Group    From 1457 

Moravian Church

Categories: Religion

Countries: Czechoslovakia

Officially named Unitas Fratrum (Unity of the Brethren), it originated in Bohemia when Jan Hus, a priest and philosopher, objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic church, and wanted to return to the Eastern Orthodox church of Bohemia and Moravia. The movement gained much support, but was eventually subjugated by the Catholic church. In 1722 a group of Bohemian Brethren from an illegal remnant of the movement, sought sanctuary of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf who permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf, near Dresden.

The movement grew via missionary work and initially the missionaries only passed through London on their way to the slave communities in America and the West Indies. But waiting for their ships they needed to meet and pray, and perhaps could not restrain themselves from evangelising wherever they were. In London they initially met in private homes and then in 1740 began using a chapel in Fetter Lane. The Moravian Church now has over 800,000 members worldwide.

London Details has a good post about the Moravians' plot of land in Chelsea.

The Moravians do seem to have been unusually successful at founding and sustaining settlements. Between 1744 and the 1780s they founded 7 villages across England and Ireland, but none near London.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Moravian Church

Commemorated ati

Fetter Lane Society

{At the top: the emblem of the Moravian Church: a round image of a lamb with ...

Read More

Lindsey House

Lindsey House, built 1674 by Robert Bertie 3rd Earl of Lindsey, incorporates ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Baptist Church House

Baptist Church House

Built in 1901-1903. by Arthur Keen, architect for the Baptist Union and restored in 1946. Now listed.

Building, Religion

1 memorial
Charles Williams

Charles Williams

Writer on literature and theology, novelist and poet. Born Charles Walter Stansby Williams, 3 Spencer Road. He worked for the Oxford University Press (OUP) in various capacities for most of his lif...

Person, Literature, Poetry, Religion

1 memorial
Order of St John of Jerusalem

Order of St John of Jerusalem

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of St John of Jerusalem combined religion, crusading military might and the care of the sick. 1309-1522 the primary home of the Order was the island of Rhode...

Group, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Medicine, Religion

6 memorials
Croydon Palace

Croydon Palace

The summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury. The Manor of Croydon was connected with Canterbury from at least the late Saxon period, and records of buildings date back to before 960. The ...

Building, Religion

1 memorial

Previously viewed

C. Church

C. Church

Name on one of the main panels of the East Ham WW1 memorial.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
William Ramsay

William Ramsay

Royal mason. In 1332 designed the Chapter House and Cloister at St Paul's.

Person, Architecture, Property

1 memorial
Victoria Coach Station

Victoria Coach Station

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria Coach Station

Ian Visits gave us the precise date that this station was opened: 10 March 1932.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Firemen Remembered

Firemen Remembered

Firemen Remembered is an independent charity dedicated to recording and remembering firemen and firewomen who served in the London Region in WW2 and commemorating those who died. See also the Fire...

Group, Armed Forces, History

6 memorials
Carol Paula Chapman

Carol Paula Chapman

Trustee, fundraiser and volunteer of the Charles Dickens Museum. The 2004 book 'Shakespeare's Non-Standard English: A Dictionary of His Informal Language' by Norman Francis Blake was dedicated "In...

Person, Community / Clubs

1 memorial