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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 1998-12 > 0913181721


From: "R. J. Kane" <>
Subject: Protestant (was Re: All wobs were taigs once Stu)
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 18:35:21 +1300


A number of people wrote about the etymological root of the word
protestant, as Brian McConnell has just done. However, I don't remember
any discussion on the historical origin of the title Protestant. It is
said to have originally arisen from being applied to those who lodged a
formal protest against the suppression of religious freedom by the Diet of
Speyer in 1529. In ecclesiastical courts (and perhaps in other types also)
it was simply a term for those bringing forward a protest. In a similar
way, one making a defence before a court today is called a defendant.
(Also, in later Scottish ecclesiastical history, those who raised a formal
remonstrance were called Remonstrants.)

Bob Kane

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