Synod of Martyrs in Augsburg

The so-called Augsburg Synod of Martyrs was a supraregional meeting of South German, Swiss and Austrian Anabaptist leaders that took place in Augsburg from August 20 to 24, 1527 . The aim of this meeting, which consisted of around 60 emissaries from different Anabaptist groups, was to come to an agreement on the central Anabaptist doctrinal concepts between the pacifist Swiss Anabaptists of the Schleitheim Confession and the apocalyptic - militant South German Anabaptists around Hans Hut and to adopt at least one declaration of convergence . A concrete consequence of the meeting was the sending of preachers and messengers to the respective areas of activity. The name Synod of Martyrs comes from the fact that many of the participants in the meeting were martyred only a short time later.

background

The still relatively young Anabaptist movement faced the difficult task of giving its various groups a uniform foundation. For this reason, an Anabaptist synod had already taken place in Schleitheim in the spring of 1527 under the direction of Michael Sattler , which in the course of the meeting adopted the so-called Schleitheim Articles . In this confession, the assumption of secular offices, the taking of the oath and military service were fundamentally rejected. Other groups of the Anabaptists, above all the South German Anabaptists, took the view that the authorities were legitimized by Romans 13 LUT to demand the oath and armed service from their subjects. An important item on the agenda of the Synod of Martyrs was therefore to reach an agreement between the Swiss and South German Anabaptists on these issues. Anabaptist eschatology was also on the agenda .

The fact that Augsburg was chosen as the location for the Anabaptist Synod was partly due to its central location. The areas of the young Anabaptists were limited to parts of southern and central Germany, Switzerland , Alsace as well as Moravia and Tyrol . It was certainly also significant that there was a numerically strong Anabaptist community in Augsburg itself, which in 1527 was still relatively free to assemble and, due to its size, was able to offer a suitable meeting room and quarters for the around 60 participants.

Attendees

Not all the names of the synodals have survived. The following 34 participants are known and can be assigned to different groups of Anabaptists.

The largest group among them were the followers of Hans Hut :

Eucarius Binder from Coburg Burkhard Braun from oven Leonhard Dorfbrunner from Weißenburg Hans Gulden from Biberach Sigmund Hofer Hans Hut Jakob Leitner from Uttenreuth Marx Meier from Altenerlangen Joachim Mertz from Bamberg

Hans Mittermaier from Ingolstadt Georg Nespitzer from Passau Leonhard Schiemer from Judenburg Hans Schlaffer Leonhard Spörle from Briderichingen Ulrich Trechsel from Franconia Thomas Waldhauser Jakob Wiedemann from Memmingen

The second largest group were the members of the Augsburg Anabaptist Congregation:

Jakob Dachser Math Finder Gall fisherman Laux fisherman Konrad Huber

Hans Kießling Hans Leupold Bartholomäus Nussfelder Sigmund Salminger Peter Scheppach

The Swiss Anabaptists were represented by three delegates:

• Hans Beck from Basel , Jakob Gross from Waldshut and Gregor Maler from Chur .

Formed their own parliamentary group at the Synod of Martyrs

• Hans Denck , Ludwig Hätzer and Jakob Kautz from Worms .

The meeting places of the Augsburg Synod of Baptists were the house of the weaver Gall Fischer, the house of the nestler Konrad Huber and the house of the butcher Matheis Finder.

negotiations

There is no negotiation protocol for the Augsburg Synod of Martyrs, nor a written communiqué. The subjects of their negotiations can only be inferred from judicial interrogations to which many synod participants were later subjected. Two of the three meetings were under the joint direction of Hans Hut and Hans Denck.

The oath and the carrying of arms - according to the protocol of these interrogations - were dealt with at the beginning of the synod. In this context, Hans Hut contradicted the Swiss Anabaptists and advocated the taking of the oath as well as military service. The demand of the Swiss to establish a uniform dress code for the Anabaptists also met with resistance from Hans Hut.

Hans Hut's prophecy that "three and a half years after the Peasants' War ", namely 1528, the judgment of God would come, " sin should be punished and the authorities exterminated" was rejected by a large majority . Although one basically agrees with him that the second coming of Jesus Christ is imminent, he declines to calculate and specify the time with reference to the relevant biblical passages. After long negotiations, a compromise was reached on this issue. Hut did not take back his prophetic statements, but he promised "not to teach them publicly from now on", but only to communicate them to those who privately "wanted this themselves heartily".

Broadcast

At the end of the Synod of Martyrs, there was an agreement to send missionaries from Augsburg to gather "as many of the elect" as possible in anticipation of the imminent return of Jesus. The Anabaptist messengers were sent individually and in pairs to the following precisely defined areas:

• Peter Scheppach and Ulrich Trechsel to Worms
• Hans Denck and Hans Beck to Basler Land and the area around Zurich .
• Gregor painter to Vorarlberg
• Georg Nespitzer to Middle Franconia
• Leonhard Spörler and Leonhard Schiemer to Bavaria
• Leonhard Dorfbrunner to Linz
• Hans Mittermaier to Austria and
• Eucarius Binder and Joachim Mertz to the Salzburger Land

However, this large-scale mission plan failed. Most of the emissaries sent out suffered a martyr's death shortly after arriving in their assigned areas of activity and thus made the Augsburg Anabaptists' meeting the so-called Augsburg Synod of Martyrs .

consequences

According to Hans Guderian, the Augsburg Synod of Martyrs “represents both a climax and a turning point in the development of early Anabaptism. Because this was the last time Anabaptist leaders from such different backgrounds were together in such large numbers. The way of the Anabaptist congregations led to Augsburg in persecution and martyrdom , in retreat and isolation from the world. "

See also

• Timeline of the history of the Anabaptists
• Martyrs of the Anabaptist Movement

literature

• Hans Guderian: The Anabaptists in Augsburg. Their history and their legacy. A contribution to the 2000 year celebration of the city of Augsburg. Ludwig, Pfaffenhofen 1984, ISBN 3-7787-2063-5 , pp. 40-44.
• Hans-Jürgen Goertz : The Anabaptists. History and interpretation. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-31660-3 .
• Gottfried Seebaß : Müntzer's legacy. Work, life and theology of Hans Hut (= sources and research on the history of the Reformation. Vol. 73). Gütersloher Verlags-Haus, Gütersloh 2002, ISBN 3-579-01758-6 , pp. 305-315 (also: Erlangen-Nürnberg, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 1972).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The information in this section is based (unless otherwise stated) on Hans Guderian: Die Täufer in Augsburg. Their history and their legacy. A contribution to the 2000 year celebration of the city of Augsburg. Pfaffenhofen 1984, pp. 40-44
2. ↑ Erich Paulus / Regina Paulus: Uttenreuth. History book about a village on the outskirts of the city , Uttenreuth 2001, p. 59
3. ^ Hans Guderian: The Anabaptists in Augsburg ; P. 44