Hans Krüsi (Baptist)

Hans Krüsi , also known as Hans Nagel and Hans Kern (* in Sankt Georgen ; † July 27, 1525 in Lucerne ), was a Swiss Anabaptist preacher who was active in the St. Gallen area . He died a martyr of the Anabaptist movement .

Life

Title page of Hans Krüsi's baptismal booklet

Little is known about the origin and youth of Hans Krüsi. The St. Gallen chronicler Johannes Kessler (around 1502–1574) describes Krüsi as "born from Sant Georgen ". There was also “stay and leave”. St. Georgen was south-east of St. Gallen and politically belonged to the Tablat commune . It was ecclesiastically connected to the St. Gallen Laurenzen Church via a chaplaincy.

Johannes Rütiner (1501–1556) adds to this information by pointing out that Krüsi's mother also came from St. Georgen, while his father, a teacher Lang, was based in Klingnau . This also explains why the later Anabaptist preacher was called both Hans Krüsi and Hans Lang . In the minutes of the council of the city of St. Gallen from June 16, 1525, a third name Krüsis appears: "Hanns Kern von Klignow, whom one sunst nempt Krüsi from Sannt Jörgen". However, this name is not used in the other sources and, according to the assumption of the Anabaptist researcher Heinold Fast, must be based on confusion.

Hans Krüsi's mother was the daughter of a prefect of St. Georgen, although it is not clear from the sources whether he represented the church authorities of St. Gallen or the Tablat authorities in this capacity. The Tablat fiefdom register from this period shows numerous bearers of the family name Krüsi. Krüsi took up his father's profession and became a teacher. In his later confession, Krüsi gave the following information, which was formulated in the minutes as follows: "And he sye anfenklich to Will gsyn provoser". Heinold Fast interprets the job title “provoser” as “provisional”, after the Swiss Idiotikon the official name for “sub-teacher” or “school assistant”. A Latin school existed in the town of Wil at the beginning of the 16th century. It is documented that a schoolmaster Michael von Pforzheim took up office there in 1516.

Krüsi's trailblazers to the Anabaptists were, according to the diaries of the aforementioned Johannes Rütiner, the St. Gallen councilor Johannes Ramsauer and a certain Martin Baumgarter, whose name appears in the minutes of the first Anabaptist interrogations at the end of April 1525. It is through her that Krüsi also seems to have met Konrad Grebel , the co-founder of the Zurich Anabaptist community. This - according to Krüsi according to the interrogation protocol - established the Anabaptist teachings and presented him with a “written, not printed booklet”. Since Grebel's stay in St. Gallen only lasted a few days and he had left the city on April 9, 1525, the aforementioned meeting - and thus Krüsi's connection to the Anabaptist circles - must have taken place at the beginning of April 1525.

Krüsi decided to work as a preacher. He gave up his job as a teacher and learned the weaving trade. Krüsi achieved great success with his missionary work. In June 1525 he was put in St. Gallen prison for unauthorized preaching and released against an original feud . After Pentecost 1525 he appeared as a preacher in the settlement area Tablat SG . Here he held weddings, baptized adults, distributed the Lord's Supper in the Reformation style and cleared the chapel of images and relics.

In July 1525, the Diet in Baden issued an arrest warrant for Krüsi. Krüsi was then taken prisoner at night and transferred to Lucerne , one of the umbrella locations of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen , where he was tried. Hans Krüsi was sentenced to death by fire as a heretic and burned to powder and ashes on July 25, 1525 . Along with Eberli Bolt, he is considered one of the first Anabaptist martyrs in Switzerland.

plant

• From the Glawbenn of God who alone would be blessed machett / and would give only from the hymel: From the baptism of Christ. Of the water / that cannot make us sick. Hanns Nagel from Klingnaw Ain Ledergerber . Augsburg 1525.

literature

• Hans Ulrich Bächtold: Krüsi, Hans. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Andrea Strübind: More zealous than Zwingli. The early Anabaptist movement in Switzerland . Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-10653-9
• Joseph Schacher: History of the Lucerne Anabaptists . In: The history friend. Volume 118, 1965, pp. 187–229.
• Heinold Fast : Hans Krüsi's little book on faith and baptism. An Anabaptist print from 1525 . In: Zwingliana. Volume XI, 1962, No. 1, pp. 456–475.
• Johann Keßler's Sabbata with small writings and letters , edited by R. Egli (with a biography of Keßler von Egli). St. Gallen 1902.

Web links

• Christian Neff: Krüsi, Johannes (d.1525) . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Individual evidence

1. ^ Emil Egli, Rudolf Schoch (Ed.): Johannes Kessler's Sabbata. With smaller writings and letters . St. Gallen, Zurich 1902, p. 147.
2. ↑ Heinold Fast: Hans Krüsis little book about faith and baptism. An Anabaptist print from 1525. In: Zwingliana XI (No. 1/1962), p. 456.
3. ↑ Heinold Fast (Ed.): Sources for the history of the Anabaptists in Switzerland ( QGTS ), Volume II: Ostschweiz , Zurich 1972, p. 583 ( excerpts from Johannes Rütiner's diary )
4. ↑ Quoted from Heinold Fast (ed.): Sources on the history of the Anabaptists in Switzerland ( QGTS ), Volume II: Ostschweiz , Zurich 1972, p. 393. (Source 462)
5. ↑ ^{a b} Heinold Fast: Hans Krüsi's little book about faith and baptism. An Anabaptist print from 1525. In: Zwingliana XI (No. 1/1962), p. 457.
6. ↑ Heinold Fast: Hans Krüsis little book about faith and baptism. An Anabaptist print from 1525. In: Zwingliana XI (No. 1/1962), p. 457; see especially note 13.
7. ^ Paul Staerkle: Contributions to the late medieval history of education in St. Gallen , St. Gallen 1939, p. 53ff.
8. ↑ Emil Egli u. a. (Ed.): Johannes Kessler. Sabbata , St. Gallen 1902, p. 55.
9. ↑ Heinold Fast: Hans Krüsis little book about faith and baptism. An Anabaptist print from 1525. In: Zwingliana XI (No. 1/1962), p. 459.