The Tailor-King

by Anthony Arthur

  1535 January Jan’s efforts to rouse support abroad intensify; opposition by Luther, moderate Anabaptists in Holland grows.

  March 26 Growing hunger and fear are exacerbated by defection of prominent aide to Jan, who sends public letter denouncing him; terror increases.

  April–May Thousands flee starvation and terror, are refused succor by Bishop. Two Anabaptist guards defect, reveal plans for city’s defense that aid plan for third attack.

  June 22 Night attack succeeds; most Anabaptists are killed; Jan, other leaders captured.

  1536 January 22 Jan and two other prominent rebels executed in Münster; bodies are placed in cages hung from church tower. City soon becomes powerful center of Catholic Counter-Reformation.

  NOTES

  The references are to authors listed in the “Sources” sections that follows.

  CHAPTER ONE: A NEW DAWN

  Market Square events: Kerssenbrück 483–84 (Löffler 18–22); Baring–Gould translation 253–60.

  Rothmann warning to nuns: Kerssenbrück 480 (Löffier 13–14).

  Anabaptist beliefs and origins: Williams 190–95, Cohn 274.

  Melchior Hoffman: Williams 293–94.

  The numbers of Anabaptists throughout Europe were relatively small. According to Claus Peter Clasen, there were no more than 30,000 in the vast area that includes Austria, Switzerland, and southern Germany during the long period from 1525 to 1618. Anabaptism: A Social History, 27.

  Münster description: Karasek 14–15; Church privileges: Homann 22–24.

  Rothmann background: Rammstedt 40–42; Melanchthon: Homann 34.

  Rothmann activities, challenge to von Wiede: Homann 31.

  Knipperdolling meeting and church attack: Homann 33–34.

  Knipperdolling imprisonment and torture: Homann 20. Kirchhoff thinks it unlikely that Knipperdolling was tortured because only executioners were allowed to inflict torture and Knipperdolling was not being held or charged for a capital offense. Kirchhoff interview.

  Von Waldeck as “brave and righteous knight”: Homann 34.

  Von Waldeck’s title: According to Dr. Rolf Klötzer, von Waldeck was always identified in contemporary documents as “der Konformiert,” meaning that he was elected and confirmed as a secular leader. However, Franz referred to himself as “Bischof” and so did his antagonists in Münster and all subsequent writers, so that term has been used here. Klötzer interview.

  Attacks on Catholic beliefs: Homann 36–44.

  Charles V and von Waldeck: Homann 38–39.

  Summons by Bishop: Kerssenbrück 474 (Löffler 10).

  Blockade begins: Klötzer 33; Homann 38–40.

  City council seeks help: Detlef 21, Homann 41.

  Raid: Klötzer 39; truce arranged: Krahn 135.

  Rothmann’s appeals to foreigners: Kerssenbrück 509, Cohn 280.

  Council elections: Homann 56–57.

  Public baptisms: Karasek 39–40, Gresbeck 11.

  Growing antagonism between groups; von Wyck mediates truce. Homann 58–60.

  Fabricius visit and hostile reception: Brandler 110, Klötzer 55. Klötzer cites an associate of Fabricius as writing to Philip that their primary disagreement with Rothmann was over child baptism, and that in other respects their doctrines were similar.

  Von Waldeck’s response: Kerssenbrück 478 (Löffler 12).

  Von Waldeck turns away delegation: Kerssenbrück 479 (Löffler 13).

  Convent does not fall: Kerssenbrück 483 (Löffler 14).

  CHAPTER TWO: THE GODLESS EXPELLED

  Attack on city council: Kerssenbrück 487–89 (Löffer 18–19).

  Truce and Tilbeck role: Kerssenbrück 492–96 (Löffler 20–24).

  Farmers’ departure: Rothmann letter in Stupperich, Schriften, 279.

  Celebrations and carnival parodies: Kerssenbrück 495–96, 509 (Löffler 25–26).

  Krechting brothers’ arrival: Kerssenbrück 503 (Löffler 25–26).

  Von Wyck death: Kerssenbrück 512–15 (Löffler 25–26).

  Matthias arrival: Gresbeck 6.

  New council: Kerssenbrück 519 (Löffler 42).

  Cathedral vandalism: Kerssenbrück 521–22 (Löffler 43–49).

  Demands for expulsion, first departures: Kerssenbrück 532–53 (Löffler 52).

  Matthias’s language: Baring-Gould 273, citing Kerssenbrück 532 (Löffler 52).

  Knipperdolling intervention: Kerssenbrück 532 (Löffler 52).

  Expulsion: Kerssenbrück 534–40 (Löffler 53–56).

  Old woman’s forced conversion: Kerssenbrück 540 (Löffler 56).

  Roll death: Kerssenbrück records Roll’s capture on Feb. 14. His death did not occur in fact until the following September, in Maastricht, not Utrecht. Detmer note 1, 509. The effect on the spirits of the Anabaptists was nonetheless disturbing. The false report was probably a deliberate deception by the Bishop.

  CHAPTER THREE: A MIGHTY FORTRESS

  Bishop’s commanders: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 79–81.

  Judefelder Gate: “Judefeld” was a family name, similar to that of the co-mayor Jodefeld, and does not refer to a Jewish field as it might appear. There were no Jews in Münster at this time, all of them having been expelled in the pogroms of the late-thirteenth century. Kirchoff interview.

  Bishop’s supplies: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 83–84. Kirchhoff drew this and other information regarding expenses and income from the meticulously detailed and extant accounts compiled by the Bishop’s “Pfenningmeister” Hägebock, among other sources. Kirchhoff interview.

  Bishop’s soldiers: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 79–81; Rules for behavior: Kerssenbrück 527–28 (Löffler 45–46).

  War expenses: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 84–87.

  The gold guilder (Gulden) was the currency used in the Rhine area; the Emden guilder was used in the north of Germany, along the Dutch border. The Emden guilder was worth about fifty dollars in today’s American currency, the gold guilder slightly less. A typical soldier would receive three to four guilders per month, from which he had to feed and clothe himself. Karl-Heinz Kirchhoff’s estimate above of 34,000 guilders would put the Bishop’s total monthly payroll costs at $1.7 million.

  City defenses: Kerssenbrück 545; Barret-Gurgand 83–87; Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 83. Rothmann invitation: Krahn 146.

  City preparations for war: Kerssenbrück 549–54 (Löffler 60–62).

  Songs: Brecht 43–48.

  Book-burning: Kerssenbrück 564 (Löffler 70).

  Confiscation of private property: Kerssenbrück 556–61 (Löffler 64–69).

  Rothmann on property: Cohn 289; Knipperdolling on property: Krahn 142.

  Rusher resistance: Paulus 226–30.

  Victorian phrasing: Baring-Gould 282.

  Rusher death: Kerssenbrück 559–60 (Löffler 72), Gresbeck 28–31.

  Valuables collected: Kerssenbrück 556–58 (Löffler 71), Gresbeck 32.

  CHAPTER FOUR: DEATH OF A PROPHET

  Rothmann and duty: Krahn 147–48.

  Rothmann’s invitation: Cohn 290–91.

  Nakedness: Krahn 147.

  Persecution of Anabaptists: Krahn 147–48.

  Dutch supporters intercepted, weapons found: Stayer, Anabaptists and the Sword, 262; Court judgment: Krahn 147.

  Marriage ceremony: Cornelius 38.

  Matthias’s vision and death: Gresbeck 38–40; Kerssenbrück 568 (Löffler 73). Kerssenbrück writes that the soldiers were particularly brutal with Matthias because they knew he was responsible for the humiliation of the revered Canon Dungel. The anecdote concerning the sexual organs of Matthias is from Kerssenbrück.

  Max Weber: Reinhard Bendix, Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait, 298–307.

  Jan van Leyden background: “Bekenntnis [Confession of] Jan van Leyden,” in Cornelius 398–03, Detmer, Bilder, 21–23.

  Jan’s speech and its success: Gresbeck 38, Kerssenbrück/Detmer 570–71, Baring-Gould 286–87.

  CHAPTER FIVE: THE BISHOP AND THE MAIDEN

  Insults: Gresbeck 49–50, Kerssenbr
ück 588 (Löffler 89–90).

  Messages: Kerssenbrück 586 (Löffler 86–87). The text of the message in Kerssenbrück is long enough, at about six hundred words, and sufficiently tempered in tone to suggest that the soldiers who read it must have been both patient and receptive to the arguments it contained.

  Church towers: Kerssenbrück 571–72 (Löffler 71–72).

  Jan’s naked run: Baring-Gould 288–89.

  Elders appointed: Kerssenbrück 574 (Löffler 78–79).

  Rules for Anabaptists: Kerssenbrück 577–85 (Löffler 80–86).

  Bishop’s preparations for attack: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 89.

  Letters exchanged: Barret-Gurgand 109.

  Bishop’s optimism: Kirchoff, Belagerung, 89.

  Anabaptist victory: Kirchoff, Belagerung, 89, Barret-Gurgand 110–11.

  Bast death: Kerssenbrück 589–90 (Löffler 90–91).

  Judith story: “Judith and Holofernes” in The Anchor Bible Judith: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by Carey A. Moore. Doubleday: New York, 1985, 190–221. One of the so-called “apocryphal” pre-Christian books of the Bible, Judith’s story is not recognized as part of the accepted canon for various reasons by Roman Catholics but is often included in English Protestant Bibles.

  Hille Feyken: Gresbeck 44-46; Kobalt-Groch 65–69.

  Hille’s capture and death, Ramert betrayal: Homann 116; Luther: Kobalt-Groch 81; Naivete: Reck 90. Some months later the Bishop would try to ransom one of his commanders who had fallen into Jan’s hands after a battle, Caspar Marschalk. The captain had been severely wounded, Jan reported through a messenger. He would be willing to trade him for Herman Ramert. The Bishop refused, saying that Ramert had earned his protection and that he would not give him up to the Anabaptists and certain death.

  Dürrenmatt: Es steht geschrieben 101.

  Feminist views: Kobalt-Groch 97–104; Psalmus and Simon: Kobalt-Groch 91, 97.

  CHAPTER SIX: COUNTER-REVOLUTION

  Rothmann sermon: Krahn 144.

  Anabaptist women: Williams 507.

  Paracelsus: Williams 509.

  New marriage rules: Gresbeck 62–64.

  Objections to polygamy: Williams 513. Jan’s demands: Dorp 238.

  Jan and lustful behavior: Homann, 128.

  Mollenheck and revolt: Kerssenbrück 621–21 (Löffler 108–110), Gresbeck 75–79. Gresbeck provides the basic account of this heroic effort. Most later scholars pay it surprisingly little attention; Paulus, 259–68 and 346–63, is the exception in making Mollenheck, whose first name he changes from Henry to Christian, an important sacrificial victim, and in re-creating the episode; the details of the gathering of the supporters, the method of surrender, and the nature of his death are from Paulus. A recent English novel, The Garden of Earthly Delights, shows the leader of the revolt, now merely a nameless saddler, being torn limb from limb before the eyes of the Jan figure, with the victim’s wife and son being forced to watch (370–72). In fact, although the deaths were deplorable, there is no record of Mollenheck himself being tortured.

  Schlachtscape captured with wives: Gresbeck 74.

  Gert the Smoker: Gresbeck 58–59.

  Mollenheck and Bishop: Paulus 357.

  Mollenheck defeat: Paulus 360–62.

  Baring Gould on Kerssenbrück: 299; Gresbeck story: 78; Dorp on deaths: 238.

  Supporters’ deaths: Kerssenbrück 625 (Löffler 110).

  CHAPTER SEVEN: KING JAN

  Anabaptists’ lustful behavior: Kerssenbrück 625–26 (Löffler 110–11), Baring-Gould 300–01, Gresbeck 62–73.

  Gresbeck marriage: Gresbeck 72–73.

  Protests heeded: Gresbeck 79–80.

  Marriages casually dissolved: Grieser 256.

  Moat problem: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 106.

  Building of moving wall: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 107.

  Bishop’s truce and messages: Homann 144.

  Attack: Gresbeck 80, Barret 128–29, Homann 140–45.

  Dusentschur crowns Jan king: Gresbeck 95–96, Kerssenbrück 633–35 (Löffler 126–27); Cohn’s translation of Jan’s response: 295–96.

  Jan’s court: Gresbeck 83; Reck 110.

  Clothing, money: Gresbeck 94–95.

  Entertainment: Homann 156. Jan’s entrance on judgment days: Kerssenbrück 662–63 (Löffler 138–42).

  Executions: Kerssenbrück 687–688 (Löffler 143–144); Stayer, Anabaptists and the Sword, 258.

  Knipperdolling’s outburst: Kerssenbrück 690–93 (Löffler 145–47), Gresbeck 142–50; Political motivation: Klötzer interview; Epilepsy: Encyclopedia Britannica, 8, 1957 654–55. Surprisingly, none of the sources consulted for this account consider epilepsy as a cause for Knipperdolling’s behavior. Peter Van Sittart, in his novel The Siege, represents this episode as imagined by one of the merchant’s enemies: “mighty Knipperdollink calling himself Court Fool, dancing before King and the Sacred Cows, kissing their hands, then announcing that he was the Holy Ghost” (297).

  Daymares: Jones 27.

  Ten Commandments: Cohn 299.

  CHAPTER EIGHT: THE RETURN OF HENRY GRAES

  Morning summons and gathering: Gresbeck 106–07.

  Feast, apostles sent away: Kerssenbrück 703–04 (Löffler 163–64).

  Evening meal, soldier’s death: Kerssenbrück/Detmer 702–03, Gresbeck 114, Paulus 472–73. Detmer explains that Kerssenbrück’s account is drawn from Dorp, who includes a detail about “a widow who was sitting at the table and who took such pleasure in witnessing the murder that the king laughed out loud.”

  Rumors: Paulus 484.

  Dusentschur: Homann 162; Paulus (484) names Dusentschur as the executed man.

  Warendorf and other apostles’ fates: Kerssenbrück 708–22 (Löffler 161–70).

  Graes story: Kerssenbrück 722, 724–26 (Löffler 169–70, 190–92), Gresbeck 94–95, Paulus 496–98. The details of this account concerning Graes’s discovery and the guards’ observation as well as the conversations are found only in Paulus; the story of the angel’s appearance and the other details concerning Graes’s capture are in the original documents.

  CHAPTER NINE: RESTITUTION AND REVENGE

  Biblical rescues: Peter’s rescue is told in Acts 12:6–9: “And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals … And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.” My thanks to Prof. Dr. Alasdair Heron for this reference.

  Graes and Bishop: Kerssenbrück 722 (Löffler 169–70).

  Bishop’s frustration: Kirchoff, Belagerung, 120.

  Fabricius background: Krahn 355.

  Fabricius visit, Jan’s threat: Löffler 178–80; Fabricius’s arguments and recommendations: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 119–22, Karasek 124–25.

  Blockhouses: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 113, 128.

  “Restitution” summary: Williams 378.

  “Restitution” and Philip: Kerssenbrück 770–72 (Löffler 202–04).

  Luther on Anabaptists: Baring-Gould 336–37; Martin Luther, Collected Works, Wittenburg, II, 367–75, “Concerning the Devilish Sect of Anabaptists in Münster.”

  “Revenge”: Krahn 149–51.

  Graes departure, report to Bishop: Gresbeck 115, Löffler 192–93; robe: Baring-Gould 306.

  Graes and Wesel: Kerssenbrück 726 (Löffler 194).

  Good Friday revelation: Barret-Gurgand 216.

  Graes letter: Cornelius 296.

  CHAPTER TEN: FLIGHT

  Gresbeck letter: Cornelius, Introduction, 65–66.

  Turban Bill: Cornelius 312: Bishop Franz letter to Landgraf Philip: Cornelius 296.

  Executions of women: Kerssenbrüc
k 784–90 (Löffler 207–08).

  Further executions: Busch, Graes’s wife: Kerssenbrück 820 (Löffler 231); Tall Albert, Northern: Gresbeck 171–72.

  Starvation: Gresbeck 170, 174–79; Kerssenbrück 798–99 (Löffler 221–23).

  Refugees turned back: Kerssenbrück 805 (Löffler 223–24), Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 137.

  Von Dhaun and refugees: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 138.

  Soldier’s demand for food: Gresbeck 193–94.

  Hans Nagel: Löffler 209–10.

  Gresbeck escape, capture by soldiers: Gresbeck 194–99.

  Gresbeck’s scale model, trip to moat: Gresbeck 200.

  Steding on Hans: Gresbeck 202.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: ATTACK

  War wagons: Description and Graes suggestion: Barret-Gurgand 207–10; Gresbeck 129–30.

  Bishop orders executions: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 139–40.

  Elizabeth Wandscheer death: Kerssenbrück 823 (Löffler 232–33), Paulus 575–76. Paulus’s account here is my translation.

  Bishop’s final offer: Motivation: Homann, 193; Response: Barret-Gurgand 245.

  Attack preparations: Gresbeck 212.

  Hansel’s key, Gresbeck’s manipulation of bridge: my supposition.

  Password disclosed: Gresbeck 214.

  Steding’s error, attack details: Löffler 238. Barret and Gurgand (250) suggest that Steding’s soldiers, thinking they would quickly overwhelm the Anabaptists, saw no reason to share the booty with the rest of their comrades and therefore closed the door themselves in order to prevent their entry.

  Twickel on the wall: Löffler 238.

  Booty division: Kirchhoff, Belagerung, 142.

  Krechting defense: Löffler 238–39; Raesfeld gift and common background: Kirchoff interview. Kirchhoff does not think the wagons figured prominently in Krechting’s defense because they would not have had time to get them ready.

  Soldiers’ rampage: Lilie quote: Barret-Gurgand 253; Tilbeck et al: Kerssenbrück 849 (Löffler 239–40); Sanctus: Cohn 203.

  Jan capture: Niesert 237 (Löffler 239), Reck 186–87.