The story of the Protestant Reformation is a complicated and often confusing series of historical events to approach. With the geopolitical and social movements of the time, getting a clear timeline is a difficult task. Along with this, many of the big themes are difficult to comprehend as they deal with medieval metaphysics.

For much of Reformation history, this is the hard truth though, in my opinion, we do get to see a plethora of fascinating groups. One of the most intriguing groups to emerge from the Reformation period were the Anabaptists.

Why are They Special? Without getting into the specifics of the doctrine, Anabaptists were known for two important things: Radical political views and baptism… hence the name.

The term Anabaptist itself has the Greek prefix “ana” meaning “again,” so their name literally meant “re-baptizer.” One of their core beliefs focused on adult baptism, and they claimed that the traditional practice of infant baptism had no use.

Actually, the name Anabaptist was a derogatory nickname given to the group, though it eventually stuck.

The second core Anabaptist belief came in the form of the “Two-Sword Theory”. This theory traditionally stated that the Spiritual Sword, given to the Pope, and the Temporal Sword, given to kings, were the two important seats of power in the world.

Anabaptist leaders such as Hans Hut and Balthazar Hubmaier (awesome name, I know) were quick to hop on the bandwagon to reunite these two swords, effectively turning church and state into one.

These early Anabaptist leaders expanded this sword-unifying theory to its extreme, especially Hut. He took an… apocalyptic approach, and began to claim that we humans could only hope to hold the spiritual sword, while the temporal sword would only return to the earth in the hand of Jesus Christ based on The Book of Revelation.

All of this is a complicated way of saying that the only true Christians were the Anabaptists and, if you wanted to be saved in the upcoming apocalypse, you better get re-baptized and join. Hut was so sure of this that he actually calculated the date of Revelation. He claimed it would happen on May 31, 1528.

Communism? Doomsday prophecy aside, Hut also had some other big ideas that were radical for the time. He believed that as spiritual sword holders, it was the Anabaptist’s job to create the ideal society for Christ to come back and rule.

This society was to be one of “communal aid.” One where all assets, food, money, and more, were to be divided among everyone to create an ideal Christian community. While this was completely revolutionary for the time, it also sounds strikingly similar to another communal theory that would be introduced not 400 years later.

The “Incident” Things stayed relatively silent for a few years. Hut’s doomsday date came and went, and the Anabaptists had general radio silence for about three years. This was until a duo arrived on scene in the city of Münster.

Bernard Rothmann, a local mover and shaker, and Melchior Hoffman, a classic “the end is nigh” preacher, began to spread Anabaptism around in Münster, and it spread… fast. As Anabaptism spread, two more players joined, Jan Beukels and Jan Matthys. The Jan’s only sped up this spreading doctrine, and by 1534 Rothmann was re-baptized.

Now, this in itself is impressive, but within 8 days of Rothmann’s re-baptism 1,400 more Münster citizens were baptized.

Rightfully so, the leaders of Münster began to express their concerns about the rapidly growing Anabaptist force, but it was okay because Rothmann and co. held a new election where he and his subordinates were elected as Münster’s new leaders.

To top that off, as his first new act as ruler, Rothmann ordered all of the previous rulers of Münster publicly executed, if they didn’t immediately convert or leave.

Growing Problems Naturally, the public murder of their leaders was off putting to some, so many fled to both Catholic and Reformation states. This news was so shocking to the rest of northern Europe, that both Reformation and Catholic armies showed up at the walls of Münster.

Meanwhile, events inside of Münster were going just swimmingly. Seven deacons were appointed and all inhabitants of the city were forced to hand over their belongings. So, the Anabaptist commune was established. The “true Christian community” was finally equal. Though, not all conformed to this new doctrine, so Rothmann had them publicly executed if they didn’t leave.

With the two armies stationed outside the wall, the new Münster government decided to close off all the gates… cutting off the food supply. Not only this, but Jan Beukels (a.k.a. John of Leiden) was named the new king declaring himself the “voice of the Lord”, and under him were twelve elders/disciples… I can not make this up.

Quickly after becoming King, Beukels enacted Civic Ordnung (civic order), and this introduced new, stricter, laws. Many of which took more away from the common person while also making polygamy a requirement for all men. The idea was that this was the only way to rapidly grow the Anabaptist community.

A Bloody Conclusion June 25, 1535, both Reformed and Catholic forces stormed the city and slaughtered all who opposed.

It is important to note that everything from Rothmann’s re-baptism to the fall of Münster happened in the span of a year.

Many of Münster’s leaders were captured and on January 22, 1536 they were publicly tortured and executed. After this, their bodies were thrown into cages and hung from the top of St. Lambert’s church for 50 full years.

It was a clear message to any who might have wanted to repeat the Münster experiment.

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