1522 – The Year Pavel Sperat Arrived in Jihlava, Bringing the Reformation with Him

In the spring of 1522, the first Reformation preacher, Pavel Sperat, arrived in Jihlava. A prominent figure in the Reformation movement, he was a follower and personal friend of Martin Luther.

Born in Swabia in 1484, Sperat studied in Freiburg, Paris, and Basel; in the early 16th century, he was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Augsburg. During his tenure as a parish priest in Würzburg, he converted to Lutheranism and secretly married Anna Fuchs—a fact he chose to conceal out of caution, passing her off as his sister. In early 1522, he arrived in Vienna and preached at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. However, after he began preaching against clerical celibacy, he was forced to leave Vienna. He decided to head for Wittenberg, but in March 1522, he stopped in Jihlava. There, he was appointed as an altar priest at the Church of St. James and subsequently began to preach. Initially cautious, he gradually grew bolder in his sermons, placing primary emphasis on the importance of the Scriptures. His preaching resonated with the townspeople, but it also drew the attention of the Abbot of Želiv, who served as the patron of the Jihlava parish. At the Abbot’s instigation, Stanislav Thurzo, the Bishop of Olomouc, and King Louis Jagiellon also began to take an interest in Sperat’s activities. That same year, the preacher moved to Velké Meziříčí and subsequently to Velká Bíteš, where he was arrested; he was ultimately imprisoned in Olomouc. There, he was sentenced to death, but following the intercession of the Moravian nobility, he was released and eventually compelled to leave the country—this despite the significant efforts made by the burghers of Jihlava to allow him to remain in the city. As late as 1527, a crucial vote regarding his potential return took place in Jihlava; however, out of the 16 guilds, only one explicitly favored his return. The town council offered an apology to Sperat, yet regular correspondence with him continued until 1532.

The preacher’s later life is also well documented. Sperat became the first Lutheran bishop in Prussian Pomesania, where he implemented the Reformation under the supervision of the ruler Albert of Brandenburg—the former Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Nevertheless, Sperat maintained a long-standing correspondence with the people of Jihlava, steadfastly encouraging them to adopt the principles of Lutheran doctrine. In his letters, he even hinted at the possibility of returning to the city, though this never came to pass. However, given that the predominantly German segment of the population had embraced the Reformation, the townspeople began inviting other reform-minded clergy; furthermore, despite appeals from the King, they started to curtail the activities of religious orders within the city. Pavel Sperat died in 1551 and is buried in a church in Marienwerder (known today as the Polish town of Kwidzyn).

Although Pavel Speratus’s time in Jihlava was very brief, it was highly significant for the city and its subsequent development. The town scribe, Martin Leupold, even described his tenure in Jihlava as a turning point and referred to him as an “apostle.” The fact that the Evangelical Church of the Apostle Paul on Husova Street was named after him further attests to his significance.

It is not widely known that Sperat was also a composer of sacred songs, many of which are still sung today. One of the oldest Lutheran hymns, titled *Es ist das Heil uns kommen her*, was composed by Paul Sperat.

Text prepared by: Jana Petrůjová and Jana Škrdlová