Profiles of Anabaptist Women: Sixteenth-Century Reforming Pioneers

Wives, Female Leaders, and Two Female Martyrs from Hall

180 Profiles of Anabaptist Women Moravia, but it is likely that she did. We hear about her again in 1535. In that year she married Jacob Hutter at the Pentecost celebration in a Moravian Anabaptist community. The young couple were married by one of the leaders of that community Hans Tuchmacher (Amon), who came from the Puster Valley originally. In the meantime, persecution broke out also in Moravia, the "promised land" of the Anabaptists. The dissolution of the Anabaptist kingdom in Minister, with all its negative consequences for Anabaptists everywhere, also affected the communities in Moravia. The local Lord, Kuno of Kaunitz, under pressure from Archduke Ferdinand, withdrew his protection of the Anabaptists, and the communities began to scatter. The Hutterian Chronicle relates: "So therefore Jacob Hutter took his bundle on his back. His assistants did the same, and the brothers and sisters and all their children went in pairs, following their shepherd Jacob."7 It was a forced expulsion. Families had to leave their homes and survive in open fields; all had to fend for themselves. Jacob Hutter wrote several letters to the local lord and lamented the situation: "We are living in the wilderness on the barren pasture, under the clear sky. We don't know where we should go. Our houses and properties are still unsold." Jacob Hutter himself was in danger of being captured. In order to protect him, the Anabaptists decided that he and his wife should return to the Tirol. Thus it was that Jacob and Katharina made their way back to their homeland.8 It may have been several weeks before they neared the Puster Valley, where Jacob Hutter had been born in the hamlet of Moos, near Bruneck.9 They journeyed over the mountains to Sand in Taufers, accompanied by a schoolmaster named Hieronymus who had been baptized by Hutter. There they knew of like­minded people and hoped to find food and lodging. By July 25, 1535, St. Jacob's Day, Hutter was again conducting baptisms in the Puster Valley. But it soon became evident that Jacob Hutter could no longer travel unrecognized through this country. Persons had been assigned by the government specifically to be on the lookout for him. This became evident after a meeting of Anabaptists in Taufers. The arrest of one of the brothers after the worship service was a serious warning for Hutter. Thus, the three wanderers did not remain in Taufers, but rather travelled to Elln, near St. Lorenz and Bruneck, in the hope of finding protection and lodging. There they asked a brother in the faith, Waldner, to take them in. However, he refused them entry. He had recently "left the Anabaptist teaching" and wanted nothing more to do with the movement. Katharina reacted with sharp words. She said: "Waldner is a destructive person and a useless Christian,"10 meaning that he had forfeited his life as a Christian and as a respectable human being. The Hutters then turned towards Horschwang where they were welcomed by a brother in the faith by the name of Ober. Disregarding the danger, Hutter preached in Horschwang and its environs. Katharina Purst Hutter of Sterzing 181 He baptized Ober and his entire household in the same manner as is recorded in the book of Acts concerning Lydia (Acts 16). The Ober household included his wife, their daughter Dorothea, two male servants, and a couple who worked there, Wolf and Els. From Horschwang the Hutters went to Ltisen. Here, near the top of the mountain, there existed at that time a small Anabaptist congregation. The Hutters and Hieronymus stayed with a woman named Prader who, along with her son Melchior, had joined the Anabaptists despite the fact that her husband was totally against the sect. At one point there was a secret Anabaptist meeting in the forest near Ltisen, following which the group returned to Horschwang. As a result of the activities of Hutter, the people of that region and the government authorities were again made aware of the Anabaptists. The small group stood in danger and could no longer remain in Horschwang. But where were they to go? All over the Tirol there were "hunters" appointed to seek them out. Finally they prepared to leave during the night for Klausen on the Eisack River, accompanied by a young woman named Anna Stainer. They crossed the bridge near a guardhouse on the hillside in the dark of night in order to reach Klausen. Their path led them through the...