Moravians (Atlantic History)

Introduction

The Moravians were a mostly German Pietist religious group that spread throughout the Atlantic world and beyond in the 18th century. Though considered “Protestant,” their origins predate the Reformation. In the late 14th century, a grassroots religious renewal movement began in Bohemia and Moravia that gained momentum after the martyrdom of its two most important leaders, Jan Hus (b. c. 1369–d.1415) and Jerome of Prague (b.1379–d.1416). Thereafter, a mass movement developed that armed itself and successfully fought off numerous crusades by forces of the Holy Roman Empire bent on its destruction. After a settlement that secured its existence, a branch of this “Hussite” movement became pacifist and called itself the Unitas Fratrum, a name the Moravians carry to this day. Victorious imperial Catholic forces destroyed them and other “Protestants” in Bohemia and Moravia during the Thirty Years’ War, forcing them to go underground. In 1722 a remnant of the old Unitas Fratrum from Moravia settled on the estates of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) in Upper Lusatia (Saxony). They began building a new community called Herrnhut, with Zinzendorf as their leader, and in 1728 the Unitas Fratrum formally celebrated its rebirth. Under Zinzendorf’s direction, the movement expanded rapidly in the mid-18th century and developed a rigorous mission program that continues to this day. The Moravians promoted ecumenism in a confessional age, which led to their involvement with Lutheran, Calvinist, and other churches in often controversial ways. They are important to Atlantic history because they engaged with Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans in significant ways throughout the Atlantic world, and they kept detailed records of their activities. Many of their early missionary efforts failed, but they became noted for their successes, especially among slaves on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and elsewhere in the Caribbean; the Mahicans, Delawares, and Shawnees in British North America; Maroons and later slaves in Suriname; and Inuits in Greenland. They also had significant short-term successes among the Arawaks in Berbice and Cherokees in northern Georgia. Suriname became a long-term success story in the 19th century, and in the late 19th and 20th centuries, Moravians had tremendous success in Africa. Today, the largest numbers of Moravians are in Africa and North America, not Europe. It is their mission successes in so many places, combined with their disassociation from European imperial projects, their record keeping, and their cosmopolitan Weltanschauung, that make them such an important people to the study of Atlantic history, especially for historians who wish to cross imperial boundaries and study encounters among all peoples in the region.

General Overviews, Collections, and Bibliographies

Most historical writings about the Moravians are either in German or English, although a number of important works are in Dutch and other languages. Moravians began storing records in archives and libraries and writing histories of their movement in the 18th century and have never stopped. The focus of most of these works is to enlighten readers on the history of the church and its contributions. Hamilton and Hamilton 1957 does this in English, and although it is somewhat weighted toward the American experience, it is the most comprehensive work on the Renewed Unitas Fratrum (post-1722), as it is called. Meyer 1995 introduces readers to the subject in German, focusing on Zinzendorf and his work in the German territories. The published works of Moravian writers from the 18th century to this day recognize problems and failures throughout their history, but they dwell on success, progress, and the importance of their church and its history. German and US historians have written the most important general overviews of the movement. Peucker 2015 addresses the most controversial period in the movement’s history, the so-called “Sifting Time” of the mid-18th century. Meyer 1987 provides an excellent bibliography of all these works through the mid-1980s, as well as published primary sources from the 18th century. Recently, a number of essay collections have appeared (Atwood and Vogt 2003, Brecht and Peucker 2005, Gillespie and Beachy 2007, and Lempa and Peucker 2009) that address important topics in Moravian history and give readers a good overview of recent trends in research. The Center for Moravian Studies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, maintains a website that provides valuable information on the movement and its history.

Atwood, Craig D., and Peter Vogt, eds. The Distinctiveness of Moravian Culture: Essays and Documents in Moravian History in Honor of Vernon H. Nelson on His Seventieth Birthday. Nazareth, PA: Moravian Historical Society, 2003.
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This Festschrift surveys Moravian aesthetics, liturgy, theology, and settlements in North America, primarily in the 18th century.
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Brecht, Martin, and Paul Peucker, eds. Neue Aspekte der Zinzendorf-Forschung. Göttingen, Germany: VandenHoeck & Ruprecht, 2005.
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This collection of essays, primarily in German, focuses heavily on recent research on Count Zinzendorf, including his views toward missionary work.
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Center for Moravian Studies. “Bibliographies.”
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This web page provides numerous subject bibliographies on nearly all aspects of the Moravian experience. There is a heavy emphasis on history and missions that is especially relevant to Atlantic history.
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Gillespie, Michele, and Robert Beachy, eds. Pious Pursuits: German Moravians in the Atlantic World. New York: Berghahn, 2007.
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This collection of essays surveys numerous subjects important to Moravian history, especially in central Europe and North America.
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Hamilton, J. Taylor, and Kenneth G. Hamilton. History of the Moravian Church: The Renewed Unitas Fratrum, 1722–1957. Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Church in America, 1957.
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This sweeping overview of the movement to the mid-20th century is the best starting point. It is somewhat weighted toward the American experience, but is important for the entire worldwide movement.
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Lempa, Heikki, and Paul Peucker, eds. Self, Community, World: Moravian Education in a Transatlantic World. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2009.
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This collection of essays provides a survey of numerous education issues involving Moravians in Europe and the Americas.
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Meyer, Dietrich, ed. Bibliographisches Handbuch zur Zinzendorf-Forschung. Düsseldorf, Germany: C. Blech, 1987.
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This is a well-organized, comprehensive bibliography of the Moravian movement that includes both secondary and primary sources. Now somewhat out-of-date, it is nevertheless indispensable to researchers on the Moravians.
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Meyer, Dietrich. “Zinzendorf und Herrnhut.” In Geschichte des Pietismus. Vol. 2. Edited by Klaus Deppermann and Ulrich Gäbler, 5–106. Göttingen, Germany: VandenHoeck & Ruprecht, 1995.
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This is a good introduction to the 18th-century movement, written in German.
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Peucker, Paul. A Time of Sifting: Mystical Marriage and the Crisis of Moravian Piety in the Eighteenth Century. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015.
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This monograph addresses the most controversial period of Moravian history, which occurred in the mid-18th century and was important for Moravian communities throughout the Atlantic world.
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Primary Source Editions

The number of published primary source editions on the Moravians increases yearly. Many, like Oldendorp 1987 (cited under Missions), are reprints of works published in the 18th century, while others are transcriptions of manuscripts from the major Moravian archives, especially in Herrnhut, Bethlehem, and Winston-Salem (see, respectively, Staehelin 1997 (cited under Missions), Hamilton, et al. 1971–2001, and Fries, et al. 1922–2006 (both cited under Community Records). Many are in English translation. The best one-volume collection that provides readers with a good introduction to the Moravians during Zinzendorf’s lifetime, based on excerpts from primary sources, is Hahn and Reichel 1977. In 1962 Olms Verlag began publishing reprints of Zinzendorf’s works, which they divided into three collections: Zinzendorf 1962–1963, Zinzendorf 1964–1985, and Zinzendorf 1971–2010. Later this expanded to include documents by and about Moravians published by other authors in the Zinzendorf and later eras. The project is still ongoing.

Hahn, Hans-Christoph, and Hellmut Reichel, eds. Zinzendorf und die Herrnhuter Brüder: Quellen zur Geschichte der Brüder-Unität von 1722 bis 1760. Hamburg: Friedrich Wittig Verlag, 1977.
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This is an excellent introduction to the Moravians during the Zinzendorf era, based on excerpts of a wide variety of documents, all in German.
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Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von. Hauptschriften. 6 vols. Edited by Erich Beyreuther and Gerhard Meyer. Hildesheim, Germany: G. Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1962–1963.
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This series focuses on the writings of Count Zinzendorf throughout his life.
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Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von. Ergänzungsbände zu den Hauptschriften. 14 vols. Edited by Erich Beyreuther and Gerhard Meyer. Hildesheim, Germany: G. Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964–1985.
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This series includes more writings by Zinzendorf, but also works of other important Moravians in the 18th century.
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Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von. Materialien und Dokumente. Edited by Erich Beyreuther, Gerhard Meyer, and Amedeo Molnár. Hildesheim, Germany: G. Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1971–2010.
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These collections contain a wide variety of documents by or about the Moravian Church from the 15th to the late 18th centuries, including anti-Moravian polemics, hymnals, and other materials. Series 1: Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte der böhmischen Brüder-Unität, edited by Amadeo Molnár, 5 vols. plus two supplemental volumes. Series 2: Nicolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf: Leben und Werk in Quellen und Darstellungen, edited by Erich Beyreuther und Gerhard Meyer, 35 vols. Series 3: Zeitschrift für Brüdergeschichte, edited by Erich Beyreuther und Gerhard Meyer, 4 vols. Series 4: 6 vols.
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Missions

Atlantic historians are especially interested in the Moravian missions to African slaves, Native Americans, and other Europeans in the colonial world. There are numerous published primary source editions on these subjects in German and in English translation that enable historians to study encounters in the Atlantic World during the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection of texts edited by Helmut Bintz (Zinzendorf 1979) provides an overview of Zinzendorf’s theology and his intentions with these missions. Staehelin 1997 is a documentary history, including many full text documents, of the Native American, slave, and Maroon missions in Berbice and Suriname in the 18th century, and the slave and Maroon missions in Suriname alone in 19th century. Oldendorp 1987, an English translation of the abridged original German version, is the most widely available edition of this work describing the 18th-century slave mission in the Danish West Indies by one of its participants. Olms Verlag has recently published the entire original German version in four volumes as well. Five important editions on Native American missions in North America are (1) Wellenreuther and Wessel 2005, which provides David Zeisberger’s diary of his mission among the Delawares in Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley, (2) Dally-Starna and Starna 2009, which provides the diaries of numerous missionaries working among the Mahicans and others in the Hudson Valley and in neighboring Connecticut in the mid-18th century, (3) Cranz 1995, reprint of the history of the Greenland mission published in 1765–1770, by one of its participants, (4) McClinton 2007, which includes the diaries of the missionaries to the Cherokees, and (5) Crews and Starbuck 2010–2014, which provides even more material for studying the Cherokee mission by excerpting and compiling all references to it in the previously published Records of the Moravians in North Carolina (Fries, et al. 1922–2006, cited under Community Records).

Cranz, David. “Historie von Grönland.” In Materialien und Dokumente. Series 2, Vol. 26, Fortsetzung der Historie von Grönland. Edited by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlag, 1995.
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Cranz was a missionary in Greenland during the period about which he wrote. It is comparable to Oldendorp’s history of the Danish West Indies mission, except that this involves Inuits instead of Africans. Originally published in 3 parts in 2 volumes between 1765 and 1770.
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Crews, C. Daniel, and Richard W. Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians among Cherokees. 5 vols. Tahlequah, OK: Cherokee National Press, 2010–2014.
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This compilation of references in the previously published Records of the Moravians in North Carolina (Fries, et al. 1922–2006, cited under Community Records) contains all references to the Cherokee mission, 1752–1821.
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Dally-Starna, Corinna and William A. Starna, eds. and trans. Gideon’s People: Being a Chronicle of an American Indian Community in Colonial Connecticut and the Moravian Missionaries Who Served There. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009.
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This well-edited and well-introduced English translation provides the missionary diaries of Moravian missionary work among the Mahicans and others on the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers during the mid-18th century. It is an important counterpoint to Zeisberger’s diaries from the Delaware mission in Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley.
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McClinton, Rowena, ed. The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
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These two large volumes contain English translations of mission records from 1805 to 1821, with an extensive apparatus.
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Oldendorp, C. G. A. History of the Mission of the Evangelical Brethren on the Caribbean Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Edited by Johann Jakob Bossard. Reprint edited and translated by Arnold R. Highfield and Vladimir Barac. Ann Arbor, MI: Karoma, 1987.
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This reprint of an English translation of the abridged version of Oldendorp’s contemporary history of the mission is the most widely read. Specialists should consult the new four-volume complete edition in the original German.
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Staehelin, Fritz, ed. “Die Mission der Brüdergemeine in Suriname und Berbice im achtzehnten Jahrhundert: Eine Missionsgeschichte hauptsächlich in Briefen und Originalberichten.” In Materialien und Dokumente. Edited by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Series 2, Vol. 28, Pt. 1. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlag, 1997.
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This documentary history includes complete documents on the mission to Arawaks in Berbice during the 18th century; the Arawaks, Caribs, African slaves, and Maroons in Suriname during the 18th century; and the slaves and Maroons in Suriname in the 19th century. Originally published in 7 parts in 3 volumes between 1913 and 1920.
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Wellenreuther, Hermann, and Carola Wessel, eds. The Moravian Mission Diaries of David Zeisberger, 1772–1781. Translated by Julie Tomberlin Weber. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005.
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This is a well-edited and well-introduced volume of the diary of Zeisberger, who was one of the Moravians’ most successful missionaries to Native Americans. It records developments primarily among the Delawares in Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley during the American Revolution. Originally published in German in 1995 as Herrnhuter Indianermission in der Amerikanischen Revolution: Die Tagebücher von David Zeisberger 1772 bis 1781.
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Zinzendorf, Nicolaus Ludwig von. Texte zur Mission, mit einer Einführung in die Missionstheologie Zinzendorfs. Edited by Helmut Bintz. Hamburg, Germany: Friedrich Wittig, 1979.
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This collection is an important starting point for understanding Moravian mission theology and goals in the 18th century.
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Community Records

For Moravian work among primarily Europeans see Hamilton, et al. 1971–2001, which was the community diary kept for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Fries, et al. 1922–2006, which is a selection of documents kept by the Wachovia settlement in North Carolina.

Fries, Adelaide L., Douglas L. Rights, Minnie J. Smith, Kenneth G. Hamilton, C. Daniel Crews, and Lisa D. Bailey, eds. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina. 13 vols. Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton, 1922–2006.
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Now nearly a century old, this project publishes select documents from the Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem in English translation. To date the editors have covered the years 1752–1876, and more volumes are expected.
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Hamilton, Kenneth G., Vernon Nelson, Otto Dreydoppel Jr., and Doris Rohland Yob, eds. The Bethlehem Diary. 2 vols. Bethlehem, PA: The Moravian Archives, 1971–2001.
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These volumes cover the years 1742–1745 of the community diary for the Moravian settlement in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in English translation. The manuscript community diaries continue for many years thereafter. Volume 1 translated and edited by Kenneth G. Hamilton, and Volume 2 by Vernon Nelson, Otto Dreydoppel Jr., and Doris Rohland Yob. Volume 3 is forthcoming.
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Journals

In recent years, numerous important articles about the Moravians have appeared in a number of well-known journals, especially those addressing North American history in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Additionally, three journals dedicated to Moravian history continue to publish important articles on the movement, focusing primarily on the 18th century. Unitas Fratrum is edited by Europeans, and almost all the articles are in German. The Journal of Moravian History is edited primarily by Americans, and all articles are written in English. Pietismus und Neuzeit is edited in Halle, Germany, and almost all the articles are written in German. The latter journal is devoted to the study of Pietism in general, but it is weighted toward developments in the German territories from the late 17th through the 18th century, for which the Moravians were very important.

Journal of Moravian History.
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Formally known as Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society, it changed names in 2006. Editing is centered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and articles are written in English.
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Pietismus und Neuzeit: Ein Jahrbuch zur Geschichte des neueren Protestantismus.
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This journal focuses on the Pietist movement since the 17th century, especially in the German territories. Articles on Moravians are abundant because they were so important to the movement. Almost all articles are in German, and editing is centered at the Lutheran Francke Foundations in Halle, Germany.
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Unitas Fratrum: Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Gegenwartsfragen der Brüdergemeine.
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Editing of this journal is done by Moravian historians. Its home is in Herrnhut, Germany. The editors are usually European, and almost all articles are in German.
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Encounters with Atlantic Peoples

Like the Jesuits, the Moravians developed a rigorous missionary program to all peoples and paid little attention to imperial or spiritual boundaries. Beck 1981 provides a comprehensive overview of these activities, mission by mission, while Mettele 2009 addresses the global mentality and methods of Moravians. Fogleman 2013 is a microhistory of the Atlantic world that addresses Moravian encounters with Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans. The willingness and ability of Moravians to go just about anywhere (from South Africa to Norway and from St. Petersburg to Suriname), without regard to imperial boundaries, make them a quintessential group for studying truly Atlantic encounters. There were limits, in part dictated by the very small number in the group (only a few hundred in the first generation of their missionary expansion) and religious-political realities. During the 18th century the Moravians avoided areas colonized by Catholic European powers in the Americas. In Africa they limited themselves primarily to incursions where Protestant European powers were involved in the slave trade (such as the Gold Coast) or in settlement projects (such as in South Africa). In Europe they made no significant attempts in Mediterranean lands or much of the Habsburg territories. This began changing in the 19th century, as the movement grew and so did its mission.

Beck, Hartmut. Brüder in vielen Völkern: 250 Jahre Mission der Brüdergemeine. Erlangen, Germany: Verlag der Evangelischen-Lutherischen Mission, 1981.
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This work provides the best overview of the entire Moravian mission movement. From this, one can see that while the Moravians worked worldwide, their efforts were concentrated overwhelmingly in the Atlantic world.
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Fogleman, Aaron Spencer. Two Troubled Souls: An Eighteenth-Century Couple’s Spiritual Journey in the Atlantic World. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013.
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This Atlantic microhistory addresses Moravian missions among Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans from the perspective of a married couple who participated in them.
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Mettele, Gisela. Weltbürgertum oder Gottesreich: Die Herrnhuter Bruedergemeine als Globalgemeinschaft, 1727–1852. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009.
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This work addresses developing Moravian mentalities and methods, as the group extended its mission worldwide during this era.
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Africans and African Americans

In recent years, a number of colonial, Atlantic, and other historians (e.g., Lenders 1996, Price 1990, and Sensbach 1998, and Sensbach 2005) have studied the group’s work with Africans and African Americans, because it is so revealing about the nature of encounters among Europeans and these groups.

Lenders, Maria. Strijders voor het Lam: Leven en Werk van Herrnhutter Broeders en Zusters in Suriname, 1735–1900. Leiden, The Netherlands: KITLV Uitgeverij, 1996.
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This work addresses the missions to Native Americans, slaves, Maroons, and free blacks. It is particularly sensitive to gender issues for all groups and places mission developments in the larger context of colonial and post-emancipation society.
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Price, Richard. Alabi’s World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
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This unusual work employs historical anthropology to study the impact of the Moravian mission on the Saramaka Maroon societies in the up-country of Suriname. It focuses on Alabi, the young leader who embraced the Moravian faith, partly for strategic political purposes, and encouraged others to do the same.
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Sensbach, Jon F. A Separate Canaan: The Making of an Afro-Moravian World in North Carolina, 1763–1840. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
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This book addresses the Moravian mission to slaves in central North Carolina, and how those slaves received and adapted Christianity in their own way.
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Sensbach, Jon F. Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
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This widely read and taught work is a revealing microhistory of the Atlantic world. It focuses on the life of a mulatto former slave in the West Indies who joined the Moravians and was instrumental in instigating the revival on St. Thomas that led so many to convert to Christianity in the mid-18th century.
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Native Americans

In some cases, Moravian missionaries achieved an advantage among colonial powers and especially Native Americans because they were not directly connected with any imperial power, and hence represented no formal political threat. Hertrampf 1997, Wessel 1999, Merritt 2003, Roeber 2008, and Wheeler 2008 work with this theme in their study of specific missions and other encounters among Europeans and Native Americans.

Hertrampf, Stefan. “Unsere Indianer-Geschwister waren lichte und vergnügt”: Die Herrnhuter als Missionare bei den Indianern Pennsylvanias, 1745–1765. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1997.
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This book addresses the early Moravian mission in Pennsylvania, including its work with Mahican refugees from New York.
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Merritt, Jane T. At the Crossroads: Indians and Empires on a Mid-Atlantic Frontier, 1700–1763. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
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Moravians play a central role in this work about European–Native American encounters centered in Pennsylvania during this period. It is a major contribution to the ongoing discussions about the nature of a “middle ground” in colonial North America.
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Roeber, A. G., ed. Ethnographies and Exchanges: Native Americans, Moravians, and Catholics in Early North America. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008.
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This essay collection contains numerous works about Moravian missions among Native Americans.
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Wessel, Carola. Delaware-Indianer und Herrnhuter Missionare im Upper Ohio Valley, 1772–1781. Tübingen, Germany: Verlag der Franckeschen Stiftungen, 1999.
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This intense study of a brief period of mission success in North America is an outstanding example of the impact a Moravian mission had on Native Americans, and vice versa.
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Wheeler, Rachel. To Live upon Hope: Mohicans and Missionaries in the Eighteenth-Century Northeast. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008.
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This is a comparative study of the Moravian mission in Shekomeko, New York, and the Congregational mission in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, during the mid-18th century.
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Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Because Moravians elevated the formal role of women in their church and community in sometimes controversial ways, recent historians of women, gender, and sexuality have become interested in the group. Uttendörfer 1919 was one of the first to investigate this topic in a full-length study, and it remains valuable, despite its age. Peucker 2015 provides, in some ways, the most comprehensive study of the subject, especially for gender and sexuality. In the last generation, non-Moravian historians have seen the potential for using Moravian records to get at important issues regarding gender and women in society. Beverly Prior Smaby was one of the first to write a social history of a Moravian community that made the study of women central to its approach (Smaby 1988). Faull 1997 includes a valuable introduction to a group of women’s memoirs that has helped to generate the interest of literary scholars and historians in Moravian women. Schmid 2002 provides a brief example of how recent social and cultural historians have used Moravian documents to investigate the lives of women in the 18th century. Fogleman 2007 provides a full-length study of how gender issues combined with other factors to influence colonial religious developments in a transatlantic context. Sensbach 2005 investigates a black Moravian to show how one woman had a tremendous impact on the successful mission on St. Thomas, and with this reveals the importance of women and gender issues to Moravian missionary work. Faull 2011 addresses important aspects of gender history and Moravians.

Faull, Katherine M. Moravian Women’s Memoirs: Their Related Lives, 1750–1820. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997.
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This collection of Moravian women’s memoirs, written late in their lives, has a valuable, often cited introduction on Moravian women in general.
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Faull, Katherine M., ed. Masculinity, Senses, Spirit. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2011.
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This collection of essays on gender, the senses, and religion addresses developments among the Moravians in the 18th century and other Germans in the 19th century.
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Fogleman, Aaron Spencer. Jesus Is Female: Moravians and the Challenge of Radical Religion in Early America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.
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This book places issues involving women and gender at the center of the intense religious controversies involving Moravians on both sides of the Atlantic during the mid-18th century.
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Peucker, Paul. A Time of Sifting: Mystical Marriage and the Crisis of Moravian Piety in the Eighteenth Century. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015.
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This monograph addresses gender and sexuality in the mid-18th century, the most controversial period of Moravian history.
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Schmid, Pia. “Brüderische Schwestern—Frankfurter Herrnhuterinnen des 18. Jahrhunderts in ihren Lebensläufen.” In Frauen in der Stadt: Frankfurt im 18. Jahrhundert. Edited by Gisela Engel, Ursula Kern, and Heide Wunder, 161–175. Königsstein im Taunus, Germany: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, 2002.
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This is an excellent example of how well-known historians of women are now using sources familiar to Moravian history, such as memoirs, to make important statements about the lives of women and the importance of gender to society in general in the 18th century.
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Sensbach, Jon F. Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
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This work focuses on a mulatto former slave woman, showing the importance of her and gender and race issues to the Moravian mission movement.
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Smaby, Beverly Prior. The Transformation of Moravian Bethlehem: From Communal Mission to Family Economy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.
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This is one of the earliest works in English to take women seriously in the overall make-up and functioning of 18th- and early-19th-century Moravian communities.
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Uttendörfer, Otto. Zinzendorf und die Frauen: Kirchliche Frauenrechte vor 200 Jahren. Herrnhut, Germany: Missionsbuchhandlung, 1919.
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In some ways ahead of its time, this book was the first full-length study of women in the Moravian movement, and it demonstrated their importance in the 18th century, as well as their modern relevance. It remains valuable reading on the subject.
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Theology

Much of the historical literature on Moravians is heavily steeped in theology. This is because the Moravians were Pietists who took their theology seriously, in many ways living it in everyday life, and also because their theology was unusual, if not unique. It influenced how they worshiped, how they built and lived in their communities, and how they carried out their mission work. Under Zinzendorf’s leadership the Moravians developed a theology that deviated dramatically from Protestant norms of the mid-18th century. Beyreuther 1988 lays out the fundamentals of Zinzendorf’s theology in German, and Freeman 1998 does this in English. Kinkel 1990 and Zimmerling 1991 address Zinzendorf’s views of the Trinity at length. These views were central to Moravian beliefs and were in many ways controversial. Moravian ecumenism and a strong sense of mission heightened tensions with the leaders of confessional state churches and others around them. After Zinzendorf’s death in 1760, Moravian leaders began moving away from some of their more controversial views. They sought legitimacy in the Protestant world by becoming more orthodox. Most historical theological work on the Moravians addresses the development of Zinzendorf’s views and/or the changes that occurred after him.

Beyreuther, Erich. Die große Zinzendorf Trilogie. Marburg an der Lahn, Germany: Verlag der Francke-Buchhandlung GmbH, 1988.
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This is a reprint of three previously published volumes by Beyreuther: Der Junge Zinzendorf (1957), Zinzendorf und die Sich Allhier Beisammen Finden (1959), and Zinzendorf und die Christenheit (1961). Beyreuther provides a comprehensive statement of Zinzendorf’s life and theology, and now they are available in one volume.
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Freeman, Arthur J. An Ecumenical Theology of the Heart: The Theology of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Church of America, 1998.
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This is the first comprehensive analysis of Zinzendorf’s theology to appear in English.
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Kinkel, Gary S. Our Dear Mother the Spirit: An Investigation of Count Zinzendorf’s Theology and Praxis. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1990.
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Zinzendorf’s views of the Trinity were central to his theology, and they were very controversial in his day (and still are). Almost all works that address Moravian theology point this out, and Kinkel focuses especially on Moravian beliefs regarding female characteristics and functions of the Holy Spirit.
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Zimmerling, Peter. Gott in Gemeinschaft: Zinzendorfs Trinitätslehre. Giessen, Germany: Brunnen, 1991.
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Zimmerling addresses Zinzendorf’s views on the Trinity and their importance in German.
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Community

Moravian communities have received a lot of attention from historians because of their unusual make-up. Until the first half of the 19th century, many, if not most, Moravians lived in relatively tightly controlled closed communities. This included strict separation by gender, age, and marital status in worship, work, and even living arrangements. For most of the 18th century this included communal ownership of property. Moravians welcomed visitors into these communities, but one had to be part of the group one way or another to live there. Thorp 1989 and Sommer 2000 are good examples of community studies that reflect the influence of social historians in the late 20th century. Erbe 1988, Peucker 1991, Podmore 1998, Atwood 2004, and Engel 2009 show the deep theological and spiritual influences on social, economic, and other activity of Moravian communities in Europe and North America. In many of their Indian and slave missions, the Moravians attempted to extend their views of spirituality and community, and they sometimes succeeded, although always with compromise, as Wessel 1999 demonstrates. Many Moravians lived in open communities with non-Moravians as well. From the dissolution of the communal economic, social, and living arrangements to this day, many of the old closed communities like Herrnhut in Germany, Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania, and Salem (now Winston-Salem) in North Carolina have retained their importance as centers of church leadership, as places where many Moravians live, and as the homes of important libraries, archives, and colleges of the Moravian Church.

Atwood, Craig D. Community of the Cross: Moravian Piety in Colonial Bethlehem. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.
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This study shows how important Moravian theology was to how they lived in their closed communities, focusing on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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Engel, Katherine Carté. Religion and Profit: Moravians in Early America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
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This study focuses on the interplay of religion and economic development in the Moravian community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the 18th century.
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Erbe, Hans-Walter. Herrnhaag: Eine religiöse Kommunität im 18. Jahrhundert. Hamburg, Germany: Wittig, 1988.
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This work investigates the community of Herrnhaag, which became the center of Moravian administration, mission work, and creative, controversial theological-cultural experimentation from its founding in 1738 to its forced dissolution in 1753.
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Peucker, Paul M. ’S Heerendijk: Herrnhutters in IJsselstein, 1736–1770. Zutphen, The Netherlands: Walburg Pers, 1991.
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Written in Dutch, this work is a valuable study of a closed Moravian community not in Germany or the United States; namely, Heerendijk, Holland.
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Podmore, Colin. The Moravian Church in England, 1728–1760. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998.
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This work traces the development of the Fetter Lane Society in London, followed by the expansion of Moravian influence in England.
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Sommer, Elisabeth W. Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727–1801. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2000.
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Sommer works with themes important to social, economic, and religious historians of colonial America and early modern Europe in this comparative study of the Moravian communities in Herrnhut, Germany, and Wachovia, North Carolina.
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Thorp, Daniel B. The Moravian Community in Colonial North Carolina: Pluralism on the Southern Frontier. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989.
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Thorp’s is one of the first full-length studies of the Moravians in North Carolina that addresses issues important to non-Moravian historians. He uses German documents to study the group, focusing on themes of social and economic development important to colonial and southern historians.
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Wessel, Carola. Delaware-Indianer und Herrnhuter Missionare im Upper Ohio Valley, 1772–1781. Tübingen, Germany: Verlag der Franckeschen Stiftungen, 1999.
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This thorough study of a brief period of mission success in North America is an outstanding example of a work demonstrating the impact a Moravian mission had on Native Americans, and vice versa.
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