Reformation in the
Czech lands started already in the 15th century, one century before the
Luther's Reformation. At that time, most Czechs (~85%) were Protestant; there were two Protestant churches: the
Utraquist Hussite Church (1431–1620) and the
Unity of the Brethren (1457–1620). (The latter was in the 1720s partially renewed outside of Czech territory as the
Moravian Church.) However, non-Catholic churches were forbidden in 1620 when the
Bohemian Revolt was decisively defeated and victorious
Habsburg rulers imposed harsh
Counter-Reformation measures on the
Bohemian Crown. This ban was mitigated in 1781 by issuing the
Patent of Toleration that permitted Lutheran and Calvinist churches in the
Habsburg monarchy but Protestants obtained full equality with the Catholic church legally only as late as in 1867, when
Austria-Hungary was created. Nevertheless, other minor churches were still forbidden until the founding of
Czechoslovakia in 1918. The ECCB was established in 1918 by the unification of all Lutheran and Calvinist churches in
Bohemia,
Moravia, and
Silesia. It was intended to be a successor of the Unity of the Brethren (and the
Bohemian Reformation in general). The ECCB is a member of the
World Council of Churches, the
Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe, the
Conference of European Churches, the
Lutheran World Federation, and the
World Communion of Reformed Churches. ==References==