HistoryoftheAnabaptistsinSwitzerland_10236777

H I S T O RY
OF T HE
BY ~
H E NRY S fé U R RA G E .
P HI L A D E L P HI A
AME RIC A N BAP T I S T P U BL I C A T I O N
1 42 0 C HES T NUT S T RE ET .
En t r
e ed, a c c o r d in g t o Ac t of C o n g r e s s , i n th e y e a r 1 88 2, by t h e
AME RIC AN BAP T IS T PUBL I C AT I O N S O C I ET Y,
In th e Offi ce of t h e L ib r ar i a n of C ong re s s ,
at W as h i n g t o n .
a ff airs o f S wit e rland o c c u py a v e ry s mall s pac e in the
T he z
gre at c hart o f Eu r o p e an hi s to ry But in s o m e r es p e c ts th ey

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a e m o r e i n t e r es tin g than the r e v o l u ti o n s o f mig hty ki n gd o m s

r .
N o whe r e b es id e s d o w e find s o ma n y titl e s t o o ur s ympathy o ,

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the u ni o n o f s o m u ch virt ue with so c o mpl e t e s u c c e s s .
H allam Mi d dle Ages 1 08

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11 . .
U n s tr e itig v erdi en en die K a mp f e we lch e die Z u ric her Wie

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d e rt au f e r z ur Re f o rmati o n s eit v eranla s s t hab en a u c h h eu t e

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n o c h g ew u r digt u w e rd e n
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— E li D i e Z ur i her W ed er ta u er s 9 1
g ,
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. .
S ie n s ic h ein kl ein e s Ha u fl ein de gan en fe in dl ich en

s ehe , ,
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Welt g e g e n u b er ab e r in de Z u v e r s ic ht die Wahrhe it u be

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s it e n v e racht e n s i e di e fu rcht s am e n A u s l e g e r d es Wo rt es Go tt e s
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d ie n ic ht g e d e n k e n da s s Go tt h e ut e w ie g e s t e rn s e i u n d e kl a ,
v r
r en ihr e Au s s icht a u f A n g s t u n d No th d u rch d en H inblick a u f
C hri s t u s un d die Ap o s t el die a uf d e m s elb e n W eg de L e id e n

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ihn en u H errlichk e it v o rang e gan ge n

z r .
— C o rn eli u s Ges c hi c hte d es Mu ns ter i s chen Au r uhr s 5 ii 2 4

, f ,
. . .
P R E FA C E .
To o littl e atte n ti o n has b ee n given to the Anabapti st s o f the

s i x t ee nth c e nt u ry No o ne a m ong u s w o u ld be s ati s fi e d wi th
.
a hi s t ory o f the Re fo rm ati o n in Germany prepare d by D E ck , r.

,
or any o the r o f Lu th er s o pp o n e nt s ; but w o rk s c o nc e rning the

’
Anabapti sts w ritt e n by the ir bitt er es t e n e mi e s a e r e c e iv e d by

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r
write r s o f alm o s t ev ery nam e as tru s tw o rthy hi s t o ry Bo oks o f .
thi s charact er a e cit e d as a uth oriti es in Anabapti s t hi st o ry In

r .
his As to Rog er Wi lli a m s D De xt e r cit e s a n u mb e r o f w o rk s

,
r .
fr o m which as he t ell s u s the e arly s ettl ers o f New England de

, ,
riv e d their pr ej udic e again s t the Anabapti st s ; and he add s f o r
the b e n e fit o f his r e ad e r s that if o n e w o u ld c mp l ete his kn o w

,
o
l dg e o f the s ubj e ct he wou ld do w ell t o c o n s ult the f oll owi n g

e
”
,
w o rks C t o u s Histoi e d es Ana bap tis tes ta nt en Al lemagne

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Holl a nde gu Angleter r e e tc P ari s 1 6 1 5 J Gas tiu s s De

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An a bap tis mi ex or di o, er r or ibu s , hi stor i is a bo mi n a n d is , c o nf i da
ti o n i bu s a d ecti s , e t c . ,
j Ba s il eae 154 4 ; Me lanc hth o n ’
s A dver sus
An a bap ti s tas ju d i ci um, J H Ann a les A n a bap
'
etc , . . . O ttiu s s
ti s ti c i , koc es t, His tor i a u n i ver s a li s d e A na bap tis ta r u m or ig i ne,
p r og r essa , f a eti oni bu s , et s chis ma tis, et c , . Ba s il e m, 1 6 7 2 ; and

K e r s s e nb r o c k ’
Ges c hi c hte d er Wi ed er taafi er Mii ns ter ,
’
s 2a e tc ,
.
1
at Mu nich in a th o u g ht
C o r n eli u s , P r o f e s s o r of H i s t o ry ,
f ul r evi ew o f the la s t o f th es e w o rk s s ays t hat K e r s s e nbr o c k ,
k n o w s o nly what is e vi l o f the Anabapti s t s and o nly what is ,
1 A s to Rog er Wi llia ms ,
1 13 , n o t e 43 9 .
1 >I
<
X P RE FA C E .
g oo d o f their o pp o n ents ; whil e o f the o the r wo rk s that D

1
r.
De x te r m e nti o n s it s ho uld be s aid that th ey we r e all wr itt e n by

,
the o pp o n e nt s o f the Anabapti s t s and c o u ld be o f littl e u se t o

,
“
o n e w ho d es ir e s to c o mpl ete his kn owl edg e o f Anabapti s t
”
hi s t o ry .
An ill u s trati o n o f the way in whic h m en a e mi sl e d by th es e r
“
a uth o riti e s w e hav e in the s uppl e m e ntary c hapter which is
”
,
f o u nd in t he lat e D J P T h o mp so n s “
C hu rc h and S tat e ”
’
r. . . .
He s ays “
T he Anabapti s t s o f Ge rmany in the s ixt e e nth c en
t u ry had m o s t o f the chara ct e ri s tic f e at u r es o f Mo rm o ni s m .
T hey claim e d to be in s pir e d ; th ey r e fu se d to a ckn o wl e dg e the

civil gov e rnm e nt ; they e s tabli s he d a th e o cracy callin g Mun ste r ,
Mo u nt Z i o n th ey c o ll e cte d tith es and practic e d p olygamy D ”

. r.
H oward O s go o d at o n c e c all e d D T ho mp s o n s atte nti o n to the

r.
’
e rr o r s int o which he ha d f all e n in thi s s tat e m e nt s ayi n g :

“
I ,
n ot o nly q u e s ti o n bu t d e ny and a s k f o s o m e plain and u nim

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each able pr o o f t h at t he A nabapti s t s o f the Re f o rmati o n e v e r

p ,
claim e d to be in spire d b eyo nd that ill u minati o n o f the S pi r it n o w

b eli eve d by all e van gelical b o di es ; that they e ve r re fus e d to
a ckn owl e dg e the civil g o ve rnm ent ; that they ev e r establi s h e d a
the o cracy calli n g Mun s t e r Mo u nt Z i o n that they e v e r c ol
,
“
l c te d tith e s ; that th ey e v e r practic e d p o lyga m y o c o mm u nity

e r
o f wiv es I t is s u ffici e n t to s ay that D T h o mp s o n n e v e r f u

”
. r. r
n is he d the plain and u nimp e ac habl e pr o o f f o r w hic h Dr O s g o o d .
call e d .
I t s h o uld al s o b e r e m e mb e r e d that o f th o s e w ho at the tim e o f
the R o e f rmati o n w e r e ca l l e d — and by many a re s till call e d

Anabapti s t s s o m e n e ith e r adv o cat e d n o pra ctic e d Anabapti s m
,
r
w hi l e the d o ctrinal vi ews whic h w e r e r e pr es e nt e d am o ng t he m
1 Di e G es chi chtsq uellen d B i s thums

. Munster , i i 58
. .
PREFA C E . xi
b el o n ge d t o wid ely diff er ent s c ho ol s o f religi o us tho u ght In .
o th e r w o rd s the t e rm A nabapti s t w a s c o nt e mpt u o u s ly b es t o w e d

,
o n all t ho s e w ho w e r e o pp o s e d t o the u ni o n o f C h u rch a n d S tat e

,
and w ho c o ns ci en ti o sly r e main e d o uts id e o f the s tate ch urc hes

u -
.
T o the hi s t o ry o f the Anabapti s t s o f S w it erla n d as littl e att e n z
ti o n has b e en given as to that o f the Anabapti s ts g en e rally ; and

p e rhap s eve n l ess T he S wi ss Anabapti s ts ha d a part h o weve r
,
.
,
in the gre at m ove m e nt which as Do rn e r s ays e xte nd e d , ,

1
,
“
thro u g h a l l Germany ; fr o m S wabia and S wit e rland al o n g z
,
the Rhi n e t o H o l l and n d F ri es la n d ; fr o m Bavaria Middl e Ge

a
,
r
many We stpha l ia and S ax on y as f a as H ol ste i n and th o u g h

, , ,
r
they wer e appar e ntly d efe at e d the s to ry o f their h er o ic s u f fe ring s

,
s h o u ld b e faithfully r e c o rd e d .
I n the pr eparati o n o f the f o ll o win g pag e s I hav e u s e d a s id e ,
fr o m o ffi cial d o c u m en t s s u ch tr ati s e s d o ctrinal s tat e m en ts c on

,
e
, ,
fe ss i o n s hymn s and c o rres p o n d e n c e o f the Anabapti sts th e m

, ,
s elv e s as c o u ld b e s e c u r e d the s o u rc e o f whic h w ill b e indicat e d

,
in the n o t es I have al s o fo u nd e x c ee dingly helpful Z wi n gli s

.
,
’
VVer /ee S c hu l e r u S ch u lth e s s Ed Z u rich 1 8 2 8 ; J C F u lin s

’
. . . . ss
, ,
B ey tr ci ge zur E r l au ter ung der K i r c hen Ref or ma ti ons Ges c hi c k

’
ten des S chw ei tzer la n d es Z u ri ch 1 7 4 1 ; 5 Band e a tr e a u r e

, , ,
s
ho u s e o f i n f o rmati o n in the fo rm o f o riginal d o c u m e nt s l e tt e r s , ,
et c . al s o his Neu e a unp ar theyi s che K ir chen u Ketzer lzi s to i e

. . r
d er mi ttler n Z ei t F ran k furt u L e ip i g 1 7 7 0 ; K e s s l e r s ( J o

’
. z
, ,
ann — iary o f the Z wing l ian pa s t o r at S t Ga l l fr o m

h e s ) S a bba ta d .
15 23— 15 3 9 — S t Ga l l e n 1 8 7 0 ; H Bulling e s R e f or ma ti onsg e

’
. . r
,
s c hi c hte E d H o tting e r u V eg eli F ra u en fe l d 1 8 38

,
. . al s o his D er , ,
Wi der toufier en u r sp ru ng f ,
£tr gang, S eelen, w asen, f u r nemen, a n d
gemein e jr er l eer Ar ti e/tel , e t c ., Z u ri c h, 1 56 1 ; G A . rn old s ’

an
1 Dor ne r Ges chi chte d er p r o t es ta ntis chen T heo logi e, 13 2 .

x ii PR EFA C E .
p ar they i sche K i r c hen a K etz er l fistor i en,

-
S c ha ff ha u s e n , 1 7 4 0 ;
O ecolo m pa diu s ’
,
Ei n g esp r eck etli cli er p r edi c anten zu B asel ,
g eha l ten mi tt etli chen belcener n des wi d er toufis, Ba se l , 15 25 ;

Hand lung o der A cta gelza ltn er D i sp u ta ti o a nd Gep sr a ch zu
Z ofi ng en i nn B er nner Bi et mi t den Wi d er toufier n Z u rich

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, ,
15 3 2 ;
J . J Ho tting e
. r s
’
Ges chi c hte d E i dgenoss en wahr end d er Z ei ten
.
d . K i r chentr ennu ng , Z u rich , 1 8 2 9 , bu t firs t p ubli s h ed 1 7 08
17 29 ; G . Wal s e r s Neu e App enzell er ’

Chr o ni cle S t Gall e n ,
.
,
17 4 0 ;
J A S ta rc k Ges chi clzte d Ta uf Ta uf g esinnten , Leip z i g ,

’
. . s . e a nd
17 89 .
m o r e r e c e nt w o rk s I hav e b een aid e d by the f oll owing

Of
H S c hr e ib e r s Tas c henbu c h f izr Gesc/i i ehte u Alter thum i n S il d
.
’
.
’
d eu tschl and F r e ib u rg 1 83 9—18 4 0 c o ntai n ing a val u abl e but

, , , ,
u nfini s h e d s k etc h o f Hu bm eie J J H r g D L J

’
, ; e o s as eben o r . . z
hannes Oelco la mp a d s a nd di e Ref or ma ti on der K i r che eu B a sel ,

Ba s e l , 1 8 4 3 ; J C Z ellw e g e s Ges chichte d App enzellischen
. . r
’
.
V allees S t Gall en 1 8 50 ; C F J ag e r s An d r ea s B o den s tei n von

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. . .
, ,
Car lsta dt S t uttgart 1 85 6 K H ag e n s Deu ts c hla n ds li ter ar zscli e

’ '
.
, ,
u .r el i gi ose V er kd l tni sse i m Re fi r m a ti on s z ei ta lter F ran k furt , ,
1 86 8 O f l es s val u e e J H a s t s Ges c hi cl te d Wi ed er tciuf er ’ ’
. ar . i .
,
Mun st e r 18 3 6 ; H W E bk a m s Ges chi cli te d p o testan ti sc/i en

,
. . r
’
. r
S ekten i m Z ei ta lte de R ef or ma ti on H amb u r g u Go tha 18 4 8 r r

,
.
,
and K arl H a se s Neue P r op heten (the third part o f which is en

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titl e d D as Rei ch d er W eder ta iif er ) Le ip i g 1 86 1 i

,
z
,
.
T he m o s t val u abl e o f r e c e n t wo rk s c o n c e r n ing the S w i ss An a

bapti s ts a e C A C o r n eli u s Geschi c/i te d es Mil nster is c/i en Anf
r . .
’
r u h s L e ip i g o f which t he fir s t v o l u m e app e ar e d in 1 8 55 and

r z
, ,
,
the se c o nd e ntitl e d D i e Wi eder ta uf e in 1 8 6 0 ; and E mil E gli s

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D ie Z ilr i cher l Vi ed er tci uf er zur R e m sz ei t Z u rich 1 8 7 8

f ti
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/
n
o r a o , , ,
and es p e ciall y his Actensammlu ng zur Ges chi chte d er Z a r cher

Ref or mati on i n d en Jahr en 151 9—153 3 Z urich 1 8 7 9 T he d e , , ,
.
PREFA C E . xfi i
s ign o f C o rn eli u s ma t e rly w o rk is to show fr o m a Ro man

’
s
C ath o lic p o int o f vi ew that all r ef o rmati o n o f the ch u rch m u t s
n e c e ss arily l e ad to r ev o l uti o n an d Rev o l uti o n it is u nd e r sto o d

“ ”
, ,
is to b e the titl e o f the third and c o ncl udi n g v o l u m e which i s
pr o m i e d b ut ha n o t yet app e ar e d I t i to be s aid in fav o r o f

s
,
s . s
C o r n el i u s h o w ev e r that he aim s to b e impartia l He h s n o t

, ,
. a
o nly g o n e back t o the s o u rc es bu t he h s e nd e av o r e d t o u s e ,

a
th e m with a j u s t di s crimi n ati o n in r ef ere nc e to th e ir val ue His .
s u c c e s s i s w o rthy o f a ll prai s e and in that part o f his w o r k ,
which he h s alr e ady p u b l i s h e d he h s led the way in s u bj cting

a ,
a e
the mat e i al s o f the hi s t o ry o f the Anabapti s t s to a br o ad e r n d

r a
m o r e s c ho larly tr e atm e n t than th y hav e hith e rto re c e ive d fr o m e
Ro ma n C ath o lic o ev e n P r o t es ta n t writ e r s

r .
E g l i to o w ho is pa t o r at A u s e r ih l n e ar Z urich a n d P rivat
, ,
s s s
, ,
Do c e n t in the U n iv e r s ity o f Z u ri ch h s g o n e ba ck to the s o u rc e s ,

a
,
a n d the r es u lt is the tw o w o rk s m e nti o n e d ab o v e H ad his Ac .
tens a mm lu ng fall e n int o my hand s at an e ar l i e r p e ri o d than it did ,
I s ho u ld hav e b ee n gr e at l y aid e d in my w o rk My ma n u s c r ipt .
w a n e a rl y r e ady f o the pr e s s b e fo r e I w a s awar e o f it s p ublica

s r
ti o n His Z itr i c/ e Wf i eder ta f er I f o u nd m o st h elpful an d I am

. i r a
,
o th e r w i s e i n d e bte d t o him f o k i n dly a i s ta n c e in the pr e para

r ss
ti o n o f my w or k As pa s to r in the S tat e C hu rc h his p o int o f

.
,
V i e w o f c o u rs e is n o t o n e o f sympathy w ith the Anabapti st s an d

, , ,
in s o m e pla ce s as it s ee m s to m e he f ail s to do th e m j u tic e ;

, ,
s
b u t he i s o far in adva n c e o f S wi s s writ e r s g e n e ra l ly that o th e r

s
,
tha n w o r d o f the high es t c o m m en dati o n a e a l m s t o u t o f

s r o
plac e His A ctensammlu ng is a w o rk f o which he d es e rv es the

. r
tha nks o f a l l s tu d e nts o f the hi st o ry o f the P r o t estant Ref o rmati o n .
Me nti o n a l s o s h o u ld be mad e o f He be l e s D i e Anf a nge des

, ,
r
’
An a bap ti s mus i n d er S c hwei in the J a hr bii c/ze f ar D eu ts C /Le

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z, r
Theolog ie 1 8 5 8 2te H e ft ; K e im s L u dw ig Hetz er in the J a hr

’
.
, ,
iv PREFA C E .
bu c her f ar D eu ts c he Theo log i e, 1 8 5 6 , 2te H e ft ; . Heberle s ’

Jo
ha nn Denk a. di e A us br ei tu ng s ei n er L ehr e, in the S tu di en u .
K r iti ken, 1 85 5 , 4 te H ef t , and Hebe l e s Johann r

’
Den is u . s ei n
B itchlein vo m Gesetz , in the S tu d ien u . K r i ti ken, 185 1 , l s te H ef t .
C o n c e rning T h o ma s Mun z er s r elati o n

’
t o the S wi s s An abap
littl e is to l e arn e d fr o m G T S tr o b el c
L eben , S hr if ten,
’
ti s t s , be . . s
L ehr en Thoma Mitntzer , N urnb e rg , 1 7 95, and S eid em ann s ’

a .
Thomas Mii nzer , Dr es d e n , 1 8 4 2 ; bu t of es p e cial val u e i s G e r
b el s l ette r to Mun er whic h C o rn el i us

’
z
,
gives in full in the ap
e n di t th s c nd v o l u m e o f his Geschi chte des Mié
n s ter i s chen
p x o e e o
rs .
Mos t of the wo rk s whic h I hav e

r e f e rr e d a e in my o w n
to r
library F ii s slin s B eytr age I o btai n ed f r o m the library o f C o

.
’ '
z e T h eo l o gical S e minary a fav o r f o r which I r e t u r n thank s t o

r
,
the c o u rte o u s librarian D Bli s s To D H o ward O s g o o d

,
r. . r.
,
o f Ro ch es t e r T h eo l o gical S e minary I am ind e bt e d f o the u s e o f ,

r
S chr e ib e r s Ta schen bu ch f a
’
i r Ges c hi c hte u Al ter thnm i n S li d .
d eu tschla n d f o 1 8 4 0 a val u abl e b o o k bu t s rar e as it is

r
,
lua ,
a va
bl e ; and e s p e cially f o man u s cript s o f Hu bm eier s w o rk s ; al s o

’
r
man u s cript s o f imp o rtant d o c u m e nts in r ef e re n c e to Hubm eie r
and H et e r I n d ee d D O s g oo d s a s s i s tanc e has b een in al ua

z .
,
r.
’
v
ble i n many ways and wi th o ut it I s h o uld e arly hav e aband o n e d

, ,
my ta sk .
T hat I hav e o nly imp e r f e ctly p e rfo rm e d thi s ta s k I am w ell
awar e I t is my h o p e h owev er that in calling attenti o n to the

.
, ,
hi s to ry o f the S wi ss Anabapti s ts I m ay be the m e an s o f e nli s t ,
in g the i n t e r es t o f o th e r s in thi s hit he rt o u n f amiliar d e partm e nt
o f ch u rch hi s t o ry and s o at l e n gth o f s e c u rin g a m o r e c o mpl e t e

,
vi n dicati o n of the charact e r and aim s o f th es e P r o tes ta n t s o f the

P ro t e s tant Re fo rmati o n in S wit erland z .
P O RT L A ND , ME , May . 6 , 18 8 1 .
C O N T E NT S .
C H AP T ER 1 .
P A GE .
S WI T Z ER L A ND AT T HE O PENI NG OF T HE S I X TE E NT H
C ENT U R Y
C H AP TER I I .
Z WI N G L I A ND T HE BE GI N N I N G OF T HE RE F O RM A T I ON
IN S WI T Z ER L A ND
C H AP T ER III .
RA D I C A L T END E N C I E S I N S OM E O F Z W I N GL I S AS S O C I A T E S
’
61
C H AP TER I V .
F U RT H E R DE V E L O PM E NT OF TH ESE T E ND EN C I E S
C H AP T ER V .
A N A BA PT I S M I N S T I T U TE D
C H AP T ER V I .
RA P I D S PRE A D O F AN A B A PT I S M
CO N T EN T S .
C H AP T E R V II . P A GE .
E F F O RT S To S T AY T HE P R O GRE S S O F AN A BA P T I S M .
C H AP T ER V III .
F ATE O F SOM E OF T HE LE A D E R S
C H AP T ER I X .
S T A TEM ENT O F T HE GR EN I N G E N A N A BA P T I S T S AND DE A T H

O F DE N K
C H AP TER X .
S E V E RE R ME A S U RE S AD OP T ED A ND DE A T H O F HETZER 18 8
C H AP TER X I .
T HE WO R K O F EX TE RM I N A T I O N C O M PLE TE D .
C H AP T ER X II .
C O NC LU SI O N
T HE A NA B A P T I S T S
S W IT ZE RL A ND
CH AP T ER I .
SW ITZ ERLAND I N T HE S I X T EEN TH C EN T URY .
T the opening of the Sixteenth century the S wis s

Confederati o n comprised thirteen cant o ns O f .
these S chwytz U ri an d U nterwalden fo rmed a

, , ,
league as early as 1 29 1 This league was renewed

.
in 13 05 the time to which the Tell legend is as

,
-
signed and was confirmed as a perpetual Confedera

,
tion in 13 18 after the decisive battle of M o rgarten

, ,
the Therm o pyl ae of S witzerland in which the A us

,
t r ians under D uke L e o p o ld were signally defe ated

, , ,
and the D uke narr o wly escaped the vengeance of

the hardy m o untaineers whom he h ad contempt
u ously assailed in their rocky fastnesses In 13 3 2 .
,
L ucerne j o ined the Confederati o n which was now ,
kn own as the F our F o rest Cantons ( V i er wa lds ta tte) ,
a name which is still preserved in that of the beauti

17
18 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
ful lake which is b o unded by them and is kn o wn as ,
the L ak e of the F o ur F orest Cant o ns ( V i er wa ld

s tatter — ee S .
)
Zurich was added to the C o nfederati o n in 13 5 1 -
,
Glarus and Zug in 1 3 52 and B erne in 1 353 For

,
.
more than one hundred years after the admission o f

B erne no other cant o ns were received int o the Con
federation ; and until the close of the last century
these original eight cantons enjoyed many privileges
no t Shared by the later members of the Confedera
tion .
In 148 1 F reiburg and S oleure were added In

,
.
14 9 8 the E mperor Maximilian endeavored to bring

,
the Confederati o n under the power o f the E mpire

f o r the purpose of securing the aid of the S wiss in
his proj ected advance into Italy B ut the S wiss did
.
no t favor his design and in the war that fo llowed

, ,
in which the Tyrolese subj ects o f Maximilian and

the S wabian L eague b o re the brunt the S wiss were ,
vict ori o us ; and in the foll o wing year for fai thful ,
service during the war B asel and S cha f f hausen were

,
added to the Confederation They were followed by

.
A ppenzell in 15 1 3 Thus at the o pening of the

S ixteenth century S witzerland was a free country a ,
Confederation of thirteen Can tons owing allegiance

1
The n umb er w a n ot in c r eas ed u ntil 1 7 9 8
s . The wh ol e
n umb er of C ant o n at the pr esent tim e is tw enty tw o
s -
,
as foll ow s ,
SW ITZ ERLAND I N TH E S I X T EEN TH C EN T URY . 19
neither to the German E mpire nor to individ u al

l o rds Upon the banner which the Confederates
.
bore was inscribed t h e motto : E ach f or all and ,
”
all for each .
B ut in their religio u s aff airs the free spirit of the

people had no t been so strikingly illustrated I t .
was in the early part o f the seventh century that

the first e ff orts were made to convert to Christianity
the pagan inhabitants of these mountainous wilds .
Columban an I rish monk from the monastery of

,
B angor after a score of years of C h ristian labor in

,
the F rankish E mpire established himself in 6 10 in ,
the present territory of Zurich near Tuggen on , ,
the L immat in the hOpe of bringing the Allemani

,
or S uevi of that region under the power of th e

go spel of Christ B ut his e ff orts were in vain . .
The people c o mpelled Columban to w ithdraw and ,
with his companions he took refuge in a castle

named A rbon o n the southern shore of L ake ,
Constance A second attempt was made near the

.
ruins o f an ancient castle known as Pr egentia ,
( B regenz ) at the eastern ,

end of the lake Here a .
church was erected and missionary labor was co m

Z u rich rn e Lu c ern e U i Schw y t U nt erwald en Glar u
,
Be , ,
r ,
z, ,
s,
Zug F r ib u rg
,
S ol eur e Ba el S chaffha u en App enz ll S t
e , ,
s , s ,
e ,
.
Gal l Gri s o n s Aarga u Th u rgau Te s in V au d V alai s N eu chat el

, , , ,
s , , , ,
G n eva
e .
m en c e d . B ut the h o stile pagans at length dr o ve

C o lumban from this place als o ; and in 6 13 he made
his way into I t aly where he founded the monastery
,
of B o bbi o n ear P avia

,
.
O ne o f his disciples however an I rish monk by , ,
the name of Gallus was left behind on account of

,
sickness A fter his rec o very instead of following

.
,
Columban int o Italy he resolved to ma ke an a dded

,
eff ort f or the c o nversion of the Pagans wh o se con ,
diti o n had s o deeply stirred his heart L eaving the .
’
castle at A rb on he advanced a day s j o urney into
the wilderness and came to a Spot where he sai d
, ,
Here will I abide U pon that Spot he erected a

.
monastery which subsequently received his name

, ,
and fr om which went fo rth the missi onaries who led

the i gn o rant people to renounce their id o l worship ,
and accept the Christian faith Gallus cl o sed his .
l ong and u seful life in 6 40 but the work which he ,
had c o mmenced was carried forward by his disciples ,
who inspired by his example established other

, ,
centres o f religi o us influence until at length the ,
wh ole co untry was bro ught under the d o minion of

1
the R o man Church .
This hold up o n these hardy mountaineers the

R oman Church retained at the Opening o f the
sixteenth century A t that time h o wever there
.
, ,
1 Ne and er s Hi’
st
. Ohr n Religi on
. and C hu rch , v ol . iii pp
. . 29 —3 7 .
Greek and L atin authors Cr o wds o f students

.
gathered around him and the interest in clas sical

,
studies was greatly increased It was no t long .
before the representatives of scholasticism in the

U niversity assailed R euchlin charging him in giv , ,
ing instructi o n in the classical languages and .
literature wit h undermining Christianity I ndeed

,
.
,
so strong was the h ostility which was manifested

toward R euchlin that he was compelled to leave
,
B asel in 14 7 9 and for awhile the spiri t of the new

,
era was excluded from the U niversity .
In 1502 h o wever Thom as W ittenbach was added

, ,
to the faculty of the U niversity as professor of

theology . He had studied at Tubingen and nu ,
der s too d the value of the revival of classical

lear ning in connection with his department He .
was accustomed to say to his student s that the time

was not far distant when the scholastic theology
would be set aside and the old teachings of the
,
church as laid down in the writi ngs of the church

,
F athers and in the S criptures wo u ld reappear In ,

.
h is teaching he b o ldly a s sailed many abuses in the

ad ministration of the sacraments and attacked ,
indulgences Indeed on one occasion in a public

.
,
discussion he defended the prop o sition that papal

,
indulgences have no value and that the death of ,
Christ is the only adequate ransom for the sins of

SW ITZ ERLAND I N TH E SI x TEE NT II C EN T URY . 23
men Zwingli w ho in 1502 came to B asel as a

.
,
teacher of the classics in S t Th o mas parish school .

,
became interested in the new professor and learned ,
from him lessons which at a later period b o re such , ,
abundant frui t in his refo rmatory w o rk .
B ut o f unspeakable imp o rtance to the new move

ment in S witzerland was the presence at B asel of
E rasmus who came thither in 1 5 14 at the height
, ,
o f his S plendid fame in o rder to carry through the ,
press the first editi o n o f the Greek N ew Testament .
The friends of classical learning at once gathered

around him His frequent references to the S crip
.
t u res as the foundati o n t o which theology must

,
return attracted to him the m o st distinguished o f

,
the the ol o gians in B asel am o ng them D r L ud wig ,

.
B er who confessed with sorrow that he had wasted

,
S O much of his strength in sch olastic instead of

biblical studies and c o mmenced at once to make
,
himself familiar with the Hebrew and Greek lan

guages Capito who in 15 15 was app o inted pro
.
,
fessor o f the ology in the University and so o n after ,
was made rector also came under the influence o f ,
E rasmus and in his exegetical lectures directed his

,
students to the S criptures as the source of divine

1
knowledge .
The press greatly aided in the new m o vement .
1
H er zo g Das ,
L eben Joha nn es O elco la mp a ds , Bd . i . 80 .
24 T HE ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
A mong the first b ooks published in B asel were the

L ati n V ulgate and the writings of the scholastic
,
theol o gians P eter L o mbard T ho mas A quinas and

, , ,
others The philosophical works of A ristotle

.
,
P etrarch and R euchlin fo ll o wed A Hebrew gram

,
.
mar by Pellica n was printed in 150 3 L ater in

, ,
.
,
1 5 1 6 from the press of the celebrated publisher

,
F roben appeared the editi o n of the Greek Testa

,
ment which E ras mus had prepared and which ,
could not fail a mong the learned to direct the minds

of those who were in searc h of the truth to the
inspired word o f Go d .
B ut while these influences were such as to loosen

the h o ld which the P apal Churc h had upon a people
over which it had l o ng exercised an almost imperial
sway other influences were even more potent in
,
effecting this result In the fifteent h century S wiss

.
s oldiers who had learned the arts of war an d

,
pr o ved their valor in the long struggle for inde

e nde nce in which they had been engaged were
p ,
hired to fight the ba ttles of the P ope up o n the

plains of Italy In these campaigns they were
.
br o ught face to face with the c o rrupti o ns which at

that time characterized the Papacy alike in head ,
an d members ; and o n their return t o their native
m o untain valleys they br o ught with the m n o t o nly

, ,
“
s u ch pr o verbs as The nearer R ome the worse the
, ,
Chr istian and He who goes to R ome sh o ul d leave

,
”
his religi o n behind him but also such rep o rts of ,
the noto rious pr ofl igaey of those who occupied the

highest p o si tions in the R oman S ee as could no t but
lesse n the reverence of the people f o r those wh o se
spiritual rule t hey had so l ong acknowledged .
‘
N or was the character of the S wiss clergy such

as to make these reports in any way seem im
probable S ome of the parish priests were Italians
.
,
H o tting er ,
Gesc hic hte der Ei dgen ossen l s te Abth ,
. s . 240 . In
a n ot e addr e ed t o hi N un c i o at the Di et o f N ur emb erg in
. ss s
1 522 P p Adrian V I s aid

,
e e We k n o w that in thi holy S ee .
“
s
m u c h c o rr upti on ha c o ntin u ed to ab ou nd d uring many y ear s s,
gr eat ab u e in all ec c l e ia ti c al a ff air a li k ewi s in al l that h a

s s s s, s e s
emanat e d fr o m o u r chair and in o ne w o rd a d efamati o n in , , ,
e v erythi n g H nc e it i no w o nd er if the di a e h s tran ferr ed

. e s se s a s
it elf fr o m the head t o the o ther m emb er s— fr om the Pop e to the

s
pri e t s ; th er efo r e w e pr o mi s e as far a in u li es to d ev ot e all

s ,
s s ,
ou att en ti n and car e t oward r efo rmi ng firs t o f all our c hair
r o s , ,
wh e nc e p rhap all thi evi l h o riginat d in o rd er that a the

e s s as e ,
s
d e tru cti o n has i sued th enc e to d es c end to the i n feri r grad e

s s o s,
th e car e an d r en w d enj o ym e nt o f healt h may l i k wi e e fin d e se
th eir u rc e th er e so
”
.
C ar d i n al B lla min b ar thi t e tim o ny e Anni aliq u o t

r e s s s s
an t q u a m L u th e an
e e t C alvini ti c a h e i o ietu r n u l l a f rm e
r a s a
er s s r ,
e
erat u t ii t s t ntu u i e tiam t u nc v iv ban t n u l la ( in u m

, q e a r,
q ) e ,
a
pr p erat in judiciis
o e l i ti is ev eritas n u l l a in mo ibu s ecc es a s c s ,
r
d i ciplina n u ll a in ac i l itte is e u ditio n u l l a in r b u divini

s ,
s r s r r ,
e s s
r e e e n tia
v n u ll a p o pemo d um j m erat r ligi o O p T vi
r ,
r a e . . . .
2 96 Ed C o l 16 1 7
. . . .
favorites of R o man ecclesiastics s oldiers of the ,
P apal guard even who had been assigned to p o si ,
ti o ns in the churches o f S witzerland f or the sake of

the revenue which these p o sitions aff orded The .
immo rali ty of these fo reigners was as c o nspicu o us

as their cupidity A mong the native parish priests .
,
als o a low state o f morals seems to have been the

,
rule Zwi ngli in 152 2 wi th some of his friends

.
, , ,
addressed a letter to the B ishop of Constance and ,
an o ther to the chief o fli cials in the C o nfederation ,
asking permission f o r priests to marry In the .
“
latter he said Yo ur lordships have seen already
ho w shameful have been o ur relati o ns with w o men
f or we will Speak only of o urselves — how these have
been the sca ndal and disgrace of many O f the .
Al zog, Univer sa l C hu r c h iii p 9 3 s ay o f History , v ol . . .

,
s
Z wing l i I n 1 52 2 he d e m and ed fr o m H ugo L a n d enb erg Bi h o p

: , ,
s
o f C o n s t nc e in hi o w n nam e a g en eral p ermi

a ,
s i n f o pri e ts to ss o r s
ta k e wiv e You r l rd hip he candidly ai d v ery w ll k n o w s

s :
‘
o s ,
’
s ,
‘
e
ho w d i grac fu l hav e b een my r ela ti o n s h er et o f r e with f mal s

s e o e e
( f or I w o u ld S p ea k o nly o f my s lf ) ho w th hav e b ee n the e ,

es e
s candal a nd r u in o f many But Z wingli did n o t writ e in hi

9 "
. s
o w n n am m er ely ( see We k S chu l r u Sc hul th e i

e r I e, e . ss , .
hav e n t s een a c o py o f thi l etter t o the Bi h op o f C n s tanc e

o s s o ,
and do not k n o w that it ha b en pr erv ed bu t the l et ter b eing

s e es ,
a j o in t l et ter he m ust hav e u ed the fir t pe a lu al s in th s s r so r ,

a e
l ett er to the pr min en t fli i l f the C nf d rati o n fr om whi ch

o o c a s o o e e ,
I hav q u o t e d ab o v
e I t i bu t j u t h o w ev er t add that the
e . s s , ,
o ,
s tat em ent w o uld h av b een tr ue if Z wing l i h d writt en the

e a
1
ten who j oined Zwingli in this appeal three had
already been married without the sanction of the
c hur ch and were living as was the case with many
, ,
other parish priests with their wives in o pen viola ,
tio n of the rule of the R o man Chur ch It was the .
custom of the B ishop of C onstance to absolve these

priests o n the pay ment of a fine of four guldens for
every child born to them In 152 2 he increased .
,
this fine fro m four to five guldens and his revenue ,
from this source alone is said to have been

guldens .
2
I ndeed the bishops for the most part were more

, , ,
intent on securing the perishable possessions of

earth than the everlasting treasures of heaven .
They mingled in p olitical aff airs and the duties ,
which they owed to foreign princes and to the

Confederation not u nfrequently clashed Indeed so .
,
l e tt er in nam e I nd ed fr o m Z wingli earli r hi t o ry

his o wn . e ,
’
s e s
( see O p r a vii 54 s e
q and M 6 ik,o f er Ul i ch.Z wi n
g li. i 50—52
) r ,
r .
w e hav e an i l l u trati on o f the l o w s tat e o f m o ral s am o n g the

s
S wi c l r gy
ss e .
1 Th e w er e Ba l tha ar Trach el pa st o r at A t ; Geo rg e

es s s ,
r
S t hel in pas t o r at Meini n g n hith rt Z wing l i a i tan t ’

a e e o s ss s
:
, ,
W rn er S t ein er o f Zug ; Leo Jud pa s t o r at Ein si ed eln ; Era s m u

e , ,
s
Sc hmid can o n at Zu rich S im o n S t umpf pa t o r at HOngg ; Jos t

, ,
s
K l ehmey er can o n at Lu c ern e ; Ulri c h Pfi st er pa s t o r at Ust er ;

i , ,
C a par Gr o man hos pital pr e ac her at Z u rich ; J ohn Sc hmid

s ss ,
chaplain at Z urich .
2
H ttin ger Ge c hichte de Ei dgeno n I s te Ab th
o ,
s 24 8 r sse . s. .
accust o med were the people to see these digni taries

of the church censured at the D iet Slain in the ,
field and banished from the land as disturbers of

,
the peace that public opinion in reference to the

,
sanctity and inviolability of their office was greatly

diminished .
l
Fo r letters t h ey cared but little and this i ndif ,
ference was even greater on the part of the lower

clergy The canons of the collegiate c hurch at
.
Zurich in forwarding a repor t to the B ishop of Con

,
stance said as a reason why they themselves did

, ,
n o t prepare the document that some of them were ,
2
u nable to write B ullinger says t hat at a meeting
.
of all the deans in S witzerland i t was ascertaine d .
that not more than th ree could be found w h o were ,
familiar with the B ible The others freely c o nfessed

.
3
that they had read only the N ew Testament : with
the rest of the clergy th e case was still w o rse The .
igno rance of many of the parish priests extended to

the m o st elementary branches of education They .
gave little attention to study but devoted the mselves ,
chiefly to social pleasures O f the clergy in the V a .
lais only one was fo und who had h eard of the B ible
,
.
A yet darker picture is presented when we turn to

1
H o t tin ger Gesc hi chte der E i dgenossen 1ste Abth s 2 44 24 6
, , .
—
.
Planta His tory of the Helveti c Co nf ed er a cy v ol 11 p 12 2

, ,
. . . .
3 Bu lling er Ref ,
or ma ti o n syesc hi chte, Bd . i . s . 3 .
monasteries on the gro und of the immoral life of the

monks and the neglect o f visitation The nu nne
,
-
.
ries were as little the abode of purity as the monas

ter ies. A visitor to so me of these nunneries said o f
that at F rauenthal : I detest these nuns and would ,
not like to say w h at o thers tell me W ould that .
they were virtuous faithful h onorable They have

, ,
.
desired my services as an inspector because the y ,
”
know I am simple and easily deceive d A t the .
nunnery at Go tts tadt the nuns were so faithless to

their vows that the government of B erne removed
the immoral abbess .
1
It was this state of things long contin u ed which , ,
aided i n preparing the way for a revo lt agai nst the

papal rule in S witzerland There were two events .
,
h owever which occurred early in the sixteenth cen

,
tury that greatly aided in hasteni ng this result O ne .
of these was t h e attempt w h ich was made by the

D ominicans in B erne in 150 6 to impose upon t h e
, ,
credulity of the people by a prete nded miracle A t .
t hat time the D omi nicans were not on friendly terms

with the F ranciscans on account of a diff erence of
opinion in reference to the dogma of the immaculate
concepti o n the F ranciscans af firming the D ominicans
, ,
denying this dogma The popular feeling was with

,
.
the F ranciscans and in c o nsequence their revenues

,
H o t ting er Geschichte der

,
Ei dgen ossen 1 st Abth
, . s . 2 59 2 6 1
-
.
far exceeded those o f their j eal o us rivals T his was .
not a pleasing th o ught to the Do minicans ; and act

ing up o n the principle that the end j ustifies the
means some of the m o st prominent of the brother
,
h o od including the prior c o nceived a plan by which

, , ,
they hoped to draw the attention of the community

fro m the F ranciscans to themselves .
J ohn J etz e r o f Zurzach a weak minded tailor h ad

, ,
-
,
asked to be received into the monastery as a lay

br o ther His request had hitherto been denied bu t
.
as it was n ew thought that he could be o f service in

the executi o n of the pre p o sed plan he was admitted ,
t o the br o therh o o d and bec ame an inmate of the

,
m o nastery in B erne The pri o r and his accomplices

.
began at o nce to fill J etz er s mi nd with terrors O ne ’

.
o f the number representing a s o ul from purgatory

, ,
appeared to the lay brother in his cell and asked his

-
aid in secu ing deliverance from painful impris o n

r
ment S ubsequently als o at night J etz er received

.
, ,
a visit fr o m the V irgin Mary who best o wed up o n ,
’
him three o f the S avi o ur s tears as many drops o f his ,
bl oo d and a letter addressed to P ope Julius II who

, .
, ,
it was said had been selected to ab olish the festival

,
o f the immaculate c o nception To the bewildered .
mind of the lay br o ther these were tokens of distin

-
uished fav o r but he was told that far greater hon o rs

g ,
were in store f o r hi m ; and the pretended V irgin ,

32 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ E RLAND .
’
approaching J etz er s bed in order to make upon his
body the fiv e wounds of the S aviour the distinguish
-
,
ing m arks of a saint to ok his hand and pierced it

,
with a sharp nail J etz er shrieked and made so

.
much disturbance that the completi o n of the work

was necessarily postponed O n the following night a
.
s o or ific was administered to him and he soon had

p ,
the full number of wounds with which S t F rancis and .
ot her saints had been hon o red A s he awoke from

.
his stupor the monks crowded around him l o oked ,
upon the miracul o us wounds and g reeted J etz er as

,
highly favored of heaven Then they b o re him to a

.
large room in t h e monastery wh ich was hung with

pictures of the su ff eri ngs of Christ Gazing upon .
these vivid representations J etz er became excited to

,
a still greater degree He wrung his hands as if he

.
were in the agonies of Gethsemane bowed his h ead ,
as if oppressed by the crown of thorns and sa nk to ,
th e fl o or as one overpowered in the conflict of death .
A t times the monks thre w open the doors and the ,
people attracted by reports of the miracle crowded

, ,
the monastery and gazed up o n the wonderful s pecta

,
” “
cle which J e tz er presented S ee they said he
.
, ,
is snfier ing the Cross of Christ ; while the monks

called the attention of the ast o nished multitude to
the favor thus shown to the D ominican order .
The F ranciscans were greatly humiliated by this

triumph of their rivals ; and thus far the D omini

can plot was a glorious success But the triumph .
'
of the D o minicans was of brief duration T h e im .
posture was detected by the credulous J etzer The .
V irgin again manifested herself to him and in her ,
v o ice J etz er recognized the voice of his confessor .
’
O n the fo llowing night the prior took the confessor s
place and he too was detected ; also the sub prior
, , ,
-
in the role of Cath arine of S ienna The monks ,
unwilling to lose their hold upon J etzer made addi ,
tio nal eff o rts to d eceive him but skilful as they were
in their endeavors J e tz er s suspicions were now

,
aroused and he at length was satisfied that he had

,
been imp o sed upon as before The m o nks now .
s o ught to get rid of him by means of poison but ,
J etz er disc o vered the pl o t and havi ng made his es

,
cape from the monastery he revealed the facts con

,
cerning the pretended miracle In an investigation .
that followed J etz er was subj ected to the rack but ,
he told the same story as befo re and the fo ur monks

who had been most c o nspicu ou s in the af fair having ,
been convicted of fraud were sentenced to death

,
and were burned at the stake May 1 1509 in the , ,
presence o f thirty thousand spectato rs .

‘
The history o f this aff air in nu mberless editions

, ,
1
H o t ti n g er Gesc hichte der E i dgen ossen
, ,
l s t Abth . 8 . 2 7 1 —2 8 0 .
Planta Hist Helveti c Conf eder a cy ii 124

, .
, ,
.
2 *
34 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ER LAND .
and in many languages was scattered througho ut ,
S witzerland and had a powerful influence in calling

,
the attention of the common people to the character

o f the monks and in preparing the way for the great
,
uprising against the R oman Church that so soon f o l

lowed .
An event of even greater importance in securing

this result however was the appearance of B ernard
, ,
S amson a F ranciscan m o nk who in A ugust 1518

, , , ,
entered S witzerland as A postolic Commissary Gene

ral having been empowered by the P ope to sell with
,
in the limits of t h e S wiss Cantons at fixed prices , ,
plenary indulgences f or all manner of Off ences W ith .
this tr affic S amson was already familiar having from ,
his sale of indulgences under two previous popes ,
added hundreds of thousand s of ducats to the papal

treas ury F ull of Italian pride and bent on plun
.
,
dering the people he crossed the Alps by the S t

,
.
Gothard pass and commenced the sale of his wares

,
i n Ur i A mong the poor mo untaineers of this Can

.
ton he made only a brief halt and then p u shed on ,
to S chwy tz .
A t that time Zwingli was pastor and preacher of

the church o f the Hermitage at E insiedeln havin g ,
been called to this place from Glarus in 1 5 16 A t .
E insiedeln there was a famous abbey o ver whose gat e ,
“
were the words Here a plenary remission of Sins
,
SWITZ ERLAND I N TH E S I X T E EN TH C EN T URY . 35
may be obtained and already during his residence ,
’
in the place Z wingli s heart had bee n s t irred by the
,
sight of the cro wds of pilgrims who made their way

t o the abbey allured by the promises of the monks .
L ight had dawned up o n his o w n soul and he sp o ke ,
brave w o rds to the pe ople who had been so gr o ssly

misled B ut no w his heart was even m o re deeply
.
m oved and with fiery energy he denounced the

,
“
traffic in which S amson was engaged Jesus Christ .
,
” “
the S on o f Go d he exclaime d has said Come
, , ,
‘
unto me all ye that labor a nd are heavy laden and

, ,
I will g ive you rest Is it no t then mos t pr es ump

.
’
, ,
t uo us folly and senseless temerity to declare o n the
contrary : B uy letters of indulgence hasten to R o me , ,
give to the monks sacrifice to the priests and if th o u

, ,
”
doest these things I absolve t h ee from thy sins 9
Jesus Christ is the only oblation th e only sacrifice , ,
the only way "

’
Zwingli s warning voice penetrated t h e m o untain
valleys of S chwytz and S amson was compelled to
,
move on L ate in S eptember he appeared in Zug

.
,
where a great crowd of p oo r people responding to the ,
’
call of S amson s heralds pressed around the P apal
,
“
C o mmission .L et th o se first c o me who have gold ,
“
c r ied one of S amson s attendants ’
the rest will r e
”
c e iv e attentio n afterwards F or three days S amson
.
remained in Zug A t t imes the throng was so great

.
36 T HE ANABAP T I S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
that many could not ge t near the cross where the

indulgences were sold P assing th rough L ucerne .
and U nterwalden meeting with increasing success in

,
his mission S amson came at l e ngth to B erne

,
At .
first h e was not permitted to enter the city but ,
through t h e eff orts of some of his friends the refusal

was at length withdrawn and h e opened the sale of ,
’
h is wares in S t V incent s Church . To the poor he .
s old indulgences on paper for three cents F or th e .
same thing on vellum the rich paid a crown To .
absolve themselves from greater sins some paid hun

dreds of d u cats A celebrated warrior Jacob de
.
,
S tein by the present of th e grey steed which he rode

,
obtained an Indulgence f or himself his fiv e hundred ,
troopers and all his vassals in the seignioryof R ealp

,
.
O n the last S unday of his stay in B erne at a service ,
“
in the ch urch S ams o n cried out A ll those who
, ,
kneel dow n and off er a short prayer shall be as pure

7?
as immediately after baptism and as all knee led
he added I deliver from th e t orments of purgat ory

,
and of hell all the souls of deceased B ernese no

, ,
”
matter when W h ere or ho w they died
, ,
.
I n A argau S amson found that on account of his

, ,
failure to have his credentials approved the B ish op ,
o f Constance had ordered h is clergy not to receive
h im In B aden he held mass in the church

.
,
A fter .
war d While accompanying a pro cess ion through the

,
“
said I know What I have done and will ans wer for
, ,
i t where it is fitting I care nothing for you and

.
your excommunicati o n ”
Impudent br u te " sh o uted
.
”
“
S amson I am going so o n to Zurich and I will
, ,
complain of yo u there to the deputies o f the Cant o n .
“
Bu llinger turned and defiantly added Y ou will find ,
”
t h a t I have preceded you .
Z wingli w h o in D ecember 1518 had been trans

, , ,
ferred from E insiedeln to the Cat h edral in Zurich ,
’
was informed of S amson s purpose as revealed in his
threat to B ullinger and attacked indulgences even
,
”
more vehemently than at E insie deln N 0 man .
,
he said can remit S ins Christ who is very Go d

,
.
,
’2
and very man alone has this power
,
S amson was .
told th a t Zwingli was preaching against indulgences .
“ “
I am aware he said ,
that Zwingli will speak
,
”
against me but I will sto p h is mouth
,
.
B ullinger was as goo d as h is word and reached ,
Zurich i n advance of the enraged S amson O n his .
— —
a rival it was late in F ebruary 1519 he had a
r ,
consultation with Zwingli and the principal men in

th e city and the result was t hat when S amso n ar
,
rived in the suburbs of Zurich a few days after he ,
was i nformed by the deputies of the Canton that his

presence was not desired there Clai ming that he .
had a message to communicate to the D iet in the

name O f the Po pe the monk was finally permitted to
,
S WITZ ERL AND I N TH E s rx TE ENT E C E NT URY . 39
"
nter the ci ty ; b u t when it was fo u nd that his plea
was a false one he was told that he must withdra w
his ban n of exco mmu nicatio n against the D ean of
B rem garten and leave the Canton N ot long after
,
.
,
S amson recrossed the S t Gothar d bearing with him

.
,
the Silver and gold he had plundered from the S wiss ,
a nd he and his shameful tra f fic thanks t o the fir m ,
ness of Zwingli and his friends were heard of no ,
1
more .
The popular feeling thus awakened was increased

’
by the publication of L ut h er s trac t on Indulgences ,
which with other tracts of the German R eformer was

published by F roben in B as el in 1519 and widely
, , ,
scattered among the S wiss people N ot only there .

,
fore in the ever widening circle o f sch olars who had

,
-
caught the breath of the new era but also among the ,
c o mmon pe o ple voices were now heard denouncing

,
the tyranny and extorti o n of immoral ecclesiastics ,
and calling for the correcti o n of abuses which already

had been to o long endured .
1 H o tting er ,
Ges c hi c hte der Ei dgenossen , 1s t Abth . s . 287 -
29 2 .
CH AP T ER I I .
Z WINGL I AND T HE BE GI NN I N G O F THE REFOR M A TI O N

I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
IN entering upo n his labors in the Cathedral at

Zurich Zwingli commenced an exposition of Mat
,
“ ”
t hew s Gospel
’
The history of Jesus he said to
.
,
the canons of the Cathedral has been too long kep t,
out of the public V iew I t is my purpose to lecture

.
on the whole o f th e Gospel according to Matthe w ,
drawing from the fountains O f S cripture alone s o und ,
ing all its depths comparing text wit h text and put
, ,
ting up ea rnest and increasing prayers that I may be

permitted to discover what is the mind of the Holy
S pirit . Crowds flocked to listen to these expos itions ,
and as the people retire d fro m t h e Cathedral they

said one to anot her W e never heard the like
,
”
before .
In the following A ugust th e great death as the

, ,
plague was called visited Zurich ,

A t that time .
Z wingli was at B ad Pf aff ers near Ragatz where he

, ,
had sought needed relaxation O n receiving the sad .
i ntelligence he hastened to Zurich to minister to the

40
Z W I N GL I AND TH E REFOR M A TI ON . 41
necessities of his pe o ple W hile thus engaged he .
was himself seized by the dreadful sc o urge and at ,
“
length it was rep orted that he was dead A las .
exclaimed Hedio then a preacher in B asel

,
1 “
the ,
deliverer of our country the trumpet of the g ospel , ,
the magnanim o us herald of truth is stricken with ,
”
death in the fl o wer and springtide of his age B ut .
life w as no t extinct Zwingli had only approached

.
the gates of death : and when it was known that his

recovery was assured there was dev o ut thanksgiving , ,
’
not only on the part of the R efo rmer s friends in
Zurich but also on the part of the friends of reform
,
thr o ughout S witzerland The tidings were brought .
to B asel by a student fr o m L ucerne John F aber the .

,
V icar O f the B ish o p o f C o nstance subsequently Zwin ,
gli s m ost determined opponent wr o te to him

’
Oh , ,
my beloved U lrich what joy I feel at learning that

,
you have been saved from the grasp of cruel death

W hen you are in da nger the Christian comm o nwealth
is threatened The L ord has been pleased to urge
.
you by these trials to seek m o re earnestly eternal
1 B edi o w as a nativ e of E lin gen in Bad en He w as ed u cas ,

.
t ed t F r ib u rg and Ba l
a e At Ba el he cam e m o r e n d m o r e
se . s a
u nd r th e i n fl u en c e o f C apit o AS pr a c h er at S t Th eo d o r and ’
e . e . e s
aft erward at S t Martin he pr o c lai med with incr ea i n g b oldn e

s .
’
s, s ss
e vang el i c al tr u th He w a l at r a c o adj u t or o f Buce and C apit o

. s e r
in S tr asb urg wh er e he di ed in 1552

, .
life .W hen at length Z wingli again appeared in the

Cathedral pulpi t and resumed his exp o siti o n o f the
,
S criptures ever increasing cro wds greeted him and

, ,
welc o med his words as glad tidings of great joy .
Great was the outcry of the priests and m o nks at

the progress of the new movement T hey vehemently .
defended indulgences and threa tened to cl o se Z win

,
’ “
gli s m o uth S aid one of the monks He who med
.
,
dles with Greek is a L utheran and the man who ,
gives hi mself up to Hebre w is a Jew A nother said .
that the theology of D un S c otus had acc o mplished more

f o r Christianity than the A postle P aul S till another .
ut tered a curse o n the bo o k publishe rs who were send

ing out all kinds of books wi thout co nsulting the
Pe pe and with o ut fear of the Inquisition Capito in .
,
a letter written at B asel in A pril 1 520 says The , , ,
cause advances con tinually The the ol o gians and

.
monks lab o r for us They u t ter severe threats

.
against L uther but his pri nciples have already pene

,
t rated so deep that no power o f th eirs can destroy

”
them A t this time in or der to accept an app oint
.
,
ment at the co urt of the A rchbish o p of Mayence ,
Capito removed from B asel T h is was a temporary .
check to the new movement B ut in the foll o wing .
year with the appearance in B asel of W illiam R eub

,
lin fro m R o ttenburg on the N eckar the reform ,
S pirit was revived Reublin was app o inted past o r at

.
Z WI N G L I AND TH E REFOR M A TI O N . 43
S t A lbans
. There he interpreted the S criptures in
.
a masterly manner and so great was the interest

,
1
which his serm o ns awakened that his hearers were ,
numbered by th o usands The R omanists were .
alarmed and den o unced Reublin to the bish o p as a

,
heretic and the bish op asked the Cou ncil f or his r e

,
moval The people protested insisting that Reublin

.
,
preached n o thing that was not sustai ned by the

S criptures B ut the members of the Council were
.
no t ready to break with the Church of R o me and ,
Reublin was ordered to leave B as el A ll who had .
supp o rted him were den o unced as heretics and the ,
line be tween the R omanists and the R eformers in that

city was more clearly drawn .
B ut in Zurich where Zwingli was continually

,
gro wing in popular favor there was pro gress in the ,
refo rm mo ve men t In the year 1520 the Co unci l

.
,
issued an order directing all p as t o rs and preachers

throughout the Canto n t o declare the pure word o f
Go d . In the s ame year the depu t ies of the C o nf ede
,
ration enacted a statute in which fo reign priests who

had bought ecclesiastical positi o ns in S witzerland or ,
had bee n assigned to such p ositi o ns through the in

fl ue nce of the Po pe or any of his subordinates were ,
fo rbidden to remain within the limits of the C o nf ede
1 H er zo g Da s ,
L eben J O eholampa ds , Bd
. . i ,
91 .
ration O nly gradually however did Zwingli

.
l
, ,
break with the Church of R o me In 152 1 he first .

,
assailed the P ope shortly after he attacked the rules

concerning the church fasts and a little later h e
uncovered the evils connected with the celibacy of
th e clergy .
A mong those who were attracted to Zwingli by

these earnest e ff orts in behalf of church reform and ,
the glowing fervor of h is evangelical sp irit was Con

3
ra d Grebel a son of Jacob Grebel ,
one of the
2
,
most distinguished men in Zurich and a member of ,
1
Bullin ger Ref ,
or ma ti on sgesc hi chte . i . 32 .
2
The fac ts in r e fer enc e to G ebel s earli er y ear s ar e to be oh r
’
t ain ed fr o m MSS in the library at S t Gall and fr o m c o pi es in

. .
,
the imilar c o l l ecti o n o f MSS in the library at Z u ric h

s Fo r a . .
s u mmary ee H o tting er Gesc hi chte d Ei dg n ossen i 46 4 —4 6 6

s ,
. e ,
.
3
H o t ting er Ge chichte d Eid i 4 6 4 n o t e 101 s ay s he eem s
,
s . .
, , ,
s
to hav e b een o n e o f the m o t pr o min ent o f t he m emb er o f the s s
C o uncil Be id es C o nrad he had a o n Leo p o ld w ho w as

. s ,
s ,
with Co nrad at the Univ er ity o f V i e nna and s ub eq u ently en s ,

s
t e ed the s ervic e o f the Ar c hd u k e F erdinan d

r al s o a da u ght er ,
Agat he ( n a l ett er to V adian dat ed J u ly 15 1520 C o nrad call

,
I , ,
s
her Eu phr osyn e p oss ibly a cl o i s t er nam e ) w ho w as pri o r ess o t

,
O ed enbach and a ec o nd da u g ht er Marth a w ho becam e the

s , ,
wife of V adian Mor ik o f in his life o f Z wing l i ( Leip i g 1 86 7 )

. er , z
s ay s that th er e w er e four da u ght er s f wh om Martha w a ,

o s
the eld e t O ct 30 1526 Jac o b Gr eb l w as b eh e ad ed at Z u rich

s . .
, ,
e
f o r ec eiving in the nam e o f his o n m o n ey fr o m fo r ei gn princ e

r ,
s ,
s,
es p e cially fr o m the K ing o f F ranc e c o ntrary t law Hi family ,

o . s
p o iti o n and c o nn ecti on avail ed n o thing Bern hard Wei sen in

s .
,
know n as V adian from his L atin name V adianus)

, ,
Grebel returned to S witzerland B ut he re mained .
a t home only a short time and then made his way to

,
P aris in o rder to avail himself of the instruction of

,
Glar ean a S wiss scholar who had achieved distin o

, ,
tion at the F rench capital especially in the depart ,
m ent of mathematics U nder his direction Grebel

.
for awhile devoted himself to classical an d scie ntifi c

’
studies B ut by reason of h is father s withholding the
.
stipend which the F rench K i ng F rancis I had , ,
granted to him he was soon brought into financial

,
straits so that he left Glar ean in the Spring of 1519

,
.
L ater o n account of the pest which was ragi ng in

,
P aris Grebel withdrew to Melun where he spent the

, ,
remainder of the year returni ng to P aris about the

,
first of January 1520 O f late it seems he had not

.
, ,
been free from th e excesses of a wild student life .
These increased h is financial embarrassments Mean .
while his appeals to his father for aid only br o ugh t

back threatening letters wh ich with his unhappy
,
p o sition greatly embittered the heart of the proud

spirited young scholar In a lette r to V adian O ctober
.
, ,
6 1519 he g ives expression to a feeling of degrada

, ,
tion because of his enfo rced dependence upon foreign

bounty ; and says that if his father had taught him
to live at a moderate expense with money of his o wn
earni ng acco rding t o t he S wiss custo m he would
, ,
Z W I N G L I AND TH E REFOR M A TI ON . 47
have been spared the taunts of his ass o ciates and the ,
ans wering blush of shame .
E arly in July 1520 Grebel ret urned to Zurich , ,

.
F r o m his parents doub tless through the kind o ffices , ,
o f his br o ther in law V adian he received an aff ec

- -
, ,
t io nate welc o me and past diff erences were all o wed to

,
be fo rgotten on both sides D uring his studen t life .

-
,
in V ienna Grebel had c o rresponded with Z wingli

, ,
and the acquaintance was no w renewed He als o .
spent not a little o f his ti me at S t Gall with V adian .

,
.
In A ugust 152 1 he was in B asel and there be r e

, , ,
mained several m on ths in the s o ciety of the R efo rm

ers and engaged I n li terary work In D ecember .
2
he was again in Zurich and not long after he con ,
tracted a marriage in which o n acc o unt of the bride s , ,

’
s o cial p o sition he further incurred the disapprobation

,
of his parents .
3
Heberle says it was this love a ff air that drew
Grebel to B asel It is w o rthy of notice h o wever
.
, ,
that n o twithstanding this ill advised marriage as his -
parents thought Grebel still retained the aff ectionate

,
regard of V adian It was at this time also that .

, ,
1 Ja hr ba c her f ar D eu tsche T heologie 2 te , ,

H eft . s . 22 7 .
2
Ur s i n
writ e t o V adian fr om Ba el O ct b er 1 152 1 Ded
s ,
s ,
o ,
h c n g ti i G eb li ad l c enti o mnib u m o di egr gi o atq ue in

o e o r e o o es s s e ,
o mn es mir
”
o fli io o
e c s .
I h bil h fii D u t ch T h l yi 1 85 8 2 te H ft
s
a r c er r e 2 28 229
s e eo o e, , e . s .
,
.
48 TH E ANABAP T I S T S I N SWITZ ERLAND .
Grebel became in timately associated with Zwingli in

the great work upon which the Zurich R efo rmer had
now so earnestly entered His accession to the r e .
for m party was the occasion of devout thanksgiving .
Grebel was not a the ologian it is true but h e pos , ,
sessed talents O f a very high order had long enj oyed ,
the bes t ed ucat io nal advantages at the principal cen

tres of intellectual life was familiar with the ancient ,
languages and withal was a man of noble impulses

,
1
and a consuming zeal N o thing is clearer th an .
at this time Zwingli held Grebel in th e highest esti

mation W riting to his friend Myco nius at L ucerne
.
, ,
A ugust 2 6 referring to certain ca n di d issimos

,
et d octissim os a doles centes he mentions Grebel first ,

.
His future he co uld not b u t regard as one of rapidly

brightening promise and possibly he was animated
by the h ope that in Grebel he would find one who
1
Wohl war atur f ur s anft er e und edl er e Empfind
er v on N
u n g en ge chafl en und w ie s ehr s e in H e rz d er H i n g eb u ng u n d

s ,
Ehr e rbi et u ng f ahig g w e en b ew ei t nic hts d eu tli c her als die aus
e s ,
s
dau ernd e und v at erli b e Li eb e w elcher V adian den Jii ngling

'
e ,
w erth g ehal te n hat ( Co rn eliu s Geschi ehte Des Mil n te i chen

.
”
,
s r s
Auf u h s ii
r r Hebe le J h b£lche f D eu t che T heologie 1858
. . r ,
a r r . s , ,
2 te H e ft s 2 30 s ay s
. Un tr eiti g war Gr eb el ein J ti ngling v o n
. : s
r eicher Begab u n g u nd ein er f ii r s ein Alt er nicht g w iihnli hen e c
Gel ehr am k eit u gl ei c h w u t e e i c h d urch gr o e G f alligk it '
s z ss r s ss e e
,
bci in en Bek annt n u empf hl e n

se e z e .
”
2
Z wingli Ope vii s 2 18 ,
ra . . .
Z WI N G L I AND TH E REFOR M A TI ON . 49
would yet be to him what Melanchthon was to

L uther .
Grebel at once took a prominent p osition in the

Zurich movement for church refo rm Macr inus in a .
,
letter to Z wingli dated O ctober 15 1 522 asks him to

, , ,
salute Grebel adding I hear he has become a dis

, ,
tingu is hed patron of the gospe l In fact Grebel .

,
even went beyond Zwingli in his assaults upon the

church party The monks especially complained
.
, ,
bitterly of th e treatment which they received in their

discussions with hi m ; and the Zurich magistrates ,
unwilling to defend Gr ebel s severe denunciati o ns ’
summoned him before them as early as July 7 152 2 , , ,
and admonished him to restrain his zeal and to avoid ,
2
further c ollisions o f this kind A like admonition .
was received at the same time by N icholas Hottinger ,
Henry Aber li and B artholomew B aur all laymen of , ,
wh o m as associates o f Grebel we S hall hear more at

a later peri o d .
’
In two other of Zwingli s associates somewhat of
t he same spir it was soon m anifested especially in the ,
matter of church fasts O ne o f these was W illiam .
Reublin who as we have seen was compelle d to leave

, , ,
B asel on account of his bold advocacy of refo rm .
1
Z wingli , Op era vii . s . 23 2 .
2
Fii ssl i n Bey tr tige,
,
iv . 8 . 39 .
3
50 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SWI TZ ERLAND .
O n leaving B asel he at once made his way to Zurich ,
was kindly received by Zwi n gli and through his in ,
fl uenc e was so o n established as past o r in the neigh

boring village o f Wytikon 1
T he other was S imon
S tumpf a F ra nciscan by birth A s early as 15 19
,
.
he was in corresp o ndence with Zwingli A fterward .
'
he was engaged in circulating L uther s writings i n

S witzerland N ear the close of 1522 he also made
.
his way fro m B asel to Zur ich and shortly after he ,
received an appointment as pastor at H ongg a v il ,
lage in the vicinity of Z u rich .
Zwingli seems to have made no e ff ort to check

t hese radical tendencies I ndeed the pri nciple he had .
adopted namely to rej ect in d octrine and practice

,
whatever the S criptures do not enj oin — the opposite
1 H er e
m arri ed April 2 8 1523 and his w as the fir st p ubli c
he , ,
w edding of a pri est in S wit erland O ther pri t had b een s ez . es s
c e tly marri ed
r and two y ear b efo r e J ohn H all er pa to r at
,
s ,
s
A nso l dingen had marri ed bu t the c er em o ny w as p erfo rm ed a t

r , ,
Z urich s o as to exci te littl e att enti o n H o tti nger Ge c hicht d .

,
s e .
Eidg n os en i s 3 7 9 s ay
e s ,
. I n u ppigem Ba u m gart en u nt e d en
.
,
s : r
Bl ii then u nd dem H au ch e des Fr ii hlings w urd e s eit H u nd e rt e n
V o n Jahr e n w i e d er die e rs t e H o ch ei t e in es S chw ei eri s ch en z z
Gei stlic hen gefei er t Bernard We i ss Fii sslin B yt iye iv 8 4 5

” '
.
, e rc . .
,
say Wie w ol die Braut in jungf aulichen K l eid ern und Z i erd e n
s, r
b ekl e id et war u nd w ie man so in ein em hii bs chen Bau mgart en

, ,
d a al l e Bau m e v o l Bl u s t war en z imbiss ass w ar e lang u s c hr ei

'
, ,
z
hen .
of th e principle w h ich was ad opted by L uther who ,
would retain whatever is not contrary to the S crip

tures — was favorable to the development of these
ten dencies This principle Zwingli made very pro
.
min ent in the discussi o n which he h eld with the old

church party Jan uary 2 9 1 52 3 know n as the F irst
, , ,
Zurich Discussion I t was a notable assembly

. .
P relates and nobles learned doctors from the uni

,
v ers ities parish priests and men of high stati o n in

, ,
—
civil life s ix h undred in number crowded the
—
Council Hall in Zurich S o weak h owever as yet .

, ,
was the cause of the R efo rmation in S witzerland that ,
from the oth er Cantons no one was pres ent except

S ebas tian Hofmeister who represented S chafl haus en
'
.
,
CEcolampadius w h o had recently taken up his resi

,
d ence in B asel and h ad expressed to Zwingli his

,
sympathy with the reform movement wo u ld have been ,
present h a d not a letter from Zwingli reached him too

late.
The b u rgomas ter Max R o u st presided and at the

, , ,
outset stated the obj ect of th e assembly Complaints .

,
he said ha d been made i n reference to Zwingli s

,
’
teaching and preach ing B y some h e was called a

.
heretic ; by others he was charged with mislea di ng

the people Zwingli h ad often expressed a desire to
.
defe nd himself against these acc u sations in a public

assembly and therefore the Council had appointed
,
52 TH E ANAB AP TI S T S I N SW IT Z ERLAND .
t his meeting in which any one was at liber ty to state

’
his obj ections to Z wingli s position .
U p rose F ritz v on Anwyl Grand Master of the ,
E piscopal Court at Constance who said that the ,
B ishop of C o nstance was represented in the assembly

by D r Ber genhaus the V icar General F aber and
.
,
-
D r Martin B lanche of Tubingen

. .
Z wingli was sitting at a ta ble on w h ich h e h ad

placed copies of the S criptures in the Hebre w Greek , ,
and L atin tongues A ll eyes were no w turned to

.
ward him as he s tood up to address the assembly .
I n all ages he said God had manifested h imself as an

, ,
almighty faithful F ather B ut his creatures foll o w

,
.
,
ing the device s of their own hearts had departe d ,
from him God h owever had been merciful and

.
, , ,
given to the m th e lig ht of h is word But i n o u r .
time that light has been darkened Men confess .
Christ with the mo u th but their hearts are far from ,
”
him W hat is needed is the pure gospel and though
.
, ,
he added for five ye ars I have preach ed in Zurich

,
the h oly gospel the glad tidings of Christ the divine

, ,
S criptures not with man s wisdo m but in demonstra

,
’
tion of the S pirit yet by many I am denounced,
”
as a heretic a liar a seducer ,
O n this account h e
,
.
had asked the Council to call an assembly ; and that

all might know what his t e achings were h e h ad pr e
pared certain theses which he was ready to defend .
in the Holy S criptures which cannot lie W e have

,
.
the same in Hebrew Greek and L atin In this city

, ,
.
of Zurich God be praised we h ave more men learned

, ,
in these languages th an in any one of t h e U niversi

ties mentioned by the V icar Y es in th is room there
.
,
are Christian h earts so enlightened by the S pirit of

God that they can tell who is in agreement with the
,
S cript u res ; and t u rning to h is Zurich friends he

said Call on God with h umble hearts He will not
,
.
”
deny yo u divine assistance .
There was a great stillness in the h all as Zwingli

sat down and as no one rose to speak the burgo mas
, ,
ter at length broke th e silence saying If there is , ,
any one who has anyth ing to say let him step for ,
”
ward . Bu t no one responded to the invitation .
Zwingli then agai n arose and said F or th e , ,

’
truth s sake I ask those here who have fo u nd fault
'
with my preaching to state their obj ections I f they .
do not I will call them out by name I trust how

,
.
,
ever that of their own accord t h ey will rise and state

,
”
the grounds of th e ch arge that I am a heretic But .
no one rose .
“
S ome one rose near the door and cried out W here ,
are now th ose fellows who in th e stree ts talk so boldly ?

,
There is Zwingli ; yo u can talk behind his back but ,
not to his f ace and again ther ewas laughter .
A secon d an d th ird time Zwingli asked th ose wh o

had called him a heretic to appear against him but

still there was no response to his challenge Then .
he called upon Jacob W agner Pastor at N ef tenbach , ,
( a village be t ween S chaffhausen and W interthur ) ,
who referred to a mandate issued by th e B ishop of
C o nstance during the year agains t evangelical preach

ing and als o to the arrest O f the pastor at Fislisbach
,
( a village between B aden and Mel lingen ) who had ,
been thrown into prison at C o nstance f or dis obeying

the mandate He is our brother said W agner , ,
“
and I wish to know what attitude I am to take in
reference to t his mandate .
The V icar General in reply said that he was not

-
, ,
at Constance when the mandate was issued but nu ,
d o ubtedly it was intended to pr o mote the peace of the

diocese A s to the Past o r of Fislisbach he was a
.
,
go o d simple hearted man u nlearned and not a gram

,
-
,
marian I n an interview F aber h ad pr o ved to him

.
,
that the invocation of saints is scriptural and the ,
p astor had retracted his errors .
Zwingli then arose and addressed the V icar Gene -
”
ral : S how us he said the place in the S criptures
, ,
where it is written that we are to inv oke the saints

as our advocates ? Here are B ibles in Hebrew ,
Greek and L atin If there are such passages I will

,
.
,
also retract with the imprisoned pasto r and in my ,
”
ignorance seek instructi o n .
“
I have alre ady said answered F aber that I , ,
am no t here to discuss ; but in reply to what Zwingli
says I will add that in past centuries there have

, ,
been heretics N ovatians Montanists S abellians

, , , ,
E bi o nites et c w ho have rej ected the invocation of

,
.
,
saints purgatory e tc B ut Councils and Po pes have

, ,
.
c o ndemned them and it seems strange that any one

,
Sh ould regard their teachings with disfavor As to .
’
Zwingli s appeal to the S criptures he th o u ght that ,
interpretation was no slight gift of God He himself .
was not acquainted with Hebrew had only a little ,
kn owledge of Greek but understood L atin pretty ,
well It is not enough however to be able to read

.
, ,
the S criptures b u t one must understand aright what

,
h e reads .
Zwi ngli in his reply said there was no need of

sm o oth words He w o uld like to know with what
.
pass ages of S cripture the V icar General had silenced -
the impr isoned pastor at C o nstance and secured his ,
“
retracti o n S how us the chap t er in which the invo
cation and intercession of saints are taught W e .
”
will t h en lo ok at it and see if the doctrine is there
,
.
F aber did no t deign to reply but referring to , ,
C o uncils he remarked that they had never sancti o ned

,
the marriage of priests Zwingli co nsidered the .
S criptural testimony on this point and referred to ,
times in the history of the Church when the marriage

of the priests h ad been allowed The V icar General .

-
replied ,
N ot since the time O f Tertullian als o the ,
”
Council of N icaea therefore no t for 1200 years
, ,
.
“
Thereupon one of the Council replied : B ut they
have been allowed mistresses This remark dis .
t urbed the V icar General and he soon sat down

-
,
.
A fter a few more words from Zwingli D r S ebas ,

.
tion Hofmeister of S chafl hausen said he had been

’
, ,
driven from L ucerne on the charge of heresy be ,
cause he h ad preached against the invocation and

intercession of saints He also would like to have
.
,
the V icar General give the passages from the W

-
or d
of God with w h ich he had w o n his victory over th e im
prisoned pastor at Constance .
B ut F aber would not give h is S cripture proof .
”
W h atever others may say or believe he said I , ,
believe firmly in the intercession of the mother of

”
God O thers may believe what they will
. .
S ir replied Zwingli
,
our inquiry is not how
,
we may invoke the saints or what is your belief , .
W e simply wish you to Show us the S cripture pas

”
sages as we have asked again and again
,
.
S till the V icar General was silent Then L eo Jud

-
.
arose He said he had been called to S t P eter s

. .
’
C h urch in Zurich and in his preaching should teach

,
th at Christians should call upon Christ A cco rdingly .
he wished to kn o w if he was in erro r S how us the .
3 i
><
58 TH E ANABAP T I S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
place he exclaimed where it is written th at we are

,
t o invoke the saints .
Must I fight against two said F aber That .
were di fficult for the strong Hercules as the pr overb ,
goes My dear sir I have nothing to do with yo u

.
,
.
”
B ut I have to do with you answere d L eo ,
”
I do not know you said F aber ,
.
Zwingl i interrupted and reminded the V icar Gene

,
-
ral that t h e p as sages i n reference to th e i nvocation of

saints were in order .
F aber first appealed to th e litany and canons of

the ch urch He th en q u oted L uke 1 : 4 2 B lessed
.
,
art tho u among women B ut Zwin gle reminded him

.
tha t the question was not in reference to the sanctity

and honor of Mary but concerning invocati o n inter
, ,
cession F aber made no reply and sat d own

. .
D r Martin B lanche of Tti bingen then arose

. .
W hat had been ordained by th e Councils u nder the ,
guidance of the Holy S pirit he said should be r e , ,
garded by the Christian church as t h e Gospels ; for

their Councils thus guided canno t err C h rist h imself .
”
says W ho h ears you h ears me
,
And yet it is .
said tha t the inv ocation of saints a c u sto m observed ,
by Christians for many h u ndre d years is not founde d ,
u pon the S cript u res

Z wingli in reply reminded th e learned D octor
, ,
that i t would not be diffic u lt to S h ow th at the Co u n

oils h ave
erred E vangelical truth we are to bold
.
,
but what is aside from that whether ordained by ,
popes or Councils is not binding ,

.
A t the afternoon sessi o n the C o uncil declared that ,
inasmuch as no one had shown that Zwingli was a

h eretic he sh ould be allowed to teach the S cript u res
according to the S pirit of God and that all the o th er ,
pastors and preachers in the Canton should preach

only what w as in accordance with the Holy S crip
” “
tures . God be praised said Zwingli who will , ,
”
cau se his word to rule in heaven and on earth Fa .
ber could not restrain h is rage Gentlemen he .

,
“
cried out the t h eses of Zwingli seem to m e to be
,
w h olly contrary to th e h onor of th e church and th e ,
”
divin e teachi ngs of Christ : and I will prove it .
”
That do adde d Zwingli ,
W e will gladly listen . .
We learn from L uke 9 50 said F aber that he , ,
who is not against u s is for u s F asts confes si on .

, ,
the mass etc are not against God but for h is h o nor
,
.
, , ,
and therefore th ey are no t to be despised and re

”
e cted
j .
“
Bu t are not these customs the ch urch against Of
Go d said Zwingli God is best pleased with our.
obedience to his commands He h onors God w h o .
keeps his word and lives according to his will

,
.
The V icar General at length said that at one of the

-
U niversities P aris Cologne or F reib u rg as Zwingli

, , , ,
might chose he would prove Zwi ngli s theses to b e ’
false Zwingle re plied that he was ready to meet hi s

.
o pponent anywhere but he would have no j udge but

,
”
the S criptures B ut said D r Martin B lanche
.
,
.
,
you u nderstand the S criptures in one way and ,
another in another There must be j udges in order

.
,
”
to decide who has given the right interpretation .
Zwmgli answered that he would give to no man a

place above th e S criptures .
”
B ut what shall he do asked a priest who h as so , ,
”
small an inco me as not to be able to buy a Testa ment ?
There is no priest so poor answered Zwingli , ,
who if h e really wishes a Testament may no t

, ,
h ave o ne A pious citizen or s o me other person will

.
, ,
b uy him one or furnish him wi th money to buy one .
’
F aber again sp o ke saying that Zwi ngli s theses
,
were contrary to the S criptures and untr u e This ,

.
,
h e said h e could prove in debate or in writing

,
.
”
W h y not now and here ? cried Zwingli .
A s the as sembly broke up t h e B urgo master O f Zu

rich s aid : The sword with which the pastor of F is
”
lisbach was slain sticks in its scabbard meani ng says , ,
B ullinger that the V icar General had not produced

,
-
the S criptures with which he claimed to have proved

to his pris o ner at Constance th e error of his posit ion .
Zwingli h ad won an easy and decisive victory l

.
1
Z win gli ’
s Wer ke S ch ul er
, u . S c hul thess cd .
,
8 . 105 153
-
.
62 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAN D .
lin and S tumpf foun d no trace of th ese grievances ,
and they assailed them as vi g orously as Zwingli had

assailed the invocation of saints W e ask nothing .
,
they sai d but what was promised by the apostles

,
.
”
W e are supported in our demands by the S criptures .
The questio n was one of ge neral interest A pril 8 .

,
1523 B erthold Haller of B erne wrote to Zwingli

, , ,
The nobles who deligh t so m u ch in tithes and rents

, ,
are especiall y hostile to th e gospel therefore I

greatly desire that you will give me your vie w of
Matthew 5 4 2 in order that I may satisfy the Oppo
,
n ents as well as the friends of th e gospel I kno w .
what some a u thorities say but I cannot be satisfied ,
’
until yo u h ave given me your opinion f ully
,
.
l
Zwingl i gave ex pression to his vie ws u pon this s u b

ec t in h is sermon on Divi n e a n d Hu man Righteous
j
n ess w h ich h e preache d June 24 1 52 3
,
W hile we , .
”
are to render to every man wha t is his due he said , ,
the magistrates sho u ld make it their duty to see .
th at no inj ustice is done in the matter of tithes and

rents I f inj u s tice is done a remedy sh o u ld be pro
.
,
v ided .
But words
like th ese di d no t s atisfy th e more radi
.
cal of the reform party Grebel in a letter to V a .

,
dian July 1 3 152 3 said : I n the matter of tithes

, , , ,
1 Z wingli Oper a
, ,
vii . s. 287 .
2
Z wingl e Wer lt e
, ,
i s
. . 452 455
-
.
RAD IC AL T ENDEN CI ES . 63
in an d around Zurich tyranny is practiced Those , .
who take the m I wil l cal l the tyrants of our father

”
land and so in many places public meetings were
.
held in which the grievances of the much enduring

,
peasantry were discussed Z ollikon Ries bach Fal .

, ,
landen Hir slanden U nterstrass and Wy tiko n asked

, , ,
for relief Reublin a nd S tumpf were especially pro

.
minent in these meetings Their words fo und ready .
entrance to th e hearts of th e common people who ,
hailed with delight a gospel which laid hold of the

burdens that weighe d s o heavily upon them ; and it
soon came to p ass especially in places where the pas ,
tors were in sympathy with the Oppressed that m any ,
of the peasants would pay neither tithes nor rents .
O th er questions were soon raised which widened

still further the breach between Zwingle and the
more radical of the Zurich R eformers O ne of these .
questions ha d reference to the use of images in the

churches I t was claimed that this was not only a
.
departure from the simplicity of the gospel but con ,
tr ar y to the word of God A small tract by L udwig .
Z wingli Wer lce ii 8 3 7 3

1
,
l earn ed editor s o f Z wingli s
,
. . . - The
'
w o rk s Schul er u S chulthess
,
s ay . Da Z wingli f i r I r thu m ,
“
l r
e kl a t d ss d r Z hnt e n e in e g ottli eb s Ein se t un g ey m o cht e

'
r r e a e e z s ,
Gr b el ihn f i r in en Gegn er d ess elb e n in di e er Z eit halt e n ; ab er

e l e s
Z wingli u nt er chi ed wi chen gOttlicher Ein et u ng u nd b u rg r

’
s z s s z e
li ch r Sc h u l d W l e ii 3 7 3 See al so H eb erl e Ja bil cher f ilr

e .
”
er c ,
. 3 . . ,
r
D u t c he The l yie 185 8 ii H eft

e s o o 2 34
, ,
. . .
Hetzer which appeared S eptember 2 4 152 3 is

,
x
, ,
w o rthy of notice in this con nection Hetzer was a native .
of B ischofszell in Thurgau It is not known whether .
he received his education at the U niversity of F rei

burg or that of B asel ; but at one or the oth er of
these sea ts of learning he became well versed in
—
cl assical and Hebrew literature studies which at a
later period bore fruit i n his translation of th e O ld
Testament prophets into the language of the com
-
mo n people O n th e complet ion of his U niversity

.
st u dies Hetzer received an appointment as Chap

lain at Wadenschwyl on the road from Zurich to ,
E insiedeln and Opp o site Rapperschwyl A fterwards

,
.
he was transferred to Zurich He see ms early to .
have become interested in the reform movement ,
tho ugh his name comes befo re us first in the appear

ance of his trac t agains t the use of images which he ,
entitled E in fir teil Gottes The tract consists of two

,
.
2
1
C o nc ernin g H e t z er s ee K eim . L u dw i g Hetzer ,
E in B ei tr ag
zur C ha r a cteri sti k der S elcten bew egungen i n der q or ma ti on szei t
Ja hr bil cher f ur D eutsche Theo logie 1 85 6 2 te , ,

. H eft .
2 The titl e o f the trac t in ful l is as o f ll ow s ; Ein Ur tei l Go ttes

u ns er s eegema hels , w ie ma n si ch mi t a llen g5tzen un d bi ldnu ssen ha lt
en s o l, u se z
der heiligen gschr ifit ge ogen du r ch L u dwig Hci tzer The
'
tract c o ntain t wenty pa ge and w a printed at Z urich by Chris

s s, s
tO pher F os chau er u nd er dat e o f S e pt 2 4 1 52 3

r Refe rrin g t o .
,
.
thi trac t Leo Ju d at the s ec o nd Z uric h Di c u i o n said ; Es

s , ,
s ss
ist ein bii chl e in k u r en tag en hie usgo ngen in dem dr u ck darin
z ,
RAD IC AL T ENDEN CI ES . 65
parts I n the first part Hetzer gives quotati o ns

.
,
fro m the Pentateuch the historical bo oks o f the O ld

,
Testament the P salms and the P r o phets without

, , ,
word or comment His aim is si mply to set forth the

.
teachi ng of the S crip ture in reference to id o l worship

and idol worshippers I n the sec o nd par t he reviews
.
the arguments in favor of the use of im ages advanced

by the old church party : 1 the O ld Tes tament is no ,
longer binding on Christians ; 2 No t the images but ,
the saints are worshipped ; 3 Images are the b o oks ,
of the common pe o ple ; 4 they lead to meditati o n , ,
and so make men better I n closing the discussi o n .
Hetzer appeals to the Papis ts to produce a single

passage in the S criptures to show that im ages are
good f or anything else than to be thrown into the fire
The tract had a rapid and wide circulation Three .
editions were printed before the end of the year and ,
a L atin translati o n fo llowed in 1 524 .
Hetzer s tract was no t the occasion of the move

’
ment against the use of images but it gave it force ,

.
It was at this time at the end of S eptember 152 3

, , ,
that N icholas Hottinger with a band of im age ,
breakers destr oyed the great cross that stood j ust

,
1
gen u sa
g mit klar er go ttlicher ge ch if t die bild er v erw orfen
mli eh s r
w rd end
e
”
Z wingli W r l e s u S Ed i s 4 7 4
. e t . . . . . . . .
Nun war u St d lho fl en u ff D rf v o d er S tadt Z u ri ch an

'
1
z a e o r
dem o t da j t t ein Br u nn en v o H rr Bu g m ei t e Mii ll e s

’
r ,
e z r e r e s r r
66 TH E A NABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
before the uppe r gate o f the ci ty This deed and .

,
the destruction of t he images in a few of the churches

ar o und Zurich stirred up the church party and a
, ,
l o ud outcry was raised against the emboldened icono

clasts P lainly they had gone too far B ut the peo
. .
ple generally were with Zwingli w h en he said they ,
had done nothing wrong in itself but were guilty of ,
an o ff ence against the magistrates H o ttinger and ,
his associates were arrested and thrown into prison ,
and the case was brough t before the Great C o uncil ,
in which on account of conflicting views it w as decided

to postpone the punish men t of the g u ilty parties
u ntil the principles involved h ad been more fully dis
cussed .
’
Meanwhile Zwingli had publis h ed a tract calling
attention to some obj ections to the mass canon I t -
.
was not intended for p opular use like Hetz er s tract ,

’
against images but was written in L atin for his as

,
sociates in th e ministry and for scholars w h o were , ,
interested in the refo r m movement The cha nges .
which it advocated were not radical enough for Gre

bel and his friends I n th eir view these were half .
n u w en H aus und Gar ten standt, ein

gr o ss s chii n g c h nit t u nd
es z
u ff ge icht C r u cifix dahin

r ,
ussandacht v om An tho ni S tadl er d m e
macher ”
Bullin ger Ref orma ti on geschi ehte i
'
s ehifl u ff ges etz t .

,
s ,
.
s . 12 7 .
1
The pr efac e is d at e d Aug us t For the tract s ee
Z wingli , O per a , ii i 8 3 . .
RAD IC AL T ENDEN CI ES 67
way measures and they insisted that the mass should

,
be abolished alto gether Zwingli replied to their .
criticisms in a brief apology O ctober 9 152 3 but , , ,
he failed to satisfy them in reference to the wisdom

of his course .
W ith a view to a settlement of the controversy in

reference to the use of images and the sacrifice of the
mass the Zurich C o uncil no w ordered a S econd D is
,
i
c uss o n which was held O c tober 2 6 —28 1 52 3 .
, ,
P rominent members of the old church party were

invited but declined to appear A ccordingly the
,
.
,
discussion was between the friends O f reform alone ,
of whom more than nine hundred were present .
A mong those who participated in the discussion

was D r B althas ar Hubmeier pastor at Waldshut
.
,
2
.
A native of F riedberg near A ugsburg in B avaria , ,

.
He was b o rn near the end of the 15th century U n .
’
der the celebrated D r John Eek L uther s antagonist.
,
at L eipzig he studied phil o sophy and theology at th e

,
U niversity of F reiburg w h ere he was matriculated

May 1 1503 When Eek removed to I ngolstadt
,
.
,
Hubmeier accompanied h im and in 15 12 pro bably , ,
’
through E ek s influence he received an appointment ,
as preacher and professor of theology in the U niver

1 S ee Z wingli ,
Op er a , iii . s . 11 7 .
“Co nc erning Hubmeier s ee S chr eib er ,

c
Ta s hen bu ch f ur Ges ek
i chte u . A lter thum i n S ll ddeutschla nd 1 8 39 , .
s it
y at that place In 1 5 1 6 he was called to
. the C a ,
thedral in R egensburg where h is serm o ns attracted ,
great attention W hile in R egensburg by means of

.
,
L uther s writi ngs he became interested in the refo rm

’
m ovement and not l o ng after resigning not only the

, ,
very honorable positi o n which he held but th e most ,
flatter ing prospects of prefer ment in the R omish

Church he made his way to S chaf fhausen and thr o ugh
, ,
the influence of friends in th at place soon received a

pastorate at W aldshut a neighboring town There ,
.
his piety learning and eloq u ence were highly appr e

, ,
c iate d but the fi e

,
ld was a limited one and when in ,
the autumn of 1 522 in t h e pr o gress of the work of ,
refo rm he was recalled to R egensburg to take the

,
past o rate of one o f the churches he accepted the in ,
v itat io n and o n his return to that place

,
N o vember ,
10 he was cordially welcomed by all c lasses o f people

,
.
B ut his stay in R egensburg was a brief one In March .

,
1 5 23 we find him agai n in W aldshu t

,
N ot long .
after he visited Zwi ngli at Zurich and conferred with ,
him in reference to the reformation of the church ,
and e specially in reference to i nfant baptism .

l
F rom Zurich he proceeded to S t Gall probably f o r a .

,
conference with V adian W hile at S t Gall he . .
preached in the church of S t Magnus He also . .
preached to a large crowd in the o pen air and with ,
1 S chr eib er Ta schen bu ch, 1839 , 25 .

70 TH E ANAB AP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND
'
forbidden in the S criptures and that Go d no t onl y is ,
displeased with the w o rship of images but with those ,
who make them (D eut 2 7 : 15) and that his co m mand .
is that the images shall be burned with fire (D eu t .
7 : 2 5) while all the pe o ple say A men A men " .
shouted some of his hearers Concerning the mass .

,
Hubmeier appealed to What he called the clear word

”
of God The passages were cited and he added
.
, ,
Christ does not say This o ff er but This do , ,

’
.
’
In closing his address he said I mav err for I am , ,
”
a man ; but a here t ic I am not .
The mandate of the Council which appeared ,

2
N ovember 1 7 was as u nsatisfactory to Grebel and his

,
friends as was t h e discussion itself The immediate .
removal of the images was no t required and as to ,
the mass e ach priest was left free to celebrate it or

,
no t I t was provided however that the views of the

.
, ,
C o u ncil should be laid befo re the bishops of C o nstance ,
Chur and B asel also the U niversity of B asel with

, , ,
the promise tha t after six m o nths the matter should

be finally settled A wise prudence doubtless 3
, ,
1
Fo r a u f l l a c c ou nt o f the S ec o n d Di s c ussi o n see Z wi ngli Wer lt e
i . s . 4 6 1 —54 0 .
2 ii 8 4 3 4 6
Fii sslin, Bey tr age, . .
-
.
S ein Gr und s at war S cho nu n g das hei sst er bracht e nur

3 “ z ,
s o lc he F rag en u Off entlichen Bespr echu ng f ii d er e n evang eli s che

z ,
r
Losu n g e die Mehr heit zu ge w m nen ho fien d u rft e u nd h e s ie

'
r ss
,
er s t d ann ur En ts ch e id ung k o mm en wann er wir k lich d er Mehr

z ,
RAD IC AL T ENDEN CI ES . 7I
w as manifested in these m o derate meas u res : but to

the radical reformers the c o urse thus marked out w as
simply a call to halt A nd this they would not heed . .
It is better they said to take counsel o f Go d than of

, ,
men E specially w as it an occasi o n o f dissatisfacti o n

.
with them that the churches in and around Zurich ,
which had broken away fr o m the grasp of R ome ,
should thus be made dependent up o n the S tate It

stan ”
ds ill with the gospel in Zurich wr ote Grebel to ,
Vadian and Zwingli no l o nger acts a shepherd s

’
”
part F rom this time the refo rm par ty was hope
.
lessly divided and the earnestness with which Zwingli

,
1
assailed the radicals in a tract published N o vember 1 7 ,
and which with the mandate was sent to all the pas
tors in the Canton for the purpose o f securing uni
fo rmity of Opinion and acti on in reference to images
and the mass is an indicat ion that the radicals were
,
even at that time neither few in numbers nor wanting

in influence .
H o ttinger was now banished from the Canton for

t wo years and L aurence Ho chr ii tiner one of his asso
, ,
ciates was banished for life H o ttinger went in t o

,
.
B aden where in several places he proscribed the use of

,
h eit s i ehe r e
g w o rd en war .
”
C o rn eli us Gesc hi c hte d es
,
Mllns teri schen
Auf r ii
ru h s , . 8 . 18 .
1
Ein ku r ze c hri s ten lic he Yn lei tung . S ee Z win gli Wer lt e
, ,
i . s .
543 56 5
-
.
72 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SWITZ ERLAND .
images and th e sacrifice of the mass Hochr u tiner .

1
,
who was a native of S t Gall returned to h is early .

,
home .
1
H o ttin ger at l ength arr est ed at Co bl en and br ought to
w as z
trial but the c ou rt in st ead of pa ing e nt enc e u p o n him d liv

, ,
ss s ,
e
e r ed him to the S wi d ep u ti e a embl e d at Lu c rn e w h ap ss s ss e ,

o
p o inted a c o mmittee to inv e tigat e the ca e H o tting er e a s er t s s . r -

s
e d hi O pp s iti o n t
s the ma ss imag e and the inv o cati o n o f s aint
o o ,
s, s,
and ann ou nc ed his p u rp ose to ab id e i n thi faith alth ou g h the s ,
w ho l e w orld should call him a her etic Up n thi s c onfes i o n he . o s
w s c nd e mn ed and s ent enc ed to be b eh e ad ed

a o When the sen .
t enc w as d eclar e d H o tting er b egan t sp eak of Go d and r edemp

e o
ti o n thr ou gh Chri t The Landamman o f U i Jac o b Tr o g er aid

s . r , ,
s ,
We a e n o t h r e to be pr ea c h d to Th er e is n o n eed o f thi
r e e . s
ta lk Away with him " The Landv o gt F l eck en t ein s aid We

. s ,
will ta k ff h head and if it gr o w s o n again we will ac c ept hi

e o i
s , ,
s
faith .H o tt ing er r epli ed

”
I t is in ac c o rdanc e wit h the will o f :
“
Go d . M y he pard o n all thos e who ar e ho til e to me and l ead

a s ,
me to d e ath To the Lo rd on the cr oss it w as s aid C o m e d o wn

.
,
‘
fr om the cr oss and w e will b eli ev e th ee ,

He then addr ess ed .
’
the p eopl e c o nc erning s alvati o n by the cr o ss o f C hri t al n e s o .
Many w ept as they li t en ed We ep n o t f o me aid H o tting e r

s .
“
r ,
”
s
bu t f o r y o u r s elv es Rep ent and b eli ev e o n the Lo rd J e us

. s
C hri s t At the plac e o f e x ec u ti o n he addr essed his j u d ges and

.
pray ed f or their fo rgiv en ess Tu rnin g to the p eopl e he s aid If .

,
I h av e wr o ng ed any man I a k hi fo rgiv en e s as I al so fo rgiv e s s s ,
ev ery o n e Then c o mm endi n g hi S piri t t the L o rd J esu Chri t

’9
. s o s s ,
he laid hi head u p o n the bl o ck and the ent enc e w as ex ec u t ed

s ,
s .
He w a the fir t of the S wi ss m artyr s Bullin ger R f o ma ti ns

s s .
,
e r o
esehi chte, i s 145 15 1

g
-
. . .
CH A P T ER I V .
F UR TH E R DEVELOP M EN T OF TH ESE T ENDEN CI ES .
de vel op ment of these radical tendencies in

I N t he
the m o ve me nt f o r church re f orm S imon S tumpf , ,
P astor of the church at H o ngg was especially pro ,
mi nent ; and not l o ng after the S econd D iscussion ,
by reason o f the zeal with which he pro claimed the

views o f the ne w par ty he was d ismissed fr o m his
,
p astorate by the Zurich Co uncil His people earn .
es tl
y entreated that he might be per m itted to remain .
But the C o u ncil w o uld no t recede fr o m the p o sition

it had taken and as S tumpf c o ntinued to preach a
, ,
decree O f banish men t was issued D ecember 2 5 152 3 , ,
1
and S tum pf went into Germany .
It was by S tumpf that the idea of a ch urch com ,
p o sed of believers only according to the N ew Testa

,
ment model w as first suggested to Zwingli The

,
.
suggestion seems to have been made in the summer ,
or more probably in the autumn of 152 3 certainly , ,
previ o us to th e S econd D iscussion The idea was .
unquestionably derived fr o m a study of the Ne w

Testament W hether it was or i g i nal wit h S tumpf o r
.
1
F u s s l in Bey tr li ge
, ,
ii . S 43
. .
not is unknown That at th is time h owever this idea

.
, ,
was cherished only among those who h ad separated

from Zwingli in the work of reform is certain These ,
.
men had made the B ible th e supre me authority in

matters of faith and practice Having separated .
from t h e Church of R ome they naturally asked , ,
W hat should take its place ? T h ey turn ed to the

S cript u res for an answer There t h ey le arne d th at
.
the apostolic churches were composed of these only

w h o were the avowed follo wers of C h rist and th at a ,
union of believers and unbelievers as in the Romis h ,
Church or t h e new S tate Church had no warrant in

, ,
the sacre d word That s u ch an idea sh ould h ave h a d

.
its origin and advocacy a mong these r adicals is a

witness to the profoun d religious spirit fro m wh ic h it
1
proceeded They made m u ch of the necessity of
.
personal godliness ; and to restore primitive Chris

t ianity as they found it in the N ew Testament was
, ,
” “
the end toward which they devo u tly pressed L et .
”
h im who will stand wit h Christ sa id Grebel stand, ,
”
at his side .
A n d this h e urged u pon Zwingli B ut h is words .
were powerless Zwingli wo u ld have no D onatist

.
church consisting of saints alone he said

,
In ,
.
2
s upport of h is position h e appealed to the words of
1
C o rn eli us , Geschi c hte des Munster ischen Auf ru hrs ,
n . S 22. .
2 Do rn er , Geschi chte d pr ot T heologi e

. .
,
s . 29 3 .
FUR TH ER DEVELOP M EN T . 75
Christ He that is not against us is for us ;

.
,
als o to the parable of the tares and the wheat claim ,
ing that such a separati o n as was pre posed would not

be in harmony with the teaching of the parable .
B esides if they were now to separate t h e tares from

,
the wheat what would remain for the angels to do at

,
the end of the world

S ubsequently F elix Mantz endeavored to win
,
Zwin gli to the new view L ike Grebel Mantz was a .

,
native o f Zurich a son though not by marriage of a

, , ,
canon o f the Cath edral He was a man of scholarly .
tastes and h ad given particular attention to the He

,
brew language which he had studied under C eporinus

,
( Jacob W i es endan er
g ) He had been associated .
with Zwingli fro m the commencement of church

refo r m in Zurich it would seem but at this time
,
1
he was in full sympathy with Grebel In his inter .
view with Zwingli urging the import ance of purity ,
in the church Mantz appealed to the testimony of

,
P aul and main tained that fornicati o n adultery c ov

, , ,
e to us n es s and the like s hould no t be allowed among

,
Christians He w o uld have Zwingli take this posi

.
tion and give n o tice to this e ff ect

,
“
Yo u do this ”
.
,
“
answered Zwingli and exclude fro m the church
,
”
those who h ave these vices It is not in my p ower .
,
”
added Mantz : I am no t bish o p like Zwingli ,
.
1
Bulling er , Ref o r ma ti on sges c hi c hte ,
i . s . 30 .
A nd the breach between the radicals and Zwin

so
gli widene d daily Grebel and his associates came

.
together frequently f o r the study o f the S cr iptures

and mutual edificatio n In their study they were not .
l o ng in disco vering that there is no scriptural fo un

dati o n f or infant baptism and they assailed the pra e ,
tice as a human inventi o n Zwingli as he himself .

,
confesses had at one time entertained the view that

,
it would be better not to baptize children until they

1
were somewhat advanced in years L ike L uther he .
,
th o ught at firs t that fai th before baptism was indis

pensable In c o nversati o n with Grebel Hubmeier
.
, ,
a n i o thers Zwingli had frequently taken this posi

,
2
ti o n. But in his Opp o si ti o n to the radicals he was
led to abandon it There was another c o nsideration
.
that influe nced him He saw that the setting aside .
o f infan t baptism was the same as setting aside the
N ati onal Church exchanging a hitherto nati o nal r e

,
formatio n o f the church f o r o ne more or less D onatist .
F or if infant baptism were given up because faith ,
was not yet there then there o nly re mained as the,
right time f or it the m o ment when living faith and
1
S ee Wer lce ii ,
. 3 . 24 5
2
Egli D i Z u i h Wi d t uf s 1 7 s ay s
,
e r c er Z wi n gli u nd
e er a er , .
,
:
d i and ern P adi n t n b eg ifien di e n E if r a n fang ni c ht bi

e r ca e r es e s ,
s
s ie m e r k t en da e,
uf d i Wi d erta u fe al au f ein Ab ei c he n
ss s a e e s z
der a n g tr ebt n S o nd r k ir ch e abg e h n i

es e e se e se .
”
78 TH E ANARAP TI S TS I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
Reublin . The latter was arrested and imprisoned ,

1
and a commission was app o inted to examine him in

reference to his teachings and repor t to the Council ,
.
I t was also ordered th at th o se who h ad unbaptized

ch ildren sh o uld h ave them baptized or submi t to a ,
fine of a silver mark A t t h e same time the two .
from Wy tiko n were s u mm o ned befo re the Council ,
three other s from Z ollikon a village near Zurich , ,
also h eads O f families who had refused to have their

,
child r e n baptized were ordered to present themselve s

,
f or examinati o n by the Council W hen asked why .

,
they had no t had their child ren baptized they replied ,
that child re n ought not to be baptized un til they

were Old enough to exercise personal faith and ap ,
pealed to the word O f God as their authority f or tak

ing t his p ositio n A t the close of the exa mi natio n
.
they were threatened with p u nishment if they per

sisted in their obstinacy but the threats of the Council ,
were of no av ail and the children remained unbaptized

,
.
O n his return to W aldshut after the S econd Zurich ,
D iscussion Hubmeier h ad devote d h i mself zealously

,
to the work of c h urch refor m T h e old church .
party however was not inactive and not long after

, , , , ,
a request for the removal of Hubmeier from his pas
t or at e was made to t h e W aldsh u t a u th orities Su b .
1
F usslin Beytr age,
. ii . 9 . 64 6 7 -
.
FUR TH ER DEVEL O P M EN T . 79
sequently it was u rged by s o me that Hubmeier should

be given up to A ustria W aldshu t being within the ,
imperial j urisdictio n The O pposition to Hubmeier .
on the part of his R omanist Opponents was at length

so strong that he deemed it best to ask to be relieved
of the d uties of his o fli ce This reques t having been .
granted Hubmeier left W aldshut A ugust 1 7 1524

, , , ,
and proceeded to Schafihausen accompanied by a ,
guard of W alds h ut citizens as far as the boundaries

of the Canton where h e was met by horsemen from
,
S cahafl hus en who co nducted him to their city Here

'
.
,
he fou n d an as yl u m not in a private house it is ,
thought but in a cloister ,

.
His enemies however follo wed him and th e Coun

, , ,
cil of S chafl hausen was earnestly implored to arrest

’
and i mprison him or to deliver him into the hands ,
of the E mperor Hubmeier accordingly appealed to .
the Council for j ustice and declared himself ready to ,
submit his case in a discussion I n communicating .
h is views he addressed three letters to the Coun

,
1
cil I n the second of these letters with implicit con

.
,
i dence in the triumph of the truth he off ere d to ,
meet his opponents together with the p as tors of Lu ,
serne A ppenzell U ri and B aden and discuss the

, , , ,
1
E in r
e ns tli che Chr isten li ehe er bi etung an ei n en E rsa men
Ra te z e S ehafihus en du rc h doc tor B a lda za r Hu bmor f ridberg
’
,
von ,
Pf r Wa lds hu t bes tehen Die War heit is t unto dtlieh 1 524

' '
a r er n ze ,
. . .
points at iss ue between them If I am wrong he .

,
“
said let me be punished If however these pastors .
, ,
are wrong I ask only that they may be br o ught to a

,
knowledge of their error and left unpunished and , ,
be closed his letter with these noble words : D ivine

truth is immortal and although for awhile it may be
,
arrested scourged cro wned cru cified and buried

, , , , ,
it will nevertheless on the third day rise Victorious

, , ,
”
and rule and triumph fo rever and ever .
In a third letter to the C o uncil Hubmeier repeated ,
his r eq ires t f or a discussi o n He was unwilling he .
s aid to be condemned unheard ; and still c o nfiden t

, ,
“
of the rightfulness of his p o sition he wr o te : I am ,
ready t o give all men an account of my d o ctrine my ,
belief a nd my hope as f or two years I have preached

, ,
the same If I have spoken the truth why am I

.
,
assailed and o thers f o r my sa ke ? If I have erred and

taught what is f alse I call u pon all Christians to
,
te s tify to the same and from the S criptures to Show

,
”
me again the right way The appeal closed with
.
th ese W o rds I entreat all believers in Christ to unite

with me in prayer to God that he will impart to me
his grace and strength and bestow upon me a brave
, ,
u nter r ified princely spirit to the end that I may

, , ,
r est upon his holy word and in a true Christian faith

,
’
may c o mmend my Spirit into God s hands throu gh ,
o u r L ord Jesus Christ his on ly begotten S on, .

FUR TH ER DEVELOP M EN T . 81
It is th o ught by S chreiber that Hubmeier dur 1

,
ing this residence in S cli afl haus en wrote his tract ,
entitled Concerning Heretics and those who B urn

, ,
” 2
them in which he maintains that the burning of
,
heretics cannot be j ustified fr o m the S criptures .
Christ ta u ght that the wheat and the tares are to

grow together The burning of curious b ooks he .
holds is not unchristian according to A cts 19 : 1 9 .
It is a small thing to b ur n innocent papers he ,
adds but to point out erro rs and to confute them

, ,
”
with the S criptures that is art ,
.
Meanwhile there was a change in t h e state of

aff airs in W aldshut A s the imperial g overnment .
was making strenuous e ff orts to supp o rt the old

church party there W aldshut call ed upon its friends ,
“
f or help and issued an address ,
To all believ ing
”
Christians .
“
W e are decried says the address o n account , ,
of new doctrine This is done thr o ugh ill will W e .

-
.
hear of no new doctrine and know of none but hear ,
1
Ta schen bu h c f ur Gesc hi c hte u . A lter thu m i n S u d deu ts chla n d
1 839 ,
s . 63 .
1 V on Hetz er n und i r en V er br enn er n . r

V e g lei chu ng d er C c
c hr if zu s a m mengez ogen du rc h D oc tor Ba ltha z er en F rid bergern
'
s ten , ,
H a r r er n z u Wa lds hu t ,
zu Gef a llen B r u der An thoni n ,
Vi c a ri zu
Co nstanz dem a u sser lesen en Thor wci chter P osa u nen Di e

’
, on ai n .
Wa rhei t i st u n to dtlich A n n o 1523 Ja r

' ’
. . .
4 l
><
only the doctrine o f Christ as taught by himself and

his ap ostles by his c o mman d
,
I t is said that at
.
’
W aldshut L uther s doctrine is preached W e know .
not who L uth er is and we kno w not his d octrine

,
.
W ithout doubt he is a man as we ; if h e speaks or

’
writes the truth it is not his ow n truth but Christ s
, , .
Christ we know and daily from h is holy word we

,
learn more concerning h im W e are not baptize d in.
the name of Lu ther or any oth er man but of Christ ;

, ,
i n his name we bend the knee not in th e name of ,
L uther ; in his name we m u st be saved .
A special appeal was made to the Co u ncil of Zurich

where an armed force was at once raised for the
"
assistance of the Christian brethren at W aldshut ,
“
who were su ff ering under the h eavy h and of tyran ny .
This force entered W aldshut by nigh t during the first

week in O ctober but in a few days t h ere being no
, ,
immediate need o f their services many of t h e Z u ric h ,
soldiers returned to their homes .
Towar d the end of O ctober Hubmeier again ap ,
ear ed in W aldshut and was received with great j oy

p ,
by th e people O ne of the firs t things he did after

.
h is re tu rn was to challenge the old church party in ,
c luding his earlier friend and instructor D r J ohn ,

.
Eek to a discussion and to the challenge h e ap

,
1
pended twenty six theses in German and L atin
. -
.
The theses in b o th Latin an d German w e r e p ubl i s hed in the

F U R TH ER DEVEL O P M EN T . 83
B ut the discussion did not take place had . Eek

more pressing matters o n hand ; and Hubmeier was
soon busily engaged in the w o rk he had laid down
when he withdrew from W aldshut .
It was while Hubmeier was in S chaf fhausen that

we find Grebel and his friends in correspondence
with Mii nz er and Carlstadt There is a reference
1
.
Latin e diti o n fr om the pr ess of Froschau er in Z urich hearing

, ,
dat e o f N o v emb er 4 1524 ,

.
1
Tho ma s Mii n e w as b o rn at S t o llb erg a t the fo o t of the
z r ,
H art z Mou ntain s t o ward the cl o e of the 15 th c en tu ry S id e

,
s . e
mann Thomas Mllnz ) thin ks it was ab ou t the y ar 1490 I n

er e .
r e fer enc e to his early y e ar his ed u c ati o n and the plac e wh er e he s, ,
s tu di ed info rmati o n is wanting

,
By o m e i t is th ou ght that he s
t ook hi Univ er s ity c ou rs e at Wittenb erg O ther find evi d en c e

s . s
that he w as n o t a s tran ger in L eip ic and thin k he may hav e z ,
p ur sued his studi e th er e Melanchth n c o nfe that he had a

s . o ss es
g o o d k n o wl edg e of th e S cript u r es T hat M ii n e t o o k th e U niv er . z r
s it d e r e e of Ma s t e r o f Art s w e kn o w fr o m l et te r s in w hic h he
y g ,
is addr es e d by thi s titl e

s F or s ev eral y ear s b e d ev o te d hi ms elf
.
t o t eac hing fir s t at As che r l eb en the n at H all e

, F r o m H all e he
s ,
.
w ent to Fr oh a n ear A cher l eb en w her e he held a min o r e ccl e

s ,
s s ,
sia tical p os iti o n

s L at er ab o u t the y e ar 15 18 he w as a t ea c her
.
, ,
in the S t Martin s Gymna iu m in Bru nswick Af terward s w e

.
’
s , .
find him r esiding with H an s Pelt a cl r gyman pr obably a r es i ,

e ,
d ent o f Aschersleben Ab o u t New Year s Day 15 19 he was in Leip

.
’
, ,
z ig. Early in the s am e y ear he w as mad e c haplain and co nf es

so r o f the n u n s in th cl o i t e r Beu t t n ear Wei s enfel s
e s Th r e ,
i z, s . e
in his O pp ositi o n to the Romi h d o ctri n e of tran ub stantiati o n a s s ,

s
Lu ther t ell u Mii n er w as acc u t o m ed at the m orning ma

s s, z to s ss
to th is correspondence in a letter which Grebel ad

dressed to V adian S epte m ber 3 1524 in which he , , ,
m entions the fa ct that he was then writi n g to Carlstadt

and w as about to write to Mii nz er bot h of whose ,
”
—
tracts against L uth er h is P r otes ta ti on and ,
his getichten Gla wben — Grebel h ad j u st r eceived

and read He also pre posed he said to write to
.
, ,
L uther and was b u sy preparing a theological work

, .
o mi t the w o rd s at w hich the tran fo rm ati o n is said to be eff ect ed s .
I nd eed a a Refo rm er h e w as alr e ady in advanc e o f Lu t her

,
s ,
th ough o n fri endly t erm s with him and int er es ted in the c ou r s e ,
u p o n w hich he had ent e r e d At the di s c us i o n which Lu th er had

. s
with Eek t Leip ig c o mm encin g Ju ly 2 4 1519 Mii n e w as pro

,
a z , , ,
z r
bably pr ent and it w as not withou t Lu ther s kn owl ed ge that

es ,
’
in the fo l l o wi ng y ear Mii nze w s c all e d to Z wick au wher e at r a ,
fir t he b e cam e a pr each er a t S t Mary s and aft erward s at S t

s .
’
,
.
C ath erin e s Ther e he b o ldly d en ou nc ed the m o nk and at l ength

’
. s, ,
aband o n d by the Witt enb er g Reform er on acc ou nt of his radical

e s
vi ew s he t o ok his plac e with the Z wickau Pr o phe t n ot that he

,
s,
s har e d th e ir vi ew s in any gr e at d egr ee bu t b eca u se he w as in ,
s ympathy with the m m o r e than wi i n Lu ther or hi asso ciates s .
I n 152 1 he w ent int Boh emia to p eak the divin e m ess a ge o r

“
,
o s
l o v e and lib erty Jan u ary 21 1522 he w as in N o rd hau en

.
3)
, , s ,
w her e he r emain ed it is tho u ght u ntil the cl o e o f the y e ar

, At ,
s .
Ea s t er 1523 he w as at Al tedt n ear Ei enach w her e he had e

, ,
s ,
s ,
r
c i ev ed an app o intm ent as pr e ac he r an d w he r e S ho rtly aft er he ,
w s m arri ed to a n un w ho had r en o u nc ed he v o w s a s t e p in
a r ,
whi ch he w as foll o w e d by Lu th er tw o y ear s later His firs t w o r k .

,
in which al so he h d in Lu th er a u c c e o r w to s et a id e the
a s ss ,
as s
L atin litu r gy and to arran ge f or a fr ee ch u rc h s ervic e w ho lly in

, ,
86 T HE ANABAP T I S T S IN SW I TZ ERLAND .
and introduced new German hymns This is no t .
well since we do not find in the N ew Testamen t any

,
teaching or example in reference to singing I f

, ,
.
Mii nz er and Carlstadt are supported by tithes an d

rents Grebel exhorts th em to give up their livings
,
.
” “
Y ou know he said ho w a shepherd s h ould be
, ,
1
supported W e expect much of Jacob S trau ss
.
,
and others like him whom t h e W ittenberg d octors
lightly estee m He also regrets that Mii nzer h ad

.
”
set up tables of the law Fo r t h is h e say s . we , ,
find no S cripture nor example in t h e N ew Testament .
I n t h e O ld Testament there was the outward r epr e

s en tatio n but in the N ew t h e wri t ing is on th e fl eshl
, y
”
tables of the h eart He expects h im far ther to h old
.
the word of God and make a C h ristian ch urch with

,
the help of Christ and h is people as lai d d own in ,
Matth e w 18 AS to th e sword it is not to be used to

.
,
defend either the gospel or those who receive it .
C o ncerning Mii nzer s view in reference to baptism

’
t h ey desired further information Concerning the .
V iew held by himself and his companions Grebel say s , ,
F rom the S criptures we learn that baptism S ig ui

fies that by faith and the blo o d of Christ our si ns
h ave been washed away that we have died to sin and , ,
walk in newness of life that assurance of salvation is

1
He w as a pr eacher in E i enach and an o pp o n ent
s , of the
tithe sy s tem .
FUR TH ER DE V ELOP M EN T . 87
through the inner baptism faith so that the water , ,
d o es not confirm and increase the faith as the W it ,
tenberg theologians say nor does it save C o ncern

, .
“
ing infant baptism Grebel adds : W e believe that
,
the S criptures teach that all children who have not ,
arrived at the knowledge of good and evil are saved ,
by the su f f erin gs of Christ I nfant baptism there .

,
fo re is declared to be a blasphemous o fienc e against

,
1
all S cripture and in reference to his own practic e
, ,
which was to baptize every two or three months

those born in this interval Mii nz er received the f ol ,
lowing delicate hint though o f course unintentional

,
S ince you have expressed yourself against that

infant baptism we hope you do not sin against the
,
eternal word wisdom and command of God accord

, , ,
ing to w hi ch believers only are to be baptized and ,
”
you decline to baptize infants I n conclusion the ,
Zurich r adicals beg Munzer and Carlstadt to regar d

t h em as brethren and to write to them
,
.
The messenger who was to carry the letter was .
delayed and Grebel added a second letter in which

, ,
1
he informed Mii nz er that he had written to L uther ,
and that A ndrew C as telber ger had written to Carl

stadt He als o referred to a tract of L uther s against
.
’
1 S tat ed in c o nv er ati o n with O ek olampadius at Basel lat e in

s ,
the a ut u mn o f 1 524 H er g Das L eb n J O k l mp d i s 3 0 2

zo , e . e o a a s . . .
2 C o rn eliu s Ge c hi c ht d es Mlln teri ch n Auf u hrs ii 8 24 7

,
s e s s e r ,
. . .
Munzer probably the L etter to the S axo n P rinces

,
”
c o ncerning the Factio ns S pirits which had reached ,
Zurich since the first letter was written R eferring to .
himself and his companions Grebel says that they ,
were denounced from the pulpits as devils appearing

as angels of light and that they anticipated greater
“
persecution P ray for us he adds
. This letter ,
.
was not signed by the same persons as the other .
1
I nstead of B au r we find John Br Odli and Hans
Huiuf of Halle who it is thought was th e medium
, , ,
o f communication betwee n the radicals in S ax o ny

and those in S witzerland .
I n a postscript it is stated th at cop i e s of th ese let

,
ters were no t retained and as the letters th emselves , ,
’
in Gr ebel s hand writi ng are among the V adian
-
,
manuscripts in the library at S t Gall it is probable .

,
either that for some reason th ey were not sent or ,
that they failed to reac h Mii nze r and so were r e ,
turned to their author Indeed at the time when the .

,
letters were written Munzer was no longer in Als tedt .
The situation there had become unfavorable for his

plans and about the middle of A ugust 1524 he had
, , ,
removed to Mii hlhausen Bu t there also opposition .

, ,
1
Br o dli or acc o rdin g to the cu st om o f the tim e
Br Odlein w ho , , ,
tran slat ed his nam e int o Latin a nd cal l ed him self Paniculus , ,
c o m e b ef r e us fir t in 1523
s o s pa to r at Q u art en o n Lak e Wal
,
as s
l ens tadt He w as n ow an a ss is tant to the pa t o r at Z ollik on

. s .
F U R TH ER DEVELOP M EN T . 89
was soon manifested and S eptember 2 7 three weeks

, ,
after the date of Grebel s firs t letter Mii nz er was ’
ordered by the Council of the city to leave the p lace .
W hat he had learned c o ncerning the S wiss radicals ,
doubtless led him to make his way into S witzerland

,
.
He went by way of N uremberg and B asel In B asel .
he h ad an interview with O ecolampadius in which the

expressi o n of his views was characterized by mo dera
tion 1
. Mii nz er tarried only a short time in B ase l ,
but made his way to the village of Griessen in K lett

gau where he spent eight w e eks probably the months
, ,
of O ctober and N ovember as we kn o w from the ,
Mii hlhaus en Chronicle that he returned to Mii hl 2
ha u sen D ecember 15 Here B ulli nger says Mii n

,
3
.
, ,
zer was v isited by Grebel Mantz and oth ers but no , , ,
record of the c o nference has been preserved No r .
do we find that the le aders of the S wiss radicals had

any subsequent deali ngs with him A s Gr ebel s let .
’
ter sh ows he and his associates were not in agree

,
ment with Munzer in reference to baptism They .
did not believe in the use of the sword as did he .
D oubtless they now found t hat in purp o se they and

,
the S axon R eformer diff ered widely Mii nz er s aims .

’
were social and political chiefly He would right the .
1
H er z o g D a s L eben J . Oeko la mp a ds ,
i . S 3 0 1—3 03
. .
1
S chmidt ,
Zei tschr .
j it r Gesc hi chtswissen sc haf t ,
iv . s . 36 8 .
3
q or mati onsgeschi chte ,
i . s . 22 4 .
90 TH E ANABAP T I S T S I N SWI TZ ERLAND .
wrongs o f the Oppressed peasants and with this end ,
” 1
in V iew he had bro ught with him certain articles ,
2
probably the celebrated Twelve Ar ticles into which ,
the demands of the peas ants had been c o mpress ed .
B ut Grebel and his friends who were also in s y mpa ,
thy with the oppressed peasants would bring about ,
a better state of things n o t by revolution bu t by r e , ,
storing primitive Christianity : and so believing in ,
di ff erent methods of accomplishing th e great end

they h ad I n V i ew t h ey seem to h ave separated with
,
out fo rming a closer alliance and too k th e d iff erent ,
paths they h ad already marked o u t .
Carlstadt with Whom Grebel h ad also been in

,
3
1 S eidemann , Thomas Munzer ,

s . 15 2 .
2 Z imm ermann Allgemein e,

Ges chi c hte
g r o sen B u e n des s a r
kr i eges 2 te Theil
, ,
s . 109 , is of the O pini o n that the Tw elv e Articl es
w er e written by Miin er z .
3
Andr ew Ru d olp h Bo d en s t ein c o mm o nly kn o wn as C arl stad t ,
fr o m his b irth plac e w as so m e y ears o ld er than Luther Co n

-
, .
c ernin g the plac e of his ed ucati o n it is o nly k n own that it w a at ,

s
s o m e U niv e r ity ou t id e o f Germany

s s He w as Ba cc la u eu s bi b . a r
li eu s w hen he cam e to Witte nb e rg in 1504 In 1508 he r c eiv e d .

,
e
a min or eccl es iastical p ositi o n in Wittenb er g I n 1510 he w as .

,
m ad e a Do ct or o f Theo l ogy and in 15 13 he w as el ectedPr o fess or , ,
o f Theo l o gy in the Univ er s ity He vis it ed Rom e in 15 15 w her e

.
,
he r emain ed a y ear Re t u rnin g t o Witt enb er g he v ehem ently

.
,
attack ed Luther at the b eginning o f his r e fo rm t o ry w o r k bu t a ,
aft erward b ecam e one of his m ost ard en t supp o rt er s Dorn er .

,
Geschi chte d pr ot T heologi e s 123 s ay s By m e an s of his tr e atis e

. .
,
.
, , ,
F U R TH ER DEVELOP M EN T . 91
’
correspon d ence was banished from S axony in Sep

,
tember 1524 No t long after a messenger dispatched

,
.
,
by him D r Gerhard W esterburg o f Cologne ap

,
.
,
eared in Zurich He brought a letter and a pack

p .
age of tracts from Carlstadt and during his stay o f ,
six days gave the Grebel party a full account of Carl

’
stadt s contest with L uther at Jena S o o n we hear .
of Carlst adt at B as el whence d u ring the first half , ,
of O ctober he proceeded to S tras burg carrying with

, ,
him S ix or seven tracts which he h ad printed in Ba

sel and of which the larger number had reference to
,
'
the L ord s S upper In one of these tracts he dis .
cussed infant baptism which he would have set aside ,

.
These writings attracted great attention as they ,
were widely circulated and were hailed with especial ,
delight by Grebel and his frie nds The Zuric h Coun .
cil forbade their sale tho u gh Zwingli advised a dif ,
f erent course and even asked that no thing should be

,
done to hinder their circulation L ater when Carl .

,
I / ibella s de cano n i cis scr i

p tin el o q u ent
u ris
( Au g u st ,
15 20 ) he ,
w ord c ontrib ute d n o t a littl e to enfo rc e the d uty o f u niv ers al

s,
acqu aintanc e with the S cript ur e and t hus to pr epar e the w ay f os . r
Lu th er s tran s lati o n ”
O n the app earanc e o f the Z wic k au p o
’
. r
ph ts in Witte nb er g in Dec emb er 152 1 C arl tadt w as n o t o nly

e , , ,
s
r eady t o w elc om e them but t o a dmit th eir claim s He laid a id e

,
. s
the titl e o f Do ct o r and gav e him s el f the nam e o f N e ighb o r An “

,
dr ew Bu t he seem s to hav e ad o pt e d m or e m od erate vi ew and

. s,
at the b eginnin g of 152 3 he w as s till l ect urin g in the U niv er ity s .

stadt was in Zurich he called on Zwingli but the , ,
chief purpose of his presence in the place was to mak e

“ ”
the acquaintance of his new brethren .
A friend of Mii nz er and Carlstadt Martin Cella ,
rius well k nown as an associate of the Z wickau pro

,
p he ts was in Zurich abo u t this time certainly pre

, ,
vio ns to 152 5 He avoided a conference with Zwingli

.
,
it is said but had repeated interviews with the radi

,
cals and was in agreement with them in th eir oppo

,
sitio u to infant baptism oath s etc , ,

.
The y ear 1523 w a o ne o f gr ea t lit erary activity with C arl tadt

s s .
I n S ept emb er he l eft Witt enb e r g f o O rlam u nd e wh er e b e e

,
r ,
r
main ed pr e aching u ntil he w a c o mp ell ed to giv e u ph is p t o rat e s as
ther e in th umm er o f 1524 I n Au g u t he w as in Terra I n Sep

e s . s ,
.
t emb er he r eturn ed to O rlam u nd e and w a b ani shed S pt emb er

, ,
s e
17 . At the end o f S pt emb er o r e arly in O ct o b er he l eft O rla

e ,
m u nd e w ent fir s t to Ro th nb u r g o n the Tau b er and th en to S tra

,
e ,
s
b u rg See J ti g er An d ea Bod n t in c on Ca l ta dt S tu ttgart 1856

.
,
r s e s e r s , ,
.
1 C ella iu w as a nati ve o f S tu ttgart

r s He mad e the acqu aint .
anc e o f Melancht ho n at Tii bingen and foll o w ed him to Witt en ,
b erg Wh en the Z wicka u pr op hets app ear ed in Witte nb erg he

.
w as am o ng t heir o pp o n ent s Bu t it happ en ed to him a lat er to .

,
s
Bern hard Ro thman in Mii ns ter that ; he s o o n w ent o v er t o the ,
O pp o it e par ty
s When c o mp ell ed with Stubn er to l eav e Wit
.
, ,
t enb erg he w ent to K mb erg In 1525 hew ent int o Pr u sia

,
e .
,
s
wh er e he w as impri o n ed f or a Short tim e He w as th en full o f

s
h o p e c o nc erning the p eedy e tabli hm ent of the New J e ru al em

s s s s .
I n lat er y ear he r et u rn ed t o th e vi ew s o f the Refo rm er and in

s
,
s,
1 53 6 he w as mad e pr o fe s o r o f p hil o o p hy aft erward o f th eo l o gy

s s , ,
a t Ba el in S wit erland
s He w as l earn ed in the H ebr ew S yriac
z .
, ,
and C h ald ee l an g ua g es His d eath o ccu rr ed in 156 0 . .

wa s prominent in the thoughtsf both parties and o ,
conflic t was not unfreq u ently the result Megander .

,
one O f the Zurich preachers was defending th e prac ,
tice in a sermon when Jacob Hottinger interrupted ,
h im A t Zollikon Br Odli had a heated discussio n

.
,
with an assistant from the Cathe dral in Zurich A b o u t .
N ew Y ear s D ay 1 52 5 Gr ebel s wife gave birth to

’ ’
, ,
a daughter A week af ter Grebe lwr ote to V adian

.
,
’
The child s name is R achel : she has not yet bee n
baptized in the R omish bath .
Indeed so strong now was the opposition to infant

,
baptism that it Was thought best by the Council to

,
h ave the subj ect considered in a p ublic discussion .
A call was acc o rdingly issued for s u ch a discussio n

on Tuesday January 17 152 5 in the Council Hall
, ,
1
in Zurich B efore the discussion however Grebel
.
, ,
addressed a letter to the Council in which be ex

pressed a desire tha t the discussio n s h o uld be in
writing and on the basis of the S criptures but the
,
members of the Council withheld t h eir assent .
The call f o r the discussion was announced fro m

the Cathedral pulpit in Zurich on the S unday that
preceded the meeting It was said that am ong others .
Hubmeier w o uld be invited It is believed however .

, ,
that he was not It is certain that had he appeared

.
1
E gli ,
Acten sa m lung z . O esc h d
. . Zu r cher Ref or ma ti on , 2 7 0,
Nr . 6 18 .
ANABAP TI S M I NS TIT U T ED . 95
he would have taken a place with the Opposition for

only a day befo re the discussion in a letter to O eco ,
lampadius
1
he expressed very decidedly his objec
,
“ ”
tions to infant baptism I believe yes I know .
, , ,
h e said ,
that Christianity will not prosper u nless bap
t is m and the L ord s Su pper are bro u ght back to th eir
’
”
original purity .
The prominent leaders of the opponents of infant

baptism at the discussion were Grebel Mantz and , ,
Reublin A ndrew C as telber ger and Hans Br Odli also

.
were present and two others L udwig Hetzer and

, ,
George B laurock w h o had recently u nited their for

,
tunes with those of the radical party Hetzer as we .

,
have seen w as present as a friend of Zwingli a t the S ec

,
ond Zurich D is c u ssion in O ctober 1523 He remained , ,

.
in Zurich still on friendly terms with Zwingli thoug h

, ,
sympathizing more and more wit h the radi cals u ntil ,
t h e middle of June following w h en he made h is way ,
to A ugsburg bearing with h im a letter of intr oduc

,
tion from Zwingli to F rosch one of the pas tors in that ,
city commending him as an exceedingly learned

,
young man His translation of Bugenhagen s Com

.
’
m en ta ry on the Ten Epis tles of P a u l which he pub ,
lished about this time he dedicated to A ndr ew R em , ,
a wealthy and influential citizen of A ugsburg through ,
1 Z wingli Wer lt e
, ,
ii . s . 3 38 .
whom he made many valuable friends B ut there .
were many adversaries in A ugsburg and late in the ,
year he made his way back to Zurich wh ere though , ,
he revisited Zwingli and rec o u nted his B avaria n ex

,
/
p er ie nces he threw,
himself into the radical move
ment .
O f B lauro ck we read f o r the first time in connec

,
tion with this discussi o n of January 1 7 1525 O f ,

.
h is previous life we only kno w that he had been a

,
monk O n account of his orat o rical gift s he was

.
,
called the second P aul and such was his fiery ardor
and his great executive ability that he hencefo rth ,
held a prominent position in the radical party In .
”
fant baptism he said is an invention of men and
, , ,
”
whatever is from men is from the devil W ithout .
d o ubt B lauro ck had j o ined the party only a Short time

,
befo re t he discussion otherwise he w o uld have made

,
himself known He was not a man who would r e

.
main o r could be kept in the backgro und

, ,
.
B ullinger the hist o rian was at that time a school

, ,
1
master at Cappel and his accoun t of the discussion
,
is that o f an eye witness The opponents of infant

-
.
baptism he says maintained that infants can neither

, ,
exercise faith nor understand what baptism signifies

that baptism is to be administered to believers only ,
1
Rq
’
or ma li onsgeschichte 1 s. 23 8 .
ANABAP TI S M I NS TIT UT ED . 97
to those to whom the gospel h as already been preached ,
w ho comprehend it desire to be baptized and hence , ,
forth to walk in newness of life S uch is the teach .
ing of the Gospels and the A cts of the A postles I n .
his reply Zwingli used the arguments he had previ

,
o usly brought fo rward I nfan t baptis m he said .

, ,
takes the place of circ u mcision I n 1 Corinthians .
P aul speaks of the children of Ch ristian parents

as holy (dri er) The Council listened to these and like
,
.
arguments and decided that the victory was with

Zwingli O n the following day a mandate was is
.
1
sued requiring those who h ad unbaptized children to

h ave them baptized during the following week or be ,
banished I t was also ordered tha t in Z o llikon t h e

.
1
font which h ad been throw n d o wn in the preceding

summer should be repaired and that inquiry should be ,
made concerning the guilty parties Three days later .

,
January 2 1 they directed their attentio n to the lead

,
ers o f the radical party Grebel and Mantz were o r .
dered to abstain fro m further discussion while their ,
associates who were not natives of the Canton name ,
ly Reublin pastor at Wytiko n Br Odli assistant at

, , , ,
Z ollikon L ud wig Hetzer and A ndrew C as telber ger

, , ,
were required to leave the country within the week

1 E gli ,
A etensa mmlung ,
z . Gesek d . . Zurc her Ref or ma ti on 2 7 5
, ,
Nr . 6 21 ,
al so 6 22 .
2
F ii s s lin Rey tr age, ,
i . s . 1 89 2 0 1 -
.
5
foll o wing Re ublin and Br odli went to S chaff hau

.
1
-
sen and W aldshut Hetzer returned to A ugsburg .
C as telber ger on account of illness was allowed to

, ,
remain in Zurich one month but was forbidden to ,
hold religious meeti ngs .

2
This last inj unction was no t without significance .
It was in these private gatherings especially that the

seeds of the ra dical movement had been sown Here .
”
the brethren asse mbled f or mutual edification .
The exercises were of the most familiar character .
A fter a season of prayer the S crip tures were read , ,
Grebel and Mantz translating from the original He

brew an d Greek f or the benefit of those w ho were
unacquainted with the ancient tongues The me an .
ing of the sacred word was then unfo lded under the
guidance as it was believed of the H o ly S pirit Many
, ,
.
”
of the brethren were from the humbler classes o f
society ; but that among them there were s o on de
v eloped not a few who were mighty in the S criptures ,
W e may easily conceive .
The decision of the C o uncil with reference to th o se

who had neglected to have their children baptized
failed to secure submiss i on t o the repudiated ordi
nance The parents had acted fro m c onvictions O f
.
1
Fu sslin, Beytr age, iv .
8 . 2 51 , 2 52 . Egli , Aetensa mmlung 2 7 8 ,
,
Nr .
6 24 .
2
E gli ,
Ac tensammlu ng 27 9 , ,
Nr . 6 39 .
duty which they were unwilling t o surrender We

must obey Go d rather than men they said Ac , .
c o r dingly F ebruary 1 a second mandate fo llowed

, , ,
requiring the m agistrates to arrest and imprison

those pasto rs who refused to co mply It w as also .
enacted that unless severe illness prevented child

, ,
ren should be br o ught to the church f or baptism as

soon as they were b o rn Thus infant baptism which .
,
hithert o had been a law o f the church became an ,
o rdinance o f t he civil power

1
.
It is at this time that we find the first reference to

anabaptism in the history of the refo rm movement in
S witzerland V ery n aturall y th o se who denied the
.
validity o f infant baptism were led to consider their

own duty in reference to the S criptural c o mmand
concerning baptism A t one of the meetings of the
.
brethren at Zurich acc o rding to a Moravian ,
chr o nicle all b owed in prayer befo re God that he

,
2
w o uld gran t them power to fulfi ll the divine will

B laur o ck thereupon ar o se and asked Grebel to bap
, ,
tiz e him up o n his confession of faith A gain he fell .
up o n his knees and Grebel baptized him All t he

,
.
rest present were then baptized by B laurock The

‘
celebrati o n of the L ord s S upper foll owed A t the ’

.
house of R ud olph T homam a t Zollik o n a like scen e ,
1
Eg l i Act n mm lung 28 1 N 6 31 6 3 2
,
e sa , ,
r .
,
.
2
C rn el i u Ge chi c ht d
o s Mii n t i ch n Auf r hr
s e es s er s e u s, Ii . s . 26 , 2 7 .
was enacted not long after There was a meeting of .
the brethren there A fter they had l o ng read .
and conversed together John B rubbach of Zurich ,
arose and wept aloud saying that he was a great ,
sinner and desiring the others to pray for him Here

m
.
,
up o n B laur o c k asked hi if he desire d the grace of

’
Go d He replied Y es
. Then Mantz rose and said
,
.
,
”
W ho will forbid me to baptize this person ? No
one replied B laurock He then took a dipper of
,
’
.
water and baptized him in the name of the Fa ther ,
the S on and the Holy S piri t The n H o ttin ger r o se

,
.
”
and desired baptism and Mantz b aptize d him 1
,
.
In other assemblies in and around Zollikon Similar

cases occ urr e d and the sp read of anabaptism was
,
both rapid and extensive .
AS yet no question in reference to t h e act of bap

t is m seems to have been raised and Grebel and his ,
associates ad ministered t h e ordi na nce as they had

been accustomed to see it administered i n the churches .
It has indeed bee n clai med that anabaptism was

instituted at an earlier period in the radical move
ment in S witzerland In all the public discussions .
,
however in matters per taining to baptism mention

, ,
Was made only of Opposition to infant baptis m I t .
is true that Zwingli writing a little more than two ,
1 F ussl i n , Bey tr a ge i . s . 26 5 . S ee al s o Egli Aetensammlung 2 8 2

, , ,
284, Nr . 6 36 .
1
den O n the fo llowing day they were released
.
and returned to Zollikon .
Mantz at his examination refused to aband o n his

, ,
A nabaptist V iews and said he should continue to,
baptize If the members of the Council could not

.
all o w him this privilege they could banish him , .
He also stated it is claimed that there was more

, ,
behind baptism [ anabaptism] which was not yet dis

closed O ne w o uld neither hear nor know anything
.
o f baptism than that at last i t wo uld overthrow the
2
magistracy F ii sslin says it is clear from these
.
words that the leaders of the A nabaptists designed

to overthr o w the magistracy This interpretation is .
contrary to Mantz s testimo ny at a subsequent ’
3
examinati o n at w hich he insisted that h e mean t
,
i n what he had said concern i ng the magistracy that

no Christian could be a magistrate and that no one ,
sh o uld inflict capi tal punishment since from the ,
S criptures it could not be Shown that i t is permitted ,
B la u rock said he was the first to be baptized ; t hat

Zwingli did V iolence to the S criptures and falsified ,
the sa me more tha n t h e Pepe ; and he off ered to make
1 F usslin , B ey tr age ii . 8. 33 6 -
33 7 . Egli , Actensa mmlung 286
,
Nr . 6 37 .
2
F ii ssl in Beytr age ii . 8 . 34 2 , 3 43 . Egli , Actensa mmlung 2 89
,
:
Nr . 6 46 6 . .
3
Fii sslin , Bey tr age, i . s . 254 , 2 55 .
his statement g ood befo re the C o uncil A decisi o n .
both in the case of Mantz and B lauro ck was ann o unced

F ebruary 18 The fo rmer was to be releas ed after
.
obtaining bail and payment o f the c osts and he was ,
info rmed that if he should be arrested again he

, ,
would be thr ow n into the t ower and kept on bread

1
and water until he retrac ted B laurock was to .
be released after taking an o ath Mantz s sen tence .

’
was c o nfirmed F ebruary 25 but neither he nor ,
B laurock seem to have been released .
B ut peace was no t resto red The o pp o siti o n which .
the radicals enc o untered only infla med their zeal .
S uddenly a cro wd of men as if prepared f or a j o ur ,
ney made their appearance in Zurich Hal ting in

,
.
the market place they preached the necessi ty o f con

—
,
version O f a new life of h oli ness and br o therly l o ve

,
The old dragon and his heads meaning Zwingl i and ,
his associates they addressed in the language of pro

,
p h ec
y fo retelling the destruction of the c itv if the
,
people still refused to listen to the voice o f the L o rd .
Wo w e to Zurich they cried ; and the wail that

,
”
,
went up fro m the market place was echo ed through -
all the streets of the city .
S hortly after there was a great gathering of the

A nabaptists in Z o llikon B laurock preached m o rn .
1
F us sli n B ey tr age,
,
ii . s . 3 43 E
,
gli ,Acten a mmlu ng
s
,
289 . Nr . 46 6 .
1 04 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
ing aftern oon and then baptized Here B lau

an d ,
.
r o ck met Henry Aberli in Jacob H e ttinger s house ’

.
“ ” “
B ro ther Henry said B laurock blessed be God , ,
that we all believe in Jesus Christ and in that faith ,
abide B rother Henry are you convinced that th e

.
,
L ord Jesus Christ suff ered f or us and that what is ,
“ ”
w ritten concerning him is true ? He answered Y es ,
and B laurock sprink led him with a handful of water ,
say i ng I baptize thee etc

, ,
. 1
Meanwhile Grebel had made h is way to S chaff

hausen There with the banished Br Odli and R eub
.
,
lin we find him in frie n dly intercourse with D r S e

,
.
bastian Hofmeister It was at this time s o far as .

,
W e can ascertain that the customary mode of bap ,
tis m was first called in question by the S wiss A na
baptists K essler says . W olfgang Ulimann 2

,
o n the j ourney to S chafl hau s en m e t Conrad Grebe l , ,
w ho instructed him so highly in the knowle dge of
A nabaptism that he w o uld no t be sprinkled out of

a dish but was drawn under and covered over with
,
1
E gli ,
Di e Z ilri cher Wieder tauf er ,
s . 2 7 , A cten sa mmlung, s . 29 7 ,
Nr . 6 74 .
2 Sa bba ta ,
i . s . 26 6 .
3
The a pr o min ent man in S t Gall he had withdrawn
son of .
,
fr o m the m ona t ery in Ch u r and r et urn e d to hi hom e wh er e b e

s ,
s ,
c omm enc ed t l earn a trad e Fo awhil e he w as of gr eat ass i t

o . r s
an c e to K es l er th evan g elical pa to r in S t Gall bu t by the in

s ,
e s .
,
finen c e of Hoch ii tiner he w as wo n t o the Anabapti s t ran k s

r .
threatening those who should thenceforward allow ,
1
themselves to be baptized with banishment O ff i ,
.
cers were sent to Zollikon to publish the mandate and ,
it was rigorously enfo rced O f those who were ar .
rested some renounced anabaptism and returned to ,
their homes O thers were steadfast Ruo ts ch Hot

. .
tinger said W hat Go d had placed in his h ear t no

,
”
man could take away Gabriel Giger of S t Gall . .
,
whom Grebel a little while befo re had baptized in

, ,
Mantz s h ouse in Zurich said What God commanded

’
, ,
”
he would do A mo ng those w ho refused to submit
.
were Jac ob Hottinger Mantz and B laurock A let , ,

.
ter has been preserved written by o ne of the pris ,
o ners in the name of his associates and addressed to ,
”
the brethren This im prisonment it said was a
.
, ,
trial by God whether they w o uld remain steadfast i n

him The brethren at home sh o uld also remain fir m
.
and fear neither tyranny nor the sword since Chris t ,
w i th his truth was with them W hen they came to .
gether they should implore God to send them one who

would teach and baptize In addressing the letter .
,
the writer added the request that his wife would send
“
him a copy of the hymn Christ is arisen On .
“
every side the prayer was heard 0 God give u s , ,
1
Egli ,
Acten smmmlung ,
s . 29 5 , Nr . 6 63 .
2
Egli ,
D ie Z itr icher Wi eder tauf er ,
s . 29 Actensa mmlung
, ,
300 ,
Nr . 6 74 .
fearless prophets who will faithfully preach thine

,
everlasting word without admixture of human -
”
reas o n .
March 2 0 Grebel Mantz B laurock and some

, , , ,
others were summoned before the three Zurich pas

,
tors Zwingli Myconi us and L eo Jud and six mem

, , ,
bers of the Council and a sec o nd discussi o n was held

, ,
t h ough with no better results than at the first A s .
separatists they were exhorted to renounce their

views and the threat was added that these views
,
would no l o nger be tolerated S ome agreed to recant . .
A few who lived o utside of the Canton were banished .
The rest fourteen men and seven w o men were thrown

, ,
into prison and kept o n bread and water O n

,
.
W ednesday A pril 5 1 525 they escaped

, ,
1
Two , .
were recaptured The res t made their way to places

.
where the A nabaptists were strong in nu mbers es ,
ec ially to Gossau and Gr ii n ingen It was a c om

p .
mon report as tidings of their escape spread thr o ugh

,
the land that an angel had given them deliverance

, .
A nd so the A nabaptists were scattered abroad .
A s they went they carried with them the gospel

which they had received They believed with G rebel .
,
that the P apacy could best be assailed by Anabap

t is m. A ccordingly in l o nely cottages in the valleys
,
1
E gli ,
Actensa mmlu ng 3 07 Nr 6 9 1
, ,
. .
and along the m o untain slopes the people were quietly

,
summoned t ogether The B ible was read its divine

.
,
lessons were earnestly and tenderly unfolded and sin,
ners were urged to flee from the w rath to come It was .
a new gospel to thousands and multitudes with tears

,
of repentance asked the privilege of c o nfessing their

faith in Christ retiri ng to some mountain stream to
,
“
exclaim wi th th e E unuch S ee here is water ; what
, ,
d oth h inder me to be baptized ? The solemn ordi

n ance was administered and comi ng fort h from the
,
water both the convert and the bearer of th e glad

”
ti di ngs went on th eir way r eJ0 1cing .
gli had wo n his greatest victories A nd here it was

.
that the A nabaptists now st o od N ot in vain had

.
they received t h eir training in t h e schoo l of the sturdy

R eformer .
They had another advantage in the fact in that going ,
from ho u se to house from village to village many of

, ,
those whom they addressed had already by their own

study of the S cripture become convinced that infant
baptism had no warrant in the sacred word and they
h ad only to appeal to the consciences o f such hearers
to win the m to the newly erected standard .
Moreover i t was no w the time of the P easant W ar

,
.
The A nabaptists of S witzerland declined it is true , ,
t o u nite their fo rtu nes with this m o vement for politi
cal refor m The grievances of the common peo ple

.
they acknowledged but they would not aid in the

,
endeavo r to right them by the sword Their V iew .
of the independence o f the churches ho wever and of , ,
the limits of the powers of the magistrates as well as ,
the general distress of the people under the tyranny

of their Oppressors prepared the way in many hearts
,
f o r the words of those who preached a gospel of hope

f o r the c hildren o f t o il and want .
But most of all the religious Spirit of the Anabap

t is ts aided them in the spread of the d o ctrines which
they preached I n t heir o wn quaint lang uage they

.
had left E gypt with its lusts and had set their faces
,
RAP I D SPREAD or ANABAP TI S M . 1 11
toward the Canaan of their h opes They made much .
of their Chris tian experience Then too many of .

, ,
them had sacri ficed friends and p o ssessions f o r the

K ingdo m of G o d s sake counting it a privilege that
’
they were permitted not only to believe o n Christ

, ,
but also to su ff er in his behalf Their only hire was .
s o uls and they knew of no greater joy than tha t which

they had in seeing others especially the weary and ,
heavy laden made the partakers o f like precio us

,
faith and to this end they labored wi th an interest

tha t never flagged .
The influence of the A nabaptist exiles was soon

discoverable in many places I n S chaffhausen on .
,
the n o rthern b o rder of the S wiss C o nfederatio n ,
whither Grebel Br odli and Reublin had made their

, ,
way early in 1 52 5 no t much was acc o mplished It

,
.
was pro p o sed that a public discussion should be held

in which the views of the A nabaptists and their op
o ne n ts should be presented but on account of the
p
influence of Z wingli and the Z urich C o uncil as i t is
, ,
supposed the discussion was not held

, .
But at Waldshut which was o n the Opposite bank

,
o f the R hine lower down and within the j urisdicti o n

, ,
o f A ustria the situati o n was more hopeful for the

,
A nabaptist cause Hubmeier as we have already

.
,
seen had declared his agree ment with the radicals

,
in t he matter of infant baptism In the letter to .

O ecolampadius , dated January 1 6 1 57 5 to which , ,
we h ave already referred he explained his p o sition , ,
and also gave the foll o wing account o f his practice at

“
W aldshut Instead of baptism he said I call
.
, ,
the members of the church t o gether and when th e ,
child is brought in I expound in the German

language the passage in Matthe w 19 Then were ,
‘
’
there brought unto him little children etc A fter , .
ward w hen t he chi ld has bee n named the c ongrega

, ,
tion kneeling pray f o r the little one commending it

, , ,
to Christ and imploring his grace upon it If ho w

,
.
,
ever the parents are weak and desire that t h e child

, ,
be baptized I baptize it bec o ming weak to the weak

, , ,
until they shall be better instr ucted A t the same .
time I do not yield my o wn vie ws i n the smallest

”1
point .
Thither t h erefore with a heart full of hope R eub

, ,
lin came early in A pril 152 5 Hu bm eier with ,

.
,
others listened to his wo rds but did not at once take

, ,
a place at Reublin s side S o me o f the citizens ’

.
,
however eagerly accepted the new d o ctrines and were

, ,
baptized Hubmeier s o on fo llowed being baptized

.
,
with one hundred and ten others at E aster by R eub ,
lin . The accession of such a man to the A na

2
baptist ranks was an important event Hubmeier .
Z wingli Wer ke , ,
ii ,
s . 3 39 .
2
Fii ssl in Bey tr dge
,
i ,
s . 21 7 .
1 14 TH E AN ABAP T I S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
A ntichrist rules among the pe ople Pray f or .
“ ”
them h e asks tha t they may be enlightened
, , .
A nd he closes with these words D ear brethren ,
stand fast in faith love and hOpe L et no man ter

, ,
.
r if
y you If
. any man preaches to you another gos
pel than I have preached let him be accursed If it ,

.
is possible send a br o ther to me who can tell me

, ,
ho w it stands with you for I greatly desire to kno w

,
.
Greet one another with a kiss o f peace ; withdra w

fro m every brother who walks disorderly and not
, ,
as he and yo u have been instructed B eware of .
false p rop h ets who p reach f o r hire S hun the m

,
.
,
exhor t one another and abide in the doctrine which

,
you have received The peace of God be with you all

. .
T wo weeks later Br odli writes again to the bre th

“
ren in Zollikon My heart is tro ubled o n your
account and I am pained at the rep o r t that some of
,
you have fallen away from the holy faith and the ,
word of God which was made kno wn unto you and

, ,
in accordance with which yo u were baptized ; also

that others who were impriso ned have denied the
, ,
Sign of baptism and have accepted that which

,
clearly as you know is contrary to t h e w o rd of God

, ,
.
Christ shows in th e gospel what a curse are temporal

possessions if they prove a h indrance I am
told t hat some a mong yo u have shun ned the cross
and concealed yo u rselves which astonished me ,
.
RAP I D SPREA D o r ANABAP TI S M . 1 15
W illia m [Reublin] has been wi th me and depart ed , ,
and where he no w is I do not kn o w He is tro ubled .
in Christ in your behalf as I am B e sure and send ,

.
me the B ible S tand fast in the faith L et no man

. .
terrify you ; so will God who is strong strengthen ,
you O h how strong I hear was my brother

.
, , ,
Mantz and Geo rge IBlaur o ck] but especially Mantz

, ,
.
God be praised Conrad Grebel is cast down but in .

,
C hrist W illiam has been with me recently I ex

. .
pe ot you to abide in the word and faith which you

1 ”
have received .
The victo ry in Hallau was soon complete the en ,
tire ch urch re ceiving baptism at the hands of Br odli

’
and Reubli n The officials in the place had previ

.
o usl
y sent to Z ollikon to inquire in reference t o the
stand ing o f Brodli The messengers reported that .
Br odli had c o nd ucted hi mself there in a manner be

co ming his o fli ce When it was kn o wn in Z urich .
that Bro dli was preaching in Hallau the Bur go mas ,
ter and C o unci l sent a com municatio n to the B urgo

m aster and Council o f S chaf fhause n in which they
utte red a no te of warning The letter was dated .
2
A pril 4 152 5 It see ms however to have had no

,
.
, ,
immediate infl uence .

3
l F ussl in B ey trage
, ,
i , s. 2 0 1— 2 2 7 . Egli Actensa mmlu ng 3 02 ,
, ,
3 03 , Nr . 6 74 .
2
C o rn eli u s Geschichte des ll/[ ii nsteris c hen Auf
,
r ii 2 1 9 ru h s , ,
s . .
3 We h ear no m o r e of Br odli, and o nly k n o w tha t he di ed a

In S t Gall the success of the new m ovement was

.
,
equally marked and even more important Much .
preparatory work had been done in preceding years ,
beginning at the close of 1 52 3 when L aurence Hoch ,
r ii tiner was banished from Zurich on account of his
participation in the destr u ction of the great cross

which sto od before the u pper ga te o f the city I n . _
returning to his native place h e brought with h im the

radical V iews which he ha d adopted at Zurich and ,
soon gat h ered around h im a party which became ,
stronger and stronger during the following year .
K essler the pastor of the churc h was at that time

, , ,
by request exp o unding the E pistle to the R o mans

, .
W hen h e reached the sixth chapter and was c onsid ,
ering the significance of the ordinance of baptism ,
martyr s d ea th s om ew her e in 152 8 See Co n elius Geschi c hte des

’
. r ,
M ln t i chen Auf u h ii 59 Reubl in lat er w as in S tra s b u rg

u s er s r r s, ,
.
, . .
Then he w ent int o S wabia w her e he w as activ e in o rgani in g ,

z
s ma l l Bapti s t ch u rches He seem s to hav e lab o r ed a S h o rt tim e

.
in H orb Reu tlin gen and E sl ing en Then w e find him in Ulm
, ,
s .
,
and s till lat e r in Au g b ur g Aft erward s he s eem s to hav e g o n e

s .
int o Moravia He lab o r ed awhil e at Aus t erlit Jan u ary 8

. z .
,
15 3 1 he fo und e d a n ew church at Auspit z in whic h an att empt

, ,
w as mad e to s eparat e the p u r e fr o m the imp u r e el e m ent and s,
which b ecam e on e o f the m ost pr o min ent of the Mo ravian

church es But at l en gth Reublin him s elf w as ex c o mmu ni c a ted
.
as a fal e br o th er I n C o rn eli u Gesehiehte des Miinsteri schen

s . s,
Auf u hr s ii s 253 259 ther e is a l ett r writt en by Reublin to Pil

r , ,
.
-
,
e
gram Marb eck dat ed Auspit z Jan uary 2 6 153 1

, , , .
118 TH E AN ABAP TI S TS I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
A nabaptist C h urc h n u mbered eight hundred mem

bers .
P rominent among those who aided in this wo rk was

Hippolytus Eberli familiarly known as P olt a man , ,
of l o wly birth but well instructed in the S criptures

, ,
and with p o pular gifts as a Speaker which made his ,
labors very eff ective A bo y : all he was a man of .

,
‘
earnest piety and of deep religious experience
,
.
He left S t Gall a week after E aster and returned to

.
,
his home in S chwytz where he was soon arrested and

thrown into prison May 2 9 with a priest who also .
,
had renounced R omanism he was burned as an A na ,
2
baptist heretic B oth says B ullinger were stead
.
, ,
fast unto the end and died calling upon the name of
,
the L ord Jesus .
A mong those who were in S t Gall in those event .
ful days was the famous John D enk whose name is ,
a c o nspicu o us one in the histo ry of the A nabaptists

of S o uthern Germany He was not at that time .
o penly an A nabaptist but it is no t impossible that he ,
3
was in secret communication with them His great .
talents were rec ognized by V adian then the B urgo ,
master of S t Gall B ut his stay in S t Gall was

. . .
brief f or in the summer or autumn o f that year we

,
1
Wal s er ,
App enz eller C hr oni k ,
s . 4 39 .
2
Ref or ma ti on sgesehi c hte ,
i ,
s . 2 89 .
3
S tu di en a nd K r itiken 1 851 , ,
s. 13 7 .
RAP I D SPREAD OF ANABAP TI S M . 1 19
find him in A ugsburg actively e mpl oyed in advancing

,
the A nabaptist cause there .
A ttracted by the new m o vement cr o w ds from Ap ,
en z ell a nd o ther places in the country around fl o cked

p ,
t o S t Gall . Many of these strangers some say as

.
—
I
many as 1500 and one writer 2 2 00 fr o m A ppen
, ,
zell became converts to the new faith and return

—
ing to their h omes carried with the m the glad tidings

they had received S o me were men in humble life
.
,
but freely they had received and freely they would

give and with apostolic zeal they made their way to
the villages and scattered hamlets o f secluded mo un
tain val leys and t old what great things the L ord had
,
done f or their s o uls O thers had served as p arish

.
priests or evangelical pastors and no w like P aul of

, , ,
old they preached the faith they o nce sought to de

,
str oy In A ppenzell the A nabaptists had three places

.
,
where meetings were hel d The largest was at Teufen .

,
with a second at Her r is au and the third at B runnen , .
In all o f these places the services were under the Open

sky while the c o nverts were bap tized in the neigh
,
boring bro oks and streams In Teufen the A na .

,
baptists became so numer o us that the past o r of the

Zwinglian church Jacob S chur tanner was dep osed
, , ,
and Hans K rusi an A nabaptist teacher fr o m S t

, .
George was elec ted pasto r in his place N ot l ong

, .
1
Wa l s er ,
Appenz eller C hr o ni lz ,
s . 438 .
1 20 T HE ANAB AP T IS T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
after K rusi appeared in S t George There he was . .
arrested then taken to L ucerne where he was tried

, ,
1
and burned at the stake .
1 Wal s er ,
Appenzeller C hr o ni k s . 4 40 . Z ellw eg er , Geschi chte d es
Appenzellischen V o lkes ,
iii ,
s . 18 1.
the disc u ssions on th is subj ect I t is now seen ,
“
he sai d that the pouring of water cannot wash
,
away sins as h as h itherto been maintained without

,
”
S cripture warrant B ut he defended in f ant bap
.
~
tis m as taking the place of circumcision and de ,
nounced A nabaptism as unscriptural charging t h ose ,
w h o practiced it as crucifyi ng C hrist afresh .
A Oopy of this w o rk soon fell into the hands of

Hubmeier and h e at once prepared a reply w h ich
, ,
appeare d u nder date of July 6 I t was entitled .

,
Con c er n ing the C hr is ti a n f B aptism o B eli ever s,

and bore the motto which Hubmeier ha d adopted ,
Truth is i mmortal ”
In this work Hubmeier main
.
t ained t h at b a
ptism presupposed faith I nfant bap .
t ism therefore h ad no place in th e gospel system

, ,
.
To the q u estion w h ether it is forbidden in the wor d

“
of God to baptize infants he replied Y es for the
, , ,
command is to baptize those who believe To bap .
tiz e those who do not believe therefore is forbidden , ,

.
F or example Christ commanded his apostles to preach

,
the gospel I n so doing t h e doctrines of men were

.
forbidden This reply was wi d ely circulated and

.
,
attr ac ted much attention Berthol d Haller evange

.
,
p
lical past or in B erne wrote that by it many were

, ,
led to embrace A nabaptis t views .
A tr act of no less interest Hubmeier finis h ed July ,
1 1 52 5 and therefo re o nly a few days before the

, , ,
EFFOR T S To S T AY IT S PR OG RESS . 12 3
appearance of his tract ,

Con cern ing the Chr is ti a n
B ap tis m f o B eli ever s
was entitled The S u.m It
of a P erf ect Chr is ti a n L if e and was addressed to ,
Hubmeier s dear brethren and sisters in the

“ ’ ”
,
churches in R egensburg I ngolstadt and F riedberg , ,

.
Hubmeier begins with a c onfession that he h as

sinned against God not o nly in life but in preaching
, ,
false doctrines especially i n what he had taught con

,
cerning infant baptism vigils festivals purgato r y , , , ,
the mass indulge nces pilgrimages etc W ith P aul

, , ,
.
,
however he says he did it ignorantly having been

, ,
deceived by the teachings of the Church of R ome .
Fo r this he had besought and as he believed received , ,
pardon fr o m God Having made this confession.

,
Hubmeier exhorts his brethren to ascertain whether

the teaching of their preachers is in acc ordance
’
with God s teaching It is not enough he says that.
these preachers offer to pledge their souls for you ,
“
f or Christ h as told uS that if the blind lead t he
"
blind both Shall fall into the ditch
,
.
A fter this intro d uction Hubmeier proceed s to
1 Ain Sum ain s gantz en C hr istenlichen l eb en s Durc h Bal dasar en ,
Fry dber ger P r edica nt , y e tz zu Wal dshu tt v erz eichn et an die dr ey ,
K irch e Regés pu r g I n gol dst at, ,

nu Fr idber g, se
y n en li eb en h err e n
bri ed ern u nd s chw es t ern in
, go t d em he rr en . S ond erlich ain
b eri c ht den k ind er Tou if Un d das Nachttmal bela ngent .
MDXXV .
the development of his theme In order to a .
Christian life he says th ere m u st be a change in

, ,
the natural man who is by nature sinful and with

, ,
no remedy in himself by which the wounds that S l n
has made can be healed The S amaritan that is .

,
Christ must come w h o brings with him healing

, ,
balms namely oil and wine and po urs them into the
, ,
Sinner s wounds saying B elieve the gospel w h ich

’
, , ,
teaches that I am the physician who has come into

the world to make sinners whole I am the one In .
t er ces s or making rec o nciliation an d peace with God

,
our F ather W hosoever believeth in me hath ever

.
”
lasting life and Shall not come into condemnatio n
,
.
W ith such comforting words the sinner is brough t

to himself and is led to accept Christ as h is S aviour
,
and to enter upon the new life .
W hen a man by faith has received this new life

he con f esses it before the ch urc h of w h ich h e is
m ade a member accor di ng to the rule of Christ ; that
is he shows to the ch urch that instructed in th e
, ,
S criptures he h as given himself to C h ri st to live

,
henceforth accor d ing to h is will and teaching He .
is th e n baptized making in baptism public confession

,
o f his faith namely t h at h e h as a graci o us and merci

, ,
ful God and F ather in heaven through Jesus Christ , ,
and that henceforth he is under obligations to lead a

~
new life I n baptism als o he testifies that Sh ould

.
, ,
in the upper chamber he took bread and said

“
Take eat ; this is my body which is bro ken for
, ,
you this do in remembrance of me I n like man .
ner also he took th e cup and gave to his disciples

, ,
saying This is my blood which is shed f or you for

,
"
the remission of sins this do in remembrance of me .
P lainly the bread is not the body of Christ but a ,
memorial of the death of Christ L ikewise the wine .
is not the blood of Chris t but a memorial of the,
great truth that h is blood was poured out on the

cross for the remission of sins W e are not to for
, .
get that Christ died for us Thus P aul writes to the

,
.
Corinthians F or as Often as ye eat this bread

[n o tice he says bread and i t is bread,] and drink this ,
cup [notice it is wine that is drunk ] ye do shew the ,
’
L ord s death till he come He is not there then
’
.
, ,
bu t he will c o me at the j udgment in great maj esty ,
and gl o ry visibly as the lightning cometh out of the

, ,
”
E ast and S hineth even u nto the W est .
In conclusion Hubmeier exhorts h is dear friends

,
”
and brethren to take to their h earts what he h as
s aid and to act in accorda nce wit h the clear S imple
, ,
word of Christ by which we must be saved Christ

,
.
says W hosoever Shall confess me before men him

, ,
will I confess also before my F ather which is in h ea

v en . B ut whosoever Shall deny me before men him ,
will I also deny before my F ath er w h ich is in

EFFORT S To S T AY IT S PRO G RESS . 12 7
heaven F ear not them which kill the b o dy but

.
,
are no t able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him

"
which is able to destroy b o th s o ul and body in hell .
He that h ath ear s to hear let him hear the condem ,
na tion of God up o n tho se who deny his word .
Meanwhile at S t Gall V adian had b ecome arous

,
.
,
ed to the necessity of active me as ures against the

A nabaptists if the Z winglian Church in that place was
,
t o be preserved Infant baptis m was an abuse (Mis

.
br a u ch) he was willing to ad mit ; but the work of

refo rm sh o uld proceed gradually and in an orderly ,
1
manner Grebel earnestly e ntreated him neither to
.
give to other places an example of persecution nor to ,
stain his hands with innocent blo o d B ut V adia n .
declined to depart from the course he had marked

out and June 5 he laid befo re the Council his
, ,
obj ection to the A nabaptist movement 2

The A na .
baptists replied on the following day .
S oon after a c opy of Zwingli s new tract V om

’
, ,
Touf w as received by one of the evangelical pastors

,
1 C o rn e li us Ges chi c hte d es

,
Mii n ster is chen Auf r u hr s ii 8 3 7 ,
. . .
K ess l er Sa bba ta 27 4 s tat es V adia n s o bj e c ti o n as fo ll o w s

’
z s .
, , ,
Der w ider to u fl er rd nu n g u nd br u ch e pr edig en w er e an u n

o z
o de nl i he f
r fl el wid r d e ap o te l br u ch u nd l e un d n u al l e n
c r re e r s r,
Ch i te nli he n be u tf
r s c u aig n r wal f u gen o mm n
r , Bu t the
ss e r e .
”
ap os tl e s cu t o m and d o c trin e w er e the esp e cial claim o f t he

’
s
Anabapti t and w e can w ell infer what th e ir r eply m u t hav e

s s, s
b ee n .
in S t Gall who announced in a sermon that in the

.
,
evening he w o uld read it and give the A nabaptists ,
an Opp o rtunity to Show in what it did not agree with

the S criptures In the eveni ng the burgo master
.
, ,
councill o rs and others assembled in the S t L awrence

,
.
Church and the reading of the tract was co mmenced

, .
S oon W olfgang U limann arose and with a l o ud voice

cried out : I pity the poor pe ople here present mis ,
led by such a book S top reading Give us God s . .

’
’
not Zwi ngli s words The burgo master ordered that
,
.
the reading should proceed saying that the Anabap ,
t is ts might afterward present their obj ections to
Zwingli s position A n A nabaptist replied that they

’
.
were expecting a letter from Grebel ; when that ar

rived they would give their answer A t your .
” ”
meetings said the burgomaster you are ready
, ,
enough to speak wi thout Grebel ; speak here also .
It w as then said that Gr ebel s letter had already be en ’
received and that it was a ddressed to the bur gomas

,
ter and Council W e will read it said the S peaker

.
,
and listen to what C onrad Grebel has to say against

Zwingli . B ut as the letter was addressed to the
burgo master the latter demanded that it should be
,
placed in his hands Much discussion foll o wed .

,
and at length the A n a baptists with drew saying , ,
” 1
Y ou h a ve Zwi ngli s we have God s wor d
’ ’
.
,
K essl er , S a bba ta ,
s . 275 .
at Du rnten Hinwyl E gg Gossau and Hombrechti

, , , ,
kon villages in this district were prominent in this

, ,
u prising We are all free th ey said one as the

.
,
"
,
other and are the slaves of no man A ll have one

,
.
”
master that is God ,
Grebel seems not to have .
been in any way connected with these eff orts to se

c u re political and social reform ; b u t t h e condition o f
things which was the result of this movement h e
, ,
recognized as favorable for h is own purposes and ,
accordingly seized the opportunity thus presented .
I t is inferre d that at this time Grebel and his com

panion visited W interth ur 1
Hinwyl became an .
important A nabaptist centre Here Grebel h ad a .
discussion wi th the pastor of the E vangelical Church .
W h en the latter appealed to the mandate of the

Council enj oining infan t baptism Grebel exclaimed , ,
A re yo u a man Y ou should listen neither to the

Council nor any h uma n being but do that w h ich ,
2 "
God commands .
A ugust 2 Marx B osshart who h a d been arrested

, ,
f o r holding public preaching services and d is turbing

the peace was fined by the Council one mark and
, ,
was put u nder bonds to the amount of one h u ndred

pounds to abstain from suc h acts in the fu ture .
1 Egli ,
Actensammlu ng 3 6 3 , ,
Nr . 768 .
Egli ,
Di e Z iiri cher Wi eder tauf er , s . 42 : Actensamm lu ng 3 7 9 , ,
Nr . 79 7 .
EFFOR T S To S T AY IT S PRO G RESS . 13 1
A bout the same time A rb o gast F insterbach Hans

, ,
Mii ller and Gebhart S trasser all bel o nging in O ber ,
winterthur fell under suspici o n as A nabaptists on

,
account of a visit to Zollikon F inste rbach who was .

,
Bos shar t s br o ther in law was compelled to give

’
- -
,
bail to the amo unt of one hundred pounds Then .
all three having paid the costs of their examination ,
1
were released .
The great activity of the A nabaptists at this time

comes befo re us in many notes taken at the trial of
those who had been arrested f or dis obeying the
mandate of the Zurich Council Ge o rge S chad con" .
fesses that on the preceding S unday he had baptized

fo rty persons from Zollikon H ongg and K ii ss nacht , ,
J ohn B richter had baptized more than thirty ; and

2
others a less number .
B ut the work of suppression went on and the pri ,
sons continued to b ear witness to the suff erings of those

who fr o m time to time fell into th e han ds of the
officers of the Council A glimpse of some of t h ese
.
we find in the records whi ch the Zurich archi ves pre

serve. S ome of these prisoners were stranger s in
the Canton S eptember 20 George B erger the
.
, ,
bailiff of th e Gr ii ningen district sent to t h e Council ,
Egli Actensa mm lu ng, 3 7 2 ,

, Nr 7 9 2. .
2 E gli ,
A cten samm lung 3 7 4- ,
6 Nr 7 9 5
,
. .
13 2 TH E ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
an account of U lrich Teck and Jacob Gross Anabap ,
tis ts fr o m W aldshut wh o m he had arrested

,
He .
h ad asked the m why t h ey ventured to baptize w ith

in the limits of the Canton c o ntrary to the mandate
,
of the C o uncil They replied that it was not against

.
God ; and with ma ny and apt words th ey presented

their case He had t old them also that inquiries in
.
, ,
reference to them had been made I n W aldshut and ,
he asked them why they were sent into exile They .
said that it was because they had stood t o gether

against the enemy according to the w ill of God
, .
They were ready to work o n fortifications to pay ,
fines and taxes but not to bear arms

,
.
A week later F elix Aberli was t aken from the Néw

Tower and thrown into the W ellenberg to be kept
on bread and water and denied the v isits of his
friends S ubsequently he was relieved by the in
.
2
fl uenc e o f some ci t izens of B erne .
Meanwhile F elix Mantz was in Ch ur preachi n g

the ne w d o ctrines B ut the hand o f the civil power
.
was s o on laid upon him for in July h e was arrested

there and surrendered to the Zur ich Council In
,
.
a letter to the Zurich Council concerni ng Mantz the ,
C o uncil at Chur sa id : W e have had among us f or

a long time one who calls himself F elix Mantz The .
1
Egli Actensammlu ng, 39 1 , 2 ,
, Nr . .
8 24 .
9
Egli , Actensammlu ng 3 9 2
, ,
Nr . 82 7 .
13 4 TH E A NABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
the A nabaptists against infant baptism A t first he .

,
admitted their force and he even we nt so far as to ,
express the wish that infant baptism might be set

aside 1
Grad ually the principles of the Anabap
t is ts to ok roo t in B asel a nd the surrounding co u ntry .
E specially was the infl uence of Hubmeier felt C eco .
lampadius now saw that he h ad gone too far and u n ,
der the influence of Z wingli he soon publicly arrayed

h imself against the A nabaptists I t was thought .
best that there should be a discussion in referenc e

to infant baptism and such a discussion was held in
,
O ecolampadius house some time during the mon th

’
of Au gust .
2
3
A repor t of th is discussion prepared by C eco ,
la mpadius and printed at B asel bears the date of S ep ,
4
tember 1 152 5 Herzog says th at th e names o f the
,
.
A nabaptists who participated in the discussion are

not g iven This is true of O ecolampadi us report
.
’
B ut a report has also been preserved whic h was pre

pared by Hubmeier and printed at Nicolsbur g in
1
H er zog Das
,
L eben J O ekola mpa ds
. 1 s 50 5 .
‘
3
Au gus t 8 15 25 , ,
wr o t e to Bert hold H all er
O ec o l ampadius ,
bu t ma d e n o r efer enc e t o the di c u i o n O ec olampadius r ep o r t

’
s ss .
,
as is s aid ab o v e b e ar s dat e o f S ept emb er 1 8 2 5

, , .
Ein gespr ech etli cher p r edi ca n ten eu Ba sel, geha lten mi tt etli ch
en bekener n d es Wider toufis .
4
Da s L eben J Oeko lampa ds
. . i ,
s . 30 7 .
EFFOR T S T O S T AY I T S PRO G RESS . 135
152 7 , in which Hubmeier appears as the representa

t ive of the A n abaptists It is evident from the .
verbal uniformity of these two rep orts in part that

Hubmeier had the report of his o pponent before him
as he wrote .
The A nabaptists says O ecolampadius opened the , ,
discussi o n giving Go d thanks that s u ch a meeting

,
had been arranged They had responded to the call .
in brotherly love and it was their prayer that the

,
Holy S pirit might be present O ecolampadius i n .

,
entering u pon the discussion claimed that the doc ,

~
trinal views of the A nabaptists were new Hub .
meier answered that this was an old cry It was .
o bj ected t o the teachings of C hrist that they were

’
new The A thenians spoke of P a u l s doctrine as
.
new The imp o rtant p o int in reference to these

.
v iews is are they right ?

,
If they are why are we ,
assailed ? I f they are not right let it be shown from ,
”
the S crip tures and then punish u s,
.
R eferring to infant baptism O ecolampadius said , ,
I know from th e h istorians that infant baptism has ,
never bee n forbidden fro m t h e time of the apostles

”
to the present day He then cited the church F athers
.
—
A ugustine Cyprian O rigen to Show that infant
, ,
V on dem khi nd er ta ufi E co la mp a diu s Thomas Augus tin ia n er

'
l .
L eesma is ter , H . Ja c ob 1m melen ,

H . V u o lfl g . Weissen burger ,
Ba lth .
Hu bmor Fr idberg Nicg lspurg 152 7

' ’
von . .
baptism was practiced in early times Hubmeier .
reminded O ecolampadius that the word of Go d is the

” “
rule in such a matter E ither he said .
y ou , ,
must S how clearly from the Scriptures that infant

baptis m is of God s planting or it must be rooted
’
”
up. I t was also claimed that as the apostles Spoke
of the baptism of w h ole h ouseh olds these mu st pro ,
bably have contained infants ; and that baptism takes

the place of circumcision There was also the usual .
“
reference to the pass age S uf fer the little children
,
to c o me u nto me and forbid them not

,
A s O c co .
lampadius presented the di ff erent points assisted at ,
ti mes by his associates Jacob Imeli W olfgang W is

, ,
s enbur er and Thomas Ge er f alk

g y H ubm eier skill ,
fully replied pressing h is opponents for clear S crip

,
ture proofs A fter th e discussi o n the A nabaptists

.
claimed that the victory was with them and Her ,
1
zog says F rom what h as come down to us con
cerni ng this discussion the claim is not a matter of
,
surprise The only direct consequence of the wh ole

.
aff air was to confirm the A nabaptists in th eir posi

”
tion .
E arly in O ctober B laurock was in Hinwyl and he ,
presented h is claim as a messe nger of God to de

, ,
clare the word T h e baili f f of Gr ii ningen w h o h ap

.
,
1
Da s L eben J O ekolampa ds
.
,
i ,
S 3 12
. .
held in t he great Council Hall and with Open doors ; ,
but the crowd was so great that the assembly ad

o u rned to the Cathedral The discussion di
j w as
.
r ec ted to these points

1
1 The children of Chris
. .
’
tians are not less God s children than th o se of Jews .
2 B aptism takes the place of circumcisi o n 3 A na

. . .
baptis m has no warrant in the S criptures and those ,
who allo w themselves to be rebap tized crucify Chris t

afresh .
W hen Z wingli and his associates appe aled to the

covenan t which God made with A braham of which ,
circumcisi o n was the Sign and drew fro m it the infer

,
ence that God had made a like covenant with Chri s

tians of which baptism was the Si gn the A nabaptists
, ,
demanded the passage or passages in the New Tes ta

, ,
ment in which infant baptis m was as clearly com

manded as the circumcision of infants in the O ld .
Testament They granted that the covenant which

.
God made with A braham was continued in the N ew

D ispensation and was in this respect an eternal
,
covenant Christians are therefore the pe ople of

.
God yet before h is baptism no one enters into th is

,
covenant relation W hen Zwingli cited Mark 10 : 14

.
,
as a proof that Christ himself had said concerning

”
children O f such is the kingdo m of heaven the
.
,
Bullin ger , Ref orma tionsgeschichte 1 s 29 5 .

EFFOR T S TO S T AY I TS PRO G RESS . 1 39
“
A nabaptists called attention to the word such ,
and claimed that it meant such as have the childlike

S pirit
.
A s to the p o int that baptism takes the place of

circumcision the A nabaptists called attention to the
,
fact that circumcision was enj o ined upon one sex

only ; while baptis m was for both sexes W hen .
Zwingli said that circumcisi o n and baptism were

alike in this tha t both were outward signs of recep
,
tion into the family of God the A nabaptists granted

,
this reference to circumcision claiming however

, , ,
that this privilege was not conditi o ned first of all

up o n circumcision but upon A brahamic descent
,
.
W i th Christians such descent counted as nothing .
Their participation in the divine blessing was de

pendent up o n their faith in God of which baptism is
,
the Sign and confirmation I t is necessary therefore

.
,
th at o ne should have fait h and knowledge which are ,
wanting in infants I nasmuch then as am o ng the

.
, ,
Israelites one might with out faith and knowledge

bel o ng to the people o f the covenant among Chris ,
tians this was no t possible ; accordingly between the ,
two no parallel could be drawn .
In discussing the third point one party asked for

,
pro o f th at only adults are to be baptized and the ,
other that t h e ordinance of baptism is to be extended

to infants The A nabaptis ts appealed to the fac t
.
14 0 TH E ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
th at th e S criptu res insist upon instruction before

baptism To th is it was replied that i n Matt 2 8
. .
,
1
instruction was enj oined after baptism .
D uring t h e discussion Zwingli said that th e A na

baptist were separatists The A nabaptists replied .
that this name h ad not been given to them alone ;

and that they h a d as go o d a righ t to separate from
th e fellowship of Zwingli as h e h ad to with draw ,
from the fellowship of the P ope .
The discussion on th e third d ay seems to h ave

become general the common people taking part as
,
well as the leaders and at length the assembly broke

up in confusion B ot h par ties claime d the victory
. .
The A nabaptist leaders Grebel Mantz and B la u , , ,
rock with others were no w s u mmoned before the

, ,
Council and called upon to retract th eir errors B ut .
all appeals in t h is direction were in vain and they ,
were remanded to prison Grebel Mantz and .

, ,
2
B laurock were loaded with chains ; the others
were less severely dealt with O pposition t o the .
Council it was evident was no l o nger to be tolerated

, ,
.
N ovember 5 the day before the discussi o n opened

, ,
Zwingli wrote the preface to his reply to Hu bmeier s ’
tract Con cer ning the Chr is tia n B ap tism of B e

1 C o nc erning the di scuss i o n see S tarck , Gesc hi c hte der Ta uf
- e, S .
17 6 17 8
-
.
S tarck , Geschichte der Tauf e , S 17 9

. .
cent discussion Certain ly th ey were not inclined to

.
,
h eed the inj uncti o ns of the Council an d at Hin wyl ,
sh o wed their opposition to the Zwinglian pas tors ,
who at length called upon the Council f or instructions

1
as to the manner in whic h he Should act The .
Co uncil replied N ovember 18 i n a co mmunication ,
add ressed to the churches in the district ; and on the

same day Grebel Mantz and B laurock were for
,
2
, ,
mally sentenced to impris o nment in the N ew Tower ,
to be kept on bread and water and to be denied the ,
visits of their friends so l o ng as the Council saw fit .
Margaret Hottinger of Zollikon was sentenced to , ,
imprisonment in the W ellenberg while the Anabap ,
tist e who lived beyond the borders of the Canton ,
v iz : U lrich Teck of W aldsh u t Martin L ing of ,
3
S chafl hausen and Michael S attler of S taufen in
, ,
B reisgau were banished Throughout the district

,
.
an order was circulated th at the B aptists had had a

sufficient hearing and that further opposition to the
,
1 gli Act n ammlung 4 04 N 8 56

E ,
e s , ,
r . .
E gli Di e Z il i cher Wi d tduf

2
,
r S 48 e er er , . .
3 S attl er w as aft erward in S trasb u rg May 2 1 152 7 at Ro th en , , ,
b u rg on the N e ck ar ( Fusslin Begt ige ii S 3 7 4

,
hi t o ngu e
,
rc
’
.
,
. s
w as t o rn ou t hi b o dy w as lac erat e d with ed ho t t o n gs and t h n

,
s r ,
e
b u rn ed His wife w as dr o wn d in the N eck a ( F u slin Beg

. e r s ,
tr ige ii 5 S attl er s chara c ter w as su ch that the S tra sb ur g

'
’
c , ,
.
e v an gelical pa t o r aft er hi d e ath did not he itat e to call him

s s, s ,
s
a martyr of Chri st ( ROh ich R f orm ti n i n E l r i S ,

The e a o s a ss .
,
.
EFFOR T S To S T AY I Ts PRO G RESS . 14 3
magistracy would be regarded as unj ustifiable insist ,
ing als o on obedience to the Council and inviting ,
the A nabaptists to a S pecial assembly on Thursday ,
N ovember 2 1 for a formal recantation so that here

, ,
after the o bedient might no t su f f er with the disobe

1
dient B ut the inj unction was not generally
.
heeded The as sembly met and continued from

.
,
noon until midnight ; b u t of more than one hundred

2
A nabaptis ts who were present only thirteen recanted .
The Governor advised severer me asures and his ad ,
vice was adopted ; but in the discharging of the new

duties imposed upon them t h e o f ficers found them
selves greatly perplexed O ne of them said he knew .
not which way to turn .
N ovember 3 0 the Co u ncil of Zurich iss ued the f ol

,
se v enth hymn the Anabapti s t c oll ecti o n Auss Bundt

, , ,
is by S at
tl er and has the rin g of a martyr pirit
,
s
Do ch f o rcht eu ch nic ht v o r S o l che m mann

’
De nu d n l eib get Odten k an

’
r r e .
S o nd er f O cht m ehr d en tr u en Go ttr e ,
Der bey des u v erda m m en hat z .
a a s a
O C hri st e hil fl du
d ein em V ol ck
'
Welch dir in all er tr eu nachf lgt

s o .
Da s es d u rc h d ein en bitt ern To dt

s ,
E l OS et wird a u all er n oht

’
r ss .
Eg li ,
Acten sa mm lung 4 06 , ,
Nr . 86 4 .
F ii sslin , Begtr a ge, iii ,

20 7 . E gli ,
Ac ten sa mm lung 4 09 , ,
Nr .
144 T HE ANAB AP TI S T S I N SW ITZ E RL AND
1
lowing mandate to t h e inhabitants o f the Gru n
,
ingen district
Y e d oubtless know and have h ear d from many ,
pers o ns how that for a long time past certain men

, , , ,
w h o appear to be learned have vehemently arisen , ,
a nd without any support from the H o ly S criptures ,
h ave pretended and preached among Simple and pious

,
men (who are otherwise well instructed in the love

,
of God and of their neighbor and live in peace with ,
one another ) and without th e permission and con

,
sent of the church h ave proclai med that infant bap ,
tis m is not of God but has sprung from the devil , ,
and therefo re ought not to be practiced They h ave .
also invented a rebaptism and many eve n u nlearne d ,
in the Holy S criptures taken with th eir vain talk ,
and so far persuaded have received this rebaptism , ,
esteeming themselves better than other people .
W hence have arisen and grown up discord disobe ,
dienc e contention devour ings strifes against love

, , , ,
in places and among men who fo rmerly lived in

,
unanimity Therefore have we imprisoned and p u n

.
,
ished for their g o od s o me of the authors of A nabaptism

,
and their disciples and have twice at their desire o r

, , ,
dained conferences or discussions on infant baptism, ,

-
and rebaptism A nd notwithsta nding that they were

.
in all cases o verco me and some of them h ave been ,
Bulli ng e r Ref ,
o r ma
ti o ns
geschi chte 1 S 29 6 —29 8 .
14 6 TH E A NABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
Moreover in the same discussion it clearly ap

, ,
ea re d that the authors of A nabaptism by whom these

p ,
gathe rings and sects were first raised and for which ,
they strive were actuated in this s fl air by a bold and

,
shameless mind and not by a good Spirit inten ding

, ,
to gather around them a separate people and sect ,
contrary to God s command in conte mpt of the civil

’
magistrate to the planting of every kind of dis obe

,
dience and to the destructi o n of Christian love to

,
neighbors F or as we have already said they re

.
, ,
gard themselves as witho u t sin and better t h an their

fell o w Christia ns as their words actions and life
, , ,
clearly testify .
“
Therefore we ordain and it is our earnest pur
, ,
pose that hencefor t h all men women boys and girl s , , ,
abstain from A nabaptism and practice it no lo nger

, ,
but baptize the young children F or whoever S hall .
act c o ntrary to this order shall as often as he dis

, ,
o beys be punished by a fine of a Silver mark

,
and if
any shall prove disobedient we will deal wit h him ,
far ther and punis h him according to his deserts with

out further forgiveness L et each act accordingly
.
A nd all this we confirm by this writing which

bears our city seal and given on S t A ndrew s D ay
,
.
’
A nno D omini ,
CH AP T ER V II I .
FA T E OF SO M E O F T HE LEADERS .
I N the summer and autumn of 152 5 the storm was

gathering around W aldshut Zurich suppor tedWaldS .
hut in its Opposition to A ustrian rule so long as

, ,
Hubmeier and his people were in agreement with

Zwingli ; but when i t became apparent that dif
f er ences h ad arisen Zurich at once withdrew its s u p
,
port .
A clearer view of these difl er ences was h ad in a

trac t which Hubmeier finished N ovember 30 the ,
day on w h ich the Zurich C o uncil iss u ed its mandate

to the people in the Gr ii ningen district and which ,
had reference to Zwingli s recent work on B aptism ’

.
It is in the form of a dialogue between Zwingli and

Hubmeier in which th e utterances of Zwingli are
,
taken as Hubmeier affirms from Zwingli s publis h ed

, ,
’
writings F or reasons that will soon appear t h e

.
,
tract was not printed until the foll o wing year and ,
then at Nicols bur g in Moravia 1

.
1
Ein ge s p r ech Baltha s ar Hubmo rs v on Fridber g Do ct o r s , ,
a uf May s t er V l r ichs Zw ingle u s

'
zu Zii r ch Tau fl bii chl en von
d em K inder tau ff . Die War hay t is t u nt Od lich . Nicolspu r g ,

15 2 6 .
14 7
In this tract w ith good j udgment and dialec tic

,
skill Hubmeier meets t h e obj ectio ns w h ich Zwingli

,
and his friends were accustomed to bring against the

position of the S wiss A nabaptists The fo llowing .
passages illustrate the spirit an d ability manife s ted

by Hubmei er I n this dialog ue .
” “
B aptism h e says is the ordinance of C h rist
, ,
.
I t is no t enoug h that o ne believes in Jesus h e must ,
confess h im Openly He w h o confesses Christ before .
men C hris t will confess before his F ather T h e di

, .
vine order is first the preaching of the word secon d

, , ,
faith and th ird baptism ,

.
ZW I N G L I Those people w h o now s u ff er them

.
selves to be re baptized intend to establish a church

composed of sinless persons .
HUBME I E R Y ou do us inj ustice I f we say we

. .
h ave no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not

,
in us .
“
Z Y ou rej ect infant baptism in order that you
.
,
may set up A nabaptism .
H Y o u have no t prod u ced a single passage to

.
prove that infant baptism is baptism Y o u should .
l
remember w h at yo u said in opposition to F aber ,
namely th at all truth is clearly revealed in the wor d

,
of God I f now infant baptism is a tr u th Show u s

.
,
th e S cri p ture in w h ich it is found I f you do not .

,
1
At the Firs t Z urich Dis cussi o n .
the cr o ss will have the favor of God though unhap

tiz ed. W hen this excuse h owever is wanting the
, ,
w ord of Christ ho lds true that whosoever does no t

,
believe is condemned ; also those other words He ,

‘
’
wh o believeth and is baptized S hall be saved .
Z T h ose opposed to infant baptism say that bap

.
ti em is such a S ign that no one should receive it u ntil

he knows that he can live with out S in .
H A h my Zwingli say this to th ose who hold

.
, ,
such a view and do not condemn the innocent with

,
the guilty .
Z I will prove t h at we are all s inners

. .
H H o ld " There is no need of proof W e know

. .
t h is from th e F irst E pistle of John chapters 1 and ,
5 also fro m P salms 14 51 , ,

.
Z S ince no man arrives at perfection of faith upon

.
earth yo u m u s t afli r m that w h en a man begins to be

,
instructed h e is to be baptized in water .
H W e are c o ntent with this statement Y et by

. .
beginning to be instructe d is meant th at the man

recognizes his sinfulness and believes in th e fo rgive
ness of his Sins through Jesus C h rist .
“
Z We are ready to admit th at Jo h n first gave
’
instr uction and afterward baptized but no one can

, ,
deny that t h ose w h o were th u s instructe d also h ad

their u ntaught children baptized .
H O my Z wingli h ow can yo u say th is in op

.
,
FA T E OF SO M E OF T HE LEADERS . 15 1
position to the passage in Matthe w 3 which S hows ,
that those whom John baptized confessed their sins

Z B ut that passage says that all Judea and the
.
,
regi o n ab o ut Jordan and Jerusalem went out to h im

, ,
and were baptized by him in Jordan Here one may .
say that if the whole multitude went out we should ,
expect that there were child re n who went o ut als o .
“
H Might not one also say we Should expec t tha t
.
A nnas Caiaphas P ilate and Her o d went o u t and

, , ,
were baptized ? It matters not what we think or

expect W e must be governed by the S criptures
. .
Z The Opp o nents o f infant baptism if I under

.
,
s tand them ascribe to o much to water baptis m

,
-
.
H W e as cribe nothing whatever to water bap

.
-
ti em I t is an ordinance instituted by Christ and

.
,
by the apostles and received by believers I appeal

,
.
to the S criptures L et th em decide

. .
Z O ur A nabaptists here found a reason why they

.
should be rebaptized They say either our first bap

.
t is m was R omish bap t ism or we do not kn o w whether

,
we were baptized or not .
H Y ou do us inj ustice W e had not bee n bap

. .
tiz ed and the believer should be baptized

,
O ther .
wise we make the w o rds of Christ of no eff ect

W e know of no anabaptism and are not He ,
mero B ap tists
-
.
H God enj oins baptism yet upon those ins tr uc

.
,
1 52 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ E RLAND .
ted in his word beli evers W h ere then is i nf an t

,
.
baptism
Z Why do yo u make a distinction among men
.
A re children people or not ? If they are men or

pe o ple you must allow them to be baptized
, .
H This argument is as good for the Turks as for

.
the children of Christians The Turks ar e peop le .
”
also .
N ear the close of the tract we find th e s e theses ,
which Hubmeier says h e will maintain with God s ’
help against all opponents

1 N o elemen t or outward thing in th is world
.
can cleanse t h e soul but faith purifies the hearts of

,
me n .
2 . It
follows that baptism cannot wash away sin .
3 I f therefo re i t cannot wash away sin and yet is

.
,
fro m God it must be a public testim o ny of inward

,
faith and an outward pledge to lead henceforth a new

,
life as God gives grace .
4 W hether the children of C h ristians an d the

.
,
children of the O ld Testament are children of God , ,
w e leave to him who knows all t h ings and do not ,
make ourselves j udges .
In D ecember ,
152 5, W alds h ut fell into the han ds
of A ustria The A nabaptists fled amo ng them Hub
.
,
meier who passing by Zurich soon appeared in the

, , ,
1 54 T HE ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
Myconi us S ebasti an Hofmeister and Megander h ad

, ,
an interview with Hubmeier and there was some ,
discussion bet ween Zwingli an d Hubmeier in refer

ence to infant baptis m I n a letter to P eter Gyno
1
.
rans written in S ep tember 1526 Zwingl i gives an

, , ,
account of this conference and says that at length , ,
Hubmeier of his own accord o ff ered to recant his

, ,
A nabaptist errors and indeed wrote his recantation ,
2 ’
wit h his own hand Bullinger s testimony is of .
like import Hubmeier himself in one o f his tracts

.
,
publish ed a few month s after referring to his treat ,
ment at Zurich says he o ff ered to discuss with ,
Zwingli and if fo und in error he declared his w illing

, , ,
ness to be punished by sword fire o r wa ter ; w h ile , ,
if Zwingli was in error he only asked that the Zurich

preacher s h ould recognize his error and hence f ort h
teach th e truth B ut his off er was rej ected They
. .
compelled me [or en d eavored to compel me] a sick ,
man j ust risen from a bed of death hunted exiled

, , ,
” 3
and having lost all I had to teach anoth er faith ,
.
1
Z win gli vii i abt 53 6
, Op er a ,
. . . .
2
Ref o m tion sges c hi chte i s 3 04
r a ,
. . .
3
Mann w o lt mic h y e als e in en k ran ck en m en s che n der all e r
e r t v o n d em t od bett au fl est an den v erj agt v e t ib enn un d all es
’
s r r
g , , ,
w as i c h gehabt v erl o r en d u rc h den Hen ck er cinc u annder n glau

,
ben l eer en E in ge p ech B a ltha a H bmb s v n F i dbe g D oc

’
. s r s r a r o r r ,
Auf Mayster V lr i chs Z wingle us Z i r ch Ta ufibiichlen ,

’
tors , zu von
d em K inder taufi Nicolspu rg

'
. . 152 6 .
FA T E OF SO M E OF TH E LEADERS . 155
This view is supported by F aber the representati ve ,
of the B ishop of Constance at the first Zurich discus

si o n who says Hubmeier was subj ected to the rack
,
until he consented to make a public recantation .
A rrangements were at once made for an impres

sive scene A ccording to Z wingli and B ullinger
.
,
Hubmeier was brought into the Cathedral f or a pub

lic ren unciation of his former errors The vast edi .
fice was crowded with people who m this novel occa

sion had called together F irst there was a sermon .
by Zwingli Then Hubmeier ascended th e p u lpit

.
,
but instead of retracting his A nabaptist views to th e ,
amazement of all h e declared h is opposition to infant

baptism and defende d rebaptism A tum u l t was at
,
.
once raised the address was suddenly brought to a

,
cl ose and Hubmeier was removed to a cell in th e

,
where as F aber says cruel imprison

, ,
i
i ent fo ll o wed until the weary suff erer w as willing to
p
[r enounce A nabaptism as heresy It was at this t ime .
,
probably that th e written recantation was secure d

,
from him and A pril 6 he was brought into the

, ,
Cathedral to read it in public A fterward by req u est .

,
of the bailiff of the Gr ii ningen distr ict the recantation h
was repeated at G o ssau .
1
S ee his tract Ur sach w a r umb der Wi der teufier Pa tr on u nn d
'
r r
e ste Anf enger , Doc to r B a ltha sa r Hu bma ger zu Wienn a ufi den
Zehend ten tag fil ar tz Ann o 152 8 , ,
r br
ve en n t se
g .
156 TH E ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
This written recantation has been preserved In .
it Hubmeier says that hitherto with other A nabaptists

he had held that believers o nly Should be baptized
but now Zwingli had called his attention to the
covenant which God made with A braham and his
s eed and also to C i rcumcision as a sign of the cove
, ,
n ant and had shown him how bap tism takes the place
,
of circumcision He also refers to the arguments

.
of L eo Jud S ebastian Hofmeister and Myconius

, , .
Moved by all these at last he says he has surren

, , ,
dered his previous Opinion that children o u ght not to

be baptized and confesses that he had erred concern
,
ing A nabaptism He had never said however that

.
, ,
a Christian should not hol d a civil o ffice but had al ,
ways maintained that the more of the spirit of Christ

one possessed the better he would rule as a magis
trate He had never said that all thi ngs sho uld be
.
common He held however that those w ho have

.
, ,
an abundance should not see their neighb o rs su f f e r ,
but should share with the hu ngry the thirsty and , ,
the naked AS to baptism he had not baptized any

.
,
in the Canton of Zurich He had never said he was.
without s in but had always confessed that he was a

,
po o r S inner conceived in S in and w o uld remain a S in

, ,
ner until dea th S i nce now A ugustine and many

.
,
i Egli Actensa mm lu n 44 9 Nr 9 4 0 S ee al Nr 9 11
g , ,
. . so , . .
a recantation as h e penned these words T yrann y .

,
torture and shameful treatment forced him at length

,
t o yield and he made the retraction for which his

,
1
enemies had so persistently clamored A fter his .
1
Some d oubt ed w hether Hu bmeier mad e a r ecantati o n at
hav e
Z u ric h I n his ex c ell en t articl e o n Hubmeier i n the Bap ti t Re
. s
vi w f o
e April 18 8 1 Rev W W Ev e rt j giv es ( pp 2 14 15 )
r , ,
. . . s, r .
,
.
-
Hubmeie s r ecantati o n as fo ll o w s
r
’
I Bal tha ar Hubmey of z er ,
F ri edb e rg o p enly c o nfe u nd er thi my o w n hand that I hav e

,
ss , s ,
u nd er t o o d the S cript u r e
s w hich tr eat of bapti m to d ecl r e no s s a
thing bu t thi s F ir t pr eachin g th en b eli evin g and finally bap

: s , ,
t i in g
z I had b een firmly c o mmit te d to t hes e id e a s bu t Ma t e r
.
,
s
Ulrich Z win gli has b ee n in s tr u ctin g m e tha t the c o v e nant ent er ed

int o by Go d with A braham and his s e d t oo k the plac e of the e
bapti m o f to day Thi s I hav e not tri ed to s ettl e I t h b een

s -
. . as
all e g d by o t her s t hat c harity o ugh t t o be the j u dg e and s tandard

e
o f S cript u r e Thi I ha v s o r e call ed to mind as to r es u lt in the

. s e
c o nf s i o n t hat I w a in err o r I w as no t the fir s t one b apti ed

es s . z ,
n either hav e I bapti ed any o ne in Z urich I hav e n ot o bj ect ed z .
to a C hri tian go v ernm e nt nor hav e I fav o r d c o mm u ni s m

s I ,
e .
do n o t claim t o be s inl es I ask f or pity o n my s ickn ess a dv ers ,
s i ty,
ex il e and p o v erty ,
In thi s Mr Ev er ts fo ll o w s a .
,
.
L atin fo rm of the r e cantati o n s fou nd I b eli ev e in O ttiu s s

’
Ann a l An a bap ti ti ci
es But the o riginal o f gr eat er l en gth and
s .
, ,
S tr o ng r in i ts ex pr ess i o n o f r ecantati o n is in the German lan

e ,
gu ag e I t is in the Z u rich archiv e and I am a ssu r ed by Egli

. s, ,
the ch ol arly a u t ho r o f
s the Z il ich Wi ede ttiuf er that Dr r er r , .
S trickl er w ho has c harg e o f t he Z u ric h rc hiv e is p o itiv e tha t

, a s, s
it i in Hubmeie s handwritin g A c o py of thi o riginal I hav

s r
’
. s e
b efo r e me and al so the r ec o rd o f the Z u ich Acts c o nc ernin g Hub

, r
m ei er r ecantati o n which s ay s that Hubmeie off er ed to en ounc

’
s ,
r r e
FA T E OF SO M E OF TH E LEAD ERS . 1 59
return from Gossa u he remained awhile in conceal

ment at Zurich and t hen his request having been , ,
granted that he sh o uld not be delivered into the

hands of the A ustrians he was su ff ered secretly to ,
leave the Cant o n He made his way to C o nstance and

1
.
,
thence probably in July 152 6 to Nicholsbur g in

, , ,
2
M o ravia .
his rr o r c o nc ernin g A n abapti m and to mak e the r ecantati o n

e s s
wh en ev er d ir d S ee Act n mm lung 4 3 7 Nr 9 11
es e . e sa , . . .
1 A pplicati o n f o Hubmei e urr end e r w s m ad e by Au s tria

r
’
r s s a ,
bu t the C o u n c il o f Z uric h d eclin ed to acc e d e t o it a c o ntrary to s
the c u t o m F ii s l in Begt cige iv 253

'
s . s ,
r ,
. 8 . .
2
At N ichol bu g Hubmeie e tabli h ed an Anabapti t C h u rch
s r ,
r s s s ,
whi c h b ecam e the c entr e of the Anabapti t m ov em ent in Mo ravia s .
H r e m o t f Hu bmeie
e s o w r k s w er e writt en and p ubli h ed r s
’
o s .
But his e n emi e did n t l o e ig ht o f him s N ear the cl o s e o f 152 7

o s s .
he w a arr s t ed and d eliv er e d int o the hand o f Au tria

s e Fo a s s . r
whi l e he w impri o n d in the C a tl e G it en t in V i enna

as s e s r z s e ,
.
Duri n g his impri o nm ent he w vi it e d by D F ab r and D

s as s r . e ,
r .
Marx Be c k w ho e nd eav ou r ed t o win him back t o the C hu rch o f

,
Ro m e .Bu t Hubmei e w as imm o vabl e and he w as c o nd emn ed r ,
t o be b u rnt at the s ta k e Marc h 10 1 52 8 At the pla c e o f b u rn , , .

~
i ng he o ff r ed the fo ll o wing pray er

e O my graci o u Go d grant s ,
me p ati enc e in my uff erin g 0 My F ather I t ha n k t hee that to

s .
, ,
day thou wilt lift me fr om thi s vall ey of s o rr o w s W ith jo y I die .
that I may c o m e to th ee Lamb of Go d that tak th away the i n , ,

e s
o f the w o rld My Go d int o thy hand I c o mm end my S pirit

. . s .
”
Thr ee day aft er his faithful wife w ho acc mpani d him t o

s , ,
o e
V i nna w s br u ght t the bridg e o v r the Dan ub e and thr o wn

e ,
a o o e ,
int the riv er with h eavy t n atta c h d to he n eck C alvary

o 1. s o e e r .
Meanwhile Grebel Mantz and Blaur o ck who were , , ,
still in prison resolutely refused to ren o u nce A na ,
baptism E arly ln March 1526 they had an exa

.
, ,
m inati o n but they stood firm saying they chose to

, ,
die rather than to deny the faith they professed .
Mantz declared that th e S criptures alone h ad made
Mi ttheilungen aus demAnti gu ari a te in his li s t o f Hub 1 s. 1 14 1 18 , -
m ei er writings giv es tw enty four titl es How t hey w er e re

’
s ,
.
g ard e d by th e Ro mi h C hu rc h ma
y b e inferr ed fr o m the fact th a t
s
in the acts f the C ou ncil o f Tr ent the w o rks of Hubmeier w er e

o ,
c o nd emn e d with those of Lu ther C alvin Z wingli and Schw enk , , ,
feld Hi nam e al s o in four di ff er en t form — Baltha ar Paci

. s ,
s s
m o ntan u Baltha s ar Hubm eier Baltha sar Hilcemerus and Bal t

s, ,
har u s I u bm a uS— i fo u nd in th e ind ex o f Pr o hibit ed Boo k s

s r s ,
w hic h w as p u bli h d by Bernard o f S and o val Arc hbi ho p o f s e ,

s
To l e d o To his gr e a t tal ent s and a ttainm ent a w ell a to the

. s, s s
p u rity o f hi charact er early and lat er writer b ear witn es Ha

s ,
s s .
Deu tchs la n d s li ter ari sche a n d r eligi ose V er hd ltnisse i n Ref ma

’
en , or
g
ti onszei ta lter , iii S
nw o rthy m o tiv e w as di sc ov erabl e
.
,
. 233 ,
sa y s no u
in any of hi act s
The o ri ginal o u rc es o f info rmati o n f o the
s . s r
life o f Hu bmeier ar e his ow n writings Z wing l i s W ke Bul ,

’
er ,
ling er R f o m tion g hi chte and F ab er U a ch O f r ec ent

'
s e r a s esc ,
’
s rs .
w o rk s m enti o n hould be mad e esp cially f Sc hr eib er s Ta chen

,
s e o
'
s
bu c h f iir Ge c hi c hte u n d Alte thum i n Su ddeu tschl nd F r eib u r g

s r a , ,
1 8 39 184 0 ( bu t u nfini h ed ) ; F r X Hos ek s B a ltha a Hu bm i er

’
,
s . .
,
s r e
a p oc tkow e n vo k
a t n tva n a M e Bern e 1 86 7
o
[Baltha ar
r es e s or a v , ,
. s
Hu bm ie and the o rigin o f the Anab apti sts in Mo ravia Br unn

e r ,
1 86 7 C o rn eli u Der Mii n te ischen Auf ru h L ip ig 1855 186 0 ;

’
s ,
s r rs, e z , ,
an d E gli s Di e Z ii i che Wi ed tiiuf r zur B f o ma tion ei t Z ii i ch

’
r r er e e r sz ,
r
18 7 8 .
J ohn Heingar ter of S t Gall Agtli O cke nf uss E li .

, ,
zabeth Hottinger of Hirslanden Margaret H o ttinger ,
of Zollikon Winbro t V o nwiler of S t Gall A nna

, .
,
Mantz and the landlady at th e Green S hield

,
. .
I t is i n the record of this examination acc o rdingly , ,
early in March 152 6 that we find the last men

, ,
tion of Gr ebel s name in the history of the move

’
ment for Church reform in S witzerland He died .

,
pr obably not long after we know not when nor where , ,
1
of the pest He had neithe r the great talents nor
.
the great learning of Hubmeier Man t z excelled .
h im in his knowledge of the Hebrew tongue an d he ,
lacked the fiery eloquence of B laurock B ut he pos .
sessed qualities which are essential to leadership and ,
his leadership was recognized by Zwingli and the

Zurich Co u ncil as well as by his brethren . E gli
,
2
well says that a good biograp h y of Grebel would be
a valuable contrib u tion to the literat u re of the Re

formation .
A t the beginning o f 152 6 Heini R ein Jacob , ,
S chauf elber ger and Jacob K alch who h ad been r e ,
leased from the prison in Gr ii ningen made their way ,
into A ppenzell in order to preach W ith oth er A na

,
.
baptists who bel o nged outside of th e district they

, ,
1
Actensa mmlu ng 44 3 N r 9 33 , , . .
2
D ie Ziiri cher Wi eder tciuf er 92
’
,
s. .
FA T E OF SO M E OF TH E LEADERS . 63
were arrested and imprisoned A s they wo uld no t .
take an oath to leave the district it was directed ,
that they Should be kept on bread and water until

‘
further orders from the Cantonal authorities .
Mantz after his releas e wen t to S chaffhausen

, , ,
but not being allowed to remain there as it appears , ,
he pr o ceeded to B asel where f o r awhile he found,
a re f uge In private h o uses in B asel and in the

.
,
fields and forests around he preached using his He , ,
brew B ible as h e interpreted to his hearers the sa

,
cred word and many were led by hi m to embrace

,
A nabaptist views Bu t it was no t long before h e

.
was arrested and fo rbidden to preac h further A t

, .
th e same time probably he was ordered to leave the

, ,
Canton S ome of his foll o wers also were arres ted

.
, ,
.
They had done nothing they said that is contrary , ,
to the laws of God He is to be obeyed rather than

.
men A nd they asked why they should not be

.
,
permitted to establish a church of their own A t .
Ther wyler a village in the neighborhood of B as el an

, ,
A nabaptist so commended himself to th e pastor of

the village that he received permission to preach
,
.
Many from B asel and the country around came to

hear him ; and his words cl ear and penetrating and , ,
1
Le tt er fr o m App enz ll e of Jan u ary 11 , 15 26 , in the arc hiv es o f
the C ath edral in Z uric h .

S poken w it h earnestness an d evident si ncerity made ,
a profo u nd impressio n u pon his h earers B ut h is .
lips were soon sealed O f th ose who were arrested .
wit h Mantz some retracted and were released from

,
i mprisonment ; the rest were banished 1

.
Toward the end of Jan u ary 152 6 th e baili ff of the ,
Gr ii ningen district asked the Zurich Cou n cil that h e

‘
migh t be allowed to adopt yet se v erer meas u res

“
against the A nabaptists w ithin his j urisdiction O ne .
” “
must us e a firm hand h e said W ith such perso ns , .
lenity is of no account Hitherto the friends of th e .
i mprisone d A nabaptists could v isit their suff ering

breth ren It was no w decreed that such visits m u st
.
be d iscontinued that th e prisoners s h ould be kept on

,
bread and water and that even i n case of Sickness

,
th ere should be no m itigation of the punish ment but ,
th e s u ff erers S hould be kep t in the tower there to ,
die u nless t h ey re tracted their errors March 7

2
.
,
it was decreed that whoever should administer re

baptism S h ould be arrested and if condemned h e , ,
1 H er z o g D a s
,
L eben J Oekolampa ds
. . 11 , S 76, 7 7
. .
2
I n the rd er as o riginally wri tt en the w o rd and r ot f ol
o s
“
l o w ed the w o rd s to die bu t a pen w as drawn thr ou gh them

“
_ ,
”
.
S e Egli Di e Z ii i cher W ede tciuf e s 55 and H o tting er Ge ch d

’
e ,
r r r, .
, ,
s . .
E idgen os en 2 Abth s 4 1 4 2
s ,
Z win gh in ann ou ncing this deci
. .
, .
,
s i o n t o V adian ( Marc h 7 s ay s p an e et aqua delicientur

,
v
d o n ec aut spiritum r eddant au t m an u ,

s .
capital punishment ? I t was otherwise in Germany .
The L andgrave P hilip of Hesse an d th e E lecto r o f

, ,
S axony would no t c o nsent to any such violent pro

c e edings The fault in S witzerlan d Fiisslin says
.
, ,
was not th e fault of the R eformers as such matters ,
“
were left to the civil magistrates D id these h e .
,
“
adds stre tch their authori ty too far and d id o ne
, ,
o r anoth er of the R eformers allow h imself by zeal to
be so far carried away th at h e was negligent in this

m atter or strengthene d t h e magistrates in their pro
,
c e e dings we do no t boast of the same nor of them

, ,
.
I f the A nabaptist principles had been separated from

whatever was of a seditious nature and this last ,
alone had been punish ed none would have found ,
”
occasi o n for fault B ut noth ing is plainer th an that
.
the principles of th e S wiss A nabaptist contained no ,
thing of a se d itious nature Grebel and his asso .
ciates decl i ned to follow Munzer The charge was .
made against Mantz at S chatf haus en that he had

1
said there should be no magistracy but he denied ,
this at his examination and said that his position

,
was this that no Christian could be a magis trate

, ,
2
and that no o ne should punish with the sword Gre .
“
bel a t his examination in Zurich said he had , ,
1
Fu ss lin , Begtr age, i ,
s . 23 7 and 24 2 .
1’
Fii ssl in , Beg tr uge, i . S 254
. .
FA T E OF SO M E OF TH E LEADERS . 16 7
n ever taught that obedience sho u ld be refused to the

1
magistrates .
B ut notwithst andi ng the severity of these new

me asures the A nab aptis ts continued to hold their
meeti ngs now in the fields now in the fo rests as op
, , ,
p o r tunit
y o f fered D eprived of their leaders
. they had ,
the services of breth r en who could best supply the

places of those who had hitherto been their instruo
t o rs in the word B ut th ese new lea ders so on f ol
.
l owed Grebel Mantz and B laurock to prison O ne

, ,
.
S unday in May 1 52 6 at a meeting in a forest be

, ,
tween B ubik o n and W etzikon two of these brethren , ,
Jac ob F alk and Henry R ieman were arrested by the ,
baili ff of the Gruningen district They confessed that .
they had been baptized and that although they knew , ,
the penalty was death they h ad baptized others and , ,
w o uld do so again A t the trial that fo llowed it was

.
expected that the j udges would condemn F alk and

R ieman to death by dr o wning ; but an old law was
pleaded in their behalf and until the hearing of this ,
could be determined they were placed in the bailiff s

,
’
custody .
2
N o vember 19 1 526 the Council at Zurich con

, ,
firmed the edict of March 7 that A nabaptism Should ,
1
Fu ssl i n B eg tr age,,
i ,
S . 249 .
1
E gli Di e Z iir i c her Wi eder tciuf er 58
‘
, ,
s . .
be punished by dro wning T h e baili ff of the Grun 1

.
ingen district thought it best not to mention this fact ,
lest the A nabaptists should be alarmed and he be u na

ble to make some arrests he h ad planne d Mantz .
and B laurock w e re seized by h im on D ecember 3 in ,
a forest and on D ecember 1 3 h e sent them with two

,
o ther A nabaptist prisoners to Zurich Mantz r e .
c eive d h is sentence January 5 1 5 2 7 S ince he had , ,

.
embraced A nabaptism h e was bold and h a d become , ,
one of the lead ers in the A nabaptist movement

since he coul d not be induced to retract his errors ,
but in spite of the edict and of h is oath cl u ng to

these errors separating hi m self from the Chris tian
,
Church and laboring to organize a sect since fu r

, ,
ther h e rej ected the magistracy oppose d the death

, ,
penalty to the destruction of t h e common Christian

,
peace —he Should be delivered to the executioner

, ,
who Should bind his hands place him in a boat and ,
3
throw him bound into the water th ere to die ,
.
I n an early recor d we find the follo wing exh orta
1
Fu s slin , Beg tr age ,
i ,
s . 27 1 E
. gli ,
Actensa mmlung 51 4 ,
Nr . 10 7 .
9 H o tting e r ,
n o te 156 say he
Ges chi chte d Ei dgenossen S 243 , . .
,
s,
was in S t Gall aft e r l eavin g Ba sel w as impri s o ned t her e bu t was

.
, ,
r el e a ed O c t 12 152 6
s .
,
.
3
Fu slin B egt cige iv s 2 59 2 6 5 Egli Ac tensammlu ng
’
-
s ,
r , ,
. .
, ,
Nr . 1 109 .
The B loody Thea tr e ,

or Ma r tyr s Mi r r or of
’
the Bap tis t Chur ches ,
H an s erd K n o lly s S o ci e ty s ’
Pu b licati o n s , v ol . i ,
S 1 2-14
. .
B ut I praise the L ord Christ wh o h ath all pa

w ill ,
t ien c e with us He instr ucteth us with his d ivine

.
grace ; he Sho weth after the nature of God his

, ,
Heave nly F ather s love to all men which no ne of

’
, ,
the false prophets can do .
“
Herein must we observe the diff erence the
sh eep of C h rist seek to honor God This they choose . .
They suff er not th emselves to be hindered by gain or

temporal good for they are in the keeping of Christ
'
, .
The L ord C h rist forces no man into his glory but

the willing and ready al o ne enter who come thereto ,
by true faith and baptism W hen a man bringeth .
forth the true fruits of repentance for him is pur ,
chase d and procured by Christ through grace the

, , ,
heaven of everlasting j oy by the S hedding of his in ,
n ocent blood whic h

,
h e so willingly poured o u t .
Thereby he showeth u s his love and e ndueth us ,
w ith the might of his S pir it ; and he who receiveth
and exerciseth this grow eth and becometh perfect in

,
God .
“
L ove to God through C h rist will alone endure
, ,
and profit no boasting railing or threatening There

, , ,
.
is nothi ng but love with whic h Go d is ple ased He .
who can Sho w no l ove shall find no place with God .
The t r u e love of Christ shall c as t off the enemy I t .
is set befo re him Who will be an h eir with Christ ,
that he m ust be merciful even as his Heavenly F ather

,
FA T E OF S O M E OF TH E LEADERS . 17 1
is merciful Christ never accused any o ne as the

.
,
false teachers now do whence it app ears that they

h ave not the love of Christ nor u nders t and his ,
word Y et they will be shepherds and teac hers

. .
B ut at last they must tremble when they find that ,
eternal pain will be th eir reward if they do not ,
amend .
Christ never hated any and his tr u e servants

,
likewise h ate no o ne continuing thus to follow Christ

,
in the right way as he has gone before them This

,
.
ligh t of life they have before them and rej oice to ,
walk therein but those who are full of hatred and

‘
envy who thus wicke dly betray accuse smite and

, , , ,
wrangle cannot be Christians These are they who

,
.
as thieves and murderers run before Christ and ,
un d er false show steal innocent blood Thereby may .
men know t h em they take no part with Christ for

, ,
through malice as the children of B elial they annul

, ,
the c o mmand of Jesus C h rist ; as Cain slew h is bro

ther A bel when God accepted h1s o ff ering .
Herewith I will finish my discourse an d request ,
all the pi ous to meditate on th e fall of A dam who ,
’
followed the serpent s counsel and being dis obedient
,
to God the punishment of death followed him S o

, .
shall it also befall t hose who receive not Christ but ,
Oppose him ; w h o l o ve this world and have no l o ve to

God W ith this I conclude I will abide close to
. .
17 2 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N S WITZ ERLAND .
Christ and c o nfide in him ; he knoweth all my dis

”
tresses and can help me out of them A men
,
. .
The sentence was forthwith carried into execution .
AS he came down from the W elle nberg to the fish

”
market says B ullinger
,
and was led through the ,
shambles to the boat he p raised God that he w as ,
ab o ut to die for his truth for A nabaptism was

right and founded up o n the word of God and Christ
, ,
had foretold that h is followers would su ff er for the

'
truth s sake A nd the lik e discours e he urged much
.
,
discussing with the preacher who attended him .
O n the way h is mother and brother came to him

, ,
and exhor t ed him to be s teadfast and he persevere d

in his folly even to the end W he n h e was bound
,
.
upon the hurdle and was abo u t to be th rown into .
the stream by the executioner he sang with a loud ,
voice In man u s tuas D o mine co mmendo Spir itum , ,
meum I nto thine h ands O L ord I commend my

’
.
, ,
spiri t and h erewit h was drawn into th e water by .
”
the executioner and drowned ,
.
Capito writing to Zwingli from S trasburg Janu

, ,
ary 22 157 7 said

,
I t is reported here that your
, ,
F elix Mantz h as suff ere d punishment and died ,
glorio u sly on which account the cause of tr ut h an d

”2
piety which yo u s u stain is greatly depres s e d
, ,
.
1
Rq or ma ti onsgeschi chte
’
,
i . S 38 2
. .
Z wingli viii H ic r u mo r F eli ceu m Mansiu m

'
2
,
Op er a , . 16 . e st ,
17 4 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERL AND .
T h e death of Mantz a man of deep piety and ,

’
scholarly attainments was a heavy blow to the A na ,
baptist cause in S witzerland Messengers carried .
t h e sad tidings from v illage to v illage f rom hamlet ,
to h amlet amo n g the most secluded mo u ntain valleys

, .
E veryw h ere the brethren were cast down S ince .
Gr ebel s death and Hubmeier s banishment they had

’ ’
nat u rally looke d to F elix Mantz as their future
leader A nd now he too was taken from them B ut

.
,
.
th ough cast d own they were not destroyed Mantz s

’
-
.
dying testimony and the h er oi c manner in which he

,
accepted m artyrdom impressed deeply all hearts and , ,
1
awakened the desire to imitate h is nobl e example .
B laurock Mantz s fellow prisoner was also

,
’
,
sentenced to death by drowning but inas much as he ,
was not a citizen of the Canton a mild er p u nishmen t ,
1 Au ss Bun dt da s i st , etli che schon e Chr istenli che L ieder ,

wi e
di e i n der Gef dngn us s zit Pa ssa u i n dem S chloss von den S chw eizer
Br ader n a n d a n der n r ec htglau bigen Chr isten hin a nd her gedi cht
et w or den .
Di e O berk eit sie rufl en an

Da ss s ie u ns s oll e tOdten
Dann C hri s t hat si e v erlan .
Did th ey s in g us in g these w ord s of o ne

,
of Mantz s ’
hymn s ?
th ey c ou ld add with th ir martyr l ead er e ,
Chr istum den will ich pr eisi n ,
Der all e gdul t erz eigt

Thu t u ns gar fr eu ndlich w e i s e n
Mit se in er gn ad e
g n ei gt .
”
F ATE o r SO M E or TH E LEADERS . 17 5
was deemed s ufli cient in his c ase and on the same ,
day o n which Mantz was executed acc o rding to the ,
1 ’
decree of the C o uncil B lauro ck s hands were bound
, ,
his b o dy w as stripped to the waist and as he passed ,
al ong the street from the Fis hmar ket to the N ieder
dorf C ate he was beaten wi t h rods until the blood
r
flowed from the wounds thus made B laurock eni .
dured his sufferings not less hero ically than Mantz .
A t the gate an oath that he would no t return was

demanded of him by the o f ficers who had con
ducted him thither but he refused saying that to ,
take an oath is forbidd en by God O n this account .

,
he was taken back to the W ellenberg to await the

further decision of t h e Council B l aurock s o o n con .
cluded to take the oath it is said but as h e left ,

2
Zurich he shook the dust from his blue coat and his
shoes as a testimony against h is persecuting adver
3
sar ies .
A bout this time S imon S tumpf fo rmerly pastor at ,
1
E gli ,
Actensammlung 550 N 1 1 10, ,
. .
2
Fii ss li nin the Pr efac e to v ol iv o f hi Bey t ge s 56 ay s .
,
s ra ,
.
,
s
that Z wingli t o ok o cca si o n fr o m thi s t r epr o ach the Anabaptist s o
by a k ing w hy th ey u ff r ed Bl au r o c k to r emain in th eir fell o w

s s e
s hip s inc e he h ad br ok n n o f the m os t pr o min ent rul es With

e o e .
o ut d o u bt add F u lin he did n ot c n id er that e v ery ect

“
,
s ss ,
o s s
wi ll ing l y pard o n th e wr ng d o in g of its m mb er s w hen th ey e

s o e ar
n o t v o l u ntary bu t c o mp u l s o ry
"
.
3
Bu lling e r R f ,
m tion ge c hi c hte i s 38 2
e or a s s , . . .
17 6 TH E ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLA ND .
Hongg but agai nst whom D ecember 25 152 3 the

, , ,
Zurich Council issued a decree of banishment on

account of his radical views and who meanwhile had
,
bee n in Germany returned and resumed his labors

,
among the brethren This fact was soon made known

.
to the Council and an order was issued April 2 5 152 7

, , ,
requ i r i ng S tumpf to disp ose of his possessions within

fo urteen days and leav e th e Canton on penalty of
1
death .
Egli , Di e Z iiri cher Wi eder tauf er 6 3 , Actensammlu ng 54 0 ,

’
1
, s .
,
Nr . 46 7 .
17 8 T HE ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
v ited . A correspon d ence also

commenced with , ,
w as
Au gsb u rg and Co nstance in reference to th e Ana

bapt is ts .
l
B ut tho u gh they h ad been d eprived of th eir lea d ers

the b rethren were bold in defending th eir views .
Here is a document belonging to this period w h ich ,

2
,
the A nabaptists o f the Grun i ngen district laid befo re

the civil authorities and in which in opposition to , ,
the accusations of the magistrates they j ustifie d the ,
baptism of believers alone .
A t h is baptism by Jo hn Christ calls baptism ,
righteousness and as the publicans befo re th ey were

,
baptized by Joh n must show repentance he called it ,
a counsel of God therefo re infants should not be ,
baptized because they neith er need repentance nor

,
know a u ght o f righ teousness or the counsel of God .
F urther Christ says after his resurrection He that

, ,
believeth and is baptiz ed shall be saved h e that be

liev et h not shall be damned Here again h e mean s ’
.
, ,
the baptism of believers not of children He doe s ,

.
not however at t h e same time include children in

, ,
this condemnation for h e is not speaking of th e m , ,
but to those who know go o d and evil an d as for the

rest he says S u ff er little children to come unto me
,
‘
,
’
1 Eg li ,
A cten sammlu ng, 55 7 ,
Nr . 12 4 7 al s o 56 0 Nr 126 2
,
. .
2
Fuss l in , Bey tr cige iii 3 1 9 32 9 , Egli Act n a mmlung 54 7 ,
’
, ,
s .
-
,
e s ,
Nr . 12 01 .
G RUN I N G EN ANABAP TI S T S AND DEA TH OF DENK . 17 9
’
etc If now Christ calls baptism a co u nsel of God
.
’ ’
and righteousness and it is his therefore God s
, , ,
co mmand then mark humble believer how the false

, , ,
prophets mislead you and the wise and ingenious as

, ,
they say B aptism is n o thing it is only an external

, ,
.
form nothing b u t water and signi fies nothing

, ,
.
’
P eter baptized three thousand souls Who repent ,
ed and gladly received his word There is also I n .
t h is passage a proof against infant baptism and we

may call attention to the fact that the three thousand
would have lf ad their children baptized (of which We
read nothi ng ) if it had been the cus tom L ikewise .
W e find in the A cts of the Apostles that P hilip bap
t iz ed the E unuch because he believed with all h is

,
heart .
The twelve disciples of John w h o were baptized ,
by Paul at E phesus in the name o f C hrist h ad before ,
received the baptism of John to repentance This .

,
therefore was not enough The twelve men were

,
.
not sufficiently ins tr ucted in th e Christian faith S o .
infant baptism is not enough but is a false devilish ,
doctrine .
A gainst infant baptism is the testimo ny of Paul ,
that we by baptis m are buried into Christ s death ’
and with him should walk in a new life I nfants .
can neither yield their members to unrighteousness ,

’
nor walk in newness o f life

‘
.
’
B elievers are those w h o walk in the will of the

S pirit and bring forth the fruits of the S pirit ; they
,
are the company and body of Christ the Christian ,
Church To this therefo re the A nabaptists belong

.
, ,
.
Zwingli the false prophet since he can find no

, ,
proofs in the N ew Testament turns back to the O ld , ,
and appeals to the covenan t with A braham B ut .
this covenant was made by God with the Jews and ,
not with the Gentiles Why then do the preachers .
baptize o u r children w h ose descent is from the Gen

,
tiles not from the Jews ? B esides the girls as well

, ,
as the little boys were incl u ded in the promise ,
although they were not circ u m cised like th e latter .
A ccording to the words of Christ and P aul the ,
law has an end wit h Jesus and the gospel begin s ,

.
S o shall we also be found in the new life and no ,
longer in the old and seek no other way no other ,
door than Christ otherwise we are t hieves and rob

,
bers If ho wever it is said infants are included i n

.
, , ,
the promise it is the promise of Christ which is

,
m eant that says O f s u ch is the kingdom of hea

, ,
’
v en . He therefore who instead o f being satisfied
, , ,
with this promise t u rns to infant baptism is makin g

, ,
another door and is therefo re a thief and a robber

,
.
I f now t he members of the Zurich Council des ig

nate the baptism of Chris t as A nabaptis m the com ,
mon people will be convince d that the reverse is the

.
Hindermann and E lsi Spillmann of Dallikon and ,
Jacob F rei of W att on account of their atten dance ,
u p o n these secret services conducted by A nab aptists

from across the b o rder were imprisoned but were , ,
released with a warning not to attend such meetings

in the future but to go to church and imposing a
, ,
fine upon th em if they should neglect this warning ,
they co mpelled them to swear to bring or rep o rt

l
A nabaptists from across the border to the bailiff s .
D ecember 15 152 7 the C o uncil issued a decree to

,
-
,
the baili ff s directing them to seize and imprison in

,
the W ellenberg those who withdrew from the churches -
and attached themselves to field preachers and not ,
to release th em without first having paid a fine of

2
fiv e pounds .
It is at th is time that a name already mentioned

suddenly reappears in the history of the A nabaptists
of S witzerland only however to be again menti o ned
, , ,
and as su ddenly to disappear forever John D enk .

,
/
who was at S t Gall in 152 5 an d who at th at time

.
,
was suspected of being in secret communication with

A nabaptists appeared in A u g sburg in the summer
,
3
or autumn of the same year where he openly espous ,
1
Egli Actensammlung 58 1 ,
, ,
Nr . 1335 .
2
E gli ,
A cten sa mm lu ng 582 N r , ,
. 1338 .
3
S tu di en u . K r i ti ken , 185 1 ,
ers te Hef t . s . 1 38 .
( Jo ha nn Den k a n d
s ei n B zi chlin vom Gesetz b y H eb erl e)

'
.
,
G RUN I N G EN ANABAPTI S T S AND DEA TH OF DENK . 183
ed the cause of the A nabaptists and aided in m aking

.
A ugsburg the centre of the movement in S wabia .
In the autumn of 152 6 no t later certainly than ,
1
N ovember he left A ugsburg and made his way to
,
S trasburg where with Hetzer and subsequently at

, ,
W orms he was e ngaged in a translati o n o f the

,
prophe tical books of the O ld Testament which was ,
published in W or ms in the first half of the following

y ear ( the preface is dated A pril 3 and accord ,
ingly nearly five years befo re L uther s translation

’
appeared This translation was received with so

.
much favor that within four years twelve editi o ns

2
at leas t were printed .
In July 1 52 7 D enk was again in A ugsburg ; b u t

, ,
at the close of the month by way of U lm and N arem ,
berg where he found that persecuti o n awaited him

,
if he remained he pr o ceeded to B asel in which place

, ,
he had o nce lived in friendly intercourse with O cco

lampadius and with Wh o m he hop ed now to find an
,
as y lum A ugust 3 1 52 7 j ust before Denk s arrival

.
, ,
’
B asel had fo rbidden A nabaptists to remai n in the

3
city ; but D enk in a letter frankly laid his views
, ,
before O ecolampadius and asked f or himself what he ,

‘
was willing to accord to all men religi o us freed o m ,

.
1 S tu di en u . K r i ti ken 185 1 , ,
2
Ja hr biicher f ur d Theo logi e
.
,
s . 18 5 6 , 2 6 5 .
3
H e r z o g Da s
,
L eben J O eko la mp a ds. ii . s . 3 07 .
“
Go d is my witness he wrote that I am favorable , ,
to one sect only to the followship of the saints Wher

,
ever fo und F or th at it is w ith you alone I do not

. .
believe N ot to h ave a home is a grief to me

. .
Y et it grieves me yet more that my zeal does not

bring corresponding fruit N o other fr u it h owever .
, ,
do I seek than that very many with one heart and

,
mind may glorify God the F ather of o u r L ord Jesus ,
Christ wheth er they be circumcised or baptiz ed or

,
n either F or I am wholly of a di f f erent vie w from

.
t h ose who bind the K ingdom of Go d to th e cere

monie s and elements of the world al tho u gh I do not ,
deny th at I myself for a long time fell into a like

e rror .If you believe that you can endure th ese
principles in any way will you take the pains to oh ,
”
tain for me permission to remain here .
I n closing D enk begs his o ld frie nd to lose sight

,
of the days of their alienation and to give him ,
again a place in his heart I n what esteem he held .
him he w ould learn fr o m the confidence which he

,
had manifested in this letter and which he was ,
ready to manifest even in a greater degree I seek .
” “
to escape from exile he said ; but if I should no t ,
s ucceed I do not think I shall repent of this le tter

,
.
unless w h ich God forbid yo u should use i t in order

, ,
”1
to glorify yourself and to destroy an o ther , .
1
S tudien u . K r i ti ken 1855
, ,
s . 87 3 , 8 7 4 .
matt e rs of faith everything should be free v olunta ry , ,
and without c o mpulsion Therefore I se p arate my .

,
self fro m some no t that I regard myself bette r and

,
more righteous than they but even if I were lacking ,
in many things that I may seek freely and unhinder

,
ed the costly pearl and having fo und it may hold it

,
at peace with every man in so far as it is p ossible f or

me F ro m all o thers persecution and the fear o f
.
,
persecuti o n have separated me My heart h o wever .

, ,
is n o t separated from them especially fro m a ny one ,
who fears God Y et with error and unrighteousness

.
I will have no fellowship ( if God will) in so far as

my knowledge extends W ith this consciousness I
.
await j oyfully and un terr ified t h e j udgment of Jesu s

Christ h owever much on account of weakness I may
,
fear before men O n this account I do not j ustify

.
myself but kno w and indeed acknowledge th at I

, , ,
”
am a man who has erred and may still err ,
.
In A rticle S even concerning ceremonies D enk th us

, ,
gives expression to his views

“
I n themselves ceremonies are not useful and he ,
who thinks thereby to obtain anything whe ther ,
through baptism or the breaking of bread is super ,
s titi o us. A believer is free in outward things yet ,
according to his ability he will make every eff or t tha t

the h o n o r bf God may not be diminished by him and ,
that the love of his neighbor may not be wickedly

G R UN I N G EN ANABAP TI S T S AND DEA TH OF DENK . 18 7
despised He who makes ceremonies burdens o me is

.
no t much of a gainer ther ebv for sh o uld o ne lose

all ceremonies he would not suff er any inj ury and
, ,
indeed it is better to want them th an to misuse

them .
That any one sh ould find in these words a rej ection

o f A nabaptism is amazing They a r e rather noble .
Witnesses to the l o fty Christian spirit of t h e man as ,
all must confess A nd it is worthy of notice that

.
2
A rnold having presented these quotations from
,
D enk e E xplana tion adds

’
These are Denk s ’
own words F rom them it may be seen whether he

.
can be regarded as godless and damnable and ,
whether his followers may be regarde d as diabolical

”
or devilis h .
He w h o j oyfully and u nt er rified awaited the j udg

ment of Jesus Christ was called to meet his j udge
sooner than he h ad anticipated f or in a short time
after his arrival in B asel he died like Grebel of the , ,
pest . The date of his death is unknown but

D ecember 2 1 52 7 Zwingli received a letter from
'
, ,
B erthold Haller in B erne in which he said D enk , ,
A pollo of A nabaptism wh o m O ecolampadius some ,
” 3
times visited died at B asel of the pest
,
.
1
Bulling er , Wieder taufier F s . . 65 .
2
K i rc hen u . K etz er His tori e i , ,
s . 130 7 .
Z w ingli , Op er a viii . s . 1 23 .
CH AP T ER X .
SEVERER M EAS U RES ADOP T ED ,

AND DEA TH OF HET
ZER .
THE
R eformation was not established in B erne
u ntil early in 1528 A t the g reat discussion betwee n .
the P rotestants and R omanists in that city January ,
5 152 6 some A nabaptists were present who were not

, ,
satisfied wit h a reformation which should go no far

ther than Zwingli had marked out and who com ,
plained of a lack of earnest preach ing of repentance

on the part of evan gelical preachers They were not .
invit ed to the discussion and h aving been arrested ,
t h ey were i mprisoned in a cloister until after the dis

c us s io n closed when a special meeting was held
,
at ,
w hic h the A nabaptists were exh o rted to ren o unce
their erro rs These exhortations howeve r were

.
, ,
fruitless and the A nabaptists were banished from

,
l
t h e city and Canton .
The eff ects of the edict of D ecember 16 152 7 , ,
were soon visible especially in U nterland Here ,

.
,
as we have seen the A nabaptist s from W aldshut had

,
1
Erbk am Gesc hi chte d pr ot S ekten , s 54 3 Bullin ger , Ref
,
. . . . or ma
ti onsgeschi chte, i . s . 436 .
188
1 90 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERL AND .
things ; and an edict with this end in view was , ,
issued A pril 8
, ,
May 14 1528 a new and stronger edict again s t

, ,
the A nabaptists was issued by the B asel Council In .
it not only was A nabaptism denounced but attend

, ,
ance upon private religious services in or near the ,
city in fo rests or in the fields was forbidden ; and

, ,
all were commanded to be content with the proclama

tion of the sacred word in the S tate Churches A dults .
who allowe d themselves to be rebaptized parents ,
who refused to have their chil dren baptized u ntil they

were advanced in years and all who attende d private ,
religious assemblies and en t ertained an d s u pported

,
those who preach ed at these assemblies were th rea ,
tened with severe punishment in life and possessions .
This ordinance was especially intended for the sup

pression of the A nabaptist movement in the co u ntry
around B asel to which the influence of th e Anabap
,
tis ts seemed at that time to be restricted B ut it .
faile d and soon w e again hear of A nabap tists in the

,
city I n the course of the summer some men and

.
women were imprisoned in B asel and they sacrificed ,
life rather than surrender their faith A rrests af .
ter war d w e re made in the surroundi n g country

2
.
1
Egli ,
Di e Z iir icher Wi eder tauf er 8 . 7 2—7 5 . Actensammlung ,
59 7 , Nr 1383 . .
H er zog, Das L eben J O eko la mpa ds ,

. ii . 8 . 55 8 6 .
SEVERER M EAS U RES ADOP T ED . 19 1
Meanwhile f or more than fifteen months the Gr ii n

,
ingen A nabaptists had endured the su ff erings of a

cruel imprisonment The Council of Zurich had now
.
determined to make an end of A nabaptis m in that

district if p ossible and to establish firmly the S tate
,
Church A ccordingly these prisoners were brought

.
—
forth the record is under date of A ugust 1 1 ,
in the expectation evidently that they would re tract ,
and i nfluence their brethren to aband o n their A na
baptist views B ut they had received no new light

.
during their long imprison ment and theyall stood ,
firm in their determination no t to yield Infant .
“
baptism they said is an abomination in the sight
, ,
’
of God ; anabaptism is God s co mmand The .
preach ers falsify the word of Go d especially in refer ,
ence to baptism They ar e now the false prophets

.
,
against whom Christ uttered a war ning O ne of .
the prisoners said he sh o uld fear for his poor soul if

,
he denied the word of God A n o ther said he did not

.
,
care to hear his pastor preach because he persecuted ,
the A nabaptists A third did not care to hear the word

.
o f God in the church much as he e nj oyed it when

,
1
he read it els ewhere A t the same examination it
.
,
would seem Jacob F alk said he did no t go to church

, ,
because t he S criptures tell us to beware of false

prophets .A ll lamented that they were ever in f a
1
E gl i ,
Actensammlu ng 6 3 6
, ,
Nr . 14 6 9 .
19 2 T HE ANABAP TI S T S IN SW ITZ ERLAND .
vor of infant baptism O ne of these prisoners h ad .
lain a half year in the d u ngeon sick and was sw o llen ,

‘
from head to fo ot so that he h ad to be carried to

,
the place Where the examination was held yet he pre

ferred to die with his companions in the dungeon
rather than to live with o ut in t h e castle A s they .
c o nfessed that they had exhorted eac h other to h old

out sick or well they were placed in separate pris o ns
, ,
in Zurich W here they were kept for fourteen days on

,
1
bread and water F alk and R ieman were again ex am
.
i ned the question of j urisdiction having bee n settled

,
2
by Ber ne in favor of Zurich The fo rmer said he w o uld .
c o ntinue t o baptize strengthened by the S on of God

, ,
who had redeemed him and had not forsaken him .
S eptember 5 b o th were sentenced to d eath F alk r e

,
.
fused to give the names of those he h ad baptized He .
would n ot be the cause of persecution and death to

his brethren no one had strengthened and comfo rted
,
him except the S on of God who had redeemed him

, ,
3
and w o uld no t fo rsake him They w ere taken to a .
little fishi ng hut in the middle of the river L i mat 4

,
says B ullinger where they were draw n into the

,
“
” 5
water and drowned .
1 Acten sammlung 6 4 1 Nr 14 8 6, ,
. .
2
Egli ,
Acten s ammlung 6 3 7 , ,
Nr 14 7 3
. .
3
Egli ,
Acten sa mm lung 6 3 2 , ,
Nr 14 56. .
4 Eg l i ,
Acten sa mm lu n g 6 40 , ,
Nr 14 7 3
. .
5 Ref or ma tionsgeschi c hte ,

ii ,
s. 14 .
sion of Januar y 17 1525 was L udwig Hetzer He , , .
went first to A ugsburg and became connec ted ,
with the radical party In that city but early in ,
S eptember if not before he was compelled to leave

, ,
the place and we find h im not long after in B asel

, ,
where he was kindly received by O ecolampad ius ,
who gave him literary employment and by wh o m ,
he was subsequently commended to Zwingli at ,
Zurich whither he went to carry through the press

,
a w o rk of O ecolampadi us on the L o rd s S upper ’
which he had translated int o the German language .
That at this time Hetzer was no t in full sympathy ~
with the A nabapt is t movement is evidenced not

only from the fact tha t he was present at the Dis
c uss ion in Zurich N ovember 9 1 52 5 as a spectator
, , ,
only ; but als o fro m the fac t that in the preface

to his translation O f O ec olampadius w o rk he ex ’
pressly denies that he was an A nabaptist th o ugh ,
he admits tha t he rej ected infant baptism Re .
turning to B asel he devoted himself to a t r ansl a

,
ti o n O f Malach i into the German from the L atin

of O ecolampadius This translation was p ublished
.
at B asel in the following sum mer the preface bear ,
ing date Of July 15 .

,
1
D er P r op het Ma lachi mi t a uss legu ng Jo an E co la mp a dii du r ch ,
in i m la tein bes chr iben mi t fieyss ,

c ht du chL u dwig Hatver d eu ts r z er .
It w as print ed by Th o ma W l f f and n the titl e pa ge i fou nd

s o ,
o -
s
He tz er s ’
m otto O God r el ea e the impri so n ed
,
“
,
s .
”
SEVERER M EASURES ADOP T ED . 19 5
L ate the summer Hetzer appeared in S tras

in
burg where he fully connected himself with the
,
A nabaptist m o vement and where as in W o rms later , , ,
he dev o ted himself t o its furtherance A t S tras .
burg he c ommenced a translation of Isaiah Here .

,
als o he made the acquaintance of D enk w ho came

, ,
to S trasburg i n the autumn probably in O ct o ber ,
or N o vember 1526 and with wh o m Hetzer became

, ,
ass o ciate d in the translati o n O f the O ld Testament .

‘
In July 152 7 Hetzer visited N uremberg and A ugs

, ,
burg with D enk The latter as we have seen .

, ,
t o ward the end of July left A ugsburg and made

his way to B asel where he s oo n died Hetzer ,
.
seems to have remained in and aro und A u gsburg

until A pr il 152 8 when he was again banished
, ,
.
Now that so many doors w ere cl o sed against him ,
whither should he direct his fo otsteps if no t to the

home of h is youth ? A nd so he went to B isch o fs
Z ell a s m all village not far fr o m S t Gall and C o n
,
.
stance Here he is supposed to have dev o ted him

.
self to the preparation of one or two theological

w o rks and it is thought th at he v i s i ted V adian at
,
S t Gall In the summer of 152 8 or later we find

. .
, ,
h im in C o nstance where there was a small circle ,
1
thi tran lati n Lu th r in 152 7 wr o t e ; P o ph ta v e
Of s s o e , ,
“
r e s r
u a c u la d nat o W rmatia n o n co n t emn o ni i qu o d C e m am mu

o s o ,
s r s s,
obsc u i t fo rt e nat u ra illiu

r or es ,
e i n is
g F ece u n t d l i
g nt i m s r o . r i e a
q u i a ut m o mnia attingat
s e De Wett e 11 1 7 2 ,
1 . .
of A nabaptists which had been kept small by im

,
prisonment and banishment A ll the o ther A na .
baptist leaders were now dead A way was s oo n .
to be discovered in which the career of Hetzer ,
als o could be brought to an end

,
.
A nabaptism in Constance was not punishable by

, ,
death as in the Canton of Zurich Hetzer might

,
.
be arrested as an A nabaptist but the Council could ,
do no more than to imprison o r banish him To w .
ard the end o f O ctober possibly six weeks later , ,
Hetzer was arrested and thrown int o pris o n where ,
he remained until early in the follo w ing year O n .
the 3 d of F ebruary he was brought befo re the

magistrate Jac ob Zeller S O far as the record
,
.
sh o ws Hetzer was the o nly witness In the scanty

,
.
rep o rt o f the trial which is fo und in the city

archives at C o nstance it is said that Hetzer made,
a frank confessi o n He had married A nna t he

.
,
wife o f George R egel of A ugsburg but no t until , ,
after Regel s death He had received fr o m her a

’
.
ring in confirmation O f the marriage and many ,
times he had received money fr o m her He had .
also another wife A ppolonia the maid of A nna

, ,
R egel He had persuaded A nna R eg el that this was

.
1
not wrong but in accordance with the w ill of God
,
.
1
Archiv es of C o n s tanc e ,
ci ty r ec ord s f o r the y ear s 152 9 and
1 53 0 .
pe ople of every rank in society — members of the ,
Council clergymen citizens without reference to

, , ,
party o r religi on — and with all excep t the city

, ,
“
pasto rs Z wick and Metzler he talked freely
,
He ,
conducted himself well and with propriety says ,
”
John Zwick ; God be praised on his behalf .
The night that foll o wed was not passed in sleep .
The friends Of the condemned were w ith him and ,
at his request psalms and hymns were su ng

'
D urin g the n ight Hetzer referred to his transla tion

of the S cript ures and gave expression to the satis
,
faction he derived from the service he had rendered

i n translating the O ld Testament into the language
“
of the common people He addressed us all as
.
’3
his dear brethren says Zwick,
In the morning .
he constrained us all to pray with him The ro o m .
was very full indeed He now prayed to God with

.
.
a seriousness such as I have never seen or heard .
A fter that he gave an exh o rtati o n to u s preachers ,
and mingled with it a few words on infant baptism ,
that we sh o uld not enfo rce it as if we must whe ther ,
or no baptize the children but suff er it to be qui te

,
fre e He Sp oke als o very briefly and in a very

.
desultory manner on some other points but after ,
such a sort that no one co uld reprove hi m W o uld .
to God we h ad in pr Int what he said to us " O h ,
i t is very well to disp u te of many things when we

SEVERER M EASURE S ADOP T ED . 199
have no t much else to do , but when death draws

near then all disputing is at an end .
W hen he was led to the C o uncil Chamber where ,
his sentence was publicly declared Hetzer expressed ,
his satisfacti o n and asked o nly that the B urgomas ter

,
w ould regard te nderly his loved ones and also the ,
po or prisoners with whose wretched conditi o n he had

,
beco me acquainted d uring his o wn impriso nment .
Then he was d elivered to the executi o ne r A few .
earnest words to the pe ople foll o wed O n his way to .
the place of execution he referred t o his companions

who h ad already Obtained the martyr s crown ’
.
Mantz Hut Langenm ant el S attler and Hubmeier

, , , , .
A t the U pper Market he addressed the pe o ple C on .
” “
stance he sai d ought not to have G o d s w ord in
, ,
’
the mouth only but exhibit it in the life Therewith

,
.
he off ered up a fervent prayer so that many of the ,
pe o ple wept with him and throughou t the wh ole

,
”
O f his progress he was cheerful and unappalled .
A t the bl o ck Hetzer Opened his Hebrew P salter ,
requested the people to kneel with him and then in ,
a clear loud voice he translated the 2 5 th P salm A t

,
.
the 1 5th verse as he read Fo r he shall pluck my

,
feet out O f the net he l oo ked d o wn to the cords with

,
which he was b o und while the pe ople with sobs r e

,
p eat ed the w o rds after hi m A t the cl o se o f

. the
’
S cript ure reading Hetzer o f fered the L ord s P rayer
, ,
c o ncluding his supplication with Through Jesus

1
Christ the S avi o ur of the world by his bl ood
,
As .
the headman approached he prayed that God would ,
”
not leave him God will not fo rsake th ee said one
.
,
w ho heard his prayer F or a moment only was the .
weakness of the flesh manifest as the color mo u nted

to his cheeks Then he knelt laid his head upon the
.
,
“
block and unt er r ified received the fatal stroke
,
A .
n obler and more m anful death says Joh n Zwick , ,
was never seen in Constance He su fl er ed with great .
er pr opriety than I had given h im credit f or They .
who kne w n o t that he was a heretic and an Anabap
t is t could have Observed n othi ng in him V ery many .
of the opposite party w h o were pres ent thought he

would have said so mething on account o f our doctrine
and against the preachers ; but no t a word W e .
were all with him t o his end and m ay the A lmighty " ,
the eternal God grant t o me and to the servants of

,
"I t
has b een aid that H et er r ej ect ed the a ton em en t o f Chri t
s z s
and w e a e r eferr ed to o ne o f his hymn s

r
Ja pri c ht die W lt e i t nicht n o th d a s i c h mit Chri s t o ly d e ;

s e ,
s s ,
s
Er litt d o ch elb fyr mi c h d en t o d n u n e ch i ch u f in k y d e

s s z s r ,
E r zalt fyr mich d a l b gl o u b i ch hi emit i t u sg i htet

se s s er c .
O Br u d er min "E is t in S byn d e Ty f el hat er d i c ht et

s e o ,
r s .
Referring t o th s e lin e F ii s l in ( K i chen a K t r hi t ri ) s ay

e s, s r . e ze s o e s
He p un i h es o nly the f l w ho c o nv ert C hri tian faith i n t o

s o o s, s
carnal s c u rity an d thin k Chri t has d o n e en ou gh f o th em and

e ,
s r ,
’
that th ey can liv e as th ey p l ea e s .

2 02 . TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N SW ITZ E RLAND .
A nd th is is all that John Zwick says on this point

“
The roo m was full of people w h o Sing psalm s the ,
wh ol e night through ; f o r he h imself soug ht as much '
as possible thereby to overcome some of his temp -
t at ions Hard hard conflicts did he have concerning

.
,
Reglingler and afterwar ds also on account O p pelen

,
.
He was not however In the least fantastical like

, , ,
”
many B aptists This is certainly a very Slight
.
foundation f or so grave a charge .
O n the other hand Hetz er s previous c h aracter is

’
not to be forg o tten U ntil within two years before

.
his death he was the trusted friend and companio n of ,
such men as Zwi ngli and O ecolampadius I n the .
letters of Capito to Zwingli written in S trasburg in ,
152 7 while Hetzer was living there and after he

, ,
became an A nabaptist there is no t even a hint of ,
Hetz er s impurity althoug h Capito bitterly a ssails

’
,
'
He tz er s views F urthermore Hetz er s writings ar e

’
.
,
’
a witness to the purity of h is character He loved .
the word of God and ever insisted upon loyalty to its

,
commandments I cannot but think therefore that

.
, ,
the Moravian Chronicle is right in saying that Hetzer

“
was condemned for the sake of divine truth as it
“
is certainly right in saying that he nobly bore
“
witness to divine trut h by his blood .
1
A Mar ty r ology of the Chu r c hes o
f Chr ist ,
i p
. . 101 .
CH AP T ER XI .
T HE WORK OF EX T ER MI NA TI ON C O M PLE T ED .
B LAURO C K who banished from Zurich at t h e

,
was
time of MantZ s execution we find early in 152 9 in
’
B asel where at a public discussion he with nine

, , , ,
other Anabaptists met O ecolampadius The latter

,
.
,
‘
at the o uts et endeavor ed to Show that fr o m the time
,
of Cyprian infant baptism had been practiced The .
A nabaptists replied that if we are to go to the Church

F athers f or our arguments in support of infant baptism ,
why not allow th e R omanists to do the same in sup

p ort O f the mass which P rotestants repudiate as
,
having no warrant in the S criptures O ecolampadius .
then asked where in the S criptures infant baptism is

forbidden The A nabaptists replied by asking
.
O eco lampadius to sh o w fr o m the S criptures that in

fant baptism was instituted for children The result .
of t he discussion was that both parties as usual , ,
claimed a victory Certainly the A nabaptists made

.
,
an impression upon many of the citizens some of ,
l
whom were baptized .
1
S tarck ,
Ges c hi c hte d er Ta uf e, s . 202 .
T h r e has
e been so m e disc u s i o n r ec ently in r efer nc e
s e t o the
2 04 TH E ANAB AP TI S T S I N SW ITZ ERLAND .
O ecolampadius dvise d th e Co u ncil not to no w a
allow these obstinate A nabaptists to remai n in the

city In accordance with this advice the Cou n cil
.
,
issued an edict A pril 1 in which it was ordered that ,
all adults who allow themselves to be rebaptized or ,
who teach A nabaptism and forbid infant baptism and ,
all th o se who do not intend to have their children

baptized and who give their support to the Anabap
,
t ist movemen t sh o uld from that time be arrested and

,
imprisoned an d kept on bread and w ater until th ey

,
were willing to retract their errors publicly I f this .
practic e of imm er si o n by the Anab apti sts of S wit erland Att en z .
ti o n ha alr ady b een dir ect ed to the i mm er si on early in 1525 of

s e , ,
Wo lfgan g Ulimann in the Rhin e a t Schaff hau s en and o f the co n ,
v r t s of S t Gall a f ew w eek s lat er I find n o furth er exampl es in

e .
,
.
the r e c o rd s Bu t the fac t that th e S enat e o f Z urich u b s e q u ently

. s
d c r eed ( Z wingli Op
e iii s 36 4) that any on e i mm er ing a
,
era , . . s
can di d ate in bapti s m— qui me se i t baptismo— shou ld be d r o wn ed r r ,
is a igni fic an t hint
s K e l er ( S bba ta i s 2 7 0) t ell u t hat at
. ss a ,
. s s
S t Gall the Anabapti t s had a Ta uf hau o bapti try S ic her

. s s, r s .
a R mani st y e witn ess (A x Ge chi chte d S ta dt S t Ga ll n ii s

o e -
r ,
s .
, . e , . .
5 0 1) s ay s The n u mb er o f th e c o nv ert ed [a t S t Gall ] incr ea ed . s
s o that the b apti try c o u ld n ot c o ntain the cr o wd and th ey w er e

s ,
c omp ell ed t o use the s tr eam s and the S itt er Riv er J o hn S tumpf
”
.
,
in hi Gem in L oblicher Eydgen os en ch f t who d u rin g the pe

’
s e er s s a , r
io d u nd er u rv y liv ed in th e vicinity o f Z u rich and w as familiar

s e ,
with the hi t ory o f the An abapti s t m o v em ent s ay s that g n er

s ,
e
all y the early Anabapti sts o f S wit erland w er e r ebapti ed in z

“
z
r v er s and s tr eam s
i
”
.
S ome of the banished at length returned and yet ,
severer measures were adopted by the magistrates .
Gas tius tells us that at Homberg a castle belonging to ,
the city of B asel some of the imprisoned B aptists

,
“
w ere kept A ll of them were immersed in a stream
.
by the guard three times in one day because they ,
despised the oat h tendered to them A lthough .
tortured they could not be constrained to leave the

,
country nor to renounce their opini o ns Often quoting

, ,
the words of th e P salmist Thou shalt dwell in the ,
’
land . O ne of t h em when about to be drowned by ,
the executioner in the m o u ntain t o rrent which crossed

t h e meadow addressed the minister of the c h u rch
,
who had been for many years his friend He ex .
hor ted him to give up his ecclesiastical benefic e for

never until then could h e sincerely preach the
, ,
go spel W hile the words were issuing from h is mouth

.
the prisoner was precipitated into the abyss of waters

‘
”
from the trunk of the tree on which h e sat bound .
1
B laurock seems to have made his way into the .
Canton of A ppenzell f o r A pril 16 1529 the Council , ,
addr es sed a letter to the C o uncil at Zurich asking 2
infor mation concerning him He had previously been .
ban i shed from the land it was said ; but he had ,
returned and resu med h is labors preach ing and ,
1
Ga tin
s s, dc Ana b E xor di o 2 10—2 14
.
,
.
Egli A ,
cten sa mmlung ,
s . 6 6 0, Nr . 1 558 .
WORK OF EX T ER MI NA TI ON C O M PLE T ED . 207
baptizing He was doubtless agai n banished for

.
,
not long after this he appeared in the Tyr ol ,
1
W here at Claussen in the same year he was burned , ,
at the stake and tested the truth of the w o rds of on e

,
o f his own hymns in which referring to the L o rd , , ,
he says
Wi e ann s el s t gelitt en hat
er d
‘
o ,
Al e am C eu t g hang en
s r r Z e ,
Al s o e j et t d en fr o mm e n gabt
s z ,
S i e l ei d en gr o en wang en
” 2
ss z .
In the R egensburg district north of Zurich the , ,
A nabaptists still sh owed some strength O ne of .
the officers of the district reported that his effo rts to

have the people attend church had not been attended
with much success The A nabaptists still refused .
’
to partake of the L ord s S upper i n the churches ,
“
urging as an excuse that they would thereby eat
”
damnation ; and at W att where their numbers see m ,
to have been the greatest now they secretly Observed ,
”3 ’
at E aster the L ord s S upper among themselves .
A pril 2 7 Gross Jacob John F eli x and Henry F rei

,
-
, , , ,
F elix S chwartz John W agner Conrad S tein and

, , ,
R ud olph S chmi d on acc o unt of their c o ntinual adhe

,
rence to the A nabaptist S ect before release from .
1
Co rn eli us Gesc hi c hte des
,
Miin ster ischen Auf r uhr s ,
ii . 8 . 59 .
2
Auss Bun d t ,
Li ed v . 25 s ta n a z .
3
E gli ,
Acten sa mmlu ng ,
s . 6 6 1, Nr . 15 6 0 .
prison under reprimand were fined a silver mark

for h olding private meetings not appearing at the ,
L ord s S upper at E aster and f o r disobedience of the

’
mandate in spite of repeated warnings Gross Jacob

— .
1
as the ringleader was fined two marks .
In A ppenzell the A nabaptists were still n u mer

ous espec ially in Teufe n A t a discussi o n which
,
.
was held at that place in O ctober 152 9 about four , ,
hundred A nabaptists were present but the r esult ,
seems not to have been satisfactory Zwingli thought .
that the magistrates in A ppenzell dealt too tenderl y

with the A nabaptists and sought through th e Coun ,
cil of Zurich to induce them to suppress t h e hated

sect January 10 1530 the m atter was presented
'
.
, ,
to the A ppenzell delegates who were present at the

D iet in Zurich .
2
B ut the A nabaptists in A ppenzell received a heavier

blow a little later W olfgang Ulimann who h ad .
,
united his fo rtunes with the A nabaptists in M o ravia ,
returned to his n ative land in order to in duce his ,
brethren in the fold to leave their moun tain h o mes

and go with him to a country where the means of lif e
were m o re abundant and w here they would be be ,
y o nd the reac h O f religious persecution They lis .
tened to his words and with hearts full O f hOpe many

,
1 Eg l i Acten amm lung 6 6 3 N 15 6 1

,
s , ,
r . .
2
Z l lw ger Ge chi c hte d Appenzelli ch n
e e ,
s . s e V o lkes ,
iii . S 1 83 , 18 4
. .
the flesh but of the will o f God F or as many as are

,
.
led of the S pirit they are the s o ns o f Go d A nd

, .
every go o d gift cometh d o wn from ab o ve from the ,
F ather o f lights N 0 man cometh u nto me except

.
’
the F ather draw him The se cret of God is co ncealed
.
,
like a treasure in the field which no man can find ,
unless the S pirit of th e L ord reveal it unto him So .

,
I beseech you ye servants of Go d to leave me free

, ,
” 1
i n the matter of faith Muller seems to h ave made
.
an attempt to escape from pris o n and having been ,
unsuccessful he excused himself to the magistrates in

these w ords : D ear friends be not surprised that I ,
attempted to break out f or necessity compelled me ,
thereto ”
This is the same man of wh om the bailiff
.
wrote in A ugust 1528 that he was a pious man

, , ,
A nabaptistically inclined ; and later that aside from

his A nabaptist views he was a fine pi o us fe ,
llow ”2
,
.
He was released early in 1 53 0 on his promise to r e

cognize infant b aptis m and attend a parish church .
In the distric t north of Zurich the work of per s ecu

tion still went on W hole families were thr o wn into
.
prison in order to destroy the nests of A nabaptism

, ,
as it was said ; and they were kept in prison until

they retracted and promised to attend the S tate
churches while their leader Conrad W inkler was
, , ,
1
Egli ,
Acten sa mmlu ng 6 94 , ,
Nr . 16 35 .
2
Egli D i e Z ii r i chcr Wi eder tciuf er 86 87
’
, ,
s .
, .
W ORK OF EX T ER MI NA TI ON C O M PLE T ED . 2 11
conde mned to die and was dr o wned January 2 0 , , ,
He was the fo urth martyr which the rec o rds

o f Zurich reveal B ernard W eesen w ho was a resi .
,
dent o f Zurich at this time and who fell at the battle ,
“
o f Cappel says that W inkler w as put to death
,
for
having rebaptized agains t express command so , ,
many pe ople that he did no t kn o w the number He .
leaped up struck his hands t o gether as if he rej o iced

'
at his death and immediately before he was thrust

under [water ] he sang with clear voice one or two
” 2
verses of a psalm .
A mong those who refused to retract was John

Br uppacher of Zumik o n He was at length sub .
j c oted to the rack and examined in reference to the

views of the A na baptists and also concerning their ,
leaders He s aid that he had never heard that A na

.
baptists teach that there sh o uld be no magistracy; or

that in case they should be successful they would ,
overthrow the same A t B asel he had not seen .
W in kler B laurock and o ther A nabaptists He had

, ,
.
th o ught and believed that preachers at present do no t

rightly declare the divine word F ebruary 9 it was .
,
ordered by the C o uncil that he should be kep t on
1 gli Die Z r i c h r W d t iuf

E 89 He had b en p ecially
'
,
u e e er c er , s . . e es
su cc ful in hi labo in Bad en nd Ba el see Egli Actens mm

ess s rs a s , ,
a
o
lu ng 6 9 1 ii N 16 3 1 6 9 5 N 16 5 7
, ,
. r .
, ,
r. .
F u sl n B y t iig iv
2 s i 121
,
e r e, . 8 . .
bread and water sick or well in the N ew Tower until

, ,
1
he reca nted .
A n added eff or t for the suppression of A nabaptists

was made by the Zurich Council March 2 6 1 53 0 , , .
“ ”
W e are determined said its members not to , ,
tolerate A nabaptists with in our borders There must .
”
be no fellowship with them whatever A nd i t was .
ordained that all the inhabitants O f the Canton and ,
all in any way allied with them especially all supe ,
rior and inferior Off i cers magistrates etc should , ,

.
,
seize the brethren wherever discovered and deliver

, ,
them to the Council t o be punished acc o rding to the ,
law by death Those who sh o uld aid them or abstain

.
,
fr om giving information concerning the m or from ,
arresting them should be punished accordi ng to

,
their deserts and without any favor for violating

, ,
the oath they had taken to sustain those in author

‘
2
i ty .
In B asel in t h e summer of 1530 a few renounced

,
,
,
A nabaptism under the press u re of persecution b u t

the many seem to have remained steadfast T h ose .
who were put to death only strength ened the faith

of the brethren F or one of the condemned O eco
.
,
lampadius beso u ght t h e clemency of the ju dges .
l Egli Aeten amm lung 6 9 6 N 1 642

s , ,
r . .
2
Bu l l ing er Rq o ma ti onsgeschi chte 1 l
28 7 , Eg i , Actensamm
‘
,
r ,
1 . s .
lung, 7 10 ,
Nr . 16 56 .
The work of extirpation still went o n In M arch .

,
1 5 3 2 several A nabaptists were brought to trial and

,
1
,
March 2 3 George K ar pfis and Hans Herz o g were

,
put to death by drowni ng the fifth and sixth and last ,
o f the Zurich martyrs

2
.
In s om e of the o ther Cantons A nabaptism still

fl o urished In A pril 1 53 1 there was a discussi o n
.
, ,
at B erne in which two A nabaptists participated o ne

, ,
of wh o m Phis ter maier , was at length ind uced to r e

,
cant In the following year the number O f the breth

.
ren in the Cantons of B e rne A ppenzell and S olo , ,
th u rn greatly increased and the severer m easures ,
which had been so successful in the Cant o n of Zurich

were with some modificatio ns enacted and enforced in
, ,
these Cantons A nabaptists were banished and if

.
,
they were afterward fo und within the Canton limits ,
they were dipped in water and at le ngth dr owned ,

.
B ut these severer measures for awhile as in the Can ,

~
t o n o f Zurich only increased the number of the A na

,
baptists Many who beheld their steadfastness in

.
persecution were convinced that there was that in

their religion which o thers did not possess and the
members of the Council of B ern e were at first in
d o ubt whether to Continue i n force the edicts aga i nst
1 Egli ,
Actensammlung 7 81 7 8 2 7 84
, , , ,
Nr .
2
Eg l i , D i e Z itr i cher Wi eder tdu f er s . 9 1, Actensammlu ng , 7 86 ,
Nr . 1 829 .
WORK OF Ex T E RMI NATI O N C O M PLE T ED . 2 15
the A nabaptists inasmuch as persecution i ncre as ed

,
rather than diminished the m embership of the hated

"
sect
In 153 2 a discussi o n w as held at Zoff i ngen in
,
A argau at which were present a large number o f

,
A nabaptists t o whom a saf e conduct was given

,
.
The more prominent o f t he o pp o nents o f the A na

baptists were B erthold Haller Casper Megander S e , ,
bastian O ec o n o mus and George S tahelin of the ,
A nabaptists Martin W eniger J ohn Ho tZ Michael

, , ,
O tt S imon L antz and Christian B r u gger The dis

, ,
.
c u ss io n
2
was c o ntinued fr o m the first to the ninth
of July but was fruitless in result except that it
, ,
was foll o wed by new edicts for the suppressi o n o f

3
A nabaptism .
These edicts as in all the Cant o ns were rigidly

, ,
enfo rce d and the A nabaptist churches rapidly dis

,
appeared A t times and here and there a v o ice

.
, ,
w a s heard pleading f o r liberty O f c o nscience Indeed .

,
in June 1 53 5 the ordained servants of the Church

,
at Zurich preachers readers and assembled past o rs

, , ,
of the land deemed it necessary to vindicate their

,
1
S tarc k ,
Ges chi cte d er Ta uf e, s . 21 7 .
2
ff a n d lu n
g O der a c ta eha ltner
g D isp u ta tio u nd Gesp ra c h zu
Z ofii ngen i nn B er n ner Di et mi t d en Wider taufl er n . Z iir ich Chr istof

,
f cl F r oscha u er ,
1532 .
3
B ulli nger , Der Wi ccler ta ufier n Ur sp r u ng ,
s . 15 .
2 16 TH E ANABAP TI S T S I N S W ITZ ERLAND .
position There are th ose they said who tel l

.
, ,
u s that th e magistrates ought not to punish in b o dy

or in estate those who mislead others or are misled ,
by o thers since first the apos tles did no t do so and , ,
sec o nd faith is the gift of God and it cannot be given

,
”
or taken away by force These points they combat .
c d concluding as foll o ws
,
“
L et those who will recant be pardoned Those .
w ho r elaps e sh o uld be punished as evil doers in ac

'
c or danc e with divin e secular and i mperial edicts , ,

.
The ed icts of the secular power in S witzerland have

already been n o ticed The imperial edict w h ich was .
,
enacted at the D iet of S pires was dated A pril 2 3 , ,
1 52 9 and was as fo llows

,
Therefore we decree that every A nabaptist and

rebaptized pers o n of whatever age or sex be pu t to, ,
death by sword or fir e or otherwise A ll preachers

, ,
.
and those who abet and c o n ceal them all who persist ,
in A nabaptism or relapse after retracti o n must be

, ,
put to death In no case must they be pardone d

. .
B ut the s upr ess io n of A nabaptism i n S witzerla nd

2
was due more to the loss of the leaders O f the
movement than to the multiplicatio n of such edicts ,
1 iii s 19 1—201
Fii sslin , Beytr age . . . .
What extra o r d inary m n these l ead er s m us t h av e bee n

2 “ e ,
s ay s Egli w e l earn esp ecially fr o m th eir fo ll o w er s o f w ho m

“
, ,
m any as H an s Mull er of Medik o n p o sess ed m o r e than

, ,
s
u u a l gift s
s Di Z ii i ch r Wi ed r tauf
. e S 92
r e e er , . .
CH AP T ER X II .
C ON C L U S I O N .
WE have thus reviewed the history of the develop

ment and decline of A nabaptism in S witzerland It .
had its origin as we h ave see n in the general

, ,
m o vement f or reform of which Zwingli was the

,
recognized leader .His cauti ou s conservatism ,
manifested at an early stage of the movement was ,
an ab o mination to his radical associates who hav , ,
ing adopted the principle that the S criptures are of

supreme auth o rity in matters O f faith and practice ,
turned c o ntinually to the sacred word for divine

direction with the desire to know and do th e will of
,
God They ac cor dindly refused at the word of

.
,
Zwi ngli or of the magistrates either to halt or , ,
even t o move more sl owly and pressed on as if

,
“
guided by a heav enly voice sayi ng : This is the
,
way walk ye in it
,
They were no t perfect men
.
,
it is true They had the faults of radicals generally

. .
They insisted ofte ntimes in making haste when haste

was not necessary S ome of them were not free from
.
2 18
C ON C LUS I ON . 2 19
l
d o ctrinal err ors A few were fanatical in spirit and
.
,
were guilty of wild excesses It is to be remembered .

,
h o wever that all who were Opposed to the S tate

,
Church were classed with the A nabaptists and

? “
that as C orneli us says A ll these excesses were
condemned and opp o sed whenever a large assembly
of the brethren aff o rded an opportunity to give ex
pression to the religious consciousness of the B aptist
membership Th us when it was fo und there were
.
,
some who aff i rmed that there is such a thing as the

freed o m of the flesh as well as O f the spir it the brethren ,
assembled in conference at S chleitheim in the S chaff ,
h a u sen district F ebruary 2 4 152 7 reminded them

, , ,
that th o se only are Christians w ho have crucified the

flesh with its lusts ; and admonished the scattered
children of the light everywhere to exclude the u n
worthy and to prevent the entrance O f false brethren
,
into the chur ches In fact it was the purity and

‘
.
,
piety of the A nabaptists that aided greatly in the

rapid spread O f th eir doctrines B ulli nger records .
1
pr efa c e to v ol ii of hi Beyt ge Fu sl n ay s : Th er e
I n the . . s ra ,
s i s
w as a gr e at di ff er en c e b etw ee n Anabapti ts and Anabapti t s s s .
Th er e w er e t hos e am o ng t he m w ho held s trang e d ctrin es bu t o ,
thi cann o t be s aid o f the w hol e s ect I f w e sh o u ld attrib ut e to

s .
e v e ry s ect wha t ev r ens el d o ctrin es tw o t hr ee fan c ifu l

e s es s o r
f ll o w s hav e tau ght th r e is n o t o n e in the w orld to whi c h w e

e ,
e
c ou ld n o t a crib e the m os t ab ominab l e err or s

s
2
Geschi c ht D s Mii n teris chen Auf r u hr s 1 s 6 7
e e s ,
1 ,
. .
this testimony as the general verdict of the pi o us

am o ng the common people O ne may say what
he will O f the B aptists I see nothing in them but
.
earnestness and I hear nothing o f them except that

,
they will not take an oath will not do any wrong and
, ,
aim t o treat every man j ustly In this it seems to .
” 1
me there is n o thing out of the w av
,
A nd yet .
these were the men and women who were driven fro m
their happy homes to wander in the fields and fo rests
as sheep with o ut a shepherd or were thrown in t o ,
foul dungeons and there left to endure the gnawings

,
o f hunger and the pains of a lingering imprisonment ,
or were led from prison to death as martyrs for the

truth Their memory should be dear to u s and we
.
,
should give them the place they deserve among

those who have suff ered for conscience sake ’
.
Y et he would greatl y err who should suppose that

the A nabaptist movement in S witzerland was a f ailure .
A s E gli says 2
A nabaptis m apparently su ff ered
defeat but in fact it accomplished much
,
A nd he .
adds I t was fr o m the beginning a ferment in the

development of Church and S t ate and in U nterland ,
[the district between Zurich and the R hine ] through

t he eff orts for an improvement i n discipline and
morals led to the m ost imp o rtant results E ven

,
.
1 Der Wi eder ta ufler en Ur spr u ng s,

. 10 .
2
Die Zitri cher Wi ed er td u f er s 9 3
. .
all things not c o ntrary to the law of Go d it has no ,
right to s e t aside the dictates of conscience and com ,
pel the humblest ind ividual to surrender his religious

views or to i nflict p unishment in case such surrender
,
is refused E very human soul is directly bound to

.
its Go d O ne man shares equal rights with every

.
other .
A ll o f these principles are accepted by the B aptist

churches to day B ut they have Obtained a wider
-
.
recogniti o n In churches whose creed still solemnly

.
inculcates infant bap t ism we find that this fruitful

,
source O f evil from the third century is alm o st wholly

ignored At the present time als o other than B ap
.
, ,
ti et churches insist upon a regenerated church mem

hership the independence of the churches religious
, ,
liberty and the separatio n of Church and S tate I n

, .
so far succe e ding ages have j ustified the principles O f

,
the S wiss A nabaptists and i t can hardly be d o ubted

,
that the ages that shall fo ll o w will j ustify yet others .
Certainly not in vain did the A nabaptists O f S wit

,
z er land adopt these principles and sacrifice so much

,
in maintaining them .
T HE END .
I ND E X .
AL ZO G U niv er al C h u r ch His
,
s so me call ed n ev er pra o
so
t ry qu o t d 26
o ,
e ,
t is ed Ana b apti m 10 s ,
App en l l add ed t o the C o n

ze ,
s o u rc o f inf rmati o n o n 1 1
es o ,
fed erati n 18 s ta tem e nt o f the G ii ni n en

o , g r ,
Anabapti t in 1 19 s s ,
1 7 8 18 1 -
p er ecu ti n of A nabapti ts
s o s ppr essi o n in the Gr u nin
su
in 208 , g n di s trict o f the 209
e ,
Anabapti m di s cu ss ed at Z uric h
s , ,
Arb o n C a s tl e o f Gall us at 20
, , ,
106
fir t r ef r enc e t o An abap BAS EL add ed t o the Co nf ede
s e
t i m in c o nn c ti o n with
s rati o n 18 e .
the r efo rm m o v e m ent in Anabapti s ts impri o n ed and s
S w it erland 9 9 z
put t o d e at h in 190
, ,
pr ohibit ed in the Gr unin e dict s again s t the An bap a ~
g n dei trict 1 4 4 —14 6 s t is t in

, 1 9 0 2 04 s , ,
pr ohibit ed u nd er p enalty of Univ er ity at 2 1 s ,
d eath 16 4 , Bau r Barth o l om ew 4 9 8 5 , , ,
rapid spr ead of 100 Bec k Dr Marx 159 n o t e , ,

.
,
.
Anabapti t s at t itu d e t o ward

s , Bell arm n C ardinal o n C or s i , ,
the Papac 10 7 r upti on in the Church 25 ,
charact er 0 the Anabap Be genhaus Dr 5 2 r ,

. .
ti t at C hu r 13 3
s s Be rg er Ge o rg e 13 1 , , ,
did th ey practic e imm er Be Dr Lu dwig 23 r, .

,
s i o n ? 203 n t e Bern e Anabapt s t s in 188

,
o ,
i ,
fl ig ht fr om Wald shut of the ins th e C o nfed rati o n 1 8 e ,
15 2 Bi b l e ign ranc o f in S wit er ,

o e ,
z
Fii l in o n th e 109
’
ss land 28 , ,
r eat activity o f the 13 1 Blanch e Dr Martin 5 2 58 6 0

g , , .
, , ,
i mpri o n d at Z o llik o n 1 0 1
s Bl aurer Ambr os e 1 9 7
e , , ,
l ett er o f pri on er to the Blaurer Th o mas his acc ou nt of

s s , ,
br ethr n 106 Ludwi g Her t la st mo

” ’
e ,
ze r s
l oss of l ead er s 2 16 m ents 19 7 200

, , ,
n am e how appli d 1 1
, Bla u r o ck Geo rg e 9 5 e , , ,
Pea ant W n o t partici arr est ed at Hinw yl 13 7

’
s s ar .
pat ed in by 1 10 arr e t ed at Z o l li k o n 10 1
,
s ,
p er e c u t d in Ba el 19 0
s e c en u r Z wingli 102 s ,
s es ,
p er ec u ted in Z urich 10 7
s cr u lly b at en at Z urich , ,
e e
1 43 and bani h ed 1 7 5 s ,
p er ec uti o n incr ea sed the

s di s c u es infant bapti m ss s
n umb er s of 2 14 with O col mpadius at

,
e a
p olitical d esign s of 102 Ba el 203 ,

s ,
2 24 I NDE x .
d i s cu s s i o n s with Z wingli l ett er to Z wi n gli c o nc erni n g

an d L e o Ju d 1 6 1 ,
Mantz s martyrd o m 1 7 2 ’
, ,
in c hain at Z ur i ch 14 0 s . 17 3
martyrd o m of 20 7 ,
pr f o r at Ba l 2 3 4 1
o ess se , ,
o rat o ri c al gift and e al o f 9 6 s z ,

n ote
r efu es to r n ounc e Ana
s e C arl tadt 84 8 7 9 0
s , , ,
bapti m 106 1 15 s , ,
banish ed fr o m O rlam u nd e ,
u nd er ent en c e 1 4 2 s ,
91
Bl i D
ss , G R r lib rari an o f
. . .
,
his t s 91ract ,
C r o er Th l o gical S emi
z eo C as telber g A e 85 8 7 95 ndr w , , ,
nary 14 ,
banished o Z u ch 9 7 fr m ri ,
Bo d n s t ein Andr w Ru d olp h

e ,
e . C atr o u hi s His to r y of An a bap
,
S ee C arl tadt s . ti s i s i n Ger m a ny, Ho l

Boo ks arly p u bli hed i n B
,
e ,
s a la n d a n d E ngla n d 9 ,
sel , 24 C ell arius M n 92

,
arti ,
Bosshart 12 9
,
Marx ,
C epor inu s ( o , Wi es endan
Jac b
arr t d
es e 130 , g e r) 7 5 ,
Brennw ald K 16 1 ,
arl ,
l mban driv n fr m c n
Co u e ,
o the ou
B richt r J n
e , oh 13 1 ,
try 20 ,
BrOdli ( o r BrOdl ein ) J hn 88 ,

o ,
fir t hri tian mi i n
the s C s ss o
at
the s c u ss o di i n at Z olli S
ary in witz rland e 19 ,
k on 9 4 9 5 , ,
nf d ra i n
Co e e t o c nfirm d in
the o e .
,
banis h ed fr o m Z urich 9 7 ,
13 18 1 7 ,
lab or s at H allau 113 115 enact a statu t e f rbidding , ,

s o
l ett er s to the br ethr en at fo r e ign pri e t to r emain s s
Z l l i k o n 11 3 1 1 4
o in th c ou ntry 4 3
, ,
e ,
martyrd om of 1 15 n o t e m o tto of 1 8 , ,
Br ubbac h J o h n 1 00 ,
war w ith Emp er o r Ma x i
,
Br u gg er C hri tian 215

, s milia n 18 , ,
B uppache J o hn s u bj ect ed t o C o n tanc e Bi sho p o f S ee L an

r r, ,
s , .
the rac k 2 1 1 d enbu g Hu go

,
r ,
Bu bik o n p e a ant atta c k C l i

, C o n to blik s Andr o nic u s Gr eek
s s o s a , ,
t er at 129 s ,
pr o fes o r at Ba e] 2 1 s s ,
Bu e 41 n o t
c r, ,
C o rn el i u on the Anabapti t s
e s, s ,
Bulling er H enry r e i t s Be
,
219 ,
s s r
nard S am n at Br em on K s s e nb
so ick w o r k 9 er ro
’
s ,
g art n 3 7 e Gra u x J ohn o f the abb o t 2 9

, , , ,
Bullin ger the hi s t orian 2 8

.
,
o n a di c u ss i o n at Z u ric h N K J ohn 11 8 1 82
s
D E , , , ,
19 6 all eg d r etracti o n of 185 e , ,
o n the Anabapti t s 219 187 s ,
d e ath of 1 8 7 ,
en gag e d at Wo rm in tran s s
C A N TO N S t he F ou r F
,
o r es t latin g th e p o h e ti cal ,
r
17 b o ok of the 0 1 Test a s
C apit o a ss ail s Het e s vi ew s m ent 183 ’

,
z r , ,
bu t no t hi c haract er 2 02 l ett er to and di sc u si o n s

s , ,
s
l ett er o n the pr gr e s o f with O ecolampadius in o s ,
r eformati o n prin c ipl e 4 2 Ba sel 185 s, ,

226 I NDE x .
Gr eb el p o ld 44 n t e
,
L eo , ,
o H ind ermann 1 82 ,
Gr eb el Martha wife o f V adian

, , ,
Hinw yl an im po rtant An abap
,
44 n te n o te
,
o ,
tis t c n tr ee 13 0 ,
Gr s Jac o b 1 3 2 181
os , , ,
Ho chr utiner , 7 1 1 04 ,
impri o n ed an d fin ed 20 7 s ,
H o fmei s t er Dr S eb a s tian , .
,
5 1,
Gr o man C a par 2 7 n o t e
ss ,
s , ,
57 104 153
, ,
Gr uning en Di tri c t additi o nal s ,

H o tting e , E z be
r li a th 1 6 1 , 16 2 ,
edict s again t the An s a H o tting e , or Jac b

10 6 ,
b apti t 19 3 s s, H o tting e , o r J hn
,
16 1
An a b apti s t u ppr ed 2 09 s s ess ,
H o tting e , M r argar t
e , 142 16 1 , ,
mandat e of the Z urich 16 2

C o un c il c o nc erning A na H o tting r ic l
e , N ho as 4 9 , 85 9 4 , ,
bapti m to th inh bi s e a d tr y gr at cr
es o s e at
o ss Zu
tants o f th 14 4 14 6 e, — ri h c 65 ,
s tat m ent o f the Gr uning en

e bani d fr m ri
she o Z u ch 7 1 ,
Ana b a pti t 1 7 8—1 80 s s, tri l and x c ti n

a e e u o o f , 7 2,
Gy n o an Pe t er l e tt er o f Z win
r s, ,
n ot e
gli to 154 ,
H o tting er Ru d olp h 1 6 1 , ,
H tting er Ruo ts h 106

o c
H bapti d at 115
, ,
AL L AU an e ntir e c h urc h
,
H o tting er Uli 1 6 1 , ,
ze ,
H o tz J ohn 2 15
, ,
H all er Bernard his l tt er to

, ,
e Hubmeier Dr Baltha s ar b o rn ,
.
,
Z wing l i c o nc ernin g tithes at F ri edb ur n ear Au g s

g ,
and r nt s 6 2 e ,
b urg 6 7 ,
l ett er to Z wingli 18 7 ,
at 2 n d Z uric h Di c u ss i o n s ,
H all er Berth o l d
, pa t o r in ,
s 69
Bern e 12 2 2 15 , ,
b aptis m o f 112 ,
H all er J hn 50 ,
o ,
circ um tanc e of s s his r ecan
Hedio 41 ,
t ation , 1 55 , 1 56 ,
1 58
H ergart en 16 2 ,
no e t
H er zo g H an s , ,
his martyrd om ,
Con cer n i ng Her eti cs a trac t ,
2 14 b y 81 ,
H er etic w r Z urich 1 6 5 n o t e
To e , ,
Co ncer ning the Chr isti a n
H e tz er dwig at 2 nd Z urich
,
Lu ,
Bap ti sm o f Beli ever s, a
Di c u i o n 6 9 n t e
s ss , ,
o tract by 12 2 ,
bani h ed fr o m Z uri c h 9 7
s ,
di c u s i o n with O ecol ampa
s s
c o nn ect him s elf ful l y with s din s o n infant baptism ,
the Ana bapti t 19 5 s s, 13 4—1 3 6

impri so n ed at C on tanc e s ,
driv en fr o m Wald shu t he
19 6 s eek s as yl u m in S c ha ff
lit erary lab or s in Basel and ha u e n 7 8 7 9 s , ,
Z u rich 19 4 ,
e tabli sh s
s an Anab apti t e s
martyr d eath of 19 7 —201 ,

C h u r c h at Nicholsburg ,
tract again t imag es by 6 4 s , ,

159 n o t e ,
65 fl ight fr o m Wald h ut to s
tran lati on of Bugenhagen s

s
’
Z u rich wh er he is ar ,
e
c mm nt ry b 9 5 o e a r e t ed 152 15 3
s , ,
trial and all eg e crim e of ,

l ett er to O ecolampadiu o n s
t he o rdinanc es 9 5 ,
I NDEX . 227
l ett er on i n fant bapti m s K e im ,

on Lu dwig H t e z er s
’
tria l
1 12 19 7
martyrd o m of 1 59 n t e , ,
o K il chm ey er ,
J t 2 7 n te
os , ,
o
mart rd m o f the wife o f

y o K r us i Han s
, ,
pa to r at Teu fl
s en
159 n o t e ,
1 19
n o bl app al to the Cou ncil
e e his o martyrd m
12 0 ,
by ,
80 K ers enbr o c k his His to y of the ,
r
o r cr a n i z e s a church nd a An a bap tis ts of Mu nste , 9 r
hapt e m o r e than 3 00
,
iz s
b l i v r at Wa l d h u t
e e e s s ,
1 13
LA K E ofthe F ou r F o r es t Can
r t u r n t Wald h u t and
e s o s t o ns , 1 8
c ha ll n g Eek t o a d e es is L and e n b rg H u g o Bi e , ,
sho p of
c u ss io n , 82 C n s tanc 26 2 7 o e, , ,
36
The S u m of a P erf e ct C hr i s La n dgrav e P h ili p o f H ,
ess e , 16 6
ti a n L if e ,
a tra c t by ,
12 3 L an gen m ant el 1 9 9 ,
—12 7 L n z S
a t im n ,
o 2 15 ,
tra c t in r eply t o Z wingli ’

s p ld
L eo o tria d f at
o f A us e e of 17 , ,
w or k o n bapti m 14 7 s , L n ,
M
i g artin 14 2 ,
1 52 nf d rati n
Lu c er n e jo ins the Co e e o ,
tr atm ent of at Z u r i c h 154
e , 17
Tw l Ar ti c l f F
e ve i th by es o a , t r d ctrinal principl
Lu he o , es o f ,
15 7 50
writi n g s and c harac ter of , ho w e r gard d bye the S ss wi
16 0 n t e ,
o Evang lical
e s 82 ,
Hu iu f H a n 8 8 ,
s, el
r ati n o s t o Mii n z er o f 83 ,
Hu t ,
19 9 c
tra t agai t n s Mii nz er 87 by ,
tract ind lg nc
on u e es ,
39 by
IMA G E -
BRE AK ERS , at Zu
65 ri c h ,
I meli J ac o b 136
I e l Ed c
mp ria
,
.
i t again t the An a
,
s
MAC RI NUS 4 9
Ma nt z Anna 1 6 2
,
, ,
i s s 2 16
bapt t , Mant z F e l ix 7 5 85 9 5
, , , ,
I en c es , Lu
nd lg th r tra c t o n arr es t ed at C h u r and impr i
’
u e s ,
39 s o n ed at Z u ri c h 132 1 3 3 , , ,
s al e of , by Be rnard S am 140
s on , 34 arr t d at Z ol lik o n 101
es e ,
I nfant b apti m a c ivil ordinanc s e lab r in Ba l 16 3 o s se ,
in Z u rich 9 9 , la t exh o rtati o n t o the bre

s s
thr en 16 8—1 7 2 ,
JE TZE R J hn ubject of a
,
o ,
s martyrd m o f 1 7 2 o ,
pr t end d mirac l 3 1
e e e, r e arr es t d
-
n d c o nd emn e d e a
Ju d ,
L 2 7 n ot 5 7 6 4 n o t e
eo , ,
e, , , ,
t d e ath 1 6 8 o ,
1 06 ,
153 1 6 1 ,
r efu e t r n ou n c e Ana
s s o e
J ul i u s II .
,
Po e, 3 1 p b apti m 1 06 1 15 s , ,
s t a d fa t n
e f 1 6 0 16 1 s es s o , ,
AL C H Jac o b 16 2 u n d r e nt n c e 142
K , ,
e s e ,
K arpfis G eo r g e his , ,
martyr vi ew c n c erning the m a
s o
d o m 2 14 , gis t r ac , 102 , 1 6 6
y
2 28 I NDEX .
Marb ec k Pi l gram 1 16
, ,
di s c us es infant bapti sms
Maximilian Emp er o r ,
war ,
his with Bl au r o c k 203 ,
with the C o nfed erati o n ,

di cu s i n o n i n fant bapti m
s s o s
18 , 4 5 wi th Hubm i e 133 —1 3 6 e r,
Megan der C aspar 9 4 154 2 15, , , , hi w o r k s tran l at ed by

s s
Mel an c hth o n o n Mii n z er 83 , ,

Lu dwig H et r 19 4 ze ,
Merc enari es 24 ,
k ind l y r e c iv H et r 19 4 e es ze ,
Me t z l er ,
19 8 l tt r fr o m Hubm ier 15
e e e , ,
Miracl e a pr et end ed at Bern e

, ,
11 2
3 0—3 3 O ec o n o m u s S eba s tian 2 15 , ,
Mo nk s b u rn ed
a fal e m i ra f or s O s g o o d Dr H o ward o blig a
,
.
,
cl e 3 3 ( e pri ,
ts ) se es ti o n s of a u th o r to 14 ,
th ir imm o rality r eb u k ed
e o n faci l iti es f o r imm er s i o n
by a c ivil o r dinanc e 2 9 ,
at S t Gall 1 1 7 .
,
Mo rgart en batt l e f 1 7 ,
o ,
o n i m m er s i o n at S t Gall .
Mii ll e H an 13 1
r, s, 117 n ote ,
Mii ll e J ohn the abb t 29

r, ,
o ,
r eply to Dr J P Th om s o n . . .
Mii ll e
r, J hn ( o H an ) o f o r s ,
10
Medik on ,
2 09 ,
2 10 , 2 16 O tt Micha el 215
, ,
no e t
Mu n z er ,
h oma 83
T PE A S A N T Ss, W A R ca u es o f
’
,
s
a ff iliat e wi th the Z wicka u s 6 1 sq .
p O ph e t
r 8 4 n o t
s, ngag e d in by th e A n a e
a u th r pr o bably o f the
o , bapti s t 1 10 , s,
Tw l e A ti cl 89 Z imm erman s hi s t o ry of ’ “
e v r es , ,
hi aim
s c ial and p olitical
s so 6 1 n ote ,
chi efl y 89 P lt H a n s 8 3
,
e , ,
m eet O ol mpadiu 8 9
s Pfi te Ul ri c h 2 7 n t e
ec a s, s r, ,
o
Mel an c hth o n o n 8 3 Phis t m i e 2 14 , er a r,
o rd e r d t o l eav e Mu hlhau
e Planta o n the r e u lt o f the ,
s s
se n 88 , Ref r m ati o n in S wit e r o z
pr c ded Lu th r as a r e
e e land 21 7 n o t e e , ,
fo rm er 83 P lt , S Eb li H ipp o lyt u s o . ee er ,
r efo rmi n g w o r k o f 84 Pri est il l it eracy f 28 , s, o ,
My co niu 4 8 1 06 150
s, ,
imm o ra l it y f 26 29,
o , ,
marri ed 2 7 ( ee m onk s ) ,
s
N 29 3 0
U N S faithl e
,
and imm o ral
F M
ss
,
R E O R A T IO N th e i nfl u , ,
N u r e mb rg 25 53
e , e n c s pr e parat o ry to
,
21 e , ,
34
O C K E N F U SS A gtl i 1 6 2 , ,
r esu l t s of , in S wit erland z ,
O ck en f u ss H an s 85 , ,
n te 2 16 ,
o
O ck enf uss J o hn 1 6 1 , ,
Regel An na 1 9 6 , ,
O ecolampa diu s 5 1 8 9 , ,
Reg el Ge rg 196 ,
o e,
advi ses the Co un cil at Ba s el Re in An d r w 9 5,

e ,
t o pr o c e e d a g ain s t the R in H ei n i 16 2
e , ,
Anabapti s t s 2 04 ,
Reubl in William a ail the , ,
ss s
b es eech es the cl em ency o f paym ent f tith 6 1 63 o es , ,
the j u d ge s 212 ,
bani sh ed fr o m Zu rich 9 7 ,
2 30 I NDEx .
martyrd o m of , at Wald see Z ollik on , , Anabapti s t s impri on s ~
209 ed at 101 ,
Unt erwald en l eagu d with Sch Zug j oin s , nfed erati on 18 e the C o ,
w y t and U i 1 7 Z u ri c h An abapti t s or ely per

z r , , s s
Ur i , l eagu e d with S hw ytz and c ou t ed 209 c s ,
Unt erwa l d en 1 7 di c u i o n o n infan t bap ,

s ss
t ism , 1 3 7 —14 1
AD I A N S ee Watt Dr J v on fir t di cu i o n at 51
V .
,
. . s s ss ,
V a l ai s ign o ranc e o f the

,
cl ergy imag e br ok n 6 5 s e ,
in ,
23 infant bapti sm p ublicl y dis
V o nw il er , Winbr ot ,
16 2 c u ed 9 4 95 ss , ,
j o in the Co nfed erati o n 18

s ,
W Wald ee mart rd o m s at 209

AGN ER Jac o b 55
s
, ,
mandat o f the Cou ncil
pr hibiting Anabapti sm
o
es
y , , ,
Wald hu t Anabapti t su cc ess

s ,
s s
’
14 4— 1 4 6
in 1 1 1—1 13 ,
rd er r b uk in g the imm o o e
app eal s f or help in d efen s e r al i t o f the m onk 2 9 s,

y
o f the tr u th 8 1 rai e an arm ed fo rc e f o r ,
s s
fall s int o the hand of Aus the a i tanc e o f Chri s tian s ss s
tria 152 ,
br ethr en at Wald h u t 82 s ,
Watt Dr J o a chim v on ( V a
,
. r ep l s th Mo n k Bernard ,
e e
dian) 45 S am n 3 8
,
so ,
writ es t o Gr eb el 9 3 the C o u n c il r qu ir es ar nts ,

e e
o pp o ses the Anabapti sts t o hav e th eir c ildr en ,
12 7 bapti ed u nd er p enalty of z
mss at S t Gall 88
. ba ni shm ent 9 7.
, ,
Weesen Bernard o n the mar

,
S ec o nd Di s c u i o n 6 7 ,
ss ,
ty r dom o f Winkl er 2 11 Z wic k J hn hi acc ou n t o f , ,

o ,
s
Wei s Bernard 50 n o t e
s Lu d wig Het e s la s t mo
, ,
z r
’
Wenig r Martin 2 15
e ,
m ent 19 8 200 201 ,
s, , ,
We t erb u rg D Gerhard 9 1
s Z wingli a t each er at Ba sel 2 3
,
r .
, , ,
Whitn ey Pr o f W D o n a,
at the F ir t Z uri ch Di s cus
. . .
,
s
q u esti o n o f tran slati o n si on 51 q , ,

s .
1 05 d efen ds infant bapti m 122 s ,
Wiesen dan ger Jac b ( Oep ori d en oun c es the sal e of indul
,
o
nu s ) , 75 g en c es , 35
Winkl er C o nrad his martyr
, ,
di s cussi o n with Blau r o ck ,
d o m 2 10 . 16 1
Wiss enbu r ger Wolfgang 1 3 6 , , gr o wing br e ach b etw ee n
Witt enbach Tho ma s th eo l o gi , ,
Z wingli and the radical s ,
cal pr o fess o r at Ba sel 22 , 7 5 sq .
has an int ervi ew with Hub

ZE L L ER, Jac ob magistrat e , ,
m i e r 153 e ,
19 6 k ill ed at the battl e o f C ap

Z imm ermann ,
e xtrac t fr om his peL 2 12
Gen er a l Hi story of the l e ctu r es on Matt hew s ’
Gos
Gr ea t Peasan ts Wa r pel 40
’
,
6 1, ,
n ot e l tt r a i ng p ermi s i o n
e e sk s f or
Zofingen di s c uss i o n at
, ,
2 14 pri es ts to marry 26 ,
I NDEX . 23 1
l ett e r to P e t er Gy no rans , tract d n oun c ing the radical s

e
154 by 9 3 1 06
, ,
princip l e o f d octrin e and tract o n the Ma ss -

Ca n on
practic e 50 ,
by 6 6
,
p u b l ic di c u i o n of infant
s ss tran f rr ed fr o m Ein ideln
s e s
bapti m in Z uri c h 13 7
s ,
t o Zu rich 3 8 ,
14 1 V i w o f infant bapti m by
e s ,
r ep l y to Hubmeier s ’
tract 76 97
,
Co n c e n ing the Ch is ti a n
r r V om To uf Wid er touf
, ,
und
Bap tism of Beli eve s 140 r ,

K in der touf by 12 1 ,
s cke
tri n wit h “
the e gr at
d ath
e ,
41

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H I S T O RY

AME RIC AN BAP T IS T PUBL I C AT I O N S O C I ET Y,

gre at c hart o f Eu r o p e an hi s to ry But in s o m e r es p e c ts th ey

a e m o r e i n t e r es tin g than the r e v o l u ti o n s o f mig hty ki n gd o m s

N o whe r e b es id e s d o w e ﬁnd s o ma n y titl e s t o o ur s ympathy o ,

the u ni o n o f s o m u ch virt ue with so c o mpl e t e s u c c e s s .

H allam Mi d dle Ages 1 08

U n s tr e itig v erdi en en die K a mp f e we lch e die Z u ric her Wie

d e rt au f e r z ur Re f o rmati o n s eit v eranla s s t hab en a u c h h eu t e

S ie n s ic h ein kl ein e s Ha u ﬂ ein de gan en fe in dl ich en

Welt g e g e n u b er ab e r in de Z u v e r s ic ht die Wahrhe it u be

r en ihr e Au s s icht a u f A n g s t u n d No th d u rch d en H inblick a u f

C hri s t u s un d die Ap o s t el die a uf d e m s elb e n W eg de L e id e n

ihn en u H errlichk e it v o rang e gan ge n

— C o rn eli u s Ges c hi c hte d es Mu ns ter i s chen Au r uhr s 5 ii 2 4

To o littl e atte n ti o n has b ee n given to the Anabapti st s o f the

a hi s t ory o f the Re fo rm ati o n in Germany prepare d by D E ck , r.

or any o the r o f Lu th er s o pp o n e nt s ; but w o rk s c o nc e rning the

Anabapti sts w ritt e n by the ir bitt er es t e n e mi e s a e r e c e iv e d by

write r s o f alm o s t ev ery nam e as tru s tw o rthy hi s t o ry Bo oks o f .

thi s charact er a e cit e d as a uth oriti es in Anabapti s t hi st o ry In

his As to Rog er Wi lli a m s D De xt e r cit e s a n u mb e r o f w o rk s

fr o m which as he t ell s u s the e arly s ettl ers o f New England de

riv e d their pr ej udic e again s t the Anabapti st s ; and he add s f o r

the b e n e ﬁt o f his r e ad e r s that if o n e w o u ld c mp l ete his kn o w

l dg e o f the s ubj e ct he wou ld do w ell t o c o n s ult the f oll owi n g

w o rks C t o u s Histoi e d es Ana bap tis tes ta nt en Al lemagne

Holl a nde gu Angleter r e e tc P ari s 1 6 1 5 J Gas tiu s s De

An a bap tis mi ex or di o, er r or ibu s , hi stor i is a bo mi n a n d is , c o nf i da

ti s ti c i , koc es t, His tor i a u n i ver s a li s d e A na bap tis ta r u m or ig i ne,

p r og r essa , f a eti oni bu s , et s chis ma tis, et c , . Ba s il e m, 1 6 7 2 ; and

f ul r evi ew o f the la s t o f th es e w o rk s s ays t hat K e r s s e nbr o c k ,

k n o w s o nly what is e vi l o f the Anabapti s t s and o nly what is ,

g oo d o f their o pp o n ents ; whil e o f the o the r wo rk s that D

De x te r m e nti o n s it s ho uld be s aid that th ey we r e all wr itt e n by

the o pp o n e nt s o f the Anabapti s t s and c o u ld be o f littl e u se t o

An ill u s trati o n o f the way in whic h m en a e mi sl e d by th es e r

t u ry had m o s t o f the chara ct e ri s tic f e at u r es o f Mo rm o ni s m .

T hey claim e d to be in s pir e d ; th ey r e fu se d to a ckn o wl e dg e the

Mo u nt Z i o n th ey c o ll e cte d tith es and practic e d p olygamy D ”

H oward O s go o d at o n c e c all e d D T ho mp s o n s atte nti o n to the

e rr o r s int o which he ha d f all e n in thi s s tat e m e nt s ayi n g :

n ot o nly q u e s ti o n bu t d e ny and a s k f o s o m e plain and u nim

each able pr o o f t h at t he A nabapti s t s o f the Re f o rmati o n e v e r

claim e d to be in spire d b eyo nd that ill u minati o n o f the S pi r it n o w

l c te d tith e s ; that th ey e v e r practic e d p o lyga m y o c o mm u nity

o f wiv es I t is s u fﬁci e n t to s ay that D T h o mp s o n n e v e r f u

n is he d the plain and u nimp e ac habl e pr o o f f o r w hic h Dr O s g o o d .

I t s h o uld al s o b e r e m e mb e r e d that o f th o s e w ho at the tim e o f

the R o e f rmati o n w e r e ca l l e d — and by many a re s till call e d

w hi l e the d o ctrinal vi ews whic h w e r e r e pr es e nt e d am o ng t he m

1 Di e G es chi chtsq uellen d B i s thums

o th e r w o rd s the t e rm A nabapti s t w a s c o nt e mpt u o u s ly b es t o w e d

o n all t ho s e w ho w e r e o pp o s e d t o the u ni o n o f C h u rch a n d S tat e

and w ho c o ns ci en ti o sly r e main e d o uts id e o f the s tate ch urc hes

T o the hi s t o ry o f the Anabapti s t s o f S w it erla n d as littl e att e n z

ti o n has b e en given as to that o f the Anabapti s ts g en e rally ; and

in the gre at m ove m e nt which as Do rn e r s ays e xte nd e d , ,

the Rhi n e t o H o l l and n d F ri es la n d ; fr o m Bavaria Middl e Ge