1764 Moravian Zitters or Not?

Banjimer
09/06/09 02:26:37PM
@greg-gunner
For those of you that may not be following the history discussions on ED, Razyn and I have been discussing some newly published research by Lanie Graf, an Archivist for the Moravian Archives. Ms. Graf's research has determined that the Moravians were using citterns in their worship services during the 1700's. Although I haven't heard personally from Ms. Graf, her discoveries shed new light upon the references to "zitters" in the diaries of the 18th century Moravians of Pennsylvania. Most of her research relates to what Moravians were doing in Europe during this time period, but she includes references to at least one cittern that was brought to Pennyslvania by the Single Sisters living at the missions. She concludes that the references to "citter" and "zitter" refer to citterns, not zitters. Her work is not conclusive, but it does open up the possibility that the Moravians were playing citterns, not zitters like their neighbors the Mennonites.Greg