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Abstract:
In the late sixteenth century, the imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire hosted thousands of religious refugees from England, France, and the Low Countries. Accommodating these newcomers, who rarely spoke German and often practiced a different form of Protestantism, proved daunting. In the case of Frankfurt am Main, two minority worship arrangements emerged: private worship in houses and the practice of Auslauf (leaving the city on Sundays to worship). Historians of toleration have seen both arrangements as enabling, if reluctantly, the survival of minority worship. When one examines the words of the reformed refugees in Frankfurt, a different picture emerges. Refugee perceived private worship and Auslauf as odious restrictions aimed at forcing them out of the city. As a consequence of these arrangements, hundreds of reformed refugees went into exile once more in search of a place where they could worship publicly.
