Strasbourg
France
(Strasbourg links)
1215
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- About 80 Waldensians, from all classes, were burned at the stake.
1349
- 14 February 1349
- City authorities rounded up 2,000 Jews and marched them to the Jewish cemetery where they were placed on a wooden scaffold. They were offered a final chance to convert, which a few did. Some women and children were spared. All the rest were burned alive. Then the cemetery and the homes of the Jews were destroyed and the stones used to repair and expand the city's churches.
- June 1349
- The Flagellants arrived in Strasbourg.
1526
- March 1526
- Wilhelm Reublin arrived, marking the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Strasbourg. He soon converted the tailor Jorg Ziegler to the cause. In the following years Ziegler's house in the Steinstrasse became a focal point of Anabaptist activity.
- August 1526
- A struggling Anabaptist congregation was formed around this time.
- November 1526
- Hans Denck arrived here after fleeing from Augsburg, Germany.
- 22-23 December 1526
- Hans Denck engaged in a public disputation with Martin Bucer, focused on Denck's publication Concerning the Law of God.
- 25 December 1526
- As a result of his debate with Bucer, Hans Denck was expelled from the city on Christmas Day. He then wandered down the Rhine, stopping at Landau, and eventually ending up in Worms, Germany.
1527
- January 1527
- Michael Sattler left the city, voluntarily.
- 27 November 1527
- Sheathmaker Thomas Saltzmann & cobbler Conrad Hess, both Anabaptist sympathizers, were brought in for a hearing concerning their antitrinitarian beliefs. Besides denying the Trinity, they accepted only the Pentateuch as divinely inspired, and considered Jesus a false prophet who was rightly put to death.
(Go to December 1527 below.)
- December 1527
- Thomas Saltzmann was beheaded shortly before Christmas for his antitrinitarian beliefs. [Williams, Radical, p.379]
1528
- June 1528
- Jacob Kautz was expelled from the city.
- September 1528
- Pilgram Marpeck acquired city citizenship by joining the gardeners' guild. He also gained employment as a city engineer, directing timbering operations in the Black Forest across the Rhine. [Williams, Radical, p.379]
- 22 October 1528
- A meeting of Anabaptists was raided by the authorities, and Wilhelm Reublin was arrested.
1529
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- Hans Bunderlin published the first of four known writings, which revealed the "spiritualist" perspective he picked up from Hans Denck.
- 20 February 1529
- The town council officially abolished the Mass.
- March 1529
- Wilhelm Reublin was "eternally exiled" from the city, threatened with drowning if he returned. He eventually made his way to Austerlitz, Moravia.
- May 1529
- Caspar Schwenckfeld arrived in Strasbourg and began interacting with the local Anabaptist groups. He stayed in the home of Capito, and formed a close friendship with the Zells. He eventually had a significant influence on the christology of Melchior Hoffmann. [Williams, Radical, p.384]
- June 1529
- Melchior Hoffmann arrived in Strasbourg, fresh from a disputation in Flensburg. He was welcomed as a champion of the symbolic view of the Eucharist. For the next 10 months he resided in the house of Katharina Seid, the wife of Andreas Klaiber.
- November 1529
- Jacob Kautz was banished from the city.
1530
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- Hans Bunderlin published his third book, entitled Explanation, by means of biblical comparisons, that water baptism and other external ordinances used in apostolic churches are restored again by some in our time without God's command or testimony of Scripture. By this time Bunderlin had rejected all "external ceremonies" including baptism and the Lord's Supper.
- 23 April 1530
- Melchior Hoffmann was baptized into Strasbourg's Anabaptist brotherhood. Hoffmann then had the audicity to ask the city council for a builidng in which the Anabaptists could meet. The council responded by ordering his arrest, so he fled to Emden, Germany.
1531
- May 1531
- Michael Servetus arrived in Strasbourg to meet with Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito. While here he also had his book, On the Errors of the Trinity published in nearby Hagenau. The book became a bestseller, but was soon banned.
1532
- 18 January 1532
- Pilgram Marpeck engaged in his third and final disputation with Bucer, after which Bucer called him the "worst sort of heretic". The next 12 years of Marpeck's life were spent as a wandering preacher.
1533
- March 1533
- Melchior Hoffmann returned to Strasbourg from Eastern Frisia. He spent the next 2 months as a guest in the home of a wealthy supporter named Valentin Dufft.
- 20 May 1533
- Melchior Hoffmann was arrested as a result of accusations by Claus Frey that Hoffmann was inciting Anabaptists to rebellion. Hoffmann submitted gladly to the arrest, certain that this event would trigger the final events in his End Times scenario. He was imprisoned at first in the Schiessrain Tower, but later moved to another prison.
1534
- April 1534
- Katharina Seid, who had provided hospitality to Melchior Hoffmann 4 years earlier, was banished as an "obstinate Anabaptist". Although forced to leave town, Katharina returned secretly many times over the next few months to visit friends.
1535
- June 1535
- David & Dirkgen Joris arrived in Strasbourg looking for a more tolerant environment than their hometown of Delft. Unfortunately, the city was already full of heretical refugees, so Joris and family returned to Delft in order to set sail for England.
1539
- April 1539
- Lienhard Jost & his second wife Agnes renounced Anabaptism, after having been arrested twice and having lost all prestige within the movement.
- November 1539
- Melchior Hoffmann, still in prison, wrote a warning to the burgomaster calling on him to lay in provisions and weapons in preparation for the imminent siege of the city.
1541
- 1 April 1541
- Jakob Wetzel, a member of the city council, visited Melchior Hoffmann in prison and gave him a book on the incarnation. This attempt at showing Hoffmann the error of his way was unsuccessful, however.
1542
- December 1542
- Wilhelm Blum the younger, Konrad von Buhl & 4 women, all Melchiorites, were able to visit Melchior Hoffmann by bribing the wife & the maid of the prison warden. By this time the door to Hoffmann's cell was not even locked, as Hoffmann refused to escape. He was still awaiting release by divine intervention. When the city council heard about his unauthorized visitors, Hoffmann's cell was locked again and the key was kept in the council chamber.
1543
- 7 November 1543
- The burgomaster reported that Melchior Hoffmann was so ill that he could not eat, and that he had been returned to his old cell in the tower.
- 19 November 1543
- The last information we have about Melchior Hoffmann, as recorded in the city council minutes, indicated that he was "so ill, he needs to be looked after". The council agreed to give him sheets and blankets since he was made to lie on the bare floor. It is assumed that Hoffmann died a few days or weeks later, although the exact date and cause are unknown. He had spent the final 10 years of his life in prison.
1546
- 26 July 1546
- Jorg Norlinger, leader of the city's remaining Melchiorites, was banished.
1555
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- Representatives of the Swiss Anabaptists & the Dutch Anabaptists met here to discuss their differences regarding christology.
1557
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- Leaders of the Swiss Anabaptists met here to discuss the use of the ban.
Strasbourg links:
HotWired/Rough Guide to Strasbourg
Lycos City Guide to Strasbourg
Strasbourg On-line
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