Original: The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons ( 1496 -- 1561 ) , who , through his writings , articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders .
Simplified: The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptists named after Menno Simons ( 1496 & ndash ; 1561 ) .