Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Prophesying. Social and Intellectual Interrelations between the Polish Brethren and the Collegiants in Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam

This essay focuses on the presence of Polish Brethren (usually known as Socinians)
exiles in Amsterdam in the mid-seventeenth century, examining the social and intellectual
interrelations between them and other Dutch religious minorities. It describes the
phenomenon of the Brethren’s emigration to the United Provinces, roughly between
1638 (when the Socinians were banished from Raków) and the late 1660s, relying on
both published and manuscript sources. It particularly emphasizes the social relations
that the Brethren established with the Remonstrants, the Mennonites, and the
Collegiants. It then focuses on the last group and argues that shared views on religious
tolerance were the common intellectual ground that likely contributed to the
friendly relationships between the Brethren and the Collegiants. It also argues that
these relationships fostered further intellectual crossovers between the two groups, as
the Brethren in Amsterdam were influenced by the Collegiants’ emphasis on freedom
of prophesying, egalitarianism, and anti-confessionalism.