Origin from 1731
On 31 October 1731 Archbishop Leopold Anton von Firmian of Salzburg ordered the expulsion of all Protestants from his archbishopric, over 20,000 people by the source's own count, the landless given a week to leave and householders two months. Most, roughly 16,000 to 17,000, resettled in East Prussia at the invitation of Frederick William I, arriving at Konigsberg from May 1732; a much smaller group, some 300, accepted an invitation from Britain's King George II to settle in the Georgia colony, founding the town of Ebenezer from 1734, tying this expulsion directly to Lutheranism's establishment in North America.
Facts
Dates
Start YearSourced to the subject's own account31 October 1731, the expulsion edict; the source itself carries an internal inconsistency between "over 20,000 expelled" and "over 30,000 emigrated", named here rather than silently resolved. End YearSourced to the subject's own account1732, the bulk of the resettlement, first arrivals at Konigsberg on 28 May that year. StatusSourced to the subject's own account Learn More
How the Archbishop of Salzburg Expelled Its Protestants
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
On 31 October 1731 Archbishop Leopold Anton von Firmian of Salzburg ordered the expulsion of every Protestant from his archbishopric, more than 20,000 people by the surviving count. The order gave those with no land a single week to leave and householders two months, forcing a mass departure from a territory many families had lived in for generations.
Most of the expelled, roughly 16,000 to 17,000 of them, resettled in East Prussia at the invitation of Frederick William I, arriving at Konigsberg from May 1732 onward into a kingdom actively seeking Protestant settlers for its own territory. A far smaller group, some 300 people, took up a different invitation, from Britain's King George II, and crossed the Atlantic to settle in the new Georgia colony, founding the town of Ebenezer from 1734.
What this expulsion changed for Lutheranism's spread reached across an ocean from a single archbishop's order. The East Prussian resettlement rebuilt a displaced Protestant population inside another German speaking territory, but the smaller Georgia group tied the expulsion directly to Lutheranism's establishment in North America, a colonial foothold that traced its origin not to any deliberate missionary effort but to families expelled from Salzburg with as little as a week's notice.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Americas directly: "On 31 October 1731 Archbishop Leopold Anton von Firmian of Salzburg ordered the expulsion of all Protestants from his archbishopric, over 20,000 people by the source's own count, the landless given..."
This source names Georgia directly: "King George II to settle in the Georgia colony, founding the town of Ebenezer from 1734, tying this expulsion directly to Lutheranism's establishment in North America."
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