![\"Anabaptists\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2014\/08\/Anabaptists.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\nJames Swan (\u201cTertiumQuid\u201d), webmaster (Boors All<\/i><\/a> + Facebook page<\/a>), anti-Catholic Reformed Protestant polemicist and longtime defender of Martin Luther (sometimes rightly) against what he sees as a torrent of Catholic misinformation and bigotry, wrote on the Catholic Answers Internet forum on 17 August 2014 (comment #347 in a long thread<\/a>):<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to have some clarification on this point, if possible. I don\u2019t recall Luther being elected to political office or having a political reign in Wittenberg. As far as I know, he was an influential preacher and a theologian in Wittenberg in an age in which the church and state had a close relationship. Nor do I recall Luther specifically having individuals executed in Wittenberg in the 1530\u2019s. I am aware of some people being executed for witchcraft in Wittenberg in the early 1540\u2019s, and I\u2019m familiar with the severe interrogations of some Anabaptists in Wittenberg in the 1530\u2019s.<\/p>\n As someone always willing to learn (or to be reminded of what I\u2019ve forgotten), I\u2019d like to know (or be reminded) exactly who Luther had executed in Wittenberg in the 1530\u2019s. While it certainly is within the realm of possibility that the secular authorities of Wittenberg during the 1530\u2019s carried out capital punishment, I don\u2019t recall this actually happening in the 1530\u2019s, or more specifically, that Luther was involved with the carrying out of executions during the 1530\u2019s, especially against Anabaptists.<\/p>\n Thanks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m always happy to assist Mr. Swan in his yearning to achieve knowledge of historical facts. I\u2019ve been doing it these past twelve years; no need to stop now. I wrote a paper over ten years ago now, documenting Luther\u2019s sanction of the death penalty for Anabaptists (including peaceful ones). He advocated this specifically by signing in assent pamphlets written in 1531 and 1536 by his right-hand man Philip Melanchthon. In my paper, I cite famous Luther biographer Roland Bainton at length, corroborating this. That\u2019s the background. We know (beyond dispute) that he (and Melanchthon and others in Wittenberg) favored this intolerant approach in the 1530s.<\/p>\n Swan is asking, however, for documentation that executions actually occurred <\/i>there during that decade. This is more difficult to document, but without too much trouble I ran across some documentation via Google Books. It comes from a work entitled, Valentin Weigel (1533-1588): German Religious Dissenter, Speculative Theorist, and Advocate of Tolerance<\/i><\/a> (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000), written by Andrew Weeks<\/a>, who is a Professor of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Illinois State University. He writes:<\/p>\n Of the various studies of Reformation-era intolerance, those of [Paul] Wappler <\/a>and [Nikolaus] Paulus<\/a> document conditions in Saxony . . . In Luther\u2019s part of Saxony, there were executions for the offense of rebaptism as early as 1527 (before the imperial mandate of 1529), and afterward in the years 1530, 1532, and 1538. [60]<\/span> Unlike the milder regime in Hessen, where as a rule only the openly rebellious dissenters were sentenced to death, the Wittenberg reformers soon came to support capital punishment even against peaceful heretics. [61] (p. 22)<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There is evidence that as early as November 1529 Luther and Melanchthon sanctioned the death penalty for Anabaptists in an opinion to their Elector in response to the imperial mandate. [69] (p. 24)<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n By 1536, Luther, Bugenhagen, and Cruciger were advising Landgraf Philipp of Hessen to execute by the sword any Anabaptists apprehended in his territories. [74] <\/span>Melanchthon was frankly encouraging capital punishment for heresy with or without rebellion. [75]<\/span> (p. 25)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Weeks cites Wappler\u2019s conclusions in 1908 about this state of affairs:<\/p>\n A progressively weakening police-churchdom and a repulsive system of denunciation and spying in the Lutheran church were the necessary outcome.\u201d (p. 25; apparently the author\u2019s translation of the original German)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Weeks notes an execution of a person in Saxony in 1535:<\/p>\n . . . the unfortunate shoemaker Peter Pestel, . . . neither preached his views nor performed baptisms in Saxony, [but] he is tried and executed mainly on the grounds of his denial of the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist [Dave: which views Melanchthon himself <\/i>later denied] and the birth of Jesus from Mary. (pp. 27-28)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Unfortunately, I can\u2019t access the footnotes from the Google Books edition of this book, and both Paulus and Wappler wrote in German, so I can\u2019t get at further details of these executions from those sources. But if a professional historian cited them for documentation and gave footnotes, we can be fairly assured that this is solid evidence for executions of Anabaptists in Saxony, including Wittenberg, in the 1530s. And I offer further hard evidence below (read on).<\/p>\n We do have one person mentioned by name in Weeks\u2019 book: Peter Pestel. The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online<\/i> provides an article about him<\/a> and more detail:<\/p>\n . . . on 23 April 1536, he was arrested and taken to the castle in Zwickau, and on the next day subjected to a cross-examination in the presence of the clergy (Wappler, p. 76). He confessed himself definitely as committed to Anabaptist teaching, and could not be deflected from his faith even by torture; \u201cHe would give his life for it.\u201d He said he had neither preached nor baptized, but where it was suitable he testified to his faith and reproved \u201chis fellow men of sin\u201d; he vigorously denied that he or his companions had stirred up revolt, conspiracy, or sedition. Then he was given Melanchthon\u2019s booklet, Verlegung etlicher unchristlicher Artikel Welche die Widderteuffer f\u00fcrgeben<\/i> (Wittenberg, about 1536), which had appeared at the same time as the electoral mandate. After reading it he gave the jailer the reply that there was not a true word in the booklet, . . . This state of affairs was reported to Johann Friedrich I, Elector of Saxony<\/a>, who turned the records over to the court in Wittenberg with the request that they pass the sentence. . . . The elector, . . . drew up the death sentence himself and sent it to Zwickau, to the effect that Peter Pestel should be executed with the sword, in accord with the edict of Speyer of 1529.. . . The sentence was carried out on 16 June 1536, in Zwickau.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n [one of two sources provided: Wappler, Paul. Inquisition und Ketzerprozesse in Zwickau zur Reformationszeit<\/i>. Leipzig, 1908: 70-84]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Zwickau is in the southwestern region of Saxony: 160 km (99 miles) from Wittenberg<\/a>. The real \u201cgoldmine\u201d of documentation in English comes from the same Encyclopedia, in its article on Saxony<\/a>. It cites Wappler and Paulus as well, as two of its three sources from historians:<\/p>\n Early in February 1527, in the district of K\u00f6nigsberg<\/a>, a Saxon enclave in W\u00fcrzburg territory, where the movement gained an early foothold through the efforts of Hans Hut<\/a>, Volk Kolerlin, and other Anabaptist apostles, the first Anabaptists were seized. On 26 February 1527, the elector issued the public order, \u201cthat no one, be he citizen, peasant, or anyone else, except the regular clergyman, preacher, and chaplain, to whom pastoral care is entrusted and who is qualified at each place is permitted to preach, baptize, or exercise other similar offices in his house or other places owned by him.\u201d Soon afterward he had the K\u00f6nigsberg citizens, Beutelhans<\/a>, Wolf Schominger<\/a> (Schreiner), and ten other men besides a woman put to death as Anabaptists.. . .<\/p>\n The Saxon reformers approved of the elector\u2019s violent measures, so that on 23 April 1529, at Speyer he could without qualms of conscience give his consent to the well-known Anabaptist mandate (see Punishment of the Anabaptists) and henceforth strove to act in accord with it.<\/p>\n In 1529 ten Anabaptists were imprisoned at Reinhardsbrunn<\/a>, and the six who remained steadfast were put to death on 18 January 1530, causing great excitement among the people. The reformers now found it advisable to formulate a vindication of the right to punish heretics. To this end Justus Menius, the superintendent of Eisenach, wrote Der Widdertauffer lere und geheimnis aus heiliger Schrjft widderlegt<\/i>, with a preface by Luther<\/a> and a dedication to Philipp of Hesse<\/a> (who, they were convinced, was too lenient), dated 4 May 1530; and Melanchthon<\/a> drew up a formal opinion addressed to the elector of Saxony at the end of November 1531.<\/p>\n In a long-drawn-out dispute with Philipp concerning the penalizing of several Anabaptists in the Hausbreitenbach district, which was under the joint jurisdiction of Saxony and Hesse, the elector insisted on their execution. In the end the prisoners were divided between Saxony and Hesse. Of those allotted to the elector at least three were put to death: Berlet Schmidt<\/a>, Hans Eisfart<\/a>, and his wife. Later he also insisted upon the execution of the Anabaptist leaders, Melchior Rinck<\/a> and Fritz Erbe<\/a>, who were held by Philipp. They died in prison.<\/p>\n In Schweinitz near Wittenberg death in prison terminated the many cross-examinations and long martyrdom of Hans Sturm of Steyer, though he had neither preached nor baptized in Saxony. His countryman Peter Pestel<\/a> of Linz<\/a>, also a victim of the intolerance of the Wittenberg theologians and jurists, was beheaded on Friday after Corpus Christi at Zwickau in 1536.<\/p>\n After the fall of M\u00fcnster<\/a> in 1535 the elector\u2019s severe attitude was, of course, sharpened. On 21 November 1535, Hans Peissker of Kleineutersdorf near Orlam\u00fcnde was arrested in his own house with his sixteen-year-old daughter Margarethe and fourteen others; he was taken to the Leuchtenburg, and after a minute cross-examination, attended by Melanchthon, put to death with Heinz Kraut and<\/a> Jobst M\u00f6ller<\/a> in Jena<\/a> at the end of January 1536. Of the four prisoners who were transferred to Neustadt an der Orla because of lack of prison space in the Leuchtenburg, Heinrich M\u00f6ller sealed his faith with his death.<\/p>\n On 10 April 1536, a new mandate was issued in Saxony against the \u201cAnabaptists, Sacramentists, and fanatics,\u201d which was composed by Melanchthon, and also a polemic from the same pen, Verlegung etlicher unchristlicher Artikel, welche die Wiederteuffer furgeben<\/i>, which every pastor in Saxony had to read and explain to his congregation on each third Sunday.<\/p>\n In January 1538 the elector had two men executed who were caught conversing with Fritz Erbe<\/a> in the tower of the city wall of Eisenach, and who persisted in their faith in spite of all efforts to convert them. They were Hans K\u00f6hler<\/a> of Eyerode and Hans Scheffer<\/a> of Hastungsfelde. Other admirers of Erbe recanted on the rack.<\/p>\n In the territory of M\u00fchlhausen<\/a>, an imperial city, where after the Peasants\u2019 War<\/a> in 1525 the Duke of Saxony<\/a> had the protective magistracy every third year alternating with the elector of Saxony and the langrave of Hesse, Georg K\u00f6hler<\/a> and Klaus Ernfart<\/a> were among those who suffered death. A large number of Anabaptists were drowned in the Unstrut between M\u00fchlhausen and Ammern and buried on the bank; among these were Jakob Storger<\/a> and Klaus Scharf<\/a> besides eight women on 8 November 1537, and Hans Hentrock<\/a> of Amra and Ottilia Goldschmidt<\/a>, a M\u00fchlhausen girl, on 17 January 1538.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n James Swan was unaware of all this. Now (if he can make it through this paper by a despised papist apologist) he is<\/i> aware. He asked: \u201cI\u2019d like to know (or be reminded) exactly who Luther had executed in Wittenberg in the 1530\u2019s.\u201d The answer is in the above article, partially corroborated by historian Andrew Weeks in his book and drawn (in both cases) from the German historians Paul Wappler (Lutheran) and Nikolaus Paulus (Catholic). I\u2019ll make it even more simple by the following list of Anabaptists executed in Saxony (incorporating information from further articles in this Encyclopedia about the Anabaptists involved):<\/p>\n 1) \u201cBeutelhans<\/a>, Wolf Schominger<\/a> (Schreiner), and ten other men besides a woman\u201d were beheaded in the district of K\u00f6nigsberg<\/a>, a Saxon enclave in W\u00fcrzburg territory: March 1527. [13]<\/p>\n 2) Six Anabaptists (Andreas and Katharina Kolb<\/a>, Christoph Ortlep<\/a>, Katharina K\u00f6nig<\/a>, Elsa Kuntz<\/a>, and Barbara Unger) were imprisoned at Reinhardsbrunn<\/a> and put to death on 18 January 1530. [6]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 3) Berlet Schmidt<\/a>, Hans Eisfart<\/a>, and his wife, in the Hausbreitenbach district, which was under the joint jurisdiction of Saxony and Hesse; in 1532. [3]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 4)\u00a0Georg K\u00f6hler<\/a> and an Anabaptist woman at Sangerhausen<\/a> in the territory of M\u00fchlhausen<\/a> in September 1535. [2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 5) Hans Sturm of Steyer: 1535(?) or 1536(?) in Schweinitz near Wittenberg. [1]<\/p>\n 6) Hans Peissker of Kleineutersdorf, after a minute cross-examination, attended by Melanchthon, was beheaded with Heinz Kraut and<\/a> Jobst M\u00f6ller<\/a> in Jena <\/a>on 26 January 1536. [3]<\/p>\n 7) Heinrich M\u00f6ller at Neustadt an der Orla, c. February 1536. [1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 8) Peter Pestel of Linz was beheaded on 16 June 1536 in Zwickau. [1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 9) Klaus Ernfart<\/a> in 1536. [1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 10)\u00a0Jakob Storger<\/a> and Klaus Scharf<\/a> besides eight women drowned in the Unstrut between M\u00fchlhausen and Ammern on 8 November 1537. [10]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 11)\u00a0 Hans Hentrock<\/a> of Amra and Ottilia Goldschmidt<\/a>, a M\u00fchlhausen girl, drowned in the Unstrut between M\u00fchlhausen and Ammern on 17 January 1538. [2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 12)\u00a0Hans K\u00f6hler<\/a> of Eyerode and Hans Scheffer<\/a> of Hastungsfelde, at Eisenach, at the end of January 1538. [2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n By my reckoning, that is 45 people killed in Lutheran Saxony for the \u201cseditious\u201d crime of being an Anabaptist, between 1527 and 1538.<\/p>\n Swan would probably retort by saying that none of these seem to have been in Wittenberg itself. But that is an irrelevancy. They were carried out under Lutheran auspices, in Saxony: Luther\u2019s home ground and the initial base of Lutheranism, with the direct assent and approval of Luther and Melanchthon. Where, specifically, the executions took place is entirely secondary to those considerations.<\/p>\n \u00a0ADDENDUM<\/b><\/p>\n Valentin Weigel, German Religious Dissenter, Speculative Theorist, and Advocate of Tolerance <\/i><\/p>\n John S. Oyer, Lutheran Reformers Against Anabaptists<\/i><\/p>\n Peter Pestel, The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia<\/i><\/p>\n Now, this may seem like my nitpicking or piling on, in a case of a simple mistake or human error. Readers may wonder why I am making such a \u201cbig deal\u201d about it. I do precisely<\/i> because Swan is always pointing out human errors in Catholic works (he\u2019s noted real or \u2014 usually \u2014 falsely alleged \u2014 ones in my writings for twelve years). If a Catholic<\/i> had made such an embarrassing error like this, we can be sure Swan would have trumpeted it from the rooftops as yet more evidence that we don\u2019t know how to properly cite a source, and that we\u2019re always trying to lie about and misrepresent Luther; that we\u2019re, well, kind of dumb, and that we know nothing about context in reading and citing sources. He\u2019s noted this many hundreds of times.<\/p>\n So here he is trying to pass himself off as an expert by naming three sources about Luther and the Anabaptists. He drew two of the three from me, in this very article, without noting that fact, and then attributes the editorship of one to one of the Anabaptist martyrs I wrote about above. It\u2019s absolutely classic Swan antics and foibles.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n