Swiss Brethren
Encyclopedia
The Swiss Brethren are a branch of Anabaptism that started in Zürich
, spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring countries. Today's Swiss Mennonite Conference
can be traced to the Swiss Brethren.
In 1525, Felix Manz
, Conrad Grebel
, George Blaurock
and other radical evangelical reformers
broke from Ulrich Zwingli and formed a new group because they felt reforms were not moving fast enough.
Rejection of infant baptism
was a distinguishing belief of the Swiss Brethren. Based on Sola Scriptura
doctrine, the Swiss Brethren declared that since the Bible does not mention infant baptism, it should not be practiced by the church. This belief was subsequently refuted by Ulrich Zwingli. Consequently, there was a public dispute, in which the council affirmed Zwingli's position. This solidified the Swiss Brethren and resulted in their persecution by all other reformers as well as the Catholic Church.
Because of persecution by the authorities, many Swiss Brethren moved from Switzerland to neighboring countries. The Swiss Brethren became known as Mennonite
s after the division of 1693, a disagreement between groups led by Jacob Amman
and Hans Reist
. Many of the Mennonites in France, Southern Germany, the Netherlands and North America, as well as most Amish
descend from the Swiss Brethren.
authored the Schleitheim Articles
, the first Anabaptist confession of faith
. It contained seven articles on the following topics:
Most Swiss Brethren accepted these seven articles.
(c. 1491–1529), was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. He was born in 1491 in Bonaduz
. Blaurock was educated at the University of Leipzig and served as a priest, but departed from the Catholic Church before he arrived in Zürich around 1524, for he had already taken a wife. Though he came to see Huldrych Zwingli
, he soon became attached to the reformer's more radical followers. After a break with Zwingli in January 1525 and acting against a Zürich city council ruling, Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him upon a confession of faith in Christ. Grebel did so, and afterwards Blaurock proceeded to baptize the others who were present. Blaurock worked closely with Felix Manz until Manz was martyred in Zürich in 1527. On that same day, Blaurock was severely beaten and permanently expelled from Zürich. He kept moving, laboring at Bern, Biel, the Grisons, and Appenzell. After his arrest and fourth banishment in 1527, Blaurock left Switzerland never to return. He conducted a very successful ministry in Tyrol
. In August 1529 he was arrested by Innsbruck authorities and tortured for information. On 6 September 1529, Blaurock was burned at the stake near Klausen.
Conrad Grebel
(c. 1498–1526) was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. He was probably born in Grüningen
about 1498. His family moved to Zürich around 1513. Grebel spent about six years in three universities, but without finishing his education or receiving a degree. In 1521 he joined a group gathered around Zürich reformer Huldrych Zwingli
to study the Greek classics, the Latin Bible, the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. Core members of the group broke with Zwingli because they thought the reform process was proceeding too slowly. At a gathering in January 1525 George Blaurock asked Grebel to baptize him upon a confession of faith. Afterward, Blaurock baptized Grebel and the others, initiating a wave of rebaptisms that would spread throughout the Swiss cantons. Grebel died of the plague in 1526.
Margret Hottinger (before 1515–1530) was a charismatic and respected leader during the initial years of the movement. She joined early in 1525, at the time George Blaurock was evangelizing and baptizing in Zollikon. Her father and brothers were rebaptized early in 1525 also; Klaus Hottinger
, an uncle, had been executed the previous year for his reformation activities. Hottinger was arrested along with other Anabaptist leaders including Blaurock, Grebel, Mantz, and Sattler in November of the same year. While Sattler and some others were released after swearing an oath promising to stop advocating rebaptism, Hottinger and the others refused and were imprisoned under harsh conditions. Hottinger relented after six months and signed a recantation
, but before the year was out she was evangelizing in St. Gall. Hottinger and her family remained active in the area of Zürich even after most other Anabaptists had fled to Moravia because of intense persecution. Finally they too set out for Moravia in 1530, but were captured enroute near Waldsee
. Hottinger was drowned because she refused to recant, her father Jakob was beheaded and her brother Felix was released because of his young age.
Balthasar Hubmaier
(c. 1480–1528) was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation. He was born in Friedberg, Bavaria around 1480. In 1524, he married Elizabeth Hügline of Reichenau. He attended Latin School at Augsburg, received both a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Freiburg in 1511 and a doctor's degree from the University of Ingolstadt under Johann Eck
in 1512. After serving as the university's vice-rector, he left a pastorate of the Catholic Church at Regensburg in 1516 and then went to Waldshut in 1521. He was rebaptised there in 1525 by Wilhelm Reublin. He succeeded in establishing Anabaptism as the official religion for a short period first in Waldshut
and then in Nikolsburg
. On 10 March 1528 Hubmaier was executed by burning for heresy.
Felix Manz
(c. 1498–1527) was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. Manz was the illegitimate son of a canon
of the Grossmünster
in Zürich. His knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin indicate a liberal education. Manz became a follower of Huldrych Zwingli
and when Conrad Grebel joined the group in 1521, he and Manz became friends. They questioned the mass, the nature of church and state connections, and infant baptism. The Zürich city council declared Zwingli the victor of a January 1525 disputation
and ordered the group to desist from arguing and submit to the decision of the council. Instead, the group gathered at the home of Felix Manz and his mother. Conrad Grebel rebaptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn rebaptized the others. Manz proceeded to use his language skills to translate religious texts into the language of the people, and worked enthusiastically as an evangelist. Manz was arrested on a number of occasions between 1525 and 1527. While he was preaching with George Blaurock in the Grüningen
region, they were taken by surprise, arrested and imprisoned in Zürich at the Wellenburg prison. The Zürich council had passed an edict that made adult rebaptism punishable by drowning. On 5 January 1527, Felix Manz became the first casualty of the edict, and the first of the Swiss Brethren to be executed at the hands of Protestants.
Hans Reist
( 1670–1704) was a central figure in the dispute that resulted in the formation of the Amish
branch. Reist favored a milder form of church discipline and was strongly opposed by Jakob Ammann who advocated a strict form of the ban. The disagreement was fierce and the ill feelings generated by the exchange between Reist, Ammann, and other leaders resulted in an unrepairable breach. Reist is recognized as a leader of the Swiss Brethren group that later adopted the name Mennonite.
Wilhelm Reublin
(1484–c. 1559) was a prolific Swiss Brethren missionary who eventually left the movement. Reublin was born in 1484 in Rottenburg am Neckar
. In 1521, after studying theology in Freiburg
and Tübingen
, he pastored at St. Alban in Basel then in Witikon
. Reublin was with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz in Zürich in January 1525 at the birth of the Anabaptist movement. Reublin took part in a disputation
on 17 January 1525 after which Grebel, Mantz and Reublin were given eight days to leave the canton. Reublin proceeded to Hallau
, where he establish a large Anaptist congregation. From Hallau Reublin successfully evangelized in other areas for the young Anabaptist movement. On Easter 1525 he baptized theologian Balthasar Hubmaier in Waldshut
, where another center of the Anabaptism was developing. Michael Sattler was baptized by Reublin in Rottenburg. Other places evangelized by Reublin include Schaffhausen
, Strasbourg
, Reutlingen
and Esslingen. By 1535 Reublin had left the Swiss Brethren.
Michael Sattler
(c. 1490–1527) was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession
. Born in around 1490 in Staufen, Germany
, Sattler became a Benedictine
monk in the cloister of St. Peter and most likely became prior by the time he left, around 1525. He then married Margaretha, a former Beguine. That year they traveled to Zürich, which was then embroiled in controversy over infant baptism, and was expelled from the city in November. He became associated with the Anabaptists and was probably rebaptised in the summer of 1526. He was involved in missionary activity around Horb
and Rottenburg
, and eventually traveled to Strasbourg
. In February of 1527 he chaired a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Schleitheim
, at which time the Schleitheim Confession was adopted. In May, 1527, Sattler was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities, along with his wife and several other Anabaptists. He was tried and sentenced to be executed as a heretic. Before execution by fire, his tongue was cut out, and red hot tongs were used to tear two pieces of flesh from his body. Margaretha was executed by drowning.
Jakob Ammann ( 1696–before 1730) was an elder who became the founder of the Amish
Mennonites. Ammann advocated the strictest form of the ban, insisting that there be no contact with an excommunicated member, even among family members. He had firm views on clothing style
, opposed trimmed beards and introduced foot washing. He traveled among the Swiss Anabaptist communities in the Cantons of Switzerland
, Alsace
and the Palatinate promoting his views and excommunicating any who opposed him. Because of his unbending convictions and harsh rhetoric, an irreparable breach developed between the two groups that continues centuries later in North America. Ammann later regretted his contribution to the split and asked for forgiveness, but by 1700 the rift was too great.
a congregation of 1500 formed soon after the movement was driven from Zürick. Zwingli complained that the canton was too tolerant of Anabaptists. Increased enforcement of anti-Anabaptist decrees drove most congregations out by 1530, although some persisted into the 17th century.
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring countries. Today's Swiss Mennonite Conference
Swiss Mennonite Conference
The Swiss Mennonite Conference is an Anabaptist Christian body in Switzerland....
can be traced to the Swiss Brethren.
In 1525, Felix Manz
Felix Manz
Felix Manz was a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation.-Birth and life:...
, Conrad Grebel
Conrad Grebel
Conrad Grebel , son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement and is often called the "Father of Anabaptists".-Early life:...
, George Blaurock
George Blaurock
Jörg vom Haus Jacob , commonly known as George Blaurock , with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, was co-founder of the Swiss Brethren in Zürich, and thereby one of the founders of Anabaptism.George Blaurock was born in 1491 in Bonaduz in the Grisons, Switzerland...
and other radical evangelical reformers
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland, the Radical Reformation birthed many radical...
broke from Ulrich Zwingli and formed a new group because they felt reforms were not moving fast enough.
Rejection of infant baptism
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
was a distinguishing belief of the Swiss Brethren. Based on Sola Scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
doctrine, the Swiss Brethren declared that since the Bible does not mention infant baptism, it should not be practiced by the church. This belief was subsequently refuted by Ulrich Zwingli. Consequently, there was a public dispute, in which the council affirmed Zwingli's position. This solidified the Swiss Brethren and resulted in their persecution by all other reformers as well as the Catholic Church.
Because of persecution by the authorities, many Swiss Brethren moved from Switzerland to neighboring countries. The Swiss Brethren became known as Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
s after the division of 1693, a disagreement between groups led by Jacob Amman
Jacob Amman
Jakob Ammann , was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish religious movement.-Birth and death:...
and Hans Reist
Hans Reist
Hans Reist was an elder of the Swiss Brethren, an Anabaptist group.Nothing is known of Reist's background or birthplace. He was probably from the Sumiswald region of Emmental in the Canton of Berne...
. Many of the Mennonites in France, Southern Germany, the Netherlands and North America, as well as most Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
descend from the Swiss Brethren.
Schleitheim Articles
In 1527 Michael SattlerMichael Sattler
Michael Sattler was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany....
authored the Schleitheim Articles
Schleitheim Confession
The Schleitheim Confession was the most representative statement of Anabaptist principles, endorsed unanimously by a meeting of Swiss Anabaptists in 1527 in Schleitheim . The meeting was chaired by Michael Sattler. Michael Sattler was the leader of the Swiss and southern German Anabaptist movement...
, the first Anabaptist confession of faith
Confession of Faith
A Confession of Faith is a statement of doctrine very similar to a creed, but usually longer and polemical, as well as didactic.Confessions of Faith are in the main, though not exclusively, associated with Protestantism...
. It contained seven articles on the following topics:
- Believers baptism
- Church discipline
- Lord's SupperLord's SupperThe Lord's Supper may refer to:*Eucharist, Mass or Communion, a rite in Christianity*The Last Supper, the last meal Jesus of Nazareth shared with his disciples in the collection of Christian Scriptures called The Holy Bible....
- Separation from the world and evil
- Selection and role of pastors
- Nonviolence
- Prohibition of oath-swearing
Most Swiss Brethren accepted these seven articles.
Key leaders
George BlaurockGeorge Blaurock
Jörg vom Haus Jacob , commonly known as George Blaurock , with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, was co-founder of the Swiss Brethren in Zürich, and thereby one of the founders of Anabaptism.George Blaurock was born in 1491 in Bonaduz in the Grisons, Switzerland...
(c. 1491–1529), was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. He was born in 1491 in Bonaduz
Bonaduz
Bonaduz is a municipality in the district of Imboden in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:Bonaduz is first mentioned in 960 as Beneduces. Until 1854, the German speaking hamlet of Sculms belonged to Bonaduz. Following a vote in that year, Sculms joined Versam.-Geography:Bonaduz has an...
. Blaurock was educated at the University of Leipzig and served as a priest, but departed from the Catholic Church before he arrived in Zürich around 1524, for he had already taken a wife. Though he came to see Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
, he soon became attached to the reformer's more radical followers. After a break with Zwingli in January 1525 and acting against a Zürich city council ruling, Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him upon a confession of faith in Christ. Grebel did so, and afterwards Blaurock proceeded to baptize the others who were present. Blaurock worked closely with Felix Manz until Manz was martyred in Zürich in 1527. On that same day, Blaurock was severely beaten and permanently expelled from Zürich. He kept moving, laboring at Bern, Biel, the Grisons, and Appenzell. After his arrest and fourth banishment in 1527, Blaurock left Switzerland never to return. He conducted a very successful ministry in Tyrol
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
. In August 1529 he was arrested by Innsbruck authorities and tortured for information. On 6 September 1529, Blaurock was burned at the stake near Klausen.
Conrad Grebel
Conrad Grebel
Conrad Grebel , son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement and is often called the "Father of Anabaptists".-Early life:...
(c. 1498–1526) was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. He was probably born in Grüningen
Grüningen
Grüningen is a village in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.In 1976, Grüningen received the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.-History:...
about 1498. His family moved to Zürich around 1513. Grebel spent about six years in three universities, but without finishing his education or receiving a degree. In 1521 he joined a group gathered around Zürich reformer Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
to study the Greek classics, the Latin Bible, the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. Core members of the group broke with Zwingli because they thought the reform process was proceeding too slowly. At a gathering in January 1525 George Blaurock asked Grebel to baptize him upon a confession of faith. Afterward, Blaurock baptized Grebel and the others, initiating a wave of rebaptisms that would spread throughout the Swiss cantons. Grebel died of the plague in 1526.
Margret Hottinger (before 1515–1530) was a charismatic and respected leader during the initial years of the movement. She joined early in 1525, at the time George Blaurock was evangelizing and baptizing in Zollikon. Her father and brothers were rebaptized early in 1525 also; Klaus Hottinger
Klaus Hottinger
Klaus Hottinger was a shoemaker born in Zollikon in 1467. A disciple of Zwingli, he took part in the famous "Affair of the Sausages" of 1522 which marked the public beginning of the Reformation in Switzerland. In 1523 he overthrew a wooden crucifix at Stadelhofen on the outskirts of Zurich. He was...
, an uncle, had been executed the previous year for his reformation activities. Hottinger was arrested along with other Anabaptist leaders including Blaurock, Grebel, Mantz, and Sattler in November of the same year. While Sattler and some others were released after swearing an oath promising to stop advocating rebaptism, Hottinger and the others refused and were imprisoned under harsh conditions. Hottinger relented after six months and signed a recantation
Recantation
The verb recant , and its derivative noun recantation, can mean:* To formally abandon a belief or a particular statement of belief, generally under order from an ecclesiastical authority to...
, but before the year was out she was evangelizing in St. Gall. Hottinger and her family remained active in the area of Zürich even after most other Anabaptists had fled to Moravia because of intense persecution. Finally they too set out for Moravia in 1530, but were captured enroute near Waldsee
Bad Waldsee
Bad Waldsee is a town in Upper Swabia in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the district of Ravensburg, in Oberschwaben. It is situated 20 km south of Biberach an der Riß, and 20 km northeast of Ravensburg. The town is known for its historic old city with many landmarks and large...
. Hottinger was drowned because she refused to recant, her father Jakob was beheaded and her brother Felix was released because of his young age.
Balthasar Hubmaier
Balthasar Hubmaier was an influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation.- Early life and education:...
(c. 1480–1528) was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation. He was born in Friedberg, Bavaria around 1480. In 1524, he married Elizabeth Hügline of Reichenau. He attended Latin School at Augsburg, received both a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Freiburg in 1511 and a doctor's degree from the University of Ingolstadt under Johann Eck
Johann Eck
Dr. Johann Maier von Eck was a German Scholastic theologian and defender of Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. It was Eck who argued that the beliefs of Martin Luther and Jan Hus were similar.-Life:...
in 1512. After serving as the university's vice-rector, he left a pastorate of the Catholic Church at Regensburg in 1516 and then went to Waldshut in 1521. He was rebaptised there in 1525 by Wilhelm Reublin. He succeeded in establishing Anabaptism as the official religion for a short period first in Waldshut
Waldshut-Tiengen
Waldshut-Tiengen is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in...
and then in Nikolsburg
Mikulov
Mikulov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 7,608 . It is located directly on the border with Lower Austria. Mikulov is located at the edge of a hilly area and the three Nové Mlýny reservoirs...
. On 10 March 1528 Hubmaier was executed by burning for heresy.
Felix Manz
Felix Manz
Felix Manz was a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation.-Birth and life:...
(c. 1498–1527) was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. Manz was the illegitimate son of a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of the Grossmünster
Grossmünster
The Grossmünster is a Romanesque-style church in Zurich, Switzerland. It is one of the three major churches in the city . The core of the present building near the banks of the Limmat River was constructed on the site of a Carolingian church, which was, according to legend, originally commissioned...
in Zürich. His knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin indicate a liberal education. Manz became a follower of Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
and when Conrad Grebel joined the group in 1521, he and Manz became friends. They questioned the mass, the nature of church and state connections, and infant baptism. The Zürich city council declared Zwingli the victor of a January 1525 disputation
Disputation
In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences...
and ordered the group to desist from arguing and submit to the decision of the council. Instead, the group gathered at the home of Felix Manz and his mother. Conrad Grebel rebaptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn rebaptized the others. Manz proceeded to use his language skills to translate religious texts into the language of the people, and worked enthusiastically as an evangelist. Manz was arrested on a number of occasions between 1525 and 1527. While he was preaching with George Blaurock in the Grüningen
Grüningen
Grüningen is a village in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.In 1976, Grüningen received the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.-History:...
region, they were taken by surprise, arrested and imprisoned in Zürich at the Wellenburg prison. The Zürich council had passed an edict that made adult rebaptism punishable by drowning. On 5 January 1527, Felix Manz became the first casualty of the edict, and the first of the Swiss Brethren to be executed at the hands of Protestants.
Hans Reist
Hans Reist
Hans Reist was an elder of the Swiss Brethren, an Anabaptist group.Nothing is known of Reist's background or birthplace. He was probably from the Sumiswald region of Emmental in the Canton of Berne...
( 1670–1704) was a central figure in the dispute that resulted in the formation of the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
branch. Reist favored a milder form of church discipline and was strongly opposed by Jakob Ammann who advocated a strict form of the ban. The disagreement was fierce and the ill feelings generated by the exchange between Reist, Ammann, and other leaders resulted in an unrepairable breach. Reist is recognized as a leader of the Swiss Brethren group that later adopted the name Mennonite.
Wilhelm Reublin
Wilhelm Reublin
Wilhelm Reublin was a leading figure of the Swiss Brethren movement. Reublin was born in 1484 in Rottenburg am Neckar. In 1521, after studying theology in Freiburg and Tübingen, Reublin became the pastor at St. Alban in Basel and began to advocate reform. St. Alban was soon the center of the...
(1484–c. 1559) was a prolific Swiss Brethren missionary who eventually left the movement. Reublin was born in 1484 in Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar is a medium-sized town in the administrative district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It rests about 50 km southwest of the provincial capital Stuttgart and about 12 km southwest of the district town Tübingen...
. In 1521, after studying theology in Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
and Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, he pastored at St. Alban in Basel then in Witikon
Witikon
Witikon is a quarter in the district 7 in Zurich.It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zurich in 1893.The quarter has a population of 9,864 distributed on an area of 4.93 km²....
. Reublin was with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz in Zürich in January 1525 at the birth of the Anabaptist movement. Reublin took part in a disputation
Disputation
In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences...
on 17 January 1525 after which Grebel, Mantz and Reublin were given eight days to leave the canton. Reublin proceeded to Hallau
Hallau
Hallau is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.-History:Though Bronze Age weapons have been found in Hallau, the first traces of a settlement date from the Roman era. A Roman warehouse was found in Hüttenhau as well as numerous Roman coins. The area was settled by the...
, where he establish a large Anaptist congregation. From Hallau Reublin successfully evangelized in other areas for the young Anabaptist movement. On Easter 1525 he baptized theologian Balthasar Hubmaier in Waldshut
Waldshut-Tiengen
Waldshut-Tiengen is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in...
, where another center of the Anabaptism was developing. Michael Sattler was baptized by Reublin in Rottenburg. Other places evangelized by Reublin include Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Reutlingen
Reutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
and Esslingen. By 1535 Reublin had left the Swiss Brethren.
Michael Sattler
Michael Sattler
Michael Sattler was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany....
(c. 1490–1527) was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession
Schleitheim Confession
The Schleitheim Confession was the most representative statement of Anabaptist principles, endorsed unanimously by a meeting of Swiss Anabaptists in 1527 in Schleitheim . The meeting was chaired by Michael Sattler. Michael Sattler was the leader of the Swiss and southern German Anabaptist movement...
. Born in around 1490 in Staufen, Germany
Staufen, Germany
Staufen im Breisgau is a German town in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of approximately 7700.-General:...
, Sattler became a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monk in the cloister of St. Peter and most likely became prior by the time he left, around 1525. He then married Margaretha, a former Beguine. That year they traveled to Zürich, which was then embroiled in controversy over infant baptism, and was expelled from the city in November. He became associated with the Anabaptists and was probably rebaptised in the summer of 1526. He was involved in missionary activity around Horb
Horb am Neckar
Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west and Tübingen to the east . It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom about 6,000 live in the main town of Horb, and the remainder in 18 associated...
and Rottenburg
Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar is a medium-sized town in the administrative district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It rests about 50 km southwest of the provincial capital Stuttgart and about 12 km southwest of the district town Tübingen...
, and eventually traveled to Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. In February of 1527 he chaired a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Schleitheim
Schleitheim
Schleitheim is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.It is known as the location where the seven articles of the "Schleitheim Confession" were written by Michael Sattler in 1527.-Geography:...
, at which time the Schleitheim Confession was adopted. In May, 1527, Sattler was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities, along with his wife and several other Anabaptists. He was tried and sentenced to be executed as a heretic. Before execution by fire, his tongue was cut out, and red hot tongs were used to tear two pieces of flesh from his body. Margaretha was executed by drowning.
Jakob Ammann ( 1696–before 1730) was an elder who became the founder of the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
Mennonites. Ammann advocated the strictest form of the ban, insisting that there be no contact with an excommunicated member, even among family members. He had firm views on clothing style
Plain dress
Plain dress is a religious practice in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is used to show humility and to preserve communal separateness from the rest of the world. It is practiced by some Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, Mennonites,...
, opposed trimmed beards and introduced foot washing. He traveled among the Swiss Anabaptist communities in the Cantons of Switzerland
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and the Palatinate promoting his views and excommunicating any who opposed him. Because of his unbending convictions and harsh rhetoric, an irreparable breach developed between the two groups that continues centuries later in North America. Ammann later regretted his contribution to the split and asked for forgiveness, but by 1700 the rift was too great.
Early locations
In AppenzellAppenzell
Appenzell is a region and historical canton in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen....
a congregation of 1500 formed soon after the movement was driven from Zürick. Zwingli complained that the canton was too tolerant of Anabaptists. Increased enforcement of anti-Anabaptist decrees drove most congregations out by 1530, although some persisted into the 17th century.
Others
- AlsaceAlsaceAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
- BaselBaselBasel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
- Bern
- HallauHallauHallau is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.-History:Though Bronze Age weapons have been found in Hallau, the first traces of a settlement date from the Roman era. A Roman warehouse was found in Hüttenhau as well as numerous Roman coins. The area was settled by the...
- MoraviaMoraviaMoravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
- Palatinate (region)
- SchaffhausenSchaffhausenSchaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
- St. GallenSt. GallenSt. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...
- StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
- WaldshutWaldshut-TiengenWaldshut-Tiengen is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in...
- ZollikonZollikonZollikon is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Zollikon has an area of . Of this area, 21.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 40.8% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
- ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...