Editing Freedom of religion (section)

====Principality of Transylvania====
{{main|Edict of Torda}}
In 1558, the [[Hungarian Diet]]'s [[Edict of Torda]] declared free practice of both Catholicism and Lutheranism. Calvinism, however, was prohibited. Calvinism was included among the accepted religions in 1564. Ten years after the first law, in 1568, the same Diet, under the chairmanship of [[List of Hungarian monarchs|King of Hungary]], and [[List of Princes of Transylvania|Prince of Transylvania]] [[John Sigismund Zápolya]] (John II), following the teaching of [[Ferenc Dávid]],<ref>{{cite book |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/109.html|title=History of Transylvania. Volume I. From the Beginnings to 1606|publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada and A Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto|access-date=20 November 2016|isbn=0880334797}}</ref> the founder of the [[Unitarian Church of Transylvania]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=DESTINATION: ROMANIA/Unitarianism, a religion born in Cluj|url=http://www.agerpres.ro/engleza-destinatie-romania/2014/08/27/destination-romania-unitarianism-a-religion-born-in-cluj-13-23-02|date=27 August 2014|access-date=2023-01-02|website=www.agerpres.ro|language=ro|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225160554/https://www.agerpres.ro/engleza-destinatie-romania/2014/08/27/destination-romania-unitarianism-a-religion-born-in-cluj-13-23-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> extended the freedom to all religions, declaring that "''It is not allowed to anybody to intimidate anybody with captivity or expelling for his religion''".

{{Blockquote|Act of Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience:<br><br>
''His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he{{snd}} together with his realm{{snd}} legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well. If not, no one shall compel them for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents or others shall abuse the preachers, no one shall be reviled for his religion by anyone, according to the previous statutes, and it is not permitted that anyone should threaten anyone else by imprisonment or by removal from his post for his teaching. For faith is the gift of God and this comes from hearing, which hearings is by the word of God''.|Diet at Torda, 1568: King John Sigismund<ref name=s2>Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council. [http://www.uupcc.org/docs/edict-of-torda.doc "Edict of Torda"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713112749/http://www.uupcc.org/docs/edict-of-torda.doc |date=13 July 2018 }} (DOC). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.</ref>}}

After hearing learned debate on the matter, King Sigismund ruled that society did not have the power to stifle religious expression. The lack of state religion was unique for centuries in Europe, and the Edict of Torda is considered as the first legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lightbringers.net/content/story-francis-david-and-king-john-sigismund-establishment-transylvanian-unitarian-church|title=The Story of Francis David and King John Sigismund: The Establishment of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church|work=Lightbringers|access-date=17 October 2016|quote=every orator shall preach the gospel by his own (personal) conception, at any place if that community is willing to accept him}}</ref>

Four religions ([[Catholicism]], [[Lutheranism]], [[Calvinism]], [[Unitarianism]]) were named as accepted religions (religo recepta), having their representatives in the Transylvanian Diet, while the other religions, like the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxs]], [[Sabbatarians]] and [[Anabaptists]] were tolerated churches (religio tolerata), which meant that they had no power in the law making and no veto rights in the Diet, but they were not persecuted in any way. Thanks to the Edict of Torda, from the last decades of the 16th century Transylvania was the only place in Europe, where so many religions could live together in harmony and without persecution.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-11-25|author=Kovács Kálmán|title=Erdély és a Habsburg valláspolitika a 17. század utolsó évtizedeiben|url=https://mult-kor.hu/20051125_erdely_es_a_habsburg_vallaspolitika_a_17_szazad_utolso_evtizedeiben|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Múlt-kor történelmi magazin|language=hu}}</ref>

This religious freedom ended however for some of the religions of Transylvania in 1638. After this year the [[Szekler Sabbatarians|Sabbatarians]] began to be persecuted and forced to convert to one of the accepted Christian religions of Transylvania.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/192.html|title=History of Transylvania. Volume II. From 1606 to 1830|date=17 July 2002 |publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada and A Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto|access-date=20 November 2016|isbn=0880334916}}</ref>