CHRIST, AT DORDRECHT, ABOUT THE YEAR 1570.
Ancient and credible memoirs tell us as indubitable facts, that about
the year of our Lord 1570, two very devout persons, a man and a woman,
whose names we have not been able to ascertain, were sought for by the
bailiff of the city of Dordrecht, because they were called Anabaptists,
and finally found in the Marienbon street of said city, in a house from
which was suspended the sign of a boot. As they steadfastly adhered to
their faith, both were shortly after burnt in the market field, beyond
the scales, where then was the place of execution.
Also, that seven others, men as well as women, of the same religion,
who had come from Breda,[326] when they could by no means be moved
therefrom, suffered like punishment, namely, by fire, until death
ensued; which took place in the plain, not far from the Menne bridge,
beyond the powder magazine being the other place of execution.
[326] Of these martyrs from Breda mention seems to be made also in
one of the letters of Jan Wouterss van Kuyck.
About the end of the year, namely, in the month of November, when that
great and terrible flood, that came on All-saints-day (of which almost
every one knows something) had come to an end, it is stated, that a
certain Anabaptist widow in the Armetij street was taken from a room at
the side of a stairway by the bailiff and the stadtholder; which widow
some time afterwards, as she would not apostatize from her faith, also
had to die in the flames.
We made search for the examinations and death sentences of the
aforementioned persons, in the ordinary’s criminal city records of that
time, but did not find them, nor of J. W. van Kuyck and Adriaentgen
Jans van Molenaersgraef, who were put to death two years afterwards;
though there were several living witnesses of it in our time, who saw
the death of said persons, together with all the circumstances. This
being the case it appears that the papists were ashamed to put the
court proceedings and death sentences of said persons into the city
records, since it seemed that the country and at the same time also
this city should before long change government and religion, which
about two years afterwards was accomplished through the coming of
William I., prince of Orange; and thus the constraint over the faith
and conscience ceased at the same time, at said place.
_Further Observation._--As regards the persons who then (in the year
1570) sat in court, and administered justice, they were, according to
the record of Johan van Beverwijck, in his Register of the Magistracy
of Dordrecht, as follows:
Adriaen van Bleyenbergh Adriaenss, Bailiff of said city, who had
entered on his office in the year 1549, and completed his time in the
year 1571.
Arent van der Mijle Sir Corneliss, Burgomaster of the community.
Together with nine judges: Gijsbrecht van Haerlem Jans; Cornelis
van Diemen Jacobss; Huybrecht Jonge Adriaenss; Jan van Slingelandt
Sir Ottenss; Wourick van Drenkwaert Sir Wilmss; Jan Janss Elandtss;
Bondewijn Heerman Gijsbrechtss; Dierick van Beverwijck Sir Philips;
Cornelis van Mosyenbroeck Sir Corneliss.
However, whether they all concurred in this sentence, or only some of
them, is not known to us.
JELIS CLAVERSS, LIJSABET, WIFE OF CLAES DE VRIES, NELLEKEN JASPERS, AND
WITH THEM THIRTY-THREE OTHER PERSONS, A. D. 1571.
In the year 1571, thirty-six persons were apprehended at Antwerp, in
Brabant, for the truth of the holy Gospel of Christ and following
the same. Among them were Jelis Claverss, Lijsabet, wife of Claes de
Vries, and Nelleken Jaspers, whom we think to have also been among
this number, which comprised six men and thirty women, some of whom
were burnt, and some suffered drowning with great constancy. But said
Lijsabet died with a screw in her mouth, by which she was prevented
from speaking, that she should not tell the spectators how innocently
she died; in which deed the monks and priests more than filled up the
measure of their forefathers, the blood-thirsty Pharisees; for they
stopped only their own ears, that the truth should not be told them by
Stephen, the worthy man of God; these new Pharisees, the monks, on the
other hand, caused screws to be put on the tongues of these pious and
faithful witnesses of God, and the tip of the tongue touched with a red
hot iron, that the swelling should prevent it from slipping out. Thus
these pious persons [were put to death] not on account of any crime or
uproar or fraud, nor for any heresy, but only because they had gone
out of Babylon, and united with Christ, herein following the teaching
of the Holy Ghost. 2 Cor. 6:17. Hence they valiantly contended for
the belief of the truth, and shall, from the Prince of truth, through
grace, for this short, little labor, receive the crown of eternal
glory, and enjoy it forever.
The above mentioned Nelleken Jaspers was a girl of seventeen years,
whose memory has been much sung on the street, in these countries.
She was confined in prison for about a year, so that she was about
eighteen years old when she died. During her imprisonment she suffered
severe temptations, by way of threats of a terrible death as well as
by fair promise of an advantageous marriage, and the like. But even as
Christ, her captain, had repelled and vanquished all temptations of the
enemy, so also this young heroine faithfully followed unto death the
footsteps of her bridegroom Christ Jesus, and continued steadfast unto
death, and, through the grace of God, received the end of the faith,
which is the salvation of the soul. 1 Pet. 1:9. Though some would claim
Nelleken Jaspers for the Protestant religion (as they also unjustly
do concerning Anneken van den Howe, who was buried alive without
Brussels), this is nevertheless utterly in vain, seeing, that when
this was recorded, credible persons were still living who knew better,
testifying that she died in one and the same faith with these pious
confessors (called Mennists). This appears also from Joost Verkindert’s
letter on the 20th of June, where she is described as of like faith
with Joost and Lauwerens Andries, who greet the brethren with the peace
of the Lord.
DIRCK MIEUWESS, A. D. 1571.
After much persecution, murdering and burning of the true followers
of Christ, there was apprehended at Vlissingen in Zealand, also a
pious brother named Dirck Mieuwess, and after long imprisonment the
bailiff and jailer permitted him to render them certain services for
the benefits of their households, in consequence of which he, together
with some of his fellow-prisoners, was frequently allowed to leave the
prison. Hence, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, some of
the prisoners escaped and advised said Dirck Mieuwess to flee with
them, which this friend of Christ refused to do, fearing that thereby
the jailer, who had permitted him to go out, should get into trouble.
Thus remaining in imprisonment, he, on the 6th of March, 1570, before
Easter, was sentenced to be tortured on the rack, and the following
year, namely, A. D. 1571, on the 8th of May, he was burned at said
place, evincing great steadfastness, and offered up his temporal and
corruptible body as a sweet-smelling savor unto the Lord of heaven and
earth; not suffering as a thief or murderer, nor as one that seeks
other peoples’ property, but only for the truth of Christ, and a good
conscience. 1 Pet. 2:19. Hence there are sure to him the promises
of Christ, who has said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:10.
ANNEKEN HEYNDRICKS, A. D. 1571.
In the year 1571, there was burnt alive, at Amsterdam in Holland, for
the testimony of Jesus, a woman named Anneken Heyndricks, aged about
fifty-three years. Having come from Friesland to Amsterdam, she was
betrayed by her neighbor, the under-bailiff, who entered her house, in
order to apprehend her. She said to him with a meek spirit: “Neighbor
Evert, what is your wish? if you seek me, you can easily find me; here
I am at your service.” This Judas the traitor said: “Surrender, in
the name of the King.” And he bound Anneken with a rope, and led her
along with him, as Judas and the scribes had done with our predecessor,
Jesus. When they had arrived on the Dam, Anneken said, that they should
not hesitate to look at her, since she was neither a harlot nor a
thief, but a prisoner for the name of Jesus. After arriving in prison,
she thanked and praised her Lord and Creator with an humble heart,
for counting her worthy to suffer for his name’s sake. And she boldly
confessed her faith before Pieter the Bailiff and the other lords.
They greatly tormented her with Baal’s priests, in order to cause her
to apostatize; but through the grace of God she valiantly resisted
it. This greatly astonished the bailiff, that she did not pay more
regard to his spiritual lords, and he said to Anneken: “Sir Albert, our
chaplain, is such a holy fellow, that he ought to be mounted in fine
gold; and you will not hear him, but make sport of him; hence you must
die in your sins, so far are you strayed from God.”
Thus they suspended this godfearing aged woman (who could neither
read nor write) by her hands, even as Christ had been, and by severe
torturing sought to extort from her the names of her fellow-believers,
for they thirsted for more innocent blood. But they obtained nothing
from Anneken, so faithfully did God keep her lips. Hence the Bailiff
preferred against her the charge of being infected with heresy, having
forsaken the mother, the holy church, now about six years ago and
having adopted the cursed doctrine of the Mennonists, by whom she had
been baptized on her faith, and married a husband among them. Thereupon
she was sentenced to be burnt alive. She thanked the lords, and said
with humility, that if she had done amiss to any one, she asked them to
forgive her. But the lords arose and made no reply. She was then tied
on a ladder. Then she said to Evert the under-bailiff, her neighbor:
“Thou Judas, I have not deserved it, that I should be thus murdered.”
And she asked him not to do this any more, or God should avenge it on
him. Thereupon Evert angrily said, that he would bring all those that
were of her mind into the same trouble. Then the other bailiff came
once more with a priest, tormenting her, and saying that if she did
not renounce, she should go from this fire into the eternal. Thereupon
Anneken steadfastly said: “Though I am sentenced and condemned by
you, yet what you say does not come from God; for I firmly trust in
God, who shall help me out of my distress, and deliver me out of all
my trouble.” They did not let her speak any more but filled her mouth
with gunpowder, and carried her thus from the city hall to the fire
into which they cast her alive. This done, the traitor Evert, the
under-bailiff, was seen to laugh, as though he thought he had done God
an acceptable service. But the merciful God, who is the comfort of the
pious, shall give this faithful witness, for this brief and temporal
tribulation, an everlasting reward, when her stopped mouth shall be
opened in fullness of joy, and these sad tears (for the truth’s sake)
shall be wiped away, and she be crowned with eternal joy with God in
heaven.
Concerning this, see a hymn in some old hymn books.
NOTE.--We have obtained the sentence of death of this pious and valiant
heroine of Jesus Christ, as the same was read to her in court: as also,
the record of her torture, which, as it appears, took place two weeks
before her death; which we shall place here one after the other, as
they were copied by the secretary from the criminal records of the city.
SENTENCE OF DEATH OF ANNEKEN HEYNDRICKS, SURNAMED DE VLASTER.
Whereas, Anna Heyndricks daughter, _alias_, Anna de Vlaster, formerly
citizeness of this city, at present a prisoner here, unmindful of her
soul’s salvation, and the obedience which she owed to our mother,
the holy church, and to His Royal Majesty, as her natural lord and
prince, rejecting the ordinances of the holy church, has neither been
to confession, nor to the holy, worthy sacrament, for six or seven
years since [but has dared], to go into the assembly of the reprobated
sect of the Mennonists, or Anabaptists, and has also held conventicles
or meetings at her house; and has further, about three years ago,
forsaking and renouncing the baptism received in her infancy from the
holy church, been rebaptized, and then received the breaking of bread
according to the manner of the Mennonist sect, and was also married to
her present husband in Mennonist manner, by night, in a country house;
and though she, the prisoner, has, by my lords of the court, as well as
by divers ecclesiastical persons, been urged and repeatedly admonished,
to leave the aforementioned reprobated sect, she nevertheless refuses
to do it, persisting in her obstinacy and stubbornness, so that she,
the prisoner, according to what has been mentioned, has committed
crime against divine and human majesty, as by said sect disturbing
the common peace and welfare of the land, according to the import
of the decrees of His Majesty, existing in regard to this; which
misdemeanors, for an example unto others, ought not to go unpunished;
therefore, my lord of the court, having heard the demand of my lord the
Bailiff, seen the confession of the prisoner, and having had regard
to her obstinacy and stubbornness, have condemned her, and condemn
her by these presents, to be, according to the decrees of His Royal
Majesty, executed with fire, and declare all her property confiscated
for the benefit of His Majesty aforesaid. Done in court, on the 10th of
November, in the year 1571, in presence of the judges, by the advice
of all the burgomasters, in my knowledge, as secretary, and as was
subscribed:
W. PIETERSS.
_Concerning the torturing of the aforementioned Anna Heyndricks, and
when this occurred._
She was tortured on the 27th of October, in the year 1571, according to
the previous sentence of the judges, as appears from the record of the
confession.
Thus extracted from the book of criminal sentences of the city of
Amsterdam. Preserved in the archives there.
N. N.
WOLFGANG PINDER, A. D. 1571.
In this year 1571, brother Wolfgang Pinder was apprehended through
treachery, at Scharding, in Bavaria. The chancellor of Burkhausen was
at Scharding at that time; he came himself, apprehended and bound him,
and took him thence to Burkhausen, where he had to resist many assaults
and temptations from the host of false prophets, such as priests and
others, who vehemently assailed him, in order that he should renounce
his faith, and suffer himself to be instructed by them. To this end
they used great diligence, and employed all manner of subtilty, to
see whether they could not lead him astray, by fair, smooth words, by
false doctrine, or by arrogance and threats; but he allowed himself in
no wise to be moved from the known way of the truth, into which God
had helped him. When the priests therefore could accomplish nothing,
the executioner was on hand the following night, who had to lay hold
of him, and he was vehemently tortured, racked and stretched most
lamentably, so that his hands swelled greatly and he could not stand on
his feet, so cruelly and unmercifully had the children of Satan treated
him, according to the manner of their father, who is full of wrath
against the human family, and works through his children all the works
of wickedness, wherever he can.
Once two priests came to said brother; one of them talked with him,
and admonished him to forsake his error and be converted; but brother
Wolfgang, though still suffering great pain from the torturing and
racking, said to him with a manful heart: “O you priest, do repent, and
turn from your sinful life, and false doctrine; for you are a false
prophet, and one of the rogues that go about in sheep’s clothing, and
cover their deceitfulness and rascality with long robes; but inwardly
you are ravening wolves, upon whom the Lord has pronounced many woes.”
At this the priest got angry and blushed, as did also the other;
and they could not accomplish their purpose with him. Finally they
sent him back from Burkhausen to Scharding, where he had originally
been apprehended. In both places they tried him hard, but could not
accomplish their purpose with him. When he could not be moved, and
would not follow their false doctrine, he had to lay down his life.
They unexpectedly set a day, and he was taken out early in the morning
to be executed, without any judicial sentence, which brother Wolfgang
demanded. But such course of action on their part need not surprise one
at all, for they have nothing to prefer against the pious, and cannot
find any cause of death in them.
Thus the executioner came, and removed the collar from his neck, but
he seized him with fear and trembling. Brother Wolfgang knelt down,
and commended his spirit into the hands of his Lord and God. The
executioner handled him very badly; he could not strike him properly,
nor execute him with dispatch; he finally, while he was lying on the
earth, had to hack or cut off his head as best he could; so that he
himself was in great fear, and in great peril of his life from the
people present, so that he vowed, never again in his life to execute
any brethren. There were many people present who saw how valiant, and
brave he was. This occurred shortly after Candlemas, in the year 1571.
After he had been imprisoned almost half a year, he had thus to shed
his blood for the faith in Jesus Christ, and passed over to the Lord’s
host, who must in faith, by patient suffering, take possession of the
kingdom of joy. The traitor who had informed against him, subsequently
fared very badly, as did also the chancellor, who had apprehended him;
their good days soon came to an end, as it generally goes with such
Judases, who sin against the pious, innocent sheep of the Lord, and
thirst for their blood: misfortune overtakes them through the wrath of
God, and does not suffer them to remain long at ease.
JOOST VAN DER STRATEN, A. D. 1571.
Joost van der Straten, born at Teems in the district of Waes, in
Flanders, a chairmaker by trade, was, when he was about seventy years
old, taken from his work, and apprehended with his whole household,
outside of Antwerp, on the Kiel (where now the fort stands), and they
were, by the Spaniards, who apprehended them, brought to Antwerp. His
wife and daughter, however, belonging to no religion; were released
in course of time; but upon Joost many tortures were inflicted, in
order to make him apostatize. But as he remained steadfast, after
an imprisonment of three days, on Shrove Tuesday, A. D. 1571, his
mouth was screwed open, and he was thus burnt alive in the market
place, before the city hall, and then suspended from a stake in the
gallows-field. The Duke of Alva was in Antwerp at that time.
HANS VAN DER STRATEN, A. D. 1571.
Shortly after Shrove Tuesday, in the year 1571, the Duke of Alva
removed from Antwerp to Brussels, taking with him all the prisoners,
those of the reformed as well as those of the Anabaptistic religion,
among which prisoners there were also this Hans van der Straten, aged
about thirty-one years, born at Kortrijck, and his wife Tanneken, aged
past seventeen years, born at Mechlin. As Hans firmly adhered to his
faith and the divine truth, he was sentenced to death, and conducted
outside of Brussels with his mouth screwed open, and there burnt alive
to ashes, about the middle of Lent, in the year 1571. But his wife, to
whom he had been married only six weeks, and who was still very young,
finally, through many vexations and tortures, apostatized from her
faith, and was put into a convent at Breda, from whence, at a favorable
opportunity, she escaped, and went to Danswijck, where she, after
having fully repented of her apostasy, again united with the church,
and thereafter always led a pious life until her godly death.
GERRIT CORNELISS, A. D. 1571.
In the year 1571, there was apprehended at Amsterdam in Holland, for
the truth’s sake, as he was standing and working in a lighter-boat,
a young brother, named Gerrit Corneliss. The Bailiff bound him, and
led him to the city hall, where, the next day, he was examined, and
interrogated concerning his faith, which he freely confessed; but when
they wanted him to name some of his fellow believers, he would not do
it, and hence had to suffer the torture. When he had been tortured
once, and was dressed again, his eyes were blindfolded with a cloth,
and his hands having been tied together, he was drawn up by them, and
left thus suspended, whereupon he was again stripped, and severely
scourged with rods; but no matter how he was tortured, he did not name
any one. He was then laid upon the rack again, and while lying upon
it, they caused him to be scourged with rods, urine poured into his
mouth, and burning candles held under his arms; whereupon, having been
stripped naked again, and his shirt bound before his nakedness, he was
as before drawn up by his hands, with a weight attached to his feet,
and leaving him thus suspended they went out, and returning after some
time, they spitefully said to him, that if he would name no one, they
should thus deal with him in this manner all day: but God (whom he
thanked for it) kept his lips, that no one was brought into trouble by
his speaking. In short, he was so tortured, that he could not walk, but
had to be carried in a chair.
Some days after, having been brought into court, he was mockingly
crowned with a hat of flowers, and sentenced to be strangled and
burned. While listening to this sentence he evinced joyfulness and
patience, until he arrived at the stake, where he very fervently prayed
after this manner: “O Father and Lord, be gracious unto me; let me be
one of your least lambs, or the least member of your body. O Lord,
who lookest down here from on high, and art a discerner of the hearts
and of every hidden thing, before whom all things are to be accounted
as nothing, thou knowest my simple love towards thee; accept me, and
forgive them that inflict this suffering upon me.” Having risen, he
cried to the people: “O men, eternity is so long, O yes, eternity is so
long; but these sufferings here are over very soon. But the conflict
here is so fierce and severe; O how fearful I am yet; O flesh, bear and
resist a little longer, for this is the last conflict.” When the rope
had been placed around his neck, he cried: “O heavenly Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit;” and with this he sweetly died and was then
burnt. Thus he offered up his sacrifice, boldly standing up for the
name of Christ, not fearing pain, suffering, shame, nor these worldly
lords, but constantly striving valiantly unto death; hence there shall
also, at the last day, when the Lamb that was slain shall open the
books of life, his name be found therein: but the apostate shall be
written in the earth, and the earth, with the works that are therein,
shall be burned. Revelation 2:10; 5:6; 20:12; 3:5; Jer. 17:13; 2 Peter
3:10.
NOTE.--As we have obtained a true copy, from the book of criminal
sentences of the city of Amsterdam, of the death sentence as well as of
the two torturings which this friend of God endured before his death,
together with clear information when all this occurred, we deem it well
to add the same here, so that no one may in any wise doubt the truth of
what has been related, but may be fully assured of it.
SENTENCE OF DEATH OF GERRIT CORNELISS, SURNAMED BOON.