"At the table for the Lord's Supper..."

Congregational portrait from the time of galley slavery as reflected in the Lord's Table furnishings

Abstract

Material relics related to the galley slave preachers have survived only sporadically and indirectly. These may primarily be the communion table objects of those churches in which the preachers summoned to Bratislava and then sentenced to galley slavery served. The communion table equipment of each era is an important part of the life and history of a Reformed congregation. From the quantity and quality of the objects, we can draw many conclusions about the operation of the given congregation, and in many cases the absence of objects can also be extremely telling. In the 17th-century visitation records, church visitors also included a generally brief, inventory-like description of the communion table equipment of the congregations. Based on the data in the records, we can draw a diverse picture of the Reformed congregations of the galley slavery era.