Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf

Christian Renatus, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf was the charismatic leader of the Single Brethrens Choir of the Moravian Church and of Herrnhaag , a Christian religious community built near Bdingen by his father, Nicholas Ludwig, head of the Brdergemeine or Moravian Unity. Christian Renatus, affectionately known as Christel, took his fathers marriage religion literally, proclaiming himself to be the living Sidewound of Christ in 1748, which meant he was the embodiment of Christs sacrificial and compassionate love.

Zinzendorf was born just a month after the spiritual awakening experience on August 13, 1727 that signaled the renewal of the Ancient Unity of Brethren, in which Moravian exiles on the lands of his father committed themselves to a life in Christ. Both his parents were deeply committed to this ideal. His father and his mother, Erdmuth Dorothea m.n. Countess von ReussEbersdorf, came from Pietist families that stressed the indwelling of the spirit. His parents considered their relationship to be a marriage of champions in which the goal was serving Christ. The young Zinzendorf was left in the care of his mother for most of his youth while his father pursued church activities elsewhere. His effeminacy was noted by nineteenth and earlytwentiethcentury historians who typically blamed it on his being raised in the company of women Christian Renatus . . . had all the ardor without the virility characteristic of his father.

Source: Wikipedia