Anabaptist Women Unchained
The Radical Reformation dates back to 1525 — 500 years ago. So Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, and other assorted groups who trace their theology back to the Anabaptists are throwing a party this year. It will be a subdued one, of course, since thousands of the first Anabaptists were martyred, and we are not known as dancers and imbibers.
The three Swiss men below are the most famous early Anabaptists because they baptized each other, defying both church and state. The first martyr was the one on the right, Felix Manz, drowned in the Limmat River in 1527.
Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock. and Felix Manz. Paintings by Oliver Wendell Schenk.
But they are not the only Anabaptists of note!
Stuart and I are on a 20-day European tour sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University and Tourmagination. Leading the tour are two historians: Kimberly Schmidt and Mary Sprunger. In a few days we will be meeting with other Anabaptists at the Grossmunster in Zurich, the city where the first adult baptisms of the 16th century took place.
Our tour includes much of the well-known history of this group of dissenting Christians, but, for me, at least, much of what we are learning is new. The focus is on women and peasants. The stories of their sufferings (at least a third of the martyrs were women) always evokes the questions: “What are you willing to die for?” “Would you deny your faith in order to live?” “What compromises might you make so that your faith would not perish?” “Would you persist in your faith if your family did not approve? That last question was especially pertinent to some Anabaptist women, whose stories, until now, have largely been unheard.
Our tour included a stop at the Anabaptist Museum in Austria. This museum is located inside a single house transferred in 2007 to the outdoor museum Niedersolz, a type of living history museum. The most arresting artifact is a huge chain that is fastened at one end inside the kitchen of the house and at the other end in a scary looking ankle bracelet. It’s long enough that someone wearing it could garden, move about the house, cook, clean, and care for children, but not go out in the street.
When I lifted this heavy object, I wondered, “Why chain a woman to her own house? Was it to keep her from preaching in the street? Was it put there by the state or by the church?”
Turns out none of these explanations are complete. The one offered at the museum is that the chain was installed in the house by a husband who was a member of the state church and was upset that his wife had insisted on being baptized and/or attending secret services of Anabaptists. Evidently some women not only defied their own husbands but also the superior church and/or state powers he had on his side. When married women with children became Anabaptist, the usual punishments of death or exile contained complications. What would happen to the children?
The Martyrs Mirror (illustration above) contains stories of women who left children behind, but death was not the only solution to the question of what to do with a heretical woman. The state did not want to take care of orphans or have the expense of feeding the prisoner if a simple chain would guarantee that she ate her own food at home, took care of the children, and did not further proselytize in the village — a cheap solution to a potentially expensive problem. It’s a little like the electronic monitors some prisoners wear today –but much more painful and restrictive!
Margaret Hellwart was chained. Katharina Zipfel died in this condition. Elizabeth Reich, was not properly connected to the chain. Barbara Mueller was “let loose.” These names are written on the walls of the Kleinhäuslerhaus (small house) museum, a building much like the ones of farmers in the wine region of Austria of the 16th century.
The longer historians dig, the more diverse, complex, and honest Anabaptist history becomes. Hence, the study of women Anabaptists. Canadian historian Linda A. Huebert Hecht has contributed much to this relatively new field.
I am holding the very heavy chain that was actually used to tie an Anabaptist woman to her house in the 1500s.
Some Anabaptist women came from the upper classes. Noble woman Helena von Freyberg lived small family castle in Kitzbühel, Austria. She outwitted authorities for decades and with her resources harbored and financially supported Anabaptists who challenged church-state oppression. We visited her castle, now operating as a hotel.
Helena’s room in the family castle.
For me, the greatest testimony to the power of Anabaptist faith so far on this trip has come from a contemporary, not an historical, woman. Regula Fankhauser-Jungi, a farmer, leads tours of the Täufer Versteck that used to shelter Anabaptists in the 16th century. She told us that as a young woman new to farming she knew nothing about Anabaptists. Then when she learned that they chose to die rather than renounce their beliefs (in adult baptism, no swearing of oaths, no use of the sword, etc.), she thought they were crazy. Nevertheless, since she was living on the farm where Anabaptists were hidden, she kept studying.
After several great tragedies in her own life, Regula had a mystical experience in the midst of grief. She heard her name being called. And she responded the way the Anabaptists of old did. She said “yes!” Now she too has lost her fear of death.
Regula Fankhauser-Jungii testifying to how she has changed.
For Regula, the more she learned about an old faith tradition, the more alive it became.
There are no chains strong enough to hold back the force of ideas whose time has come.
And no idea rooted in Truth and Love will ever die.
So much more info than when I took an Anabaptist Seminar at GC in 1971. Thank you!
Elaine, it’s great when a field expands to include not just the “great men” but the many around them who make a movement possible. That is happening today to all kinds of historical subjects, including Anabaptism.
Thanks for posting your perspective and experience of the tour
Michael, you are very welcome. I imagine you would find our tour fascinating.
This was all wonderful to learn. Thank you!
You are most welcome, Maren. We women of faith have to learn from each other — past, present, and future.
Thank you for this fascinating glimpse into what some women had to endure for their faith! I was pleased that you mentioned LH Hecht who has done considerable research in this area and is a good friend. We met while I was working on my PhD and she was doing research for her work on Anabaptist women. We spent time together on a committee working on getting the MB conference to accept women pastors. It took a long time!
Elfrieda, we will have a lot to talk about when we finally meet in person. So glad to know that you are friends with LH Hecht. I will want to hear more about that in Winnipeg!
What I don’t know about the suffering of Anabaptist Women is . . . A LOT!
Thank you for all the information here. I’m still trying to wrap my head around a woman in hefty chains taking care of house, garden, and children.
The lingering question, “Would I choose to die rather than renounce my beliefs?”
Thanks for sharing all this, Shirley. 😀
Marian, you would enjoy this tour also. You would especially warm to the testimony of the “new Anabaptist” woman. I am learning more about the strategies of the women and men as they responded to the power of the state churches around them. Some of them recanted, but then re-recanted and kept on their radical path. Others gave up and rejoined the state church or at least stopped their public opposition. The questions history ask us, if we allow it, are always personal!
Shirley — I learned so much in this post. Thank you!
You are very welcome, Laurie. Some of these women were as feisty as you are. 🙂
Shirley
Thank you for posting this. I learned a lot. Had dinner with Nick and Kate and Lydia as well as Neal and Ila Saturday night . I envy you that Lydia, what a sweetheart. Ed’s funeral was moving, we will miss him so much. Enjoy your trip and please don’t bring any chains home with you,
Norah, ha! I have no plans to return home with chains. But, of course, I thought of lots of songs and slogans– “Unchain My Heart,” “Take These Chains from my heart and set me free.” “Workers of the world unite. All you have to lose are your chains.”
Sorry to have missed Ed’s funeral. He was one of a kind. Glad you could be there and enjoy our precious family.
…oh my, I just learned from this that your Nick and I are second cousins. 🙂
Significant script. Thanks Shirley. I will alert Hans Leaman as he is a current tour guide with his parents and 52 guests. Indeed this chain idea for women is brand new for me. Other news – I personally do know Regula, visited her home, and connect with her from time to time. Glad you got to visit at her country homestead.
Thank you, Joanne, for your passionate devotion to all things historical, Anabaptist, and Mennonite. I am so glad that you know Regula. She was a very powerful presenter. I would have enjoyed a longer visit.
I love your photos and the updates from your tour and events with the Anabaptist world! I so wish it would have been possible for me to go–I have to satisfy myself that I was able to go to the Mennonite World Conference meeting held ten years ago now (?) in Pa. My parents sold a couple of hogs to be able to go to MWC in Amsterdam a few decades ago and we were always so Mennonite proud that they made that trip, and then continued on a circuit around the world for 5 weeks.
Do enjoy and glad to hear stories and photos from this 500 year anniversary.
Melodie, one very motivating reason to write something like this is knowing that others like you would love to be here. (I was unable to go to the Harrisburg conference. I remember the story about your adventurous parents, so Mennonite proud. 🙂 I will try to post more here and on FB.