Profiles of Anabaptist Women: Sixteenth-Century Reforming Pioneers

Margarethe Prüss of Strasbourg

The North German/Dutch Anabaptist Context 251 pieces, his head paraded on a lance by the besieging soldiers. Less than two months later, a young woman named Hille Feicken (profiled in this book), originally from Friesland, set out from Miinster on an equally desperate mission: she felt called to assassinate the besieging bishop in a re­enactment of the story of the prophetess Judith and her royal victim Holofernes. She was discovered and executed before accomplishing her objective. With the death of Jan Matthijs the way was clear for Jan van Leiden to assume power within the city. His credentials were not impressive: he was a tailor, a salesman, and an amateur actor, all of twenty­four years old, who had left a wife in Leiden. Nevertheless, he claimed that God had told him in a dream that he was to be Jan Matthijs's successor, and such was his personal charisma and ability that he managed to assume that role. In July of 1534 he married Divara and began instituting changes in the city's organization, primarily along Old Testament lines. By the end of that month he had instituted polygamy within the city (in which women now outnumbered men by more than two to one). In September of 1534 a prophet in the city proclaimed Jan to be "King over the New Israel and over the whole world."29 King Jan now took on the role of the "new David," king of the righteous and castigator of the unrighteous. As 1534 drew to a close, the great hope within the city of Miinster lay with Anabaptist support outside the city. One such centre of support was the city of Deventer; the profile of Fenneke van Geelen provides a view of the Miinsterite period from the Deventer perspective. By April 1535 the situation inside the city was desperate, for the massive support from outside had not materialized. The final taking of the city began June 25, 1535. It was made possible through the betrayal of the city by two of its citizens, and initiated a two­day bloodbath. The hundreds of dead eventually were buried by neighbouring peasants. Jan van Leiden was paraded around the countryside for show, and finally in January 1536 he, Bernhard Knipperdolling, and Berad Krechting were publicly tortured for hours with red­hot tongs and eventually executed before the cathedral. Their remains were hung from the tower of St. Lambert's church in three iron cages. They had been preceded in death by Divara, who had been executed days before with little public fanfare. The Melchiorite Movement after Miinster: David Joris After the fall of Miinster, the Melchiorite movement in the north moved into a third phase of development. A small number of supporters of militant action (at first led by Jan van Batenburg) continued in existence, with ever­ decreasing numbers. The first serious attempt to gather various Melchiorites together after the fall of Miinster was undertaken by David Joris, who emerged as the most important Melchiorite leader in the north in 1536.30 He, along with Menno Simons who would soon be his rival, had been one 252 Profiles of Anabaptist Women of the few Melchiorite leaders opposed to the crusading interpretation of Anabaptism during the height of excitement in 1535.31 Joris maintained that the visible kingdom would come into being sometime in the future, as a result of God's action. Attempting to establish a visible kingdom by human agency in the here and now, as had been attempted by the Munsterites and was being continued by the Batenburgers, was a mistake. Joris emphasized instead the inner, spiritual life and the invisible, spiritual kingdom in what he was convinced were the days leading up to God's final action in history. He also became increasingly convinced of his own prophetic call as the "third David," a spiritual call that he and his followers were convinced gave a special authority to his visions, insights, and pronouncements. Women who participated in Joris's movement are well represented in the following profiles. It appears that in spite of the fact that Joris emphasized male dominance (he continually advised men to let their "beards grow" in their relations with women), nevertheless his teaching exerted a strong power of attraction for women, not least women of the nobility.32 The group profile of some of the women close to Joris provides some insight into that dynamic. The dramatic story of Anna Jansz, perhaps the best­known follower...