Szekler Sabbatarians

The Szekler Sabbatarians (in Transylvanian Saxon: (Siebenbürgen) Sambatianer; in German: Siebenbürgische Sabbatianer; in Hungarian: Szombatosok, zombatosok, sabbatariusok, zsidózók, Şomrei Sabat) were a religious group in Transylvania and Hungary between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries who held Unitarian and judaizing beliefs.

The Magyar Sabbatarians arose among Transylvanian Unitarians, led by the Matthias Vehe's followers András Eőssi and Simon Péchi who founded the Sabbatarians 1588, after Ferenc Dávid died in prison and the Unitarian church formalised on a non-Sabbatarian line. Initially they believed Jesus to be the messiah, but a human rather than divine messiah. Gradually they passed to read only the Old Testament and to celebrate Torah's feasts, follow dietary laws, and a strict observance of seventh-day Sabbath, but not circumcision.

Most of their followers were of Székely ethnicity and had experienced periods of tolerance and persecution. In May 23, 1621, Simon Péchi, the Chancellor of Transylvania was dismissed and arrested for political reasons at the order of Prince Gabriel Bethlen. On September 29 of the following year, the Transylvanian Diet made a law against the Judaizers. Thirteen years later, on May 13, 1635, the Diet set the explicit deadline of Christmas Day 1635 for the Sabbatarians to convert to one of the four accepted Christian religions of the Principality. When the great persecution began in 1635 they numbered 20,000 members.

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