The Reformation in the Metlika area

A contribution to a more complete understanding of the emergence of Protestantism in the Slovenian territory

Abstract

The paper deals with the Reformation in the territory of the present-day White Carniola (the Metlika district) as a phenomenon/process which not only had a unique development, important for the history of the Reformation in the Slovenian territory, but had, because of intense contacts of Protestants in Metlika with Croatia, a special meaning for the Croatian Protestantism. The emergence of the Reformation ought to be regarded as a key moment in the development of the Metlika district in the 16^th century. It ought to be placed within the context of concurrent processes, such as the disappearing offices and functions of the County in the Windic March and Metlika, the incorporation of the latter into Carniola, the departure of old noble families and the arrival of the nobility from the lands of the Crown of St. Stephen (Hungary), the arrival of the Uskoks, as well as the construction of the Karlovac Fortress and consequent cessation of imminent Turkish threat. The paper therefore seeks to answer the following questions: who were the agents of the Reformation movement in the Metlika district, by examining both predicants (preachers) and teachers (school masters) working at Protestant schools in Metlika in Črnomelj; how did the Reformation affect both White Carniolan towns, especially with regard to the Protestants’ assumption of control over the town’s autonomy sometime after 1580; how was the Reformation received by citizens and rural inhabitants of the province and in what language were sermons and education conducted at Protestant schools. By depicting the leading Protestant figure in Metlika, Gregor Vlahovič, the author of the paper seeks to provide a concise portrayal of the predicant’s life. The paper covers the period from the first beginnings of Protestantism in 1559 to 1617, when the last Protestants from Metlika were summoned before the Counter-Reformation Commission in Ljubljana.