fanatics. Bernhard Krechting, pastor of Gildehaus, arrived at the
head of a large portion of his parishioners. Hermann Regewart,
the ex-Lutheran preacher of Warendorf, sought a home in the new
Jerusalem. Rich and well-born persons, bitten with the madness,
arrived, such were Peter Schwering and his wife, the wealthiest
citizens of Coesfeld; Werner von Scheiffort, a country gentleman;
the Lady von Becke with her three daughters, of whom the two eldest
were broken nuns, and the youngest was betrothed to the Lord of
Dörlö; and the Grograff of Schoppingen, Heinrich Krechting, with his
wife, his children, and a number of the inhabitants of that town,
with carts laden with their effects. The Grograff took up his abode
in Kerssenbroeck's house, along with his family and servants, and,
as the chronicler bitterly remarks, he took care to occupy the best
part of the mansion.[153]
[153] Kerssenbroeck, p. 503.
Amongst those who escaped from the town were the syndic, Von Wyck,
who had led the opposition against the bishop, and the burgomaster,
Caspar Judenfeld. The latter retired to Hamm and was left
unmolested, but Von Wyck had played too conspicuous a part to escape
so easily. By the orders of the prince-bishop he was arrested and
executed at Vastenau.[154]
[154] _Ibid._ p. 505.
Münster now became the theatre of the wildest orgies ever
perpetrated under the name of religion. It is apparently a law that
mysticism should rapidly pass from the stage of asceticism into that
of licence. At any rate, such has been the invariable succession of
stages in every mystic society that is allowed unchecked to follow
its own course. In the Roman Church those thus psychologically
affected are locked up in convents. The religious passion verges
so closely on the sexual passion that a slight additional pressure
given to it bursts the partition, and both are confused in a
frenzy of religious debauch. The Anabaptist fanatics were rapidly
approaching this stage. The prophet Matthisson led the way by
instituting a second baptism, administered only to the inner circle
of the elect, which was called the baptism of fire.
The adepts were sworn to secrecy, and refused to explain the mode of
administration. But public curiosity was aroused, and by learning
the password, some were enabled to slip into the assembly and see
what took place. Amongst these was a woman who was an acquaintance
of Kerssenbroeck, and from whose lips he had an account of the
rite. "Matthisson," says he, "secretly assembled the initiated of
both sexes during the night, in the vast mansion of Knipperdolling.
When all were assembled, the prophet placed himself under a copper
chandelier, hung in the centre of the ceiling, lighted with three
tapers." He then made an instruction on the new revelation of
the Divine will, which he pretended had been made to him, and
the assembly became a scene of frantic orgies too horrible to be
described.
The assemblies in which these abominations were perpetrated,
prepared the way for the utter subversion of all the laws of decency
and morality, which followed in the course of a few months.
When Carnival arrived, a grand anti-Catholic procession was
organised, to incite afresh the hostility of the people to the
ancient Church, its rites and ceremonies. First, a company of
maskers dressed like monks, nuns, and priests in their sacred
vestments, led the way, capering and singing ribald songs. Then
followed a great chariot, drawn by six men in the habits of the
religious orders. On the box sat a fellow dressed as a bishop, with
mitre and crosier, scourging on the labouring monks and friars. On
the car was a man represented as dying, with a priest leaning over
him, a huge pair of spectacles on his nose, administering to the
sick man the last sacraments of the Church, and addressing him in
the most absurd manner, loudly, that the bystanders might hear and
laugh at his farcical parody of the most sacred things of the old
religion. The next car was drawn by a man dressed as a priest in
surplice and stole. The other cars contained groups suitable for
turning into ridicule devotion to saints, belief in purgatory, the
mass, &c.[155]
[155] Kerssenbroeck, p. 509.
The prophets now decided that it was necessary to be prepared in
the event of a siege. They, therefore, commissioned the preacher
Roll to visit Holland and raise the Anabaptists there, urge them to
arm and to march to the defence of the New Jerusalem. Roll started
from Münster on the 21st of February, but the Spanish Government in
the Netherlands, alarmed at what was taking place in the capital of
Westphalia, ordered a strict watch to be kept on the movements of
the fanatics, and Roll was seized and executed at Utrecht.
The next step taken by the prophets was to discharge the members
of the senate from the performance of their office, because they
had been elected "according to the flesh," and to choose to fill
their room another body of men "elected according to the Spirit."
Bernard Knipperdolling and Gerhardt Kippenbroeck, both drapers, were
appointed burgomasters.
One of the first acts of the new magistrates was to forbid the
removal of furniture, articles of food, and money from the town, and
to permit a general pillage of all the churches and convents in the
city. The Anabaptist mob first attacked the religious houses, and
carried off all the sacred vessels, the gold, the silver, and the
vestments. Then they visited the chapel of St. Anthony, outside the
gate of St. Maurice, and after having sacked it completely, they
tore it down. They burnt the church of St. Maurice, then fell upon
the church of St. Ledger, but had not the patience to complete its
demolition. Thence they betook themselves to the cathedral, broke
it open, and destroyed altars, with their beautiful sculptured and
painted oak retables, miracles of delicate workmanship and Gothic
beauty, the choir stalls, statues, paintings, frescoes, stained
glass, organ, vestments, and carried off the chalices and ciboriums.
The great clock, the pride of Münster, as that of Strasburg is
of the Alsatian capital, was broken to pieces with hammers. A
valuable collection of MSS., collected by the poet Rudolf Lange, and
presented to the minister, together with the rest of the volumes in
the library, were burned. Two noble paintings, one of the Blessed
Virgin, the other of St. John the Baptist, on panel, by Franco,
were split up and turned into seats for privies to the guard-house
near the Jews' cemetery. The heads and arms were broken off the
statues that could not be overthrown--statues of apostles, prophets,
and sibyls, which decorated the interior of the cathedral and the
neighbouring square. The tabernacle was broken open, and the Blessed
Sacrament was danced and stamped on. The font was shattered with
crowbars, in token of the abhorrence borne by the fanatics to infant
baptism; the tombs of the bishops and canons were destroyed, and the
bodies torn from their graves, and their dust was scattered to the
winds.[156]
[156] Kerssenbroeck, p. 510; Sleidan, p. 411; Dorpius, f. 395.
But whilst this was taking place in Münster, Francis von Waldeck was
preparing for war. On the 23rd February he held a meeting at Telgte
to consolidate plans, and now from all sides assistance came. The
Elector of Cologne, the Duke of Cleves, even the Landgrave of Hesse,
now exasperated at the ill-success of his endeavours to establish
tranquillity and to effect a compromise, the Duke of Brunswick, the
Regent of Brabant, the Counts of Lippe and Berntheim, and many other
nobles and cities sent soldiers, artillery, and munitions.
The bishop appointed the generals and principal officers, then he
made all the soldiers take an oath of fidelity to himself, and
concluded with them an agreement, consisting of the following ten
articles:
1. The soldiers are to be faithful to the prince, and to obey their
officers.
2. The towns, arms, and munitions taken in war shall belong to the
prince.
3. If, after the capture of the city, the prince-bishop permits
its pillage by the troops, he shall not be obliged to pay them any
prize-money.
4. If the pillage be accorded, the town hall is not to be touched.
5. The prince shall have half the plunder.
6. The nobles, canons, and those who have escaped from the city
shall be allowed the first bid for their articles when offered for
sale.
7. No fixtures shall be removed by the soldiery.
8. After the capture of the town, the custody of the gates and
ramparts shall be confided to those whom the prince-bishop shall
appoint.
9. The city taken, and its pillage permitted, the soldiers shall be
allowed eight days for distribution and sale of the plunder. The
soldiers shall receive their pay with punctuality.
10. The heads of the revolt shall, as far as possible, be taken
alive and delivered up to the bishop for a recompense.[157]
[157] Kerssenbroeck, p. 513 _et seq._ Sleidan, lib. x. pp. 412-3;
Heresbach, p. 36.
The Anabaptists were not afraid at these preparations; they made
ready vigorously for the defence of the New Zion. As a preliminary,
a body of five hundred burnt the convent of St. Maurice, outside
the city gates, and levelled all the houses of the suburbs, which
obscured the view, and might serve as cover for the besiegers.
On the 26th February Matthisson preached in the afternoon to a
congregation summoned by the discharge of a culverin. At the end of
the sermon he assumed an inspired air, and announced that he had an
important revelation to communicate. Having arrested the attention
of his hearers, he said in a solemn tone, "The Father requires
the purification of the New Jerusalem and of His temple; for our
republic, which has begun so prosperously, cannot grow and endure if
a prey to the confusion produced by the presence of impious sects.
My advice is that we kill without further delay the Lutherans, the
Papists, and all those who have not the right faith, that there may
remain in Zion but one body, one society, which is truly Christian,
and which can offer to the Father a pure and well-pleasing worship.
There is but one way of preserving the faithful from the contagion
of the impious, and that is to sweep them off the face of the earth.
Nothing is easier than the execution of this scheme. We form the
majority in a strong city, abundantly supplied with all necessaries;
there is nothing to fear from within or from without."[158]
[158] Kerssenbroeck, p. 516.
This suggestion would have been carried into immediate execution by
the frenzied sectarians, had it not been for the intervention of
Knipperdolling, who, fearing that a general massacre of Lutherans
and Catholics would combine the forces of the Smalkald union and
of the Imperialists against the city, urgently insisted on milder
measures. "Let us be content," said he, "with driving, to-morrow,
out of the city those miserable creatures who refuse the sign of the
New Covenant; thus shall we thoroughly purge the floor of the Lord,
and nothing that is impure will remain in the New Jerusalem."[159]
[159] _Ibid._ p. 517; Sleidan, p. 412.
This advice was accepted, and it was unanimously decided that the
morrow should witness the expulsion of Catholics and Lutherans. The
27th February was a bitterly cold day. A hard frost had set in, the
north wind blew, cutting to the bone all exposed to the blast, the
country was white with snow, and the streams were crusted over with
ice. At every gate was a double guard; the squares were thronged
with armed fanatics, and in and out among them passed the prophets,
staff in hand, uttering maledictions on the Lord's enemies, and
words of encouragement to those sealed on their brows and hands.
Matthisson sought out those who did not belong to the sect, and
with menacing gestures and flaring eyes called them to repentance
before the door was shut. "Turn ye, turn ye, sinners," he cried in
his harsh tones. "Judgment is preparing for you. The elements are in
league against you; your iniquities have made nature rise to scourge
you. The sword of the Lord's anger is hung above your heads. Turn,
ye sinners, and receive the sign of our alliance, that ye be not
cast out from the chosen people!" Then he flung himself down in the
great square, and called on the Father; and lying with arms extended
on the frozen ground, and his face pinched with cold turned towards
the sky, he fell into a trance. The Anabaptists knelt around him,
and lifting their hands to heaven besought the Father to reveal His
will by the mouth of the prophet whom He had sent.
Then Matthisson, slowly returning from his ecstasy, like one awaking
out of a dream, said, "This is the will and order of the Father:
the miscreants, unless they be converted and be baptised, must be
expelled this place. This holy city shall be purified of all that is
unclean, for the conversation of the ungodly corrupts and defiles
the people of God. Away with the sons of Esau! this place, this New
Zion, this habitation belongs to the sons of Jacob, to the true
Israel."
The enthusiasm of Matthisson communicated itself to the assembly.
The Anabaptists separated to sweep the streets, sword and pike in
hand, and drove the ungodly beyond their walls, shouting, "The lot
is ours; the tares must be gathered from among the wheat; the goats
from the sheep; the unholy from the godly; away, away!" Doors were
burst open, and the fanatics invaded every house, driving before
them men, women, and children, from garret and cellar, wherever
concealed, in spite of their cries and entreaties. Men of all
professions, men and women of every age were banished; they were
not allowed to take anything with them. The sword of the Lord was
brandished against them; the hale and the infirm, the master and the
servant, none were spared. Those who lagged were beaten; those who
were sick and unable to fly were carried to the market-place to be
rebaptised by Rottmann.
Through the gates streamed the terrified crowd, shivering, half
clothed, mothers clasping their babes to their breasts, children
sustaining between them their aged parents, all blue with cold, as
the fierce wind thick strewn with sleet rushed upon them at the
corners, and over the bare plain without the city walls, growling
and cruel, as though it too were wrought up into religious frenzy,
and came as an auxiliary to the savage work.
Thousands traversed the frozen plans, uncertain whither to fly for
refuge, uttering piteous cries, lamentations, or low moans; whilst
from the walls of the heavenly city thundered a salvo of joy, and
the Anabaptists shouted, because the Lord's day of vengeance had
come, and the millennium was set up on earth.
"Never," says Kerssenbroeck, "never did I see anything more
afflicting. The women carried their naked nurslings in their
arms, and in vain sought rags wherewith to clothe them; miserable
children, hanging to their fathers' coats, ran barefooted, uttering
piercing cries; old people, bent by age, tottered along calling down
God's vengeance on their persecutors; lastly, some sick women driven
from their beds during the pangs of maternity fell in labour in the
snow, deprived of all human succour."[160]
[160] Kerssenbroeck, p. 5222.
Amongst those expelled was Fabricius, the Lutheran divine, who
escaped in disguise. He was so greatly hated by the sectarians, that
had he been recognised, he would not have been suffered to quit the
city alive.
The Frau Werneche, a rich lady, too stout to walk, and unable to
find a conveyance, was obliged to remain in Münster. Rottmann
insisted on her receiving the sign of the New Covenant.
"I have been baptised already, as were my ancestors," said the good
woman. Rottmann replied that if she persisted in her impiety she
must be slain with the sword, lest the wrath of the Father should
be kindled against the Holy City. The poor lady, who had no desire
for martyrdom, cried out, impatiently, "Well, then, be it so!
baptise me in the name of all the devils of hell, for I have already
been baptised in the name of God." Rottmann, not very particular,
administered the rite, and the stout lady remained in Münster.
The apostle now sent letters into all the country, announcing the
glad tidings of the approaching reign of Christ on earth, and
inviting the Anabaptists of the neighbourhood to flock into Zion.
One of these epistles of Rottmann has been preserved.[161]
[161] Kerssenbroeck, p. 520; Dorpius, f. 395.
"Bernard, servant of Jesus Christ in His
Church of Münster, salutes affectionately his very dear
brother Henry Schlachtschap. Grace and peace from God, and
the strength of the Holy Spirit, be with you and with all
the faithful.
"Dear Brother in Christ,--
"The marvellous works of God are so great and so diverse that it
would not be possible for me to describe them all, had I a hundred
tongues. I am, therefore, unable to do so with my single pen. The
Lord has splendidly assisted us. He has delivered us out of the
hands of our enemies, and has driven them from the city. Seized by
a panic terror, they fled in multitudes. This is the beginning of
what the Lord announced by His prophets--that all the saints would
assemble in this New Zion. These prophets have charged me to write
to you, that you may order all the brethren to hasten to us with all
the gold and silver they can collect; as for their other goods, let
them be left to the sisters, who will dispose of them, and then join
us here also. Beware of doing anything after the flesh; do all in
the Spirit. The rest by word of mouth. Health in the Lord."
This appeal had all the more success because several executions
had taken place at Wollbeck and Bevergern and other places,
together with confiscation of goods, and this had struck alarm into
the Anabaptists scattered throughout the principality. Numbers,
therefore, answered the appeal, and went up, as the tribes of
the Lord, to Jerusalem, out of Leyden, Coesfeld, Warendorf, and
Gröningen. The vacated houses were re-occupied, the Münster Baptists
selecting for themselves the best. Knipperdolling, Kippenbroeck, and
others, took possession of the residences of the canons; servants
installed themselves in the dwellings of their masters as if they
were their own; and the deserted monasteries were given up as
hostels to receive the influx from the country, till houses could be
provided for them.[162]
[162] Kerssenbroeck, p. 523.
On the 28th February, Francis von Waldeck left Telgte at the head
of his army and invested the capital. Batteries were planted, seven
camps were established for the infantry, and six for the cavalry
around Münster. These camps were in connection with one another, for
mutual support in the event of a sortie, and were rapidly fortified.
Thus began the siege which was to last sixteen months minus
four days, during which a multitude of untrained, undisciplined
fanatics, commanded by a Dutch tailor-innkeeper, held out against a
numerous and well-armed force. But there was an element of strength
in the besieged that lacked in the besiegers. Those within the
walls were members of a vast confraternity, which ramified over
Germany, Switzerland, and the Low Countries, its members bound
together by a common enthusiasm, in more or less direct relation
with the chiefs who commanded in the Westphalian capital. In spite
of the siege, news from without was constantly brought into the
city, and messengers were sent out to stir up the members of the
society in other countries and provinces to rise and march to the
relief of the city which, they all believed, was destined to be
their religious capital. The Münster brothers looked for a speedy
deliverance wrought by the efficacy of the arms of their brothers
in Holland, Juliers, Cleves, and Brabant. The Low Countries swarmed
with Anabaptists who had organised communities in Amsterdam,
Leyden, Utrecht, Haarlem, Antwerp, and Ghent; they had arms stored
in cellars and garrets, and waited only the proper moment to rise
in a body, massacre their opponents, and deliver the Holy City.
Several attempts to rise were made, but the vigilance of the Spanish
Government in the Netherlands prevented the rising; and the hopes of
the besieged were never realised.
On the other hand, the army of the prince-bishop was composed
of mercenaries, of soldiers from different provinces and
principalities, speaking different dialects, with different
interests, and differing also in faith. The Lutheran troops would
not cordially unite with the Catholics, and the latter mistrusted
their Protestant allies, whose sympathies they believed lay with
the Anabaptist besieged. And the head of the whole army was a
Catholic prelate with Lutheran proclivities, who knew nothing of
war, had an empty purse, and desired to reduce his own subjects by
the aid of foreign mercenaries, with little expense to himself, and
damage to his subjects.
The Anabaptists organised their defence with prudence. They elected
captains and standard-bearers, and divided all the citizens capable
of bearing arms into regiments and companies. Every one was given
his place and his functions, and it was decided that the magistrates
should be required to mount guard when it came to their turn. Boys
were drilled and taught the use of the arquebus; women prepared
brands steeped in pitch and sulphur to fling at the enemy, and
they melted lead from the roofs into bullets. Mines were dug and
charged with powder, fresh bastions were thrown up, and curtains
were erected before the gates, into which were built the tombs and
sarcophagi of the bishops and canons.[163]
[163] Kerssenbroeck, p. 531 _et seq._; Hast, p. 344.
The newly-elected senate, though composed of the most zealous
Anabaptists, was powerless before Matthisson. A sect governed by the
inspiration of the moment, professing to be guided by the Spirit
speaking through the mouths of prophets, ready to spring into the
maddest excesses at the dictates of visionaries, could not long
submit to the government of a magistracy whose power was temporal.
The way was rapidly preparing for the establishment of a spiritual
despotism.
It was in vain for the senate to pass an order without the sanction
of Matthisson, in vain for them to attempt resistance to the
execution of his mandates. One day he announced that it was the will
of the Father that all the goods of the citizens who had fled, or
had been expelled, should be collected into one place, that they
might be distributed amongst the saints, as every man had need. He
thereupon despatched men to bring together all that was left behind
in the city by the refugees, and convey the articles to houses which
he designated in every parish. He was promptly obeyed. Garments,
linen, beds, furniture, crockery, food, wine--everything was brought
away in carts. The jewels, the gold, and the silver, were deposited
in the chancery. Then the prophet ordered three days of prayer to be
instituted, "that God might reveal to him the persons chosen by Him
to keep guard over the accumulated treasure."[164]
[164] Kerssenbroeck; Dorpius, f. 395.
When the three days were at an end, Matthisson announced that the
Father had indicated to him seven individuals who were to be the
deacons to serve tables in the New Jerusalem. He therefore appointed
the men to distribute out of the common store to those who needed
that which would satisfy their necessities.[165]
[165] _Ibid._ p. 585.