Anabaptism in Early Modern Europe
Image Commentary | Origins of Anabaptism | South Tyrol and Moravian Anabaptism | South German Anabaptism | Anabaptism in the Low Countries | Persecution | Further Resources | Credit
Image: Dirk Willems saves his pursuer. Woodcut by Jan Luyken from Thieleman J. van Braght, Martyrs Mirror or The Bloody Theater (1660). Source: Wikimedia (user Spangineer), Public Domain.
Image Commentary
In 1660, the Dutch writer Thieleman J. van Braght published the Martyrs Mirror or The Bloody Theater, an account of the persecution of mostly Anabaptist Christians. Most of these had died at the hands of Protestant and Catholic authorities, which found the Anabaptist rejection of infant baptism dangerous. The Martyrs Mirror praised the virtues of Anabaptists, who had adopted non-resistance as one of their chief principles.
One of the most celebrated 'heroes' of the book was a certain Dirk Willems, an Anabaptist who was imprisoned under the orders of the Duke of Alva in Asperen, in the Low Countries. He managed to escape out of his prison but he was seen by a guard that pursued him as he fled. Dirk crossed the thin ice of a pond safely, but his heavier guard broke the ice and fell into the water. Compassion made Dirk come back and save the guard, who, despite owing his life to the fugitive, arrested him again. Dirk was put in a more secure prison and was eventually burnt at the stake. Such stories explain why the book became a favourite in Mennonite and Amish communities, and was eventually translated into both German and English.
Origins of Anabaptism
Although the origin of Anabaptism is still under debate, the 'birth' of the movement is generally set on 21 January 1525 in Zürich, when Conrad Grebel (1498-1526), the so-called 'Father of Anabaptists', baptised George Blaurock (c. 1492-1529), and Blaurock in turn baptised Franz Manz (c.1498-1527) and several others. Grebel, Blaurock and Manz were part of a group of radical followers of Huldrych Zwingli, usually called the 'Swiss Brethren', who had become increasingly dissatisfied with Zwingli's reforms. Soon after, the Swiss Brethren came under vigorous persecution: Manz was arrested by Zürich council, which put him to death by drowning (1527), Blaurock was burnt at the stake in Innsbruck (1529); Grebel was probably martyred too (though no details of his death have been found).
20101122164815!Ertraenkung_felix_manz.jpg
The Drowning of Franz Manz in the Limmat River, 1527 (Source: Heinrich Bullinger, Kopienband zur zürcherischen Kirchen- und Reformationsgeschichte, 1605/6, PD - Sanblatt on Wikimedia)
In 1527, a meeting of the Swiss and South German Brethren wrote the Schleitheim Confession, which is the best-known declaration of the faith. It expressed the belief in adult baptism and pacifistic non-resistance, as well as the refusal of oaths and military service.
South Tyrol and Moravian Anabaptism
Anabaptism found fertile ground in South Tyrol, where it was led by Jacob Hutter (c. 1500-1536), founder of the Hutterite movement. Tyrolean Anabaptists suffered intensive persecution from the Hapsburg Catholic authorities, and eventually Hutter led the surviving communities to Moravia (1533). However, there they encountered the hostility of the Moravian diet, who had them expelled from the country in 1535. Hutter returned to Tyrol where he was arrested and burnt at the stake in 1536. Hutterite communities still exist, most now being found in the United States.
Southern German Anabaptism
In southern Germany, Anabaptist communities were formed under the influence of the doctrines of Andreas Karlstadt (1486-1541), a former supporter of Luther, Hans Denck (1495-1527) and Hans Hut (c.1490-1527). The most active of these was Hut, who had strongly been influenced by the mysticism of Thomas Müntzer and held apocalyptic views of the impending Second Coming in 1528. Denck and Hut were the main Anabaptist leaders that convened a major Synod in Augsburg (20-24 August 1527). The Synod took place, but not much is known of its decisions because most of its participants were quickly arrested. Hut was sentenced to life in prison, where he died soon after in a fire (December 1527). Denck went to Basel, where he died the same year from bubonic plague. Most of the other participants were arrested or condemned to death, leading to the nickname of the Synod as the 'Martyrs' Synod'.
Anabaptism in the Low Countries
A very different branch of Anabaptism initially developed in the Low Countries. In 1530, Melchior Hoffman (c.1495-c.1543), a preacher originally influenced by Lutheranism, baptised 300 persons in Emden. Hoffman held a peculiar vision of apocalypticism that foresaw a return of Christ in 1533 in Strasbourg, which he named as the seat of the New Jerusalem. Although his prophecy did not materialise, it emboldened two of his followers, Jan van Matthijs and Jan van Leiden, who argued that the return of Christ would actually take place in Münster. The Münster Rebellion (1533–1534) was an unsuccessful attempt at imposing an millenialist Anabaptist rule that included controversial doctrines as the communal use of goods and polygamy. The rebellion was ruthlessly put down by the forces of the expelled bishop of Münster. The Rebellion did much to compromise the Anabapist cause and fostered further supression from the Catholic and Lutheran churches. Dutch Anabaptism reorganised under the leadership of Menno Simmons (1496-1561), who had been baptised by one of the followers of Hoffman, but condemned the Münster Rebellion and adopted the non-violent principles of the Swiss Brethren. His followers became known as Mennonites, and today Mennonite communities are spread throughout the world.
Persecution
Catholic and Reformed churches justified the persecution of Anabaptists by assimilating them with the Donatist heresy of the early Christian era. Donatists had similarly practiced re-baptism, and had been condemned to death in the times of Roman Emperors Theodosius I and Justinian I. This precedent, compounded by the fear over the disruption caused by doctrines such as non-violence, oath-rejection and communal living, resulted with persecutions being carried out throughout Europe, including the Holy Roman Empire, the Swiss cantons, the Low Countries, and England. These continued even after the Peace of Westfalia (1648), with the outcome that many Anabaptists eventually fled from Europe. A 2009 census of Anabaptist has put the total number of practicers of the faith at 1.6 million, out of which only 4% still reside in Europe.
Further Resources
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