by early Christian writers and be accepted by the majority of churches

49-50 AD Council of Jerusalem rules that Gentile converts are not required to follow the Jewish law.

49

The Pharisees had a hard time letting go of the old testament. For example they wanted to circumcise the Gentiles, but the Council of Jerusalem said it was not necessary.

64 AD Great fire in Rome blamed on Christians. Nero tortures and kills thousands of Christians.

64

There was a great fire in Rome which destroyed lost of Rome's structures. Nero the emperor at that time hated the Christians and blamed the fire on the christens. The fire was also near the place where the Christians lived. For the fires reason he tortured and killed many christens.

69-70 AD Jewish revolt against Rome; Temple destroyed; Jews and Christians scattered

70

The Jews revolted against Rome because Gessius Florus hated the Jews and he ruled over Judea. He took advantage of the Jews money and stole silver from the Temple. He also sent troops into Jerusalem who massacred 3,600 citizens. This is what caused the first Jewish revolt.

90 Rise of Gnostic heresies. Some deny Jesus’ humanity.

90

A major turn in the church happened when people started to argue about Jesus not human. "Thus many Gnostics denied the Incarnation, claiming that Christ only appeared to be a man, but that his humanity was an illusion. Some Gnostics, recognizing that the Old Testament taught that God created matter, claimed that the God of the Jews was an evil deity who was distinct from the New Testament God of Jesus Christ."

144 AD Marcion excommunicated for heresy

144

At the age 34 Marcion caused quite a stir in the church. The church denounced him because of his ideas. He took the New Testament and changed things to fit his needs. He used the the gospel of Luke and rejected other books of the Testament.

235-270 AD Roman persecution under several emperors. Christianity grows rapidly.

235

Christens were killed and Christen leaders were especially targeted. Decius thought Christens were the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire, so he killed as many as he could. Christens were killed with the most cruel tortures.

312 AD Constantine sees a vision of the cross that he credits for his victory in battle

312

Constantine chose the Christianity because of a vision he saw before he went to war with a nation. He felt in order to win he needed a higher power. After spending a long time in prayer he was given a sign from God. "He saw with his own eyes the sign of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “By this symbol you will conquer.” He was struck with amazement by the sight, and his whole army witnessed the miracle. He won the war.

313 AD Edict of Milan, ends persecution of Christians, but it continues in the East

313

The two Roman Emperors met and decided abolish prosecution of Christens. During this time the church had an opportunity to grow and it started to flourish. But soon it ended, "Bishops were called to a meeting, they argued, fought, and eventually fleshed out an early version of the Nicene Creed. The council, led by Alexander, condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled him, and made it a capital offense to possess his writings. Constantine was pleased that peace had been restored to the church."

325 Council of Nicea is convened in response to numerous heresies. It condemns Arianism and produces an early version of the Nicene Creed—a clear definition of the Trinity.

325

The bishops and Emperor coming together to decide if " the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were listed as three co-equal and co-eternal Persons. Constantine wanted the misunderstandings and ideas resolved, "Constantine felt “called” to use his authority to help bring about unity, peace, and love within the church".

395-430 AD Augustine, influential theologian and bishop of Hippo in North Africa

395

Augustine was a Roman African Christian Philosopher and a theologian. He was from a Roman province of Africa. His writings influenced the development the Western Christianity and philosophy. Augustine was the Bishop north Africa Hippo Regius. "He is the viewed as the most important Church fathers of in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era". "Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions".

395-430 AD Augustine, bishop of Hippo in North Africa, author of numerous influential theological works including City of God. His writings dominate Christian theology in the West for centuries.

395

The church is being attacked from the outside, by barbarians, as well the inside, by heretics. Augustine was a small town boy who parents were very religious but for contrary gods. His father worshiped pagan gods and his mother was a Christen. in his young life he was careless about religious and ran wild sewing oats. As years passed he had an awaking and this made him passionate about Christ. He set aside his wild ways and committed his life to God, he became baptized.

476 AD Fall of the western Roman Empire. Beginning of Middle Ages.https://www.ancient.eu/article/835/fall-of-the-roman-empire/

476

The fall of the Roman Empire was a beginning of a new era known as the Dark Ages also known as Middle Ages, or Medieval times. The fall of Rome was the fall of the Roman City because most of western Rome had fallen in the 5th century.

529 AD Benedict of Nursia, father of Western monasticism, write his famous Rule http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/moversandshakers/benedict-of-nursia.html

529

Benedict was hated by the other monks who were supposed to learn from him. These monks tried to kill him. The monks put poison into Benedict's drink, but before he drank it he blessed it and the glass shattered. Saving him from drinking the poison and dying. He called them together forgave them for trying to kill him, and to told them he was leaving them he cannot say there any longer. Benedict wroth a rule of life that later became the model of monastic moderation.

610 AD Muhammed founds a new religion called Islamhttp://www.ushistory.org/civ/4i.asp

610

Muhammad was a poor child who was raised by his uncle and grandfather, when his parents died at the age of six.He was born on the Arabian Peninsula. When he was 20 he became a merchant and married a women called Khadijah. They had 6 children Over the years he built his wealth.

At the age of 40 he started to have religious visions that changed his life.The Angle Gabriel was told to came to Muhammad by Gad to teach him stuff. So he started to with the Koran and founded the Islamic religion.

800 AD Charlemagne crowned Roman emperor by Pope Leo III http://www.dw.com/en/charlemagne-is-crowned-emperor-december-25-800/a-4614858-1

800

Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king, Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800 in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, making him the most powerful ruler of his time. In November 799, Charlemagne set out for Rome. The pope had summoned him, because he could no longer fend off his enemies in the city. The core of his new realm was formed by those countries which, around 1,150 years later, would make up the European Economic Community: France, Germany, the Benelux states and Italy.

1054 AD Great Schism (split) between the church in the West and the East. http://www.dummies.com/religion/christianity/catholicism/the-split-that-created-roman-catholics-and-eastern-orthodox-catholics/

1054

Eastern Orthodox Catholics and Roman Catholics are the result of what is known as the East-West Schism (or Great Schism) of 1054, when medieval Christianity split into two branches.Charlemagne’s crowning made the Byzantine Emperor redundant, and relations between the East and the West deteriorated until a formal split occurred in 1054. The Eastern Church became the Greek Orthodox Church by severing all ties with Rome and the Roman Catholic Church from the pope to the Holy Roman Emperor on down.

1097-99 AD The First Crusade to capture Jerusalem from the Muslimhttp://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jerusalem-captured-in-first-crusade Turks

1097

The first crusaders were actually undisciplined hordes of French and German peasants who met with little success. One group, known as the “People’s Crusade,” reached as far as Constantinople before being annihilated by the Turks. In 1096, the main crusading force, featuring some 4,000 mounted knights and 25,000 infantry, began to move east. Led by Raymond of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Otranto, the army of Christian knights crossed into Asia Minor in 1097.

1209 AD Francis of Assisi gives away his wealth and starts group of traveling preachers known as Franciscans https://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/st-francis-assisi.html

1209

However, in 1201, aged 19, Francis joined a military expedition against Peruda. The campaign proved disastrous and injured on the battlefield Francis was taken prisoner for a year. During this period of imprisonment, a change within St Francis grew. He forsook the material pleasures and rewards of life and began to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ and the essential teachings of the Gospels. He started giving away his father’s wealth, and looking after outcasts such as lepers.

1255 AD Thomas Aquinas, the most influential medieval theologian, http://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/writes Summa Theologiae

1255

Thomas is perhaps most famous for his so-called five ways of attempting to demonstrate the existence of God. These five short arguments constitute only an introduction to a rigorous project in natural theology—theology that is properly philosophical and so does not make use of appeals to religious authority—that runs through thousands of tightly argued pages. Thomas also offers one of the earliest systematic discussions of the nature and kinds of law, including a famous treatment of natural law.

1348-51 AD Bubonic plague (Black Death) kills a third of Europe’s people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

1348

The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population.[6] In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century.[7] It took 200 years for the world population to recover to its previous level.[8][9] The plague recurred as outbreaks in Europe until the 19th century. It started out with rats and flies, it was brought over by merchant ships.

1453 AD fall of Constantinople to Turks http://www.reformation.org/fall-of-constantinople.html

1453

The Fall of Constantinople seemed like a tremendous victory, but it was a Pyrrhic victory, because it led to the 3 greatest events of the last centuries of world history....These 3 great events were: 1.
The Discovery of the New World by John Cabot.
2.
The glorious Reformation led by Saint Martin Luther.
3.
The rise of Orthodox Christian Russia.

1456 invention of printing press by Johann Gutenberg (making the Bible and pamphlets a lot more accessible) https://www.thoughtco.com/johannes-gutenberg-and-the-printing-press-1991865

1456

"Johannes Gutenberg is also accredited with printing the world's first book using movable type, the 42-line (the number of lines per page) Gutenberg Bible. During the centuries, many newer printing technologies were developed based on Gutenberg's printing machine e.g. offset printing."

1516 Erasmus, priest and Greek scholar, publishes a Greek translation of the New Testament used by Luther and Tyndale http://www.kjvonly.org/doug/kutilek_erasmus.htm

1516

"Though Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched, Erasmus disowned completely his offspring. Erasmus is generally acknowledged as the greatest classical scholar of his time, though he was better at Latin than Greek (Schaff, Companion to the Greek Testament and Revised Version, p. 230). But of far greater importance than the revival of Greek studies was his editing and publishing of the Greek New Testament for the first time in 1516."

1517 Martin Luther initiates the Protestant Reformation http://www.history.com/topics/reformation

1517

"Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.The key ideas of the Reformation—a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority—were not themselves novel."

1519 Charles V becomes emperor of the Holy Roman Empire http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/charles-elected-holy-roman-emperor

1519

"He had bribed the princes of Germany to vote for him, defeating such formidable candidates as King Henry VIII of England, King Francis I of France, and Frederick the Wise, the duke of Saxony. Crowned as Emperor Charles V, the new Holy Roman emperor sought to unite the many kingdoms under his rule in the hope of creating a vast, universal empire. However, his hopes were thwarted by the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

1521 Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-posts-95-theses

1521

"Luther refused to keep silent, however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany, who issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and giving permission for anyone to kill him without consequence."

1525 first Anabaptists at Zurich in Switzerland https://www.ligonier.org/blog/zurich-revolutionary-ulrich-zwingli/

1525

" By 1525, the Reformation movement in Zurich had gained significant traction. On April 14, 1525, the Mass was officially abolished and Protestant worship services were begun in and around Zurich. Zwingli chose to implement only what was taught in Scripture. Anything that had no explicit Scriptural support was rejected. The words of Scripture were read and preached in the language of the people."

1526 Peasant’s (Farmer’s) Revolt http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/German_Peasants%27_revolt

1526

"The Peasants' War was a popular revolt in southern, western and central areas of modern Germany as well as areas in neighboring Switzerland and Austria between 1524-1525. Although sparked by the Protestant Reformation, it was motivated largely by social discontent as the result of increasing economic inequality at a time when the feudal system was coming unraveled."
"It involved an estimated 300,000 peasant insurgents and resulted in an estimated 100,000 deaths."

1528 community of goods is practiced at Nikolsburg http://www.hutterites.org/history/hutterite-history-overview/

1528

"In 1528, after selling or abandoning their goods, a group of 200 left Nikolsburg to camp in a deserted village nearby. In these desperate circumstances, stewards were appointed, who spread a cloak on the ground and asked everyone to place on it whatever they had brought with them. Thus began, for this group, the tenet which became their most salient — community of goods as described in Acts 2: 42-47."

1533: Jacob Hutter Accepted as Shepherd.

1533

"Since Simon had been found guilty of such great deception, they could not postpone dealing with it." (PowerPoint).
For eight days and nights they prayed earnestly to God. They sent two brothers to Gabriel [Ascherham] at Rossitz to tell him of their need and to ask his advice about what they should do. He, too, suggested Jakob Hutter.

1535 Revolutionary Anabaptists take over the city of Münster http://allempires.com/article/index.php?q=anabaptist_commune_munster

1535

By 1532, Rothmann had become the spiritual and political leader of the rebellious faction of Münster's citizens, and as the priest in early 1533 publicly rejected infant baptism, and thus declared his adherence to Anabaptism, many of Münster's plebeian classes followed him on his step over to the most radical religious groups that the Reformation had spawned."

1536 Jakob Hutter is burned at the stake in Innsbruck http://www.hutterites.org/history/death-of-hutter/

1536

"On February 25, 1536 King Ferdinand ordered Jakob Hutter to burned at the stake in the public square in Innsbruck beneath the Goldene Dach (Golden Roof). He was held in freezing water and then placed in a hot room. Brandy was then poured on his wounds and then he was publicly burned to death.
His wife Katrina, who escaped, was recaptured, and executed two years later."

1536: Menno Simons becomes leader of Mennonites, restores pacifist direction- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menno_Simons

1536

"Ordained when 28, Simons embarked upon a routine of masses, infant baptism, and services for the dead.
Outwardly conformed to his church, Menno struggled inwardly to believe that bread and wine became Christ's literal body and blood. Later Simons admitted that he had enjoyed comforts too much to make the break" (PowerPoint).
Menno Simons rejected the Catholic Church and the priesthood on 12 January 1536,[5] casting his lot with the Anabaptists.

1542-Peter Riedemann

1542

He was arrested numerous times while on mission trips, surviving 3 imprisonments: in Upper Austria at Gmunden, 1529-32, (as an Anabaptist but not yet a Hutterite) Riedemann was severely tortured during the interrogations following his first arrest. In Franconia at Nuremberg, 1533-37 in Hesse at Marburg and Wolkersdorf, 1539-42. He escaped when he was asked to return to help lead the community following Hans Amon’s death. He wroth 2 books important to the hutterrites while imprisoned.(PowerPoint)

1542-d. Hans Amon (1536-42)

1542

"Hans Amon, bishop of the Hutterian Brethren in Moravia, was the successor of Jakob Hutter. He was a cloth weaver by trade. Amon came from Bavaria and was among the 80 persons who left Kromau in 1529 and settled in Austerlitz. From 1530 to 1534 he worked with Jakob Hutter in Tyrol. In 1535 Hutter transferred to him the leadership of the Hutterite congregations, which he retained for seven years. Before his death he named Leonhard Lanzenstiel as his successor. (PowerPoint).

1555-Peace of Augsburg https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/peace-at-augsburg-11629989.html

1555

The diet was not convened until 1555. Again it was held in Augsburg. Peace was arranged between the Lutherans and Catholics on this day, September 25, 1555. In many respects it was imperfect. Although Lutherans were given legal standing, Anabaptists and Calvinists were not. "[A]ll such as do not belong to the two above-named religions shall not be included in the present peace but be totally excluded from it."

1557- Handbüchlein wider den Prozess http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Handb%C3%BCchlein_wider_den_Prozess

1557

In this document, the Prozess wie es soll gehalten werden mit den Wiedertäufern, published by Bossert in the Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer I in 1930), the Anabaptists are accused of a number of damnable doctrines and practices; their teachings are declared blasphemous; hence Leviticus 24:16 (death penalty) should be applied. Toward the end of this document also the upbringing of children in the communistic colonies in Moravia is briefly but violently attacked as a devilish institution.

1560: Kaspar Braitmichel begins writhing Chronicl http://www.gameo.org/index.php?title=Braitmichel,_Kaspar_(d._1573)

1560

Braitmichel was the beginner of the official church chronicle of the Hutterites called the Geschichts-Buch, which work he must have started toward the end of his life, during the period of the outstanding Vorsteher Peter Walpot. He begins this work with an elaborate summary of church history "from the beginning of the world" to the year 1520, taken chiefly from Sebastian Franck's Chronica. Then he continues his story up to the year 1542.

1565-1578: Peter Walpot, Vorsterher, Hutterite are 50 years old -https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Walpot

1565

Unter der Leitung des Seilers Leonhard Lanzenstiel begab sich die Gruppe nach Mähren, um sich den dortigen Hutterischen Gemeinschaft anzuschließen. Bereits 1542 wurde er zum Diener des Wortes gewählt und wurde so neben Lanzenstiel und Peter Riedemann zu einem der Leiter der Hutterischen Bruderschaft. Im Jahr 1545 gehörte Walpot der Delegation an, die einen Teil der Gabrieler zur Hutterischen Gemeinschaft führte.

1542-1565: Leonard Lanzenstiel, Vorsteher-http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lanzenstiel,_Leonhard_(d._1565)

1565

Three years later (1542), after the death of Hans Amon, Lanzenstiel was entrusted with the leadership of the entire brotherhood. The chronicles say that he was a "pious, honorable man and faithfully looked after the church of God." His leadership began under the most favorable auspices. He had a very competent assistant in Peter Riedemann, "who helped him carry the burden of the church."

1565-1592: The Hutterite Golden Period-http://www.hutterites.org/history/the-golden-years/

1565

"After the Hutterites survived persecution and suffering the ‘Golden Period’ which lasted from 1565-1592 began.
During this time the community grew rapidly, and by 1621 there were around 102 Communities with a total population of 20 000 to 30 000. The members of the colonies were engaged in a variety of different economic activities. Some of them included wagon making, cutlery, leather working, nursing, pharmacy, shoe making, pottery making, watch making, and weaving. Among other things.

1578-1583: Hans Kral, Vorsteher-http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kr%C3%A4l,_Hans_(d._1583)

1578

"Hans Kräl was the head of the collective Hutterian brotherhood in Moravia 1578-1583. The records of his trial indicate that he stemmed from the "Brichsental." He was one of the most active itinerant preachers until the spring of 1557. He was seized in Taufers in the Puster Valley. He his capture and of his severe imprisonment, first in the dungeon of the castle tower, where his clothing rotted from his body and he nearly perished in filth and vermin, and then 37 weeks in the Block.

1583-1611: Klaus Braid, Vorsterher- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Braidl,_Klaus_(1528%3F-1611)

1583

"After the death of Hans Kräls, Braidl was chosen as head of the entire brotherhood, and led it prudently for 28 years. He applied great care to the development of trades and handicraft in communities, and set up various regulations, as the "bath rule" in 1592, the "clothing rule" in 1603, and addition to the regulations of cobblers, dyers, and millers."

1593-1605:Turkish War; renewed persecution-http://www.hutterites.org/history/war-years/

1593

"The ‘Golden Period” for the Hutterites ended, with the start of the Turkish War, which was fought against the Roman Empire. During the war, armies from both sides would come to the bruderhöfe in search for food and shelter. The Turks, who killed and captured many of the members, frequently raided the colonies.
To get money to fight the Turks, the Emperor told all the Lords to contribute taxes or money."

(1611-1619) Sebastian Dietrich, Vorsteher- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dietrich,_Sebastian_(1553-1619)

1611

"A Hutterite bishop and Vorsteher in Moravia. He was born in Markgröningen, Württemberg, and seems to have received a careful educatio. In 1580 he went to Moravia to join the Hutterite brotherhood, much against his father's wishes.In 1587, Dietrich was elected Diener am Wort, or preacher, in Neumühl, Moravia, and three years later (1590) he was confirmed in this position by the elders and the entire church.

1618-1648: Thirty Years War- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War

1618

"One of the longest and most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities mainly from violence, famine and plagues, but also from military engagements. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion and more about politics.

1621-Gabor Bethlen kidnaps 183 Hutterites and takes them to his estate in Transylvania (Romania)- http://the-mennonite.tripod.com/hutterites.html

1621

"Because of the intense persecution of Anabaptists during this time period, the Hutterites frequently fled to different countries. In 1621, Bethlen Gabor, the prince of Transylvania and a Protestant invited the Hutterites to come to Transylvania. The Hutterites politely declined, since they were happy with their present situation. Rather than letting the matter drop, the Prince forced two hundred Hutterites to move to Transylvania, where he gave them land and promised them religious freedom."

1622: All Hutterites are expelled and leave Moravia- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Thirty_Years%27_War_(1618-1648)

1622

"On 17 September 1622, Emperor Ferdinand II and on 28 September Cardinal Dietrichstein issued mandates banishing the Hutterites out of Moravia. More than 20,000 persons were robbed of their possessions and in spite of the cold were driven into misery with their children and their sick. They sought refuge chiefly in Hungary and Transylvania. The few who remained in Moravia were exiled by further decrees on 2 March 1624, and 17 December 1628."

1639-1662 Andreas Ehrenpreis (Vorsteher)- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ehrenpreis,_Andreas_(1589-1662)

1639

"Andreas Ehrenpreis was the last outstanding leader of the brotherhood, during a period of decline aggressively active in a restoration of the old spirit. Born on a Bruderhof in Moravia, he was a miller by profession. In 1621, still in Moravia, he was elected Diener am Wort (preacher), and was confirmed in this office two years later in Sobotište, Slovakia, where the brethren had immigrated after their tragic expulsion from Moravia. In 1639 he was elected bishop.

1685-community of goods abandoned in Hungary-

1685

"In 1685, discouraged from the constant whippings, beatings, and various kinds of other torture, the Hungarian Hutterites gave up their community of goods.
They appealed to the government to consider them as individual households from now on. They did, however, retain some communal practices.
Their religious life and worship services remained peculiarly Hutterite, although community of goods was abandoned."
(PowerPoint).

1690-community of goods abandoned in Transylvania- http://www.hutterites.org/history/carinthian-revival/

1690

"However, in 1658 war broke out between the Turkey and the Hapsburgs. The Hutterites in Transylvania again were forced to hide and watch as there communities were plundered and burnt.This disaster was more than this group could absorb, and by 1661, after the war, only about 50 Hutterites remained. By 1690, five years after the Hungary Bruderhöfe gave it up, community of goods was abandoned in Transylvania.

1740-80: strong efforts to convert Hutterites to Catholicism

1740

"Between about 1560 and 1767 the Hutterites were the focus of various Jesuit efforts to convert them to Catholicism in Moravia, Hungary and Transylvania. After 1740, the Jesuits intensified their efforts to convert Hutterites in Hungary to Catholicism. By 1763, most had become Catholics.In 1767, the remaining Hutterites in Transylvania migrated to Wallachia because they found it unbearable to live under the pressure of the Jesuits" (PowerPoint).

1749-birth of Johannes Waldner, main writer of Chronicle II- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Waldner,_Johannes_(1749-1824)

1749

"Johannes Waldner: Hutterian Brethren bishop; was born in 1749 near Villach, Carinthia, of Lutheran parents. Johannes migrated with his parents on the order of Empress Maria Theresa to Transylvania in 1755, along with other Lutherans. Here the entire Carinthian exile group turned Hutterite and became the very soul of a revitalization of the brotherhood."

1755-Maria Theresa expels 270 Lutherans from Carinthia, a province in Austria, who travel to Alwinz, Transylvania- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Carinthian_Exiles

1755

"All who confessed the Protestant (Lutheran) faith and were not willing to desist, had to sell their property, but were not expelled into the foreign lands to increase their forces, but were sent to Transylvania (the easternmost part of former Hungary), where Empress Maria Theresa had ordered that they be assigned to land specially designated for the."

1762- revival of community of goods by Carinthian Lutherans; Kreuz community established- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Carinthian_Exiles

1762

"Here they met a brotherhood with whom they were in complete agreement on all essentials, such as baptism, communion, government, war, and divorce, whose services of worship appealed to them, and whose books and writings pleased them. Although these Alwinz Hutterites were no longer on their highest standard, having abandoned the principle of communal living, the new transmigrants now joined them, ready to accept persecutions coming upon them from two directions, Catholic and Lutheran."

1767- Hutterites migrate east to Wallachia (Romania), to escape intense Jesuit pressure- http://www.hutterites.org/history/journey-to-wallachia/

1767

"Joseph Kuhr and Johannes Stahl decided to leave the country for Wallachia. The Brethren were denied passports need to leave the country. There was another way to leave, but it would mean crossing a difficult and heavily guarded border to the east. In secret, they hired guides to lead them out of the country. On October 3, 1767 sixty-seven people (16 old Hutterites and 51 Carinthians) made their way out of the country.

1770: Hutterites leave Wallachia and migrate to the Ukraine, establish their first community at Vishenka-http://www.hutterites.org/history/migration-to-ukraine/

1770

"On April 10, 1771, 60 people left their home and traveled to Ukraine. All their possessions were stored on five wagons, and they walked all the way.
The Brethren settled on land that owned by Count Rumiantsev. Plows, sheep and other supplies were loaned to them on the condition that they’d be repaid. A new Bruderhof was established which they named “Vishenka”.

1779: Joseph Kuhr becomes elder-http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kuhr,_Joseph_(1714-1794)

1779

"Joseph Kuhr (Gor) was a Hutterite preacher at Alwinc in Transylvania during the reign of Maria Theresa, and he was the leader of the group which in the face of severe persecution and augmented by the refugees from Carinthia fled to Walachia and thence to Vyshenka in Russia; in Walachia he was chosen as head of the brotherhood in 1779 and served until 1794."

1793: Johannes Waldner begins work on Chronicle II

1793

"The revived brotherhood, then living in Russia, had the good fortune of having in their midst a man of outspoken gift in historiography: Johannes Waldner (1749-1824), bishop of the brotherhood from 1794 to his death. Waldner, a Carinthian by birth, studied all the old records, including the Great Chronicle, and decided to write a sequel to the first chronicle" (PowerPoint).

1794: Johannes Waldner succeeds Kuhr as elder- http://www.hutterites.org/history/vishenka-radichev/

1794

"After Joseph’s Kuhr’s death in 1794, Johannes Waldner became elder. Waldner played an instrumental role in recopying old, almost forgotten Hutterian sermons and other writings. He also started writing the 2nd Hutterite Church history chronicle, entitled Kleine Geschichtbuch (Small Chronicle). Writing of the previous chronicle, Grosse Geschichtbuch (Large Chronicle) had seized in 1665. The original copy of the Kleine Geschichtbuch is stored at Sturgeon Creek Colony, near Headingly, MB."

1802: Hutterites move eight miles north to establish a community on government land at Radichev- http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Radichev_(Chernihiv_Oblast,_Ukraine)

1802

"Radichev on the Desna, a village in the Ukrainian province of Chernihiv (Chernigov), a Hutterite Bruderhof. Count Peter Rumyantsev brought the Hutterian Brethren to Vyshenka in the province of Chernigov, Ukraine; but his son restricted the liberties promised them.Therefore they were given some crown land at Radichev in 1801, and established a new Bruderhof there."

1819: Gma’schoft is abandoned for the second time in Hutterite History- http://www.hutterites.org/history/vishenka-radichev/

1819

"At Radichev however, fire destroyed most of the buildings in 1819, which devastated the remaining Waldner group. They decided then also to abandon community of goods. When Walter and his group, who had difficulty adjusting to life with the Mennonite Brethren at Chortitza, heard of their plight they moved back to Radichev. Unfortunately, after communal living was given up, the group continued to decline both economically and spiritually."

1842: Hutterites move to Molotschna with Mennonite Johann Cornies’ assistance; Huttertal established- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrpychne,_Melitopol_Raion

1842

"It was founded in 1842/3 as a Hutterite village. Johann Cornies, who had leased the tract of steppe-land on which Hutterthal was founded, helped the Hutterites to get a credit of 15,000 rubles and the grain necessary for the winter from the Russian crown. Every family got a piece of land of 65 desiatinas. The settlement prospered from the beginning and by 1846 the entire credit had been paid off."

1859: Gma’schoft is revived after Schmied-Michel is inspired by a dream or trance

1859

"With the generous assistance of Cornies and other Mennonites in the area, the Hutterites prospered. Ten years after coming to the Molotschna, in 1852, it was necessary for 17 families to form a second village, called Johannesruh, in honour of Johann Cornies. The 1857 census numbered 50 families with 255 males at Huttertal and 21 families with 72 souls at Johannesruh" (PowerPoint).

July 1874: Hutterites migrate to America; they arrive in Nebraska

1874

"On June 19, 1874, 113 Schmiedeleut together with a similar number of Dariusleut boarded the SS Hammonia for America, arriving in New York on July 5, 1874. Because the Hutterites did not know exactly where they wanted to settle, they were easily deceived. They were told to avoid stopping at Burlington, Iowa because of a dysentery outbreak and instead traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska."(PowerPoint)

1874: Bonhomme, parent colony of the Schmiedeleut, established in South Dakota (SD)

1874

"The Michel Waldner community found a fertile piece of land in South Dakota that satisfied them. It was located on the Missouri River in Bon Homme County about 18 miles west of Yankton.
The Hutterites bought 2,500 acres of privately-owned land for $25,000, part of an enormous farm. This piece of land was bought for cash. The Dakota Herald, a South Dakota newspaper, reported on August 25, 1874."(PowerPoint).

1875: Wolf Creek, parent colony of the Dariusleut, established in SD

1875

"Led by Darius Walter, the Dariusleut established the founding community for all Dariusleut—Wolfcreek—in 1875, 40 miles north of Bon Homme.
The Elder Darius Walter and Minister Jörg Hofer and their group settled on state land at Silver Lake near Bridgewater on August 10, 1874"(PowerPoint).

1877: Elmspring, parent colony of the Lehrerleut, established in SD

1877

"Led by Jacob Wipf, an accomplished teacher or Lehrer, this group left Russia in 1877. They were part of the group who had unsuccessfully attempted to live communally at Johannesruh. They established Elmspring Colony, a few miles west of Wolf Creek Colony"(PowerPoint).