Hans von Ungnad (1493–1564) was 16th-century Habsburg nobleman who was best known as founder of the

South Slavic Bible Institute The South Slavic Bible Institute (german: Südslawische Bibelanstalt) was established in Urach (modern-day Bad Urach) in January 1561 by Baron Hans von Ungnad, who was its owner and patron. Ungnad was supported by Christoph, Duke of Württemberg, ...

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 , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and other Habsburg estates. The main threat to the territory he was responsible for was the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and its forces in

Ottoman Bosnia The Ottoman Empire era of rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina (first as a ''sanjak'', then as an ''eyalet'') and Herzegovina (also as a ''sanjak'', then ''eyalet'') lasted from 1463/1482 to 1878 ''de facto'', and until 1908 ''de jure''. Ottoman ...

. He believed that the best way to confront it was to spread the

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

to the very gates of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. 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

(german: Südslawische Bibelanstalt) was established in Urach (modern-day

Bad Urach Bad Urach () is a town in the Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian Jura, Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for ...

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 In November 1515, only months after his birth, his mother, Sabina of Bavaria, fled to the court of her parents ...

, 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. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

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 Prote ...

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" (german: Windische, Chrabatische und Cirulische Trukherey). The manager and supervisor of the institute was

. 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 Soča ( in Slovene) or Isonzo ( in Italian; other names fur, Lusinç, german: Sontig, la, Aesontius or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in ...

, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean 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 bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. 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 to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...

, nine in

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and eight in

cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

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 ( lat, Antonius Dalmata ab Alexandro) was 16th century 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 ...

as translators for Croatian and Serbian.

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