Skip to main content

Flemish Anabaptists and Witch Hunts

Political leaders have long used the term "witch hunt"--and there is an historical connection to Mennonites.
Anabaptists and so-called “witches” were arrested and tried for related reasons in the Low Countries in the 1500s: namely, as a means to divert God’s wrath.
The late-Medievals feared that heresy—in this case ana-baptism and the challenge to other sacraments—invited the wrath of God, and was an instrument for the devil’s own hellish apocalyptic assault.
The assumption: the devil's tactics to destroy Christendom included the use of both heretics and sorcerers. Gary Waite writes convincingly that both were seen as “polluting” the community and thus both had to be "excised."

"This fear of pollution, or scandalizing God or the saints, also explains why small numbers of peaceable Mennonites were so harshly treated during the second half of the sixteenth century. Plagues, fires, and economic and social crises were often blamed on the presence of even a small group of individuals believed to be incurring God’s wrath by their very existence within the community." (Note 1)

In Bruges in the 1560s, for example, Friar Cornelis Adriaensz who interrogated many Flemish Anabaptists, accused Herman Vlekwijk of being bewitched (3x), bedeviled (2x), devilish (7x), a devil’s martyr, a devil’s brood, devil possessed, diabolical, hellish (7x), accursed (15x)—not to mention many other things, like being a “great, stupid, awkward ass”! Cornelis warns that whoever drinks “from the venomous breasts of Erasmus” (note 2) to deny young children a church-sanctioned baptism, denies them a protective defense from the devil’s assaults, for in baptism “the devil is exercised by the priest" (note 3).

His use of language was particular vulgar, and could match that of some in the political sphere today.

Inquisitor Cornelis demonstrated a fearful fascination with women and with “that” which “your filthy, sinful wives do with you,” “your filthy, unchaste, carnal wives” (Sorry, it's all in the Martyrs Mirror !). He imagines that Anabaptist men have “maidens” and their “women in common … like dogs,” and on this basis “gain such a great number of adherents” in Bruges. It is at this point in the interrogation of Herman Vlekwijk that Brother Cornelis moves from interrogation to torture: “Bah, you are filthy, carnal, unchaste, voluptuous rogues, that you thus use the women in common, like dogs” (which he repeats), and then says: “Bah, if I cannot prevail upon you with kindness, I must try whether I can do it with severity" (note 4).

In particular, enmity directed at the church’s highest sacraments was deemed to be nothing short of demonic. Anabaptists openly desecrated Bruges’s most treasured and celebrated relic since the high medieval ages. “The Precious Blood of Jesus,” a cloth with the blood of Christ purportedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea was brought to the city after the sacking of Constantinople in the Second Crusade (see note 5; pic 2).

The cloth gave the Bruges basilica its name and glory, and the city God’s favour and protection--as was widely understood in the sixteenth century, just as Bruges's fortunes and shipping access to the sea were beginning to dry-up.

Anabaptist Jacob de Roore (or "Candle Maker"; pic 3) was accused by his Franciscan inquisitor in Bruges with the following (among other things): “Your breaking of bread, and distribution of the cup is the devil’s supper for you … [you] do not bless your cup, nor do you consecrate your bit of bread, but it is wine and bread, and remains wine and bread” (note 6).

“You Anabaptists neither believe nor observe anything of them [i.e., the Holy Councils], except it be very plainly stated in the holy Scriptures. … I could very well show you this from the ancient fathers, but you Anabaptists will rely most firmly on the holy Scriptures alone” (note 7).

In his rage and frustration with the responses by de Roore, the inquisitor declared that he was true victim of torture (witch hunt?):

“You would drive an hundred thousand doctors of divinity mad and crazy”; “see wherewith we are now tormented and vexed”; “I could tear my cap with anger”! (Note 8)

De Roore wrote his congregation from prison: “it will please you to know that I was with the scholars four times, and they would have liked to draw me from my faith. … Three times I was with the provincials of the Augustinians … and once with the preacher of the Gray Brothers [Franciscan], named Brother Cornelis” (note 9; see pic 3).

No doubt Friar Cornelis and other interrogators did their work with pious intention based especially upon their end-time expectations and fear of God's wrath.

And 450 years later ... we still talk about witch hunts, and sometimes Christians (on both sides) anxiously fear the wrath of God if something is not done or eradicated soon.

                                                            --Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Note 1: See Gary Waite, Eradicating the Devil’s Minions. Anabaptists and Witches in Reformation Europe (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007), 126f.; also 200 and 197. https://books.google.ca/books?id=Y0XbgWXKYAEC&lpg=PP1&dq=Eradicating%20the%20Devil%E2%80%99s%20Minions.%20Anabaptists%20and%20Witches%20in%20Reformation%20Europe.%20Toronto%3A%20University%20of%20Toronto%20Press%2C%202007.&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 2: Thieleman Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror: The Story of Fifteen Centuries of Martyrdom (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2001), 789, 795; 793. https://archive.org/details/TheBloodyTheaterOrMartyrsMirrorOfTheDefenselessChristians/page/n783.

Note 3: Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 788.

Note 4: Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 796, 797; cf. also 779f.

Note 5: "The Procession of the Holy Blood," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procession_of_the_Holy_Blood; also "The Basilica of the Holy Blood," https://visit-bruges.be/see/churches/basilica-holy-blood.

Note 6: Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 791. With reference to 1 Corinthians 10:21 (“You cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons”), Menno’s 1539 “Foundation of Christian Doctrine” accused the Roman Church of the same, because it “admits all” (including the “avaricious, the proud, the ostentatious …”) and is celebrated with offensive “pomp and splendor” by ministers “who really seek nothing but worldly honor, ease and the belly” (Complete Writings of Menno Simons, edited by J. C. Wenger [Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1984], 142 [also here: https://archive.org/details/completeworksofm00menn/page/n8]; cf. also de Roore in van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 783). With respect to Menno, in all points of doctrine the Flemish Mennonites were consistent with his “Foundation.”

Note 7: Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 789. See also A. L. E. Verheyden, Anabaptism in Flanders, 1530–1650 (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1961), 126, n. 32, https://archive.org/details/anabaptisminflan0000verh.

Note 8: Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, 795, 789, 797, 794.

Note 9: Translated in Martha J. Reimer-Blok, “The Theological Identity of Flemish Anabaptists: A Study of the Letters of Jacob de Roore,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 62, no. 3 (July 1988), 318–331; 319.










Print Friendly and PDF

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons!

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons:  Heart-Shaped Waffles and a smooth talking General In 1874 with Mennonite immigration to North America in full swing, the Tsar sent General Eduard von Totleben to the colonies to talk the remaining Mennonites out of leaving ( note 1 ). He came with the now legendary offer of alternative service. Totleben made presentations in Mennonite churches and had many conversations in Mennonite homes. Decades later the women still recalled how fond Totleben was of Mennonite heart-shaped waffles. He complemented the women saying, “How beautiful are the hearts of Mennonites!,” and he joked about how “much Mennonites love waffles ( Waffeln ), but not weapons ( Waffen )” ( note 2 )! His visit resulted in an extensive reversal of opinion and the offer was welcomed officially by the Molotschna and Chortitza Colony ministerials. And upon leaving, the general was gifted with a poem by Bernhard Harder ( note 3 ) and a waffle iron ( note 4 ). Harder was an inf...

Sesquicentennial: Proclamation of Universal Military Service Manifesto, January 1, 1874

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago Tsar Alexander II proclaimed a new universal military service requirement into law, which—despite the promises of his predecesors—included Russia’s Mennonites. This act fundamentally changed the course of the Russian Mennonite story, and resulted in the emigration of some 17,000 Mennonites. The Russian government’s intentions in this regard were first reported in newspapers in November 1870 ( note 1 ) and later confirmed by Senator Evgenii von Hahn, former President of the Guardianship Committee ( note 2 ). Some Russian Mennonite leaders were soon corresponding with American counterparts on the possibility of mass migration ( note 3 ). Despite painful internal differences in the Mennonite community, between 1871 and Fall 1873 they put up a united front with five joint delegations to St. Petersburg and Yalta to petition for a Mennonite exemption. While the delegations were well received and some options could be discussed with ministers of the Crown, ...

What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out. The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags. First, your congregational by-laws.  It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the ...

Fraktur (or Gothic) font and Kurrent- (or Sütterlin) handwriting: Nazi ban, 1941

In the middle of the war on January 1, 1942, the Winnipeg-based Mennonitische Rundschau published a new issue without the familiar Fraktur script masthead ( note 1 ). One might speculate on the reasons, but a year earlier Hitler banned the use of the font in the Reich . The Rundschau did not exactly follow all orders from Berlin—the rest of the paper was in Fraktur (sometimes referred to as "Gothic"); when the war ended in 1945, the Rundschau reintroduced the Fraktur font for its masthead. It wasn’t until the 1960s that an issue might have a page or title here or there with the “normal” or Latin font, even though post-war Germany was no longer using Fraktur . By 1973 only the Rundschau masthead is left in Fraktur , and that is only removed in December 1992. Attached is a copy of Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann's official letter dated January 3, 1941, which prohibited the use of Fraktur fonts "by order of the Führer. " Why? It was a Jewish invention, apparent...

Village Reports Commando Dr. Stumpp, 1942: List and Links

Each of the "Commando Dr. Stumpp" village reports written during German occupation of Ukraine 1942 contains a mountain of demographic data, names, dates, occupations, numbers of untimely deaths (revolution, famines, abductions), narratives of life in the 1930s, of repression and liberation, maps, and much more. The reports are critical for telling the story of Mennonites in the Soviet Union before 1942, albeit written with the dynamics of Nazi German rule at play. Reports for some 56 (predominantly) Mennonite villages from the historic Mennonite settlement areas of Chortitza, Sagradovka, Baratow, Schlachtin, Milorodovka, and Borosenko have survived. Unfortunately no village reports from the Molotschna area (known under occupation as “Halbstadt”) have been found. Dr. Karl Stumpp, a prolific chronicler of “Germans abroad,” became well-known to German Mennonites (Prof. Benjamin Unruh/ Dr. Walter Quiring) before the war as the director of the Research Center for Russian Germans...

"A Small Town near Auschwitz” – Chortitza Mennonite Refugee/ Resettlement Camps

Simple proximity to a place of horrors does not equal knowledge or complicity. Many Gnadenfeld-area Mennonite refugees were, for example, temporarily housed 20 km. away from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp where 15-year-old Anne Frank died ultimately of typhus ( note 1 ). The day after liberation by British troops on April 15, 1945, camp survivors began to flow through neighbouring villages. “What a sight they were! They had been tortured and starved, and were swollen from lack of food. … We could hardly believe that the glorious country of Germany could commit such crimes against people,” Susanna Toews wrote ( note 2 ). My mother was only seven, but she remembers overhearing shocking descriptions given by their host family’s teenaged girls forced by the British to clean some of the camp buses. What about the much larger death camp at Auschwitz? There is a book entitled: A Small Town near Auschwitz: Ordinary Nazis and the Holocaust. It is about an administrator living near the ...

1921: Formation of the “Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine”

Famine was imminent; unprecedented drought; taxes and requisitions exceeded what was harvested; some villages had no horses; extortion and arrests were widespread; many men were disenfranchised and barred from village affairs (see note 1 ). Lenin responded with the 1921 “New Economic Policy” (NEP), which allowed for a degree of market flexibility within the context of socialism to ward off complete economic collapse. A fixed-tax was imposed, grain quotas were eased, farmers were allowed a small amount of land and could sell excess produce at free-market prices after taxes had been paid. Much was in the air. In secret talks, Soviet Trade Commissar Leonid Krasin told the head of the Eastern Section in the German Foreign Office, Gustav Behrendt, that the USSR was “prepared—just like Catherine the Great of old—to call hundreds of thousands of German colonists into the land and transfer them to large, closed complexes for settlement,” especially in Turkestan and the North Caucasus, be...

Mennonites and the Crimean War (1853-56)

Martin Klaassen was traveling through the Molotschna Mennonite Colony when the Crimean War broke out in 1853 ( note 1 ). His diary notes that the following hymn was sung before the sermon: December 1853 . With regards to the war which broke out between Russia and Turkey, the song, No: 723 “O Lord, the clouds of war are threatening now, above our heads we see them roll” was sung before the sermon” ( note 2 ). As the war effort grew, thousands of troops came through Molotschna: January 14, 1854 . Today our colony has received billets: in Halbstadt about 1,000 soldiers. It is said that Joh. Neufelds have offered liquor ( Branntwein ), naturally without charge. The soldiers are supposed to have marched in with jubilant singing and much hilarity. They had been very happy for the wonderful reception they got, and promised to accomplish great things. In March, England and France also declared war on Russia. March 26, 1854 . At noon today there was suddenly a military transport at ...

1920s: Those who left and those who stayed behind

The picture below is my grandmother's family in 1928. Some could leave but most stayed behind. In 1928 a small group of some 511 Soviet Mennonites were unexpectedly approved for emigration ( note 1 ). None of the circa 21,000 Mennonites who emigrated from Russia in the 1920s “simply” left. And for everyone who left, at least three more hoped to leave but couldn’t. It is a complex story. Canada only wanted a certain type—young healthy farmers—and not all were transparent about their skills and intentions The Soviet Union wanted to rid itself of a specifically-defined “excess,” and Mennonite leadership knew how to leverage that Estate owners, and Selbstschutz /White Army militia were the first to be helped to leave, because they were deemed as most threatened community members; What role did money play? Thousands paid cash for their tickets; Who made the final decision on group lists, and for which regions? This was not transparent. Exit visa applications were also regularly reje...

Molotschna Elder Heinrich Dirks and tensions with Mennonite Brethren

Russian Mennonites were not always kind to each other—and nowhere is this seen better than in the tensions between “old” Mennonites and the “separatist” Mennonite Brethren, who had their beginnings in Gnadenfeld, Molotschna in 1860. Heinrich Dirks (1842-1915) was the first Russian Mennonite overseas missionary and later long-time Gnadenfeld, Molotschna ( note 1 ). Everything about Dirks’ life suggests that he would have joined the Brethren in 1860. He too was influenced by the "powerful and gripping” conversionist ministry of Eduard Wüst in his youth. Dirks was a young adult in the Gnadenfeld congregation in South Russia where the Mennonite Brethren /separatist movement began. Shortly thereafter, he was trained in the German pietist Barmen Mission School (1863-67), and famously travelled to Sumatra (Indonesia) where he started a mission outpost and school. The Mennonite Brethren too would later connect the global mission imperative with the impending return of Christ as did Dirk...