Itinerant Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine in the 1540s and 1550s
Authors:   , Brok Theodorus Wilhelmus Catharina 
Published: October 2023

This dissertation challenges the prevailing narrative in Anabaptist history and offers a fresh perspective on the regrouping of Anabaptists in the Habsburg Netherlands and adjacent German territories during the 1540s and 1550s. It disputes the widely accepted view that Menno Simons and Dirk Philips played centralized and autocratic roles in the expansion of Anabaptism during this period, arguing instead that itinerant Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine region formed interconnected networks of Melchiorite and (pre-)Münsterite origin. These bishops were instrumental in expanding and connecting Anabaptist communities through coalition-building efforts, challenging the idea of Menno Simons and Dirk Philips as the primary leaders of Anabaptism in the 1540s and 1550s.

The research also questions two historiographical traditions within Anabaptist/Mennonite studies. Firstly, it challenges the confessional history of Dutch Anabaptists (Mennonites) that emerged in the seventeenth century and became assimilated within the Protestant Dutch United Provinces Republic. Secondly, it questions the national perspective of nineteenth-century historiography, which often relied on an ‘invention of locality’ and confessional biases, leading to an incomplete understanding of the historical processes shaped by regional boundaries.
The dissertation comprises four articles that collectively challenge the prevailing ‘small Netherlandish and ‘Menno-centric’ master narrative. The first chapter introduces a historiographical approach, while subsequent chapters focus on case studies of specific regional Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine.

Chapter two explores the life and contributions of itinerant Anabaptist bishop Adam Pastor, who has been largely overlooked in Mennonite historiography since the sixteenth century. It reveals Pastor’s gradual theological shift toward ‘spiritualism’ and his schism with Menno Simons and Dirk Philips over theological differences, leading to a division between Anabaptists from the Northern Netherlands and the Lower Rhine.

Chapter three centers on Gillis van Aken, an itinerant Anabaptist bishop in the Habsburg Netherlands and the Lower Rhine region. Gillis played a crucial role in connecting various Anabaptist centers and communities. The chapter highlights the influence of political tensions and Habsburg central government pressure on the arrest of Anabaptists in Amsterdam and reveals a network largely unfamiliar with Menno Simons and Dirk Philips.

Chapter four investigates Theunis van Hastenrath’s significance in Anabaptist history. Van Hastenrath’s travels and connections within the Lower Rhine region are explored through judicial records, challenging previous assumptions about the role of Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine in relation to Menno Simons. After his martyrdom, his successor, Lemke Cremers, played a leading role in the separation between ‘Mennonites/Doopsgezinden’ and ‘The high German Anabaptists’.

The research collectively demonstrates that various groups of people sought support and solidarity through shared religious structures along the Lower Rhine, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, facilitated by itinerant Anabaptist bishops. Their efforts to achieve cohesion and cooperation are presented as a coalition movement, although it ultimately did not succeed. The prevailing narratives emphasizing Menno’s influence in ‘making other bishops’ have shaped an image of Menno Simons as a central figure, which does not align with the role and contributions of Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine during the 1540s and 1550s. These bishops belonged to a Melchiorite tradition prevalent in the Netherlands and Northern Germany, rather than holding positions in a centralized Mennocentric religious leadership. Consequently, the Anabaptist bishops from the Lower Rhine served as both contributors and dissidents within the diverse post-Münsterite ‘Mennonite tradition’ in the Netherlands and northern Germany.