number of women, who had joined the Anabaptist party, fell, howling,
upon Windemoller, crying that he wanted to deprive them of the
saving Gospel and Word of Truth, and they would have strangled him
had he not beat a precipitate retreat. The same afternoon, some
citizens who brought their children to this church to be baptized
were driven from the doors with shouts of derision.
The magistrates played a trump card, and ordered Rottmann to
leave the town, together with the ministers who followed his
teaching.[111] Bernard Rottmann replied much in the same strain as
he had answered the bishop, stating that his doctrine was strictly
conformable to the pure word of God, and that he demanded a public
discussion, in which his doctrines might be tested by Scripture
alone, without human additions. Finally he protested that he would
not abstain from preaching, nor desert his flock, whether the senate
persisted in its sentence or not. Five ministers signed this defiant
letter--Rottmann, Johann Clopris, Heinrich Roll, Gottfried Strahl,
and Denis Vinnius. These men at once hastened to collect the heads
of the corporations and provosts together, and urge them to take
their part against the Rath. They were quite prepared to do so, and
the magistrates yielded on condition that Bernard and his following
of preachers should abstain from speaking on the disputed questions
of infant baptism and the Eucharist. Rottmann consented, in his
own name and in that of his friends, in a paper dated October 3rd,
1533.[112] The senate was, however, well aware that its power was
tottering to its fall, and that the preachers had not the remotest
intention of fulfilling their engagement. They saw that these men
were gradually absorbing into themselves the supreme authority in
the city, and that a magistracy which opposed them could at any
moment be by them dismissed their office. In alarm they wrote to
the prince-bishop, and sent him messengers to lay before him the
precarious condition of the affairs in the capital, imploring him
to consider the imminence of the peril, and to send them learned
theologians who could combat the spread of erroneous doctrine, and
introduce those conformable to the pure word of God.[113]
[111] _Ibid._ p. 436.
[112] Kerssenbroeck, pp. 437-9.
[113] _Ibid._ p. 441.
It was a singular state of affairs indeed. The magistrates had
appealed to the pure word of God, as understood by Luther, against
Catholicism, and now the Anabaptists appealed to the same oracle,
with equal confidence against Lutheranism; the two parties leaned on
the same support--who was to decide which party Scripture upheld?
The answer of Francis of Waldeck was such as might have been
expected from a man endowed with some common sense. He reminded the
magistrates that it was their own fault if things had come to such
a pass; he feared that now the evil had gained the upper hand, and
that gentleness was out of place; a decided face could alone secure
to the magistrates moral authority. He was ready to support them
if they would maintain their allegiance for the future. He would
send them a learned theologian, Dr. Heinrich Mumpert, prior of the
Franciscans of Bispinkhoff, to preach against error in the cathedral.
The senate was in a dilemma. They had no wish to return to
Catholicism, and they dreaded the progress of schism. They stood on
an inclined plane. Above was the rock of an infallible authority;
below, faith shelved into an abyss of negation they shrank from
fathoming. If they looked back, they saw Catholicism; if they
looked forward, they beheld the dissolution of all positive belief.
Like all timorous men they shrank from either alternative, and
attempted for a little longer to maintain their slippery position.
They declined the offer of the Catholic doctor, and turned to the
Landgrave Philip of Hesse for assistance. The Landgrave at once
acceded to the request of the magistrates, and sent them Theodore
Fabricius and Johann Melsinger, guaranteeing to their senate their
orthodoxy.[114]
[114] Kerssenbroeck, p. 443; Sleidan, p. 410; Dorpius, f. 393 b.
While these preachers were on their way, disorder increased in
Münster. The faction of Rottmann grew apace, and spread into the
Convent of Ueberwasser, where the nuns were daily compelled to
hear the harangues of two zealous Evangelical pastors, who exerted
themselves strenuously to demolish the faith of the sisters down
to the point fixed as the limit of negation by Luther. But these
pastors having become infected with Rottmann's views, continued the
work of destruction, and lowered the temple of faith two additional
stages.
The result of these sermons on the excitable nuns was that the
majority broke out into revolt, and refused to observe abstinence
and practise self-mortification; and proclaimed their intention
of returning to the world and marrying. The bishop wrote to them,
imploring them to consider that they were all of them members of
noble families, and that they must be careful in no way to dishonour
their families by scandalous behaviour. The mutineers seemed
disposed to yield, but we shall presently see that their submission
was only temporary.[115]
[115] Kerssenbroeck, p. 443.
On the 15th October, the senate wrote to the bishop, and informed
him that they would not permit the prior Mumpert to preach in the
cathedral.[116] They acknowledged that according to the treaty
of Telgte, the city had consented to allow the Catholics the
use of the cathedral, "until such time as the Lord shall dispose
otherwise," but, they said, at the time of the conclusion of the
treaty, there was no preacher at the minster; which was true, for
the Catholic clergy had been forbidden the use of the pulpit; and
they declared that "in all good conscience, they could not permit
the institution of one whose doctrine and manner of life were not
conformable to the gospel."
[116] _Ibid._ p. 444.
Francis of Waldeck, without paying attention to this refusal,
ordered Mumpert to preach and celebrate the Eucharist in the
cathedral church, on Sunday, 26th October, 1533. The prior obeyed.
The fury of the Evangelicals was without limits; and in a second
letter, more insolent than the first, the magistrates told the
bishop that "they would not suffer a fanatical friar to come and
teach error to the people." The bishop's sole reply was a command to
the prior to continue his course.
At this moment the learned divines sent by Philip of Hesse arrived
in the city, and hearing of the sermons in the minster, to which the
people flocked, and which were likely to produce a counter current
in a Catholic direction, they insisted, as a preliminary to their
mission, that the mouth of the Catholic preacher should be stopped.
"We pray you," said they to the magistrates, "to forbid this man
permission to reside in the town, lest our pure doctrine be choked
by his abominable sermons. An authority claiming to be Christian
should not tolerate such a scandal."
The senate hastened to satisfy the Hessian theologians, by not
merely ordering the Catholic preacher to leave the city, but by
outlawing him, so that he was obliged in haste to fly a place
where his life might be taken by any unscrupulous persons with
impunity.[117]
[117] Kerssenbroeck, p. 444 _et seq._
Francis of Waldeck, justly irritated, wrote to Philip of Hesse,
remonstrating at the interference of his commissioners in the
affairs of another man's principality.[118] The Landgrave replied
that, so far from deserving reproach, he merited thanks for
having sent to Münster two divines of the first class, who would
preach there the pure Word of God, and would strangle the monster
of Anabaptism. With the outlawry of the Catholic preacher, the
struggle between Catholicism and Lutheranism closed; the struggle
for the future was to be between Lutheranism and Anabaptism; a
struggle desperate on the part of the Lutherans, for what basis
had they for operation? The Catholics had an intrenched position
in the authority of a Church, which they claimed to be invested
with divine inerrancy, by commission from Christ; but the Lutheran
and Anabaptist fought over the pages of the Bible, each claiming
Scripture as on his side. It was a war within a camp, to decide
which should pitch the other outside the rampart of the letter.
[118] _Ibid._ p. 457 _et seq._
Fabricius and Melsinger fought for Infant Baptism and the Real
Presence, Rottmann and Strapedius against both. "Do you call this
the body and blood of Christ?" exclaimed Master Bernard one day,
whilst he was distributing the Sacrament; and flinging it on the
ground, he continued, "Were it so, it would get up from the ground
and mount the altar of itself without my help. Know by this that
neither the body nor blood of Christ are here."[119]
[119] Dorpius, f. 394.
Peter Wyrthemius, a Lutheran preacher, was interrupted, when he
attempted to preach, by the shouts and jeers of the Anabaptists, and
was at last driven from his pulpit.
Rottmann kept his promise not to preach Anabaptist doctrine in
the pulpit, but he printed and circulated a number of tracts and
pamphlets, and held meetings in private houses for the purpose of
disseminating his views.[120] His reputation increased rapidly, and
extended afar. Disciples came from Holland, Brabant, and Friesland,
to place themselves under his direction; women even confided to him
the custody of their children.
[120] Kerssenbroeck, p. 448.
The most lively anxiety inspired the senate to make another attempt
to regain their supremacy in the direction of affairs.
On the 3rd or 4th November, the heads of the guilds and the provosts
and patricians of the city were assembled to deliberate, and it
was resolved that Rottmann and his colleagues should be expelled
the town and the diocese; and to remove from them the excuse that
they feared arrest when they quitted the walls of Münster, the
magistrates obtained for them a safe-conduct, signed by the bishop
and the upper chapter.[121]
[121] _Ibid._ p. 449.
Next day, the magistrates and chief citizens reassembled in the
market square, and voted that "not only should the Anabaptist
preachers be exiled, but also those of the magistrates who had
supported them; and that this sentence should receive immediate
execution."[122]
[122] Kerssenbroeck, p. 450 _et seq._
This was too sweeping a measure to pass without provoking
resistance. The burgomaster, Tilbeck, who felt that the blow was
aimed at himself, exclaimed, angrily: "Is this the reward I receive
for having prudently governed the republic? But we will not suffer
the innocent to be oppressed, and we shall treat you in such a
manner as will calm your insolence."
These words gave the signal for an open rupture.
Knipperdolling and Hermann Krampe, both members of the senate, drew
their swords and ranged themselves beside the burgomaster, calling
the people to arms. The mob at once rushed upon the senators. The
servants of the chapter and the clergy in the cathedral close,
hastened carrying arms to the assistance of the magistrates. Both
parties sought a place of defence, each anticipating an attack.
The Lutherans occupied the Rath-haus and barricaded the doors. The
Anabaptists retired behind the strong walls of the cemetery of St.
Lambert. The night was spent by both parties under arms, and a fight
appeared imminent on the morrow. Then the syndic Johann von Wyck
persuaded the frightened senate to moderate their sentence, and
hurrying to the Anabaptists, he urged them to be reconciled to the
magistrates. An agreement was finally concluded, whereby Rottmann
was forbidden for the future to preach, and every one was to be
allowed to believe what he liked, and to disbelieve what he chose.
Master Bernard, however, evaded his obligation by holding meetings
in private houses at night, to which his followers were summoned by
the discharge of a gun.[123] Considering that it was now necessary
that his adherents should have their articles of belief, or rather
of disbelief, as a bond of union and of distinction between
themselves and the Lutherans, he drew up a profession of faith in
nineteen articles. That which he had published nine months before
was antiquated, and represented the creed of the Lutheran faction,
against which he was now at variance.
[123] Kerssenbroeck, p. 453 _et seq._
This second creed contained the following propositions:--
The baptism of children is abominable before God.
The habitual ceremonies used at baptism are the work of the devil
and of the Pope, who is Antichrist.
The consecrated Host is the great Baal.
A Christian (that is, a member of Rottmann's sect) does not set foot
in the religious assemblies of the impious (_i.e._, of the Catholics
and Lutherans).
He holds no communication and has no relations with them; he is not
bound to obey their authorities; he has nothing in common with their
tribunals; nor does he unite with them in marriage.
The Sabbath was instituted by the Lord God, and there is no
scriptural warrant for transferring the obligation to the Sunday.
Papists and Lutherans are to be regarded as equally infamous, and
those who give faith to the inventions of priests are veritable
pagans.
During fourteen centuries there have been no true Christians. Christ
was the last priest; the apostles did not enjoy the priestly office.
Jesus Christ did not derive His human nature from Mary.[124]
[124] This is corroborated by the Acta, Handlungen, &c., fol.
385. "_The Preachers_: Do you believe that Christ received His
flesh off the flesh of Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost?
_John of Leyden_: No; such is not the teaching of Scripture." And
he explained that if the flesh had been taken from Mary, it must
have been sinful, for she was not immaculate.
Every marriage concluded before re-baptism is invalid.
Faith in Christ must precede baptism.
Wives shall call their husbands lords.
Usury is forbidden.
The faithful shall possess all things in common.
The publication of this formulary of faith, if such it may be
called, which is a string of negative propositions, increased the
alarm of the more sober citizens, who, feeling the insecurity of
property and life under a powerless magistracy, prepared to leave
the town. Many fled and left their Lutheranism behind them. Lening,
one of the preachers sent by the Landgrave of Hesse, ran away.
Fabricius had more courage. He preached energetically against
Rottmann, assisted by Dr. Johann Westermann, a Lutheran theologian
of Lippe.[125]
[125] Kerssenbroeck, p. 456; Sleidan, p. 411.
According to Kerssenbroeck, however, half the town followed by the
Anabaptist leader, and brought their goods and money to lay them at
his feet. Those who had nothing of their own, in a body joined the
society which proclaimed community of goods.
The bishop again wrote to the magistrates, urging them to permit
the Catholic preacher, Mumpert, the use of the cathedral pulpit,
but the senate refused, and continued their vain efforts to build
their theological system on a slide. At their request, Fabricius
and Westermann drew up (November 28, 1533) a symbol of belief in
opposition to that formulated by Rottmann, and it was read and
adopted by the Lutherans in the Church of St. Lambert. A large
number of the people gave in their adhesion to this last and newest
creed, and the magistrates, emboldened thereby, made a descent upon
the house of the ex-superintendent, and confiscated his private
press, with which he had printed his tracts.[126]
[126] _Ibid._ p. 456.
It was then that the two apostles, Buchbinder and Bockelson, sent
by Matthisson into Westphalia, appeared in the city. They remained
there only four days, during which they re-baptised the preachers
and several of their adepts, and then retired prophesying their
speedy return and the advent of the reign of grace.
Rottmann, highly exasperated against Fabricius for having drawn up
his counter-creed, went on the 30th November to the churchyard of
St. Lambert, and standing in an elevated situation, preached to the
people on his own new creed, whilst Fabricius was discoursing within
to his congregation on his own profession of faith.
When service was over Fabricius came out, and was immediately
attacked by Rottmann with injurious expressions, which, however, so
exasperated the congregation of the Lutheran, that they fell upon
the late superintendent of the Evangelical Church, and threatened
him with their sticks and fists.
On the 1st December, Fabricius complained in the pulpit of the
insult he had received, and appealed to the people to judge between
his doctrine and that of Master Bernard by the difference there was
between their respective behaviour.[127]
[127] Kerssenbroeck, p. 461.
A new Anabaptist orator now appeared on the stage; he was a
blacksmith's apprentice, named Johann Schroeder. On the 8th December
he occupied the position in the cemetery of St. Lambert from which
Rottmann had been forced to fly, and defied the Lutherans to
oppose him with the pure Word of God. He denounced them as still
in darkness, as wrapped in the trappings of Popery, and as enemies
to the Gospel of Christ and Evangelical liberty. Then he dared
Fabricius to meet him in a public discussion, and prove his doctrine
by the text of Scripture.[128]
[128] _Ibid._ p. 461.
The magistrates resolved on one more attempt to arrest the disorder.
On the 11th November they informed Rottmann that, unless he
immediately left the city, they would decree his outlawry. Rottmann
sent a message to them in reply, "That he would not go; that he was
not afraid; and that exile was to him an empty word, for, wherever
he was, the heavenly Father would cover him with His wings." He took
no further notice of the order, except only that he instituted a
bodyguard of armed citizens to accompany him wherever he went. On
the Sunday following, December 14th, he betook himself, surrounded
by his guard, to the church of the Servites, where he intended to
preach. But finding the doors locked, he placed himself under a
lime-tree near the building and pronounced his discourse, without
any one venturing to lay a hand upon him.[129]
[129] Kerssenbroeck, p. 163; Dorpius, f. 394 a.
The magistrates were equally unsuccessful in silencing the
blacksmith Schroeder. This man, having preached again on the 15th
December, was taken by the police and thrown into prison. Next day
the members of the Blacksmiths' Guild marched to the Rath-haus,
armed with their hammers and with bars of iron, to demand the
release of their comrade. A violent dispute arose between the
senators and the exasperated artisans. The former declared that
Schroeder, whose trade was to shoe horses and not to preach, had
deserved death for having incited to sedition. The reply of the
blacksmiths was very similar to that made by the senate to the
bishop when he ordered the expulsion of Rottmann. "Schroeder," said
they, "has been urged on by love of truth, and he has preached with
so much zeal that he has made himself hoarse. He has been guilty
neither of murder nor of any crime worthy of death. How dare you
maltreat this one who has given edifying instruction to his fellow
citizens? Must nothing be done without your authorisation?" Upon the
heels of the arguments came menaces. The senate yielded again, and
promised to release Schroeder on the morrow.
"Not to-morrow," shouted the blacksmiths; "restore our comrade to us
immediately, or we will burst open the prison doors."
The magistrates bowed to the storm, taking, however, the worse than
useless precaution of making Schroeder swear, before they knocked
off his chains, that he would not attempt to revenge on them his
captivity.[130]
[130] Kerssenbroeck, p. 464.
On the 21st December, Rottmann resumed the use of his pulpit in
the church of the Servites, treating the orders of the senate with
supreme contempt. Westermann, tired of a struggle with the swelling
tide, deserted Münster, leaving Fabricius alone to fight against the
growing power of the Anabaptists.
The year 1534 opened under gloomy auspices at Münster. In the first
few days of January, the new sect dealt the Lutherans the same
measure these latter had dealt the Catholics a twelvemonth before.
They invaded their churches and disturbed divine worship.
Fabricius attacked Rottmann violently in a sermon preached on the
4th January, and offered to have a public discussion with him on the
moot points of doctrine. The senate accepted the proposition with
transport, but Rottmann refused. "Not," said he, "that I am afraid
of entering the lists against this Lutheran, but that men are so
corrupt that they would certainly condemn that side which had for
its support right and the word of Scripture."[131]
[131] _Ibid._ pp. 466, 467.
On the same day that Rottmann sent in his refusal, a band of women
tumultuously entered the town-hall and demanded that "the miserable
foreign vagabond Fabricius, who could not even speak the dialect
of the country, and who, inspired by an evil spirit, preaches all
kinds of absurdities in a tongue scarcely intelligible, should be
driven out of the city. Set in his place the worthy Rottmann," said
the women; "he is prudent, eloquent, instructed in every kind of
knowledge, and he can speak our language. Grant us this favour,
Herrn Burgmeistern, and we will pray God for you." The burgomasters
requested the ladies not to meddle with matters that concerned them
not, but to return to their families and kitchens. This invitation
drove them into a paroxysm of rage, and they shouted at the top
of their shrill voices: "Here are fine burgomasters! They are
neglecting the interests of the town! Here are tender fathers of
their country who attend to nothing! You are worse than murderers,
for _they_ kill the body, but _you_ assassinate souls by depriving
them of the Evangelical Word which is their nourishment." The women
then retired, but returned next day reinforced by others, and among
them were six nuns who had deserted the convent of Ueberwasser and
exhibited greater violence than the rest.
The women entered the hall where the senators were sitting and
demanded peremptorily that Rottmann should be instituted to the
church of St. Lambert. They were turned out of the hall without much
ceremony, but they waited the exit of the magistrates when their
session was at an end; then they bespattered them with cow and horse
dung, and cursed them as Papists. "At first you favoured our holy
enterprise, but you have returned to Popery like dogs to their
vomit. Since you have devoured the good Hessian God which Fabricius
offers you in communion, you oppress the pure Word of God. To the
gallows, to the gallows with you all!" The senators fled to their
houses, pursued by the women, covered with filth, and deafened by
their yells.[132]
[132] Kerssenbroeck, p. 468.
Rottmann and his colleagues exercised an extraordinary influence
over the people; they persuaded the rich ladies and citizens' wives
of substance to sell their goods, give up their jewels, and cast
everything they had into a common fund. The prompt submission of so
many proves that the number of fanatics who were sincere in their
convictions was considerable. These proceedings led to estrangement
in families. Kerssenbroeck relates that the wife of one of the
senators, named Wardemann, having been rebaptised by Rottmann, "was
so vigorously confirmed in her faith by her husband, who had been
informed by a servant maid of the circumstance, that she could
not walk for several weeks." Other women, who had given up their
jewels and money to Rottmann, were also severely chastised by their
husbands.[133]
[133] _Ibid._ p. 472.
The magistrates, afraid to touch Rottmann's person, hoped to
weaken him by dismissing his assistants. They therefore, on the
15th January, 1534, ordered their officers to take the Anabaptist
preachers, Clopris, Roll, and Strahl, and to turn them out of
the town, with orders never to re-enter it. The mandate was
executed; but the ministers returned by another gate, and were
conducted in triumph to their parsonages by the whole body of the
Anabaptists.[134]
[134] Kerssenbroeck, p. 473.