1568?

Margaret Hellwart was born around this time, in this village east of Stuttgart.

1608

Margaret Hellwart, an Anabaptist, was informed by the Lutheran authorities that she was required to attend the village Lutheran church and sever her Anabaptist connections. She stubbornly refused to do so.

1609

Margaret Hellwart persisted in her Anabaptist ways and declined to attend the local Lutheran church. So the Lutheran authorities decided to punish her by having her chained by the ankle to the floor of her house. Thus she was able to look after her family but unable to visit her Anabaptist friends. Margaret was a resourceful women, however, and became expert at escaping from her chains. Over the next decade the authorities felt it necessary to chain her a couple dozen times. Margaret disappeared from the historical record in early 1621.