Hans Von Ungnad
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Hans von Ungnad (1493–1564) was 16th-century Habsburg nobleman who was best known as founder of the South Slavic Bible Institute established to publish Protestant books translated to South Slavic languages.


Military career

In 1540 Ungnad had been appointed on the position of Captain General of Lower Austria (modern-day Slovenia),
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and other Habsburg estates. The main threat to the territory he was responsible for was the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
and its forces in
Ottoman Bosnia The Ottoman Empire era of rule in Bosnia (first as a ''sanjak'', then as an ''eyalet'') and Herzegovina (also as a ''sanjak'', then ''eyalet'') lasted from 1463/1482 to 1908. Ottoman conquest The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina ...
. He believed that the best way to confront it was to spread the
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
to the very gates of
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. In 1555 he refused to execute anti-Protestant measures requested by Ferdinand I, resigned his position and opted for voluntary exile in Germany.


South Slavic Bible Institute

The South Slavic Bible Institute () was established in Urach (modern-day
Bad Urach Bad Urach () is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian Jura (or Swabian Alps), and is known for its spa and therapeutic bath. Neighbouring comm ...
in Germany) in January 1561. Baron Ungnad was its owner and patron. Ungnad was supported by
Christoph, Duke of Württemberg Christoph of Württemberg (12 May 1515 – 28 December 1568), ruled as Duke of Württemberg from 1550 until his death in 1568. Life Born in 1515, Christoph was the son of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg and Sabina of Bavaria. In November 1515 ...
, who allowed Ungnad to use his castle (former convent) of Amandenhof near Urach as a seat of this institute. Baron Ungnad was interested in Protestant
proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...
propagated by
Primož Trubar Primož Trubar or Primus Truber () (1508 – 28 June 1586) was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Prot ...
and attended the session of German theologians held in Tubingen in 1561. At that occasion Ungnad, probably instructed by Duke Christoph, agreed that he would take responsibility for publishing Slavic books. Within the institute, Ungnad set up a press which he referred to as "the Slovene, Croatian and Cyrillic press" (). The manager and supervisor of the institute was
Primož Trubar Primož Trubar or Primus Truber () (1508 – 28 June 1586) was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Prot ...
. The books they printed at this press were planned to be used throughout the entire territory populated by South Slavs between the Soča River, the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
, and
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. Until 1565 were published thirty titles with 25.000 copies. Today exist only 300 books. Translations of Bible texts were inspired by glagolitic tradition. Thirteen books were printed in
glagolitic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...
, nine in
latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, and eight in
cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
script. Trubar had idea to use their books to spread Protestantism among Croats and other South Slavs and even among Muslims in Turkey.Werner Raupp, 1990, p. 49-50 For this task, Trubar engaged Stjepan Konzul Istranin and
Antun Dalmatin Antun Aleksandrović Dalmatin (; ) was a 16th-century Croatian translator and publisher of Protestant liturgical books. Name and early life Antun's surname is an exonym which means "of Dalmatia". Dalmatin was probably from Senj. South Slavic B ...
as translators for Croatian and
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * Werner Raupp (Ed.): Mission in Quellentexten. Geschichte der Deutschen Evangelischen Mission von der Reformation bis zur Weltmissionskonferenz Edinburgh 1910, Erlangen/Bad Liebenzell 1990 (ISBN 3-87214-238-0 / 3-88002-424-3), S. 49-50 (a) Primož Trubar: Vorrede vom 12. Januar 1562 von: Der erst halb Theil des newen Testaments, Tübingen 1562 lagolitisch S. cij-ciij; b) Hans III. Ungnad von Weißenwolff: Rundschreiben an die deutschen Churfürsten und Fürsten vom 14. September 1561, Original in: Universitätsarchiv Tübingen). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ungnad, Hans von 1493 births 1564 deaths Lutheran religious workers Austrian nobility