Wassenberg predicants

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A group of preachers who preached the new doctrine during the Reformation in Wassenberg and the surrounding area, and later moved to Münster , where they spoke out in favor of the baptism of believers , are called Wassenberg predicants . A large number of the Wassenberg preachers were martyred in the years after 1534 .

history

Lutheran

Wassenberg in the 17th century

From 1517, Reformation ideas were spread in Jülich . A leading representative of the new ideas was the anti-Trinitarian Johann Campanus . In 1521 he stayed at the invitation of nobleman Werner von Palant at his castle in Wassenberg. The Drost Werner von Palant subsequently placed other predicants who were persecuted in their areas under his protection. These predicants did not represent a uniform theology; What they had in common was their hatred of the Roman Church.

Sacramentarians

Initially they mainly referred to Luther , and under the influence of Heinrich Roll they increasingly represented Zwinglian views. As sacramentarians , they distributed the Lord's Supper under both guises and rejected the grace-bringing effect of the sacraments . The corresponding writing from the key to the mystery of the Last Supper ( De Slotel van dat Secret des Nachtmaels ) came from Roll . The baptism question was not the focus for the time being. After the introduction of the new church order of 1532 and the subsequent Jülich church visitation , the followers of the new faith came under pressure and were persecuted. Drost Werner IV. Von Palant (around 1480 – around 1557), Herr zu Ruyff and Breitenbend, lost his position as bailiff in October 1532 and the preachers were forced to flee.

baptist

Most of the preachers went to Münster , where the Reformation had been initiated under Bernd Rothmann . Under the influence of the Wassenberg predicants, the Reformation was decisively shaped by Münster. The Lord's Supper was only given a memorial character and infant baptism was decidedly rejected. On behalf of Rothmann, the preachers began to work out a Protestant church ordinance for Münster. In the autumn of 1533 the preachers were forced to leave the city by the Lutheran-ruled city council. At the beginning of 1534 they were to meet again in Münster and settled on January 5 of the first emissaries of the prophet Jan Matthys the adult baptism give.

martyr

In mid-October 1534 a decisive change occurred for the Wassenberg preachers. On the one hand there was a dispute between Bernd Knipperdolling and Jan van Leiden , on the other hand Johann Dusentschuer arranged for 28 apostles to be sent out in all four directions, who were to proclaim the kingdom of peace starting from the cities of Soest , Osnabrück , Warendorf and Coesfeld . All of the Wassenberg predicants were among these 28 apostles. The attempt to evangelize the area around Munster failed completely. Only in Warendorf did the messengers have a certain success. In the other places, they were arrested as soon as they arrived. Of the 28 messengers, only Heinrich Graess survived , who changed sides when he was arrested in Osnabrück. The Wassenberg predicants all died as martyrs.

Main representatives

environment

  • Werner IV. Von Palant (* around 1480, † before March 1, 1557), Mr. zu Ruyff and Breitenbend, until 1532 Drost of the Wassenberg office
  • Theodor Fabricius (* 1501 in Anholt near Bocholt, † 1570 in Zerbst )
  • Adolf Clarenbach (* around 1497 near Lüttringhausen , † September 1529 in Cologne ) executed at the stake
  • Gerhard Westerburg (* around 1490 in Cologne, † 1558 in Dykhausen near Neustadtgödens )
  • Johannes Campanus (* around 1500 in Maaseik , † around 1575 in Jülich ) died after twenty years in prison
  • Johann Dusentschuer (* around 1500 in Warendorf, † autumn 1534 in Soest) beheaded
  • Heinrich Graess, formerly a teacher in Borken

Predicants

Common font

  • Confessions of both Sacraments, Doepe vnde Nachtmaele, the Praedicanten tho Munster . 1533 (by Bernhard Rothmann, signed by Roll, Klopreis, Vinne, Staprade and Stralen)

literature

  • Karl Rembert: The Anabaptists in the Duchy of Jülich , Berlin 1899.
  • Heribert Heinrichs, The Wassenberger Prädikanten . In: Heimatkalender des Kreis Heinsberg , year 1998, pp. 26–41.
  • Ekkehard Krumme: The early reformation movements in the west of the Erkelenzer country . In: Hans-Josef Broich, Günter Wild: Evangelical in the Erkelenzer Land. Erkelenz 2003 ( publications of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande. No. 19). Pp. 241-266.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ruyff Castle near Henri-Chapelle .

Web links

  • Christian Hege and Harold S. Bender. Wassenberg predicants . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.