Part 111
Whereas Cecilia, daughter of Jeronymus, of Wormer, has joined the doctrine, sect and heresies of the Anabaptists, having been rebaptized, and holding pernicious views in regard to the sacraments of the holy church, contrary to the holy Christian faith, the ordinances of the holy Christian church, the written laws and decrees of his Imperial Majesty our gracious lord, and, moreover, obstinately persists in her errors and heresies, notwithstanding the instruction which has been given her concerning the true faith; therefore, my lords the Judges, having heard the demand made by my lord the Bailiff, in the name of his Imperial Majesty, concerning said Cecilia, together with her confession, and having maturely considered the circumstances of said case, sentence said Cecilia Jeronymus, pursuant to the aforesaid decrees, to be burnt by the executioner, and, furthermore, declare her property confiscated, for the benefit of his Imperial Majesty, as Count of Holland. Done and executed as above.
Extracted from the book of criminal sentences, in the keeping of the secretary of the city of Amsterdam.
N. N.
HANS VAN OVERDAM PUT TO DEATH AT GHENT; ALSO HIS CONFESSION, WRITTEN IN PRISON, AND AFTERWARDS SEALED WITH HIS BLOOD, IN THE YEAR 1550.
Hans van Overdam, together with his fellow-prisoners for the testimony of Jesus Christ, wishes all brethren and sisters in the Lord, grace, peace, and an ardent love, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise, honor, and majesty forever and ever. Amen.
My most dearly beloved, grieve not on my account (Eph. 3:13), but praise the Lord that he is so good a Father to me, that I can suffer bonds and imprisonment for the testimony of Christ, for which I also hope to go into the fire. The Lord give me strength through his Holy Spirit. Amen. Walk in the fear of the Lord, even as you are called. 1 Corinthian 7:17. And though we see one another no more in the flesh, may we behold each other hereafter, in the kingdom of our Father, where I hope soon to be. The peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.
O dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, my heart’s deepest desire and prayer is (Rom. 10:1), that you may constantly give more and more diligence to make sure the calling whereunto you are called by God the Father, through Christ, to the majesty and glory of the kingdom of his beloved Son, who purchased his church with his own blood, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:25–27.
Therefore, O dear friends, mark here what great love the Father has shown us, that he did not spare his only begotten Son, and how Christ so willingly delivered himself up, and suffered the most ignominious and shameful death of the cross, and shed his precious blood, for us, to wash and cleanse us from our sins. O dear brethren and sisters, let us take heed, and diligently pray and watch, lest the saving grace of God, and the unspeakable love of the Father, and of Christ, be neglected or forgotten by us (Heb. 12:15), through the cares and anxieties of this world, or through the lusts and desires which kill the soul, and we be washed and scoured off as spots and wrinkles from the glorious church of Christ; yea, cut off as unfruitful branches, and destined to the fire. For, my most beloved, it is not enough, that we have received baptism upon faith, and been engrafted by it into Christ, if we do not hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Heb. 3:14. Therefore, if there is any one that feels that he is become a spot or wrinkle, let him see to it that he make haste, before the day come upon him, as the snare upon the bird; let him repent with true sorrow and penitence, lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and run with full strength the race that is set before him, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but that it may much rather be healed and strengthened, that we may pass the time of our sojourning here in the fear of God, and keep ourselves unspotted from this wicked evil world, which is full of deceit, snares, and nets, which the devil sets for the purpose of seducing the souls of men, and of taking them captive by manifold lusts and wiles.
O Lord, preserve (from this murderer) thy pilgrims who walk in the hope of thee, and expect their help and comfort from thee alone. O heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, preserve us that thou mayest perform the good work which thou hast begun in us, to the praise and glory of thy holy name. O thou Almighty and everlasting God, how utterly incomprehensible is thy grace and fatherly mercy upon those that fear and love thee. O Father, who should not fear such a God, who knows how to deliver his own; though they may seem to be forsaken here for a little season, despised of all men, rejected and cursed on this earth; yet he does not forsake his own through the consolation of his Holy Spirit in our hearts, who makes us bold and joyful, that we may suffer reproach for his name. And we hope through the goodness of God; that our pilgrimage will soon end, and we shall be delivered from this miserable world and vale of tears, and that this earthly house of our tabernacle will be dissolved, that we may be brought home to our heavenly Father, and receive the crown of everlasting life, which is set before us, and which we hope no creature shall take from us. To this end, may the Almighty and eternal God, the merciful Father, strengthen us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dear friends, let me tell you, how it went with me before my imprisonment, and how they treated us after my imprisonment.
At the time when the four friends concerning whom I composed the hymn, and whose burning I witnessed, were offered up, I heard it stated that they had assailed the friends who yet remained in prison, with great cunning and deception, through the advice of the false prophets, whose minds are constantly filled with the subtlety of the devil, even as they had boasted that they would do. Our friends that remained there, were two lads and a girl, for whom we daily very diligently prayed the Lord, fearing, lest they might by some means be moved from the faith. We daily expected that they would also be put to death, and because of their youth I was impelled in my heart to station myself at the scaffold, when they were to be put to death, in order that, if they should be troubled on any account, I might comfort them, and also reprove the monks, who greatly distress and vex our friends when they are led to death. But, alas! the poor children did not get so far; for they imprudently allowed themselves to be drawn into disputations with the false prophets, though they had been sufficiently warned to beware of it as they valued their souls; for it is not given to every one to dispute, but boldly to confess the faith. This when received from the Lord, well becomes Christians.
But when these poor lambs engaged in controversy, they became perplexed in their consciences, and apostatized from the truth, which gave the false prophets cause for great boasting, since they had won their souls, and brought them back to the holy church. When I heard this, my soul and spirit were greatly grieved on account of the loss of the poor sheep, and because the false prophets, and also the councilors gloried so much in the fall and destruction of the poor lambs and children, whom they had driven to this by adjuring them as you shall hear in the sequel.
Being thus sorrowful, I sighed and complained to God over the violence and power of the devil, which he exerts through the children of unbelief. Then the thought came to me, to write a few letters--for the purpose of informing them in several places--reprehending their vain joy over the loss of the poor lambs whose souls they had murdered. I then began to write, and while thus engaged, my soul was so kindled, that what I had intended to be a little letter of a hand-breadth, became a letter of a whole leaf. The Lord opened my understanding, so that in a wonderful manner I proved to the lords, by references to the Scriptures, their punishment with the whole Roman Empire and its end. In the letter I wrote, that I desired and requested liberty publicly to dispute with all their learned men, in the presence of a great fire, into which the defeated party should be cast; also, that they should let the poor lambs in peace, and that they should leave the sword to the secular power, and contend with the word of God.
Having completed this letter, I showed it to the brethren, who were well pleased with it. I then had a brother, who was a better writer than I, make six copies of it. In the meantime, the poor, ruined lambs were released from prison, and recanted everything. One of the lads died the same day on which he came out, a league from the city, and thus became an example to those who seek to save their life.
At the time that this occurred I came with Hansken Keeskooper from Antwerp, and we made all our arrangements for the disposing of our letters. On Saturday evening we sent the letters to the lords of the city, and also posted two open ones in the middle of the city, that every one might read them. We greatly praise and thank the Lord, that we did this before we were apprehended: for we were all betrayed by a Judas, who was among us, and who seemed to be one of the most pious of all the brethren that were there, so successfully could he practice his deception. It had long been his aim, as we now perceive, to betray a large number of the friends. This traitor was present when the letters were posted. We had appointed to meet together on Sunday morning, to speak of the word of the Lord; for I desired to take leave of the brethren, intending to go on a journey the next day. But the Lord be praised, who had ordered it otherwise. Early in the morning, Hansken went with me to the woods where we were to assemble. We did not find our friends at the place where we expected to meet them. We hunted for them a good half-hour, and came to the conclusion that they had not yet come, as there had been a heavy rain the evening before. We were about to turn back, when I said: “Let us go; they may be here ahead of us,” and sang softly; that, if they were there, they might hear us. I then heard a rustling in the woods, and said to Hansken: “Our friends are here.” We stood still, and looked to see who should come out. Then three men with weapons and sticks came forth.
I said: “Well, boys, have you been hunting a hare, and have not caught it?”
Their faces turned pale as death, and they stepped up to us, and seized me by the arm, saying: “Surrender.”
Thus they apprehended us, saying: “We have caught a great number besides.”
We then saw a whole wagon full of our brethren sitting bound, and three Judges with all their servants, a great number, who guarded them. When we came to them, we saluted our brethren with the peace of the Lord, and comforted them with his words, boldly to contend for his name.
We then reproved the Judges for being so desirous of shedding innocent blood. Thereupon they coupled Hansken and me together with iron fetters, and also our thumbs. We expected they would take us to the city; but as we had been apprehended in another seigniory, we had to go half a league further. We regarded it as very fortunate that we could be together so long, thus being enabled to comfort one another on the way, with the word of the Lord, before they separated us.
We were then taken to a castle, a league from the city, where we were all kept together in one room, remaining there three days; for this was the law of the seigniory where we had been apprehended. There we thanked and praised the Lord our God for having ordered it so well, that we had so much time freely to admonish one another. Much people also came from the city, to see and hear us; but towards the last no one was permitted to come into our room. There the chief Bailiff of the country of Aelst examined us in regard to our faith, which we freely confessed to him. We expected to be taken to Aelst; but as the bailiff of Ghent had put us into the wagon when we were apprehended, to take us to Ghent, all of us had to be taken to that city. The traitor who had betrayed us, was apprehended with us, that we might not notice it. He was put into a separate room, and we felt much compassion for him, because he could not be with us; for we knew not that he was our betrayer. He was also taken along in the wagon, to the prison at Ghent, where we first learned that he had betrayed us.
When we were brought out of the castle, to be taken to the city, much people had come from the city to see us; there my brother’s wife, who was a sister, was apprehended, because she spoke to me, and was put into the wagon; also a man who wished us Godspeed. We freely spoke to the people that had come, telling them that those who would turn from wickedness, and follow Christ, had to be a prey for every one. Is. 59:15. There were many who would have liked to talk with us, but did not dare do so, because of the wicked judges. There were ten of us; two were ready [for baptism], and four were novices; the other two were apprehended because they spoke to us. Thus they took two wagon loads to the city, in broad daylight. On the way, they also apprehended a woman, only because she said to us: ‘God keep you.’ She also had to sit in the wagon. But if they had apprehended all who spoke to us when we came into the city, and to whom we replied with the word of God, they could not have carried them in twenty wagons, as the people came running from every corner which we passed; as water which runs down from the mountains, and becomes a large stream, so the people flowed together, which continued from one of the gates of the city to the castle of the count, which stands at the other end of the city, a walking distance of about one hour. We were led up to the castle, and the judge of the country of Aelst, delivered us over into the hands of the lords of the Imperial Council. Here we were separately confined, some into upper rooms. The women also remained above; but eleven of us were led into a gloomy, deep dungeon, containing divers dark cells built of masonry, in which we were put in separate parties of three and three. But Hansken and I were put into the darkest of all, in which there was a small quantity of crumbled straw, about an apron full, with which we might help ourselves. I said: “It seems to me that we are with Jonah in the whale’s belly, so dark it is here; we may well cry with Jonah to the Lord, that he will be our comforter and deliverer; for we are now deprived of all human comfort and assistance.” This did not deject us, but we praised and thanked God, that we were permitted to suffer for his name. We also spoke to our brethren that lay in other cells; for we could easily hear each other speaking. After we had lain there for three or four days, Hansken and I were both summoned before the lords, where we were examined, and interrogated concerning the ground of our faith, and when we had been baptized.
The Lord then, according to his promise, gave us a mouth, to speak boldly, and we requested to be allowed publicly to defend ourselves with the word of God. They replied to us, that they would send us learned men, who would instruct us; whereupon we were taken below again.
Shortly after, I was taken above into another room, to two councilors and a clerk. There they interrogated me very closely, where I had been, and if I knew that I had been banished six years ago, in the time of Martin Huereblock, and where we had held our meetings; all of which they knew, for the traitor had already told them. I said: “Why do you ask me, who have come from foreign countries?” (For I purposely did not wish to ask much, that, in case I should be apprehended, I might not have much to answer.) “Why do you question me so closely? have you not yet enough innocent blood to shed? do you thirst for still more?” “Ask as closely as you want to,” said I; “the righteous Judge shall ask you again, if you do not repent.”
They then asked me still more, and adjured me by my baptism, that I should tell them; “For,” said they, “we know that you people do not lie; hence tell us.”
I said: “That you know that we do not lie, is to us a testimony of salvation, but to you of perdition (Phil. 1:28), because you put such to death; but your adjuration has no power against the truth.”
All that I said was written down, and they threatened to torture me if I would not tell them everything. I said: “I can not tell you what I do not know.” Thus they tormented me for a very long time. Thereupon I was taken below again. In this manner they dealt with all our friends, with each separately.
One Saturday I was taken above again into the same room. Four monks were present; the guardian of the Minorites, with another, and the Superior of the Jacobines, with another. With me there came a young brother, who had not yet received baptism, but was ready for it.
When I had seated myself, I asked them what they wished. They said they were sent by the lords, to instruct us, and to converse with us concerning the ground and articles of faith. I replied that I was ready to be instructed with the word of God, and to hold converse concerning the ground and articles of faith, and this publicly, in the presence of the judges who were to judge us, and of our brethren and sisters that were imprisoned with us.
_Ans._ “This they will not permit.”
_Hans van Overdam._ “Well, let them do what they please; we will not dispute secretly and alone, lest our words be perverted behind our backs.”
_Ans._ “We will not pervert your words.”
_Hans._ “No, we know you well.”
_Ques._ “What do you take us for? what evil did we ever do you? pray, tell us what evil do you know of us?”
_Hans._ “If you would know it then; I regard you as false prophets and seducers.”
Here we got into a dispute concerning their spiritual semblance, and the command of the Pope regarding the purity of the priests and monks, and why they were called spiritual, and others secular, when all ought to be spiritual.
They then said: “This is not profitable; let us dispute about the articles of faith.”
Thereupon I said: “What I have said I have said.”
They replied that they would tell it to the lords. Thus we separated, having disputed with each other for fully two hours. Two days after, Hansken and I were summoned before the lords; the four monks were present, and attempted to engage us in a disputation.
I then said to the lords: “My lords, I ask you, in what house are we, in a house of justice, or of violence?”
_Ans._ “In a house of justice.”
_Hans._ “God grant that it be so; but, my lords, of what do you accuse us, that you keep us imprisoned and confined like thieves and murderers? Have we wronged any one, or do you charge us with violence, murder, or roguery?”
_Ans._ “No; we know no such thing of you.”
_Hans._ “Well, my lords, why then have you imprisoned us?”
_Ans._ “Your adversaries will tell you that.”
_Hans._ “Are you our adversaries?”
_Ans._ “No, but we are judges.”
I then said to the monks: “Are you our adversaries?”
_Ans._ “No.”
_Hans._ “Well, if no one is our adversary, why are we imprisoned?”
A councilor then said: “The Emperor is your adversary.”
_Hans._ “We have not offended against his Imperial Majesty according to the power which he has received from God, and will obey him in every ordinance, as far as we can do so consistently with the truth.”
_Councilor._ “You have held meetings of this new doctrine, and the Emperor has commanded that this should not be done.”
_Hans._ “God has not authorized him to make such commandments; in this he transcends the power which God has given him, and in this we do not recognize his supremacy; for the salvation of our souls concerns us more, so that we show obedience to God.”
The monks then said: “We are your adversaries, in that your doctrine is not good; for if it were good, you would not preach in woods and corners, but openly.”
Hans then said: “Grant us a free place in the market, or in your monasteries and churches, and see whether we then shall go into the woods; but no, you are afraid that you would be reproved; hence you have brought it about, that you cannot be reproved, and have driven us from cities and countries.”
_Monks._ “Alas! we have not done it; the Emperor does it.”
_Hans._ “You have urged him to it.”
_Monks._ “We have not.”
The lords also then began to speak against us, why we were not content with the faith of our parents, and with our baptism.
We replied: “We know of no infant baptism, but of a baptism upon faith, concerning which the word of God teaches us.”
We then had many other words, and reproved them for undertaking to be judges in matters of faith, when they did not understand the Scriptures. “If you would be judges, be impartial, and let the matter proceed in regular order; let both parties appear together, and let our brethren and sisters that have been brought prisoners here together with us, be with us. Then one of us, whose mouth the Lord shall open, will speak, and the others shall listen in silence while he is speaking; and thus shall also our adversaries do.”
_Lords._ “We will not let you come together; we would have you dispute alone here.”
We then said: “My lords, it would be the most convenient for you, and the whole matter could be finished with one disputation; otherwise you will constantly have to dispute anew with one or two at a time.”
_Lords._ “What then? we will not have it so.”
Then a councilor said: “They want to have them together, in order to seduce one another still more; therefore they cannot be allowed to come together.”
_Hans._ “My lords, you say that you are judges, but we regard you as our adversaries; for you seek to injure us in every way, and to cause us and our brethren by violence and subtlety, to apostatize from our faith.”
_Ans._ “Why should we not do this, in order to bring them back?”
_Hans._ “Well, my lords, hear this: since we see that you are no judges, but our adversaries, and employ, wherever you can, all violence and subtlety, to your advantage, and our detriment: Firstly, you have by violence deprived us of our testaments, in which we find our consolation; secondly, you have confined us separately, some in deep, dark dungeons, others in rooms up above; and thirdly, you seek to outwit and deceive us by separate disputations, afterwards to say behind our backs, to our brethren, that you had overcome us, and, vice versa, to say the same to us concerning our brethren and sisters; therefore, my lords, we will not dispute here, unless our brethren and sisters are present.”
When they heard that their design against us did not proceed according to their wish, they became greatly enraged, and also the monks. We saw easily enough to what it amounted, and that all they did was pure deception; for though it was proven by the Scriptures, with regard to several articles, that they were in the wrong, yet they would not acknowledge it, and excused themselves with the Emperor and his mandates, and the monks with the long continued customs of the Roman church (Wisdom 14:16), and the great number of our forefathers; and when the contrary had been proven to them from the Scriptures, it was just as before, even as though one should have talked to the stove.
We then said: “My lords, will you not permit us, to dispute in regular order, as we have requested?”
_Ans._ “No.”