Marshal came, together with a Spaniard, the Provost of the Empire,
and other horsemen with their equipments. These further examined the
imprisoned brethren, and those who did not comply with their demands,
but held to the truth confessed, they speedily laid in iron chains and
bonds, coupling them two and two together by their hands. In the mean
time many of the sisters, their fellow believers, came into the castle
of Falkenstein, when the prisoners were to be taken to the sea; some
were waiting for the imprisoned brother Eegmachel, and others were
particularly engaged in earnest and fervent prayer and supplication
to God Almighty, that he would keep them from all wrong and sinful
actions, on sea as well as on land, and also give them a steadfast
mind, and grant that they might persevere in the truth unto the end.
After this prayer, a Spaniard was commanded to send all of them away.
Hence they began to take leave from one another, with many scalding
tears and weeping eyes, affectionately admonishing each other, that
each should firmly and unfalteringly adhere to the Lord and the truth
confessed. Time and again they commended each other to the gracious
protection of God, not knowing whether in their life time they should
ever see each other again with their bodily eyes. Thus man and wife
had to separate from each other, and leave their little children;
which flesh and blood would not have been equal to, had it not been
done through the power of God, and for his sake. This leave-taking was
so pitiful, that the King’s Marshal, and others like him, could not
keep back their tears. When everything was arranged, and the escort
was ready, the pious went forth, firmly trusting in God, that he would
aid and deliver them. Thus they were brought from the tower, two and
two together, ninety in all, after having been confined five weeks and
a half in Falkenstein; but the sisters had to remain in the castle,
and from the walls, looked after the brethren, with much sighing and
sorrow, as long as they could see them.
After this, the sisters were all sent away from the castle to the place
where they resided; but the brethren whom they did not want to take to
the sea, on account of infirmity or sickness, and some because of their
youth, they retained as prisoners in the castle; now and then they gave
some of the young lads as slaves to Austrian nobles; however, nearly
all of them returned to the church; the others remained in the castle,
and for them God also wrought a gracious deliverance.
The cause of this great distress of the pious was solely, that in
antichristendom they testified against the idolatrous and unrighteous
life and ways of the priests, for which, as an abomination, God should
once severely punish them, and make an end with them and their sins.
Hence, King Ferdinand gave the crew of priests, who are a band of
robbers, and delight in killing and slaying, power to do with them
as they pleased. These condemned them as worthy of death, that they
should not be tolerated on the earth, but should be sent to sea, thus
to wear out their lives in much anguish and distress, as a warning
to other brethren; and that the other three should be delivered into
the hands of the Admiral of the Armada on the sea, and be employed
on the galleons, in pillaging and waging war against the Turks and
other enemies; though these imprisoned brethren previously told the
messengers of the King, that they would not go against the enemy, to
pillage and wage war, neither would they consent to do wrong on the sea
just as little as on the land, nor sin against God in heaven; and that,
since it was contrary to their faith and conscience, God, through his
unconquerable power, and his grace, could preserve them on the sea as
well as on the land. Nevertheless, these witnesses of the divine truth
were led, through the King’s messengers and his strict command to the
authorities, through cities, towns and villages, to be brought from one
court to another. In this they suffered much and manifold adversity and
great sorrow; but God always granted them gracious means, particularly
in this, that every morning and evening they could all unmolestedly
pray to God, and that one brother could without hindrance comfort the
other; which they accepted very gratefully as a special grace and gift
of God.
By this and the ordering of their whole life they convinced the people
in many places, so that many who at their arrival regarded them as
malefactors, had great compassion on them. Moreover, the King’s
servants, their conductors, frequently bore them testimony, and told
them that they should not pass silently through the cities and towns,
but should make their faith known by singing or otherwise.
Thus the faithful company was led, like a flock of sheep, through
countries and cities, to the sea; journeying from the castle of
Falkenstein to Vienna, thence to Neustadt and Schottwien, over the
Semmering, to Bruck-on-the-Mur, to the borders of Bavaria, to Luebeck
and Marburg, to Tiele, to Stein, in Carniola, over the Save to Laibach,
but still no comfort came. During their imprisonment there they had
to suffer much hunger and distress; they were fed with the bread of
anguish, and had to drink the water of sorrow; but thus it was the will
of God to reveal his word and truth in every place and country, and to
make it known to the nations that were ignorant of it, and to let them
hear the sound thereof; even as he always provides gracious means to
lure men away from unrighteousness, so also here, where these witnesses
of the faith and the divine truth were led to many and various places,
and also to places where strange languages were spoken, where the truth
had not been heard, and where it was unknown and hidden among the
nations. They caused some from Carniola to search after the truth, and
thereby some attained to a knowledge of it, who are still at this day
serving God with a sincere heart. But how these captive brethren, while
on their journey, were treated in many places, how they were beaten,
driven, and coupled together with ropes and chains, and what resulted
to them from this, would be too long to write; still, however great the
tribulation they suffered, God always comforted them in their hearts.
But since God always remembers his own for the best, even when in the
greatest fear, and never entirely forgets them, he strengthened some in
their imprisonment, so that they trusted in God with a good assurance
and hope, that he would work for and show them a deliverance. Therefore
they prayed with the others in the fear of God, though they were firmly
resolved to suffer for the truth of God, and to die rather than to
participate in wicked piracy; yet they had reason enough, constantly
to persevere in prayer to God, with heartfelt lamentation and sighing,
that he would promote his divine honor in them. In this God showed
them, how they should hold proper converse with each other, the strong
care for the weak, and assist one another. And though they had but very
little sustenance, yet they trusted in the Lord, that he would provide
for them, so that they should not have to beg for their bread. Then,
on the twelfth night, at Trieste, they were all delivered from their
chains and bonds, and went out of prison. Through the providence of God
a place was shown them, where they all in the same hour let themselves
down by cords from the walls of the city. Thus the very bonds in which
they had been brought thither as prisoners, had to minister to their
deliverance.
From this it can be seen, that, though the ungodly devise many things
against the pious, God always turns it for the best to his people.
Thus, through the providence of God, they escaped from the hands of
their enemies, in spite of the watchful guards whom they had placed in
the city and upon the walls; for God changed their prudence to folly,
so that they escaped over the walls right near the guard-house.
When all of them, both sick and well, had escaped over the walls a
good many of them gathered together, knelt down, and together offered
praise and thanks to God. God thus sped them on their way, that the
greater part of them returned with joy and glad hearts to the church in
Moravia. Twelve of them, however, were recaptured by the wicked, who
pursued them, and, together with the other three, they were delivered
to the Emperor’s Admiral over the Armada, taken to sea, and brought
upon the galleons, with the intention of employing them as pirates,
but the pious risked their lives, and would rather be scourged. But as
to the end of each one of these nothing certain is yet known, but, it
is to be supposed that, if they constantly adhered to the Lord, they
did not have many good days while they lived. But the above mentioned
brethren whom God had delivered, when they, about the year 1540
returned from Trieste to the church in Moravia, they were received with
great joy and gratitude, as a gift from God.
ANNA OF ROTTERDAM, PUT TO DEATH IN THAT PLACE, A. D. 1539.
The following is the Testament which Anna of Rotterdam left and
presented to her son, Isaiah, on the twenty-fourth of January, A. D.
1539, at nine o’clock in the morning, as she was preparing herself to
die for the name and the testimony of Jesus, and took leave of her son,
at Rotterdam.
Isaiah, receive your testament:
My son, hear the instruction of your mother; open your ears to hear
the words of my mouth. Prov. 1:8. Behold, I go to-day the way of the
prophets, apostles and martyrs, and drink of the cup of which they all
have drank. Matt. 20:23. I go, I say, the way which Christ Jesus, the
eternal word of the Father, full of grace and truth, the Shepherd of
the sheep, who is the Life, himself went, and who went this way, and
not another, and who had to drink of this cup, even as he said: “I
have a cup to drink of, and a baptism to be baptized with; and how am
I straitened till it be accomplished!” Having passed through, he calls
his sheep, and his sheep hear his voice, and follow him whithersoever
he goes; for this is the way to the true fountain. John 10:27; 4:14.
This way was traveled by the royal priests who came from the rising
of the sun, as we read in revelation, and entered into the ages of
eternity, and had to drink of this cup. 1 Peter 2:9.
This way was trodden by the dead under the altar, who cry, saying:
Lord, Almighty God, when wilt thou avenge the blood that has been shed?
White robes were given unto them, and it was said to them; Wait yet
for a little season, until the number of your brethren that are yet to
be killed for the testimony of Jesus, be fulfilled. Rev. 6:9–11. These
also drank of the cup, and are gone above to keep the eternal, holy
Sabbath of the Lord. This is the way in which walked the twenty-four
elders, who stand before the throne of God, and cast their crowns and
harps before the throne of the Lamb, falling down upon their faces, and
saying: Lord, unto thee alone be praise, glory, power, and strength,
who shalt avenge the blood of thy servants and ministers, and shalt
through thyself gain the victory. Great be thy name, Almighty, which
was, and is, and is to come. Rev. 4:8,10.
In this way walked also those who were marked by the Lord, and received
the mark Thau upon their foreheads (Ezek. 9:6), who were chosen from
among all nations of men, who were not defiled with women (understand
this), and who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Rev. 14:4.
Behold, all these had to drink of the cup of bitterness, as will also
all those have to do, who are still wanting to complete the number and
fulfillment of Zion, the bride of the Lamb, which is the new Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:2), the city and throne of God, in
which the glory of the great King shall be seen, when the feast of
tabernacles will be kept and celebrated in the days of eternal rest and
joy. Zech. 14:16.
Behold, all these could not attain to this, without first suffering
judgment and chastisement in their flesh; for Christ Jesus, the eternal
truth, was the first, when it is written: “The Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. So Paul says: Thus it pleased
the Father, that all whom he predestinated from eternity, he called,
elected, justified, and made to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Rom. 8:29,30. Our blessed Savior also says: The servant is not above
his Lord; but it is sufficient for him, that he be like his Lord and
Master. Matt. 10:24. Also Peter says: “The time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the
righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear?” 1 Pet. 4:17,18. Read also in Proverbs(11:31): “Behold, the
righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and
the sinner.” See, my son, here you can hear that no one can come unto
life, except through this way. Therefore enter in through the strait
gate, receive the chastisement and instruction of the Lord, bow your
shoulders under his yoke, and cheerfully bear it from your youth,
with thanksgiving, rejoicing and honor; for he accepts or receives no
son, whom he does not chasten. Hebrews 12:6. Paul further says: If
you forsake the chastisement, whereof they were all partakers, ye are
bastards, and not children, and shall be cast out from the inheritance
of the children of God.
If you, therefore, desire to enter into the regions of the holy world,
and into the inheritance of the saints, gird your loins, and follow
after them; search the Scriptures, and it shall show you their ways.
John 5:39. The angel who spake to the prophet said: “There is also
another thing: A city is builded, and set upon a broad field, and is
full of all good things: the entrance thereof is narrow, and set in
a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right
hand, and on the left a deep water: and one only path between them
both, even between the fire and the water, so small that there could
but one man go there at once. If this city now were given unto a man
for an inheritance, if he never shall pass the danger set before it,
how shall he receive this inheritance?” 2 Esd. 7:6–9. See, my son, this
way has no retreats; there are no roundabout or crooked little paths;
whosoever departs to the right or to the left, inherits death. Behold,
this is the way which is found by so few, and walked by a still far
smaller number; for there are some who well perceive that this is the
way to life; but it is too severe for them; it pains their flesh.
Therefore, my child, do not regard the great number, nor walk in their
ways. Remove thy foot far from their paths, for they go to hell, as
sheep unto death; even as Isaiah says: “Hell hath enlarged herself,
and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their
multitude ... shall descend into it.” Is. 5:14. “It is a people of
no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on
them.” Is. 27:11. But where you hear of a poor, simple, cast-off little
flock (Luke 12:32), which is despised and rejected by the world, join
them; for where you hear of the cross, there is Christ; from there do
not depart. Flee the shadow of this world; become united with God; fear
him alone, keep his commandments, observe all his words, to do them;
write them upon the table of your heart, bind them upon your forehead,
speak day and night of his law and you will be a pleasant tree and a
sprout in the courts of the Lord, a beloved plant growing up in Zion.
Ps. 92:13. Take the fear of the Lord to be your father, and wisdom
shall be the mother of your understanding. If you know this, my son,
happy are you if you do it. John 13:17. Observe that which the Lord
commands you, and sanctify your body to his service, that his name may
be sanctified, praised, and made glorious and great in you. Be not
ashamed to confess him before men; do not fear men; rather give up your
life, than to depart from the truth. If you lose your body, which is
earthly, the Lord your God has prepared you a better one in heaven. 2
Cor. 5:1.
Therefore, my child, strive for righteousness unto death, and arm
yourself with the armor of God. Be a pious Israelite, trample under
foot all unrighteousness, the world and all that is in it, and love
only that which is above. 1 John 2:15. Remember, that you are not of
this world, even as your Lord and Master was not. John 15:19. Be a
faithful disciple of Christ; for none is fit to pray, unless he has
become his disciple, and not before. Col. 1:7; John 9:31. Those who
said: “We have left all,” also said: “Teach us to pray.” Luke 18:28;
11:1. They were those for whom the Lord prayed, and not the world
(John 17:9); for when the world prays, they call upon their father,
the Devil, and desire that his will be done, as is also the case.
Therefore, my son, do not become like them, but shun and flee them, and
have neither part nor fellowship with them. Rom. 12:2; 2 Pet. 1:4. Do
not regard that which is before your eyes, but seek only those things
which are above. Col. 3:1. O my child, be mindful of my admonition,
and forsake it not. May the Lord cause you to grow up in his fear,
and fill your understanding with his Spirit. 2 Peter 3:18. Sanctify
yourself to the Lord, my son; sanctify your whole conduct in the fear
of your God. Lev. 20:7. Whatever you do, do it all to the praise of his
name. Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of
the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open,
warm heart thy bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and suffer not
to have anything twofold; for there are always some who lack. Matt.
26:11. Whatever the Lord grants you from the sweat of your face, above
what you need, communicate to those of whom you know that they love the
Lord (Genesis 3:19; Ps. 112:9); and suffer nothing to remain in your
possession until the morrow, and the Lord shall bless the work of your
hands, and give you his blessing for an inheritance. Deut. 28:12. O my
son, let your life be conformed to the Gospel, and the God of peace,
sanctify your soul and body, to his praise. Amen. Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess.
5:23.
O holy Father, sanctify the son of thy handmaiden in thy truth, and
keep him from the evil, for thy name’s sake, O Lord.
Thereupon she sealed this with her blood, and thus, as a pious heroine
and follower of Jesus Christ, she was received among the number of the
witnesses of God who were offered up.
TJAERT REYNERTS, A. D. 1539.
About the year 1539, there was also a godfearing peasant, named Tjaert
Reynerts, who lived near Harlingen, in Friesland. He was brought a
prisoner to Leeuwærden, where he had to suffer much for the truth,
from the blood-thirsty papists. Proverbs 29:10. The cause of his
imprisonment was, that, out of compassion and brotherly love, he had
secretly harbored Menno Simon in his great misery, in his house. This
having been brought to the notice of the enemies, he was apprehended
and very cruelly examined; but he, as a valiant hero and witness
of Jesus (Rev. 2:13; 20:4), would not forsake his Creator in this
extremity, but freely and undauntedly confessed the faith of the
everlasting truth against these tyrants and blood-thirsty men; on which
account he, at said place, as a chief of murderers (according to the
example of his Lord Jesus), was placed upon the wheel, though even his
greatest enemies bore witness that he was an upright and pious man. 1
Tim. 3:7.
At this time the tyranny and persecution against the godfearing
Christians was very dreadful, so that the envious papists, who hated
the truth, caused likenesses of many of the principal teachers and
overseers of the church of Jesus Christ to be made, and posted up on
doors, gates, and other public places, promising a large sum of money,
to such as should deliver them into the hands of the officers and
executioners. And since the godfearing Menno Simon, who was zealous
for God, was one of the principal teachers and elders in this bloody
and perilous time, who, by his glorious admonitions, and writings from
the word of God, so flourished, that none of his adversaries dared
come before him in an open and free scriptural disputation, though he
at various times and very earnestly requested it; through which sound
doctrine and Christian admonition, and the power of the Most High,
said Menno Simon drew, turned, and won to God, a great number of men,
from dark and erring popery; yea, from the dumb idols, to the living
God. Therefore the servants of antichrist were embittered the more
against him, and, in order to quench and hinder this, caused, A. D.
1543, a dreadful decree to be proclaimed against him throughout all
West Friesland; in which all malefactors and murderers were offered
remission of their crimes, the pardon of the Emperor, the freedom of
the country, and one hundred Carl Guilders, if they could deliver
Menno Simon into the hands of the torturers and executioners. But
though these envious men thirsted with such exceeding tyranny and great
bitterness for his blood, and sought and persecuted him unto death, yet
the Almighty God preserved him, and most miraculously protected him
from the designs of all his enemies, so that they could not execute
their tyrannical desires on him; for he died a natural death, as God
had appointed it to him, at Wuestefeld, near Luebeck, on the 13th of
January, in the year 1559, in his sixty-sixth year. Ps. 31:15; Job
14:5; Ps. 139:16.
He that desires, may read _Menno Simon, contra Gallius Faber, fol. 23_,
where the offering of Tjaert Reynerts is referred to.[232]
[232] See Menno Simon’s Complete Works, English Edition, published by
John F. Funk and Brother, Elkhart, Indiana, 1871, part first, page 8.
ARENT JACOBS, WITH HIS WIFE AND ELDEST SON, A. D. 1539.
Even as it was in the time of Esau and Jacob, that he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit (Gen.
27:1; Galatians 4:29), so it was also abundantly witnessed in this
time; which, among others, appeared in the case of one godfearing
brother named Arent Jacobs, and his wife and eldest son. These resided
in the Rijp, and being born again from above of God, and seeking the
eternal inheritance which is reserved for such in heaven, they were
hated and persecuted unto death by the followers of Esau, who brought
them prisoners from the Rijp to Monickendam, in North Holland, where
they had to suffer much for the truth; but as they were built upon
Christ, and suffered themselves by no torments to be led away, they
were, at said place, A. D. 1539, sentenced to suffer death by drowning,
which was accordingly done. To this end heavy stones were used, which
the executioner was not able to lift, so that the prisoners were
obliged to assist him. Thus, like irrational beasts they were cast
into the water, with stones tied to their necks, and so departed this
life. Thus they did not love their lives, but surrendered them unto
death for the witness of Jesus, who at his glorious coming shall raise
their rejected bodies from the dead, and crown them with immortality in
heaven. Rev. 12:11; 20:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Phil. 3:21; 2 Timothy
4:8.
HANS SIMERAVER, A. D. 1540.
In the year 1540, Brother Hans Simeraver was imprisoned for the divine
truth, at Schwatz, in the valley of the Inn; but as they could not
draw him from his faith, nor convince him with the holy Scriptures,
they delivered him to their high priest, the executioner, who had to
lead him out and conquer him. Thus he was executed with the sword, and
sealed his faith in God with his blood, thus resisting unto blood, or
striving against sin and the abomination of desolation. Heb. 12:4;
Matt. 24:15. Therefore he shall also, on Mount Sion, among the great
number of those who testified to and confessed the name of God in the
world, receive a palm in his hands, and be crowned with the unfading
crown of life. 2 Esdr. 2:45; 2 Tim. 4:8.
WALTER OF STOELWIJK, A. D. 1541.
On the eleventh of February, A. D. 1538, another pious and faithful
brother, named Walter of Stoelwijk, at Vilvoorden, in Brabant, fell
into the hands of the ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15), and had to suffer
much for the truth, from these envious papists. But he, as a wise
builder, had founded his house upon the firm and immovable rock, Christ
Jesus; and therefore remained steadfast in all these great trials,
though he had to suffer cruel imprisonment for three years, and much
severe and tyrannous examining and torturing from these blood-thirsty
men. Finally, on the 24th of March, in the year 1541, he was sentenced
and burned at said place. Thus he remained faithful to his Lord and
Creator unto death, and steadfastly confirmed with his death and blood
the genuine faith of the truth, and his unwavering, living hope. He
shall therefore, as an obedient sheep, also hear the voice of the great
Shepherd of the sheep saying to him: “Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
John 10:3; Heb. 13:20; Matt. 25:34.
A LETTER WRITTEN BY SAID WALTER OF STOELWIJK, TREATING OF THE SUFFERING
AND THE GLORY OF CHRISTIANS.
Grace, peace, and mercy from God our heavenly Father, and from Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior, be with all those who live godly in Christ
Jesus, and therefore suffer persecution, to the glory and praise of the
true God, to the trial of their faith, and the eternal salvation of
their souls. Amen. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; 2 Tim.
3:12.