ZINZENDORF, Nikolaus Ludwig, Count of. - Born on 26 May 1700 in Dresden, died at Herrnhut on 9 May 1760. His father died shortly after his birth, and his mother, having contracted a new marriage, left the young Zinzendorf to the care of his grandmother and an aunt, both Pietists and personal friends of Spener (v. PIETISM).
Under their supervision the boy was educated in piety, and at the age of 10 he entered the Collegium of Halle, directed by the famous pedagogue and Pietist A. Hermann Francke, where with other companions he founded a society for sanctifying themselves and for spreading the Gospel. In 1717 he moved to the University of Wittenberg. He wished to devote himself to theology, but his family opposed this, not believing it fitting that a German nobleman should become a simple minister and preacher. He therefore applied himself to the study of law, but did not neglect the private study of theology. Having finished his studies in 1719, he traveled in Holland, France, Switzerland and various parts of Germany.
He returned to Saxony in 1721 and, following his family's wishes, accepted a public office. Always faithful, however, to his youthful ideal of associating with others in order to sanctify himself and spread the Gospel, he joined with Baron Frederick Watteville, formerly his companion at the College of Halle, with Rothe, pastor of the Lutheran church of Berthelsdorf, situated in his county, and with Schaefer, pastor of the nearby city of Görlitz, and formed the "Covenant of the Four Brothers" with the stated purpose. At that time some Bohemian Brethren (v.), fugitives from Moravia, had sought refuge in the count's lands and had founded the colony of Herrnhut. Z. soon realized that among them he could easily carry out his desire. In 1727 he renounced his public office and settled at Berthelsdorf near Herrnhut, determined to make of those emigrants a center of intense Lutheran-Pietist and missionary piety; but having encountered difficulties in the doctrines and organization of the Brethren, it seemed better to him to revive their Church, while preserving in it all that he believed good in Lutheran-Pietism, so as to create an "Ecclesiola in Ecclesia." To this end he first had himself ordained a Lutheran minister and then in 1737 bishop of the Brethren by the two Bohemian bishops, Jablonsky and Nitschmann. From this moment the life of Z. is intimately united with the work of the "Moravian Brethren" or "United Brethren" or also "Unitas Fratrum," names that replaced the older one of "Bohemian Brethren." Among them he fostered the spirit of piety and of missions, but he never wished to give a confession of faith, although the Lutheran confession of Augsburg remained the foundation of their beliefs. He never permitted them to join other sects and saw to it that they always preserved their special character. Meanwhile the Lutherans of Saxony, who did not like that "Ecclesiola," obtained from the elector a decree of exile against him in 1736, and he knew how to exploit this time to have himself consecrated bishop, as has been said, and to visit various nations of Europe and make his Moravian Brethren known there. In 1739 he traveled to the Island of St. Thomas in the Antilles, where a small Mission of Brethren had already been formed, and in 1741 he went to the English colonies. In Pennsylvania he consolidated the Moravian Brethren. The decree of exile having been lifted in 1749, he returned to Herrnhut, visiting Holland, England and other countries again.
Bibliography3 works
Camillo Crivelli