Part 251
When he was led forth before the stone court, they said to him: “Behold, there is the image of our Lord; bow down before it.” But he replied that he dared not do it; that they should proceed with him. The priests asked him, why he had gone out from the Christian church, and betaken himself to this heresy (as they call it). But he said: “Not so; but I went out from ungodly idolaters, fornicators, blasphemers, and all the unclean, and have betaken myself to the good, to God and his church.” But they said: “He is possessed of the devil, who causes him to speak thus;” even as also the Jews accused Christ. Afterwards they entreated him thrice for God’s sake, that he should renounce; but he would not. The executioner also begged him the very best he could. But brother Leonhart said: “O dear, be silent, and do not beg me, but proceed, for I want to die as a good Christian; I stand in the true faith and upon the firm foundation, which is Christ my Lord, from which I shall never depart.” When they saw that all their efforts were in vain, the executioner took his collar from his neck and said to him: “If you would renounce but the two articles, they would release you.” But he said: “Let me alone and proceed as you please, for I want to die valiantly upon my faith.” Thereupon, the executioner said: “I do not like to execute you, but if I do not do it, another will.” And he drew out the sword before him, in order to frighten him; but he was not terrified in the least by it. Thus he was beheaded, and buried in the place of execution.
This happened at Berckhausen, on the 5th of July 1585, that this lamb of the Lord was torn by the ravening wolves.
ANNEKEN BOTSON, JANNEKEN HER DAUGHTER, AND MAEYKEN PIETERS, A. D. 1585.
About the year 1585, there were imprisoned, at Sint Vyt, in the country of Lutzenborg, three women, having been brought from a village called Nieuwstadt. Among them were a mother and daughter; the mother’s name was Anneken Botson, and that of her daughter Janneken Botson; the other woman was named Maeyken Pieters. All three of them were simple, godfearing persons, who had forsaken popery, and through the grace of God, betaken themselves to the obedience of the holy gospel. This the priests could not endure, but they manifested their envy and reported these persons to the authorities; and thus they were apprehended and put in prison at Sint Vyt, as already mentioned. There they were not confined long, but were forthwith examined concerning their faith, which they cheerfully and in simplicity confessed, and to which they also constantly adhered, though they tried in many ways to make them recant the truth; but when they could not prevail upon them they were sentenced that they should be burnt to ashes. As innocent sheep for the slaughter they went to the place where they were to be offered up, and died thus a valiant death, offering up their bodies as a sacrifice to the Lord.
WOLFGANG RAUFER, GEORGE PRUCKMAIR, AND HANS AICHER, A. D. 1585.
In the year 1585, three brethren, namely, Wolfgang Raufer, George Pruckmair, and Hans Aicher, were apprehended for the faith, while on a journey, half a league from Riet, they having taken some refreshments in an inn, and after eating returned thanks. Hence, immediately beadles were sent for, and it was told that there were people there like Anabaptists. While they were then counting out the money for what they had received, and the innkeeper took it, the wicked men came, apprehended all three of them, and took them to Riet. A few days after, they were taken from Riet to Berckhausen, where the council and the judges sent eminent doctors to them, who were to speak with them, and if possible to overcome them and turn them from their faith; but they could accomplish nothing, nor were they (neither the doctors nor the priests) able, by disputing, in any wise to turn these brethren. In the meantime they executed the aforementioned brother Leonhart Sumeraver, with the sword, on a Friday, about eight o’clock in the morning. Afterwards the judge and other lords went into the castle, and announced it to these brethren, and told them that if they would not renounce, that they should share the same fate with him; whereupon they replied: “We are ready to die; whatever be God’s will with us, we will patiently suffer.” Now when they had been imprisoned for a considerable time, about fourteen weeks, at Berckhausen, and they could not prevail upon them, nor intimidate them, they were separately placed in carts, on the next following day of execution, namely, the 3d of August, led forth from prison, and about four o’clock brought before the council house, where the royal decree was read to them, according to which they were to be dealt with. In the meantime the judge called the executioner, and commanded him, that he should bind these three persons and convey them out to the usual place of execution, and then (since they had been sentenced from life to death) to execute them with the sword, and afterwards lay them upon a pile of wood and burn them with fire. Thereupon, brother Wolfgang replied: “Not from life to death, but through death into eternal life.” Then George and Wolfgang said: “Now since we must die, we die solely for the sake of the divine truth, for we have done no evil or wrong to any one, and here is not a single person to whom we have done any injury, or who can complain of us; since we then must lose our lives for the faith and for the word of God, we shall find it again in eternity, as the holy Gospel testifies.” They then said to the authorities: That they should henceforth take better heed, for the innocent blood should cry for vengeance upon those that were guilty of it; but since it was the will of God concerning them, they would willingly die, since our Lord Jesus Christ had to suffer the same death in this world. Then Wolfgang said to George and Hans: “Now my dear brethren, we will take leave from one another; and let us be joyful, for the Lord is with us.” Thereupon, brother George requested the executioner, that he would loose their hands a little, so that they could give each other the hand, and thus take leave; to which the executioner consented, doing it willingly. Thus they took joyful leave from one another. In the meantime a priest came to brother Wolfgang, and admonished him to renounce. But brother Wolfgang briefly answered him, that he should himself renounce his ungodly life and fornication; and would not tolerate the priest with him. He then went on, and when he came into the market place, he commenced to sing joyfully, and then gave praise and thanks to God, that they had come to this, that they might be truly refined. And he further said: “Would to God, that among this multitude of people there might be some one from our country that could inform our brethren of this; then we would greatly thank God for it. However, we trust that God will send some one that will notify them of this, whether it be orally or by writing; and this causes our heart to rejoice.” This wish was also fulfilled, as the facts show. Then Wolfgang said to the executioner: “Now, Master Christoffel, I shall henceforth be more quiet, and contain myself a little; but my heart experiences no anxiety at all, but there is only laughter within; and if my brethren, my wife and child, knew this, they would rejoice for our sakes, though they might otherwise, according to the flesh, weep and mourn. And I pray, and also hope, that God will send some one to our country, to our church, who will for us take leave from all brethren and sisters, our wives and children, and all our acquaintances according to the flesh.”
While Wolfgang was thus speaking, they were led out, and came to the place of execution. The other two brethren, George and Hans, had mostly been silent; but when they arrived at the place of execution, all three of them were joyful, again took leave from one another, and offered up their prayer together in quietness.
They were then beheaded, and their bodies laid upon piles of wood and burnt.
When the executioner had performed this, he said to the people: “These persons would not desist from their faith, nor would they tolerate priests; they also have a much stronger faith than I and all that are here. I would rather execute thirty robbers than these.”
Thus these dear brethren testified to the faith in Jesus Christ and the divine truth with their blood, to which end God gave them power and strength, for which praise be to him forever. Amen.
OF THE MANDATE PUBLISHED AGAINST THE ANABAPTISTS IN THE DUCHY OF PRUSSIA (BUT NOT UNTO DEATH), ON THE 12TH OF NOVEMBER, A. D. 1586.
When on account of the terrible burning and scorching of the pious witnesses of Jesus that were called by the name of Anabaptists, many of them went from papistic regions, where the distress was greatest, to the Prussian countries, in the hope that the rulers there, who boasted of greater discretion and mercy than those of general popery, should grant them liberty to live according to their conscience, it came to pass, that when they came there they found themselves deceived in their opinion, inasmuch as the Prince of that country, who then reigned at Brandenburg, ordered them, by a public mandate, to leave.
Concerning this, P. J. Twisck has given this account:
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg, commanded in a public mandate, on the 12th of November, A. D. 1586, that the Anabaptists must leave this whole Duchy of Prussia. _Chron. van den Ondergang, edition 1620, 2d part, 16th book, for the year 1586, p. 1401, col. 1._
CHRISTIAN GASTEYGER, A. D. 1586.
In the year 1586, on the Friday after Whitsuntide, which was the 3d of June, Christian Gasteyger, a blacksmith, was imprisoned, at Ingolstadt in Bavaria. On the following Sunday two Jesuits, with the town judge, came to him, and talked with him concerning his faith; but they soon left him again, for they could not agree with him. Nine days after, the two Jesuits came again to talk with him, and began with many words to revile the church; but the brother contradicted them, and thus they spent almost an hour and a half together, and then left him with dissatisfaction. Three weeks afterwards, again two Jesuits came to him, who wanted to instruct him; but when he would not dance as they piped, they left him again; and after two days the judge came to him, with a doctor in the Scriptures, to speak with him concerning infant baptism. They said: Children were damned, if they were not brought to baptism. Thereupon, brother Christian replied: “They are not damned therefore;” and he proved it to them with many Scriptures which he adduced. On this account they called him a heretic and said further: “Children have the devil in them; hence they must be baptized.” Then he asked how the devil got into the children. They said: “He comes into the child from the mother.” But he contradicted them also in this.
Nine days afterwards the judge and his council came to him, and they said: “You are well aware why you are imprisoned here; you have been confined here for some time already, and priests have come to you; but you would not hearken to them, for I have been told by them, that there is no hope of you any more; and the order has come, that I am to speak with you once more, and that if you will not be converted to that which your parents believed, you shall be placed upon a stack of wood and burnt; and let us see then how God will be with you.” But he replied: “I am ready every day to die, and I hope to God in heaven, that he will keep me valiant and faithful unto the end, so that I shall not depart from the truth; and may his will be done concerning me.”
The next day again two Jesuits came to dispute with him, and asserted that he had no faith. They also began of infant baptism, saying: That the child had to be baptized, else it were damned. But he contradicted them. And when they had spent three hours with him, and he had sufficiently replied to them, and valiantly resisted their false doctrine, they left him. He also let us know that, as he was now imprisoned for the truth’s sake, he would also firmly adhere to the truth; though it should cost him his life, he should not depart from it; they should have all good confidence concerning him, for he would valiantly fight for the eternal crown, and he well perceived that God faithfully succored him in his bonds, for which he also praised and thanked him, and prayed that he would keep him even unto his temporal death. He moreover sent us and all believers a Christian greeting. Afterwards, when he had been confined for over twelve weeks at Ingolstadt, and all the priests and Jesuits there had become tired of him, and yet could accomplish nothing with him, he was, on the 25th of August, placed upon a cart and conducted from Ingolstadt to Munich.
Finally, on the 13th of December, sentence was requested concerning him. The Prince was not at home, and the supreme judge had died; the under judge would have had to pronounce the sentence; but he would not, and said that it was not his office. The burgomaster and several others in the council would also not consent to it; but the Jesuits strenuously insisted upon it, so that the sentence proceeded nevertheless.
He was led forth from prison before the council house, and sentenced to the sword. He was then led to death, and since he was very joyful and of good cheer, and spoke very much to the people, the Jesuits became very angry and spat into his face, so that the executioner himself wiped it off. The Jesuits also held before him an idolatrous crucifix and spat again into his face, which vexed the people greatly.
When he arrived in the place of execution, he was very joyful, because he saw that he had so nearly gained the crown.
The executioner stood there with the drawn sword, afraid and begging him to renounce. But he said to the executioner that he should execute his sentence on him; and to the Jesuits he said: “Though there were a thousand of you here, and multiplied thousands, you should not be able to seduce me.” Then the executioner executed him with the sword, and thus he persevered steadfast and joyful in the faith.
CONCERNING THE DECREE EMITTED AGAINST THE ANABAPTISTS IN THE JURISDICTION OF KOENIGSBERG AND ITS CITIES AND SUBURBS, ON PAIN OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND LOSS OF THEIR PROPERTY, A. D. 1587.
Even as it had gone the year before in Prussia, with the Anabaptists, so it went now also in the dominion of Koenigsberg, which was carried out by the same prince, who was also the lord of this territory.
The aforementioned author, having related their departure from Prussia, immediately adds: That on the 1st of March, A. D. 1587, they were ordered to leave not only the liberties of Koenigsberg and the cities and suburbs of that country, but also all the territories and dominions belonging under the reign of George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg, and this on pain of corporal punishment and loss of their property.
This was done because they spoke most offensively[344] (as it was said) of infant baptism (which the learned of that country considered the door and entrance into the kingdom of God). Compare the sixteenth book of _Chron. van den Ondergang, 2d part, edition 1620, page 1501, col. 2_, with _Johan. Behin, fol. 72, 73_.
[344] _Derisively_, the authors say.
MICHAEL VISCHER, A. D. 1587.
In the year 1587, about Whitsuntide, Michael Vischer was imprisoned for the faith, at Ingolstadt, in Bavaria, and when he had been confined about twelve weeks, and much had been tried with him by monks, Jesuits and otherwise, and he would also not follow their false doctrine and idolatry, but firmly persevered in the faith which he had accepted, acknowledged and confessed, he was finally sentenced to death, that he should be executed on Friday the 6th of August, if he would not renounce; but since he looked for a better and eternal life, he continued immovable and steadfast in the faith. Thus he was on the aforementioned day, about eight o’clock in the morning, brought from the prison before the council house, and sentence was there read to him: That since this Anabaptist had for about twenty years adhered to Anabaptism (so they call it), and also seduced several others thereto, and would in no wise allow himself to be moved from it, he must die for it. For the imperial mandate and decree is, that such shall not be suffered or tolerated, but punished with fire and sword. Thereupon he was led out to the place of execution, to which he was willing and ready, going there with alacrity. A Jesuit and a monk went with him, and wanted to instruct him; however he did not hearken to them, but told them to go away from him. Thus they went in advance to the place of execution, and there said to him, that since he had to die, he should prepare himself for it, and they held a crucifix before his face, saying, that he should behold him that had died for us. But he shook his head and said: “Christ my Redeemer is in heaven; therefore I deny all human handiwork.” He also said to the executioner: “Come hither; there is nothing else left to do, I will valiantly adhere to the faith and die upon it.” And with this he knelt down, boldly and undismayed. God granted him such power and strength, that he persevered steadfastly unto the end, in the way of truth unto eternal life in Jesus Christ. The executioner became terrified by his undauntedness, so that he could not properly execute him, but had to cut off his head as it were,[345] in consequence of which he was in no small peril of his life.
[345] As distinguished from severing it with one stroke.--_Tr._
CHRISTIAEN RIJCEN, A. D. 1588.
This Christiaen Rijcen lived still in these latter days as a faithful witness, at Hontschoten, in Flanders, where he, as a true Christian, was imprisoned for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, in December of the year 1587. And after suffering much trial and temptation there, he was very cruelly tortured and burned to ashes there, the seventh day of April, 1588, under the bloody tyranny and reign of the Prince of Parma. And thus he steadfastly delivered over unto death his corruptible body, for the truth of Christ, and expects now a new house in heaven, which God shall prepare for him, that it shall endure forever. 2 Cor. 5:1. Of this friend of God a book has been published, containing fifteen letters, with some hymns, which this true witness wrote from prison to his wife and his friends, for comfort and encouragement; of which the following few are here communicated to the reader.
A STATEMENT HOW HE WAS EXAMINED BY THE MAGISTRATES, AND HOW THE PASTOR WANTED TO PROVE INFANT BAPTISM TO HIM, AND HOW SEVERELY THEY ASSAILED HIM.
Grace, peace and love be unto you, from God our heavenly Father, through his Son Jesus Christ. Amen. This I wish you my dear and beloved wife, for an affectionate greeting.
And after all salutation, I inform you, my very dear wife, that it is still tolerably well with me, according to the flesh; and according to the spirit it is my mind and purpose, by the help of God, to adhere to the Lord unto the end of my life.