Twelve Persons, Men and Women, in the Year 1538

(Copied from certain very old testimonies)

In the year 1538, in August, ten or seventeen men and women were arrested in the town, who were said to have been rebaptized, all of them humble (or poor) people, and so on, except a goldsmith who was among their number, whose name was Paul Vandruynen, and who was said to be their teacher.* [n641-1]

This Paul, together with three other men, was strangled alive and burned upon a scaffold at Vucht, on the ninth of September.

The other three were named: Michael Stevens of Oosterhont, a potter; John Block of Ghent, a tapemaker; and Adrian of Gravenhage, also a tapemaker.

A rope was tied into the mouth of each one, so that they could not speak or cry aloud.

Two Minorites and two Dominicans were also present, who wanted to say much to them, and show them a crucifix; but they would not look at it, saying that they had God in their hearts and would therefore worship neither wood nor stone; they also prayed for those who put them to death, and said that the servant was not better than his master, and that they were willing to die in His name, but they would not listen to the monks.

The trial was conducted by a commissary from the court, named Sir Adrian van de Grave, a licentiate in both laws. He had with him a man of the aforesaid sect, whose misdeed had been remitted to him (probably an apostate), who pointed out their residences.

Seven judges were added to this commissary, who together sentenced them; namely: Sir Goosen van der Stege, Gisbert Heyn, and Matthew Stooters, in the ring.

The four other judges were: Hendrick Pelgrim, alias Ketelaer; Sir Hendrick Luysterisan van der Stege, Heyligengoestmeister; and Govert Symons, jailer.

On the eleventh of September, at the aforesaid place, three women and one man were strangled, who were said to be rebaptized; one of them was the wife of Paul, the teacher. Here too monks were present, to induce them to renounce.

Paul's wife said: "O Lord, enlighten the eyes of those who inflict this suffering upon us, that they may see what they are doing. I thank You, O God, that You count me worthy to suffer for Your name's sake."

The Dominican said to another woman: "Will you not adhere to the holy church?"

She said: "I adhere to God; is this not holy church enough for me?"

The Dominican then said to the man, John van Capelle: "Ask God to forgive you for having set a bad example to us."

He answered: "I did not go astray, but dealt with the Word of God, and I am sorry that I was so long in darkness. I beg you, citizens, read the Gospel and live according to it; give up your drunkenness, your dishonesty, your cursing and your crossing yourselves," and so on.

The third woman said: "O God Almighty, do not lay upon me more than I can bear," and so on. So they died gladly.

The aforesaid Paul and his wife had an infant of nine months, who was still unbaptized; they took the child from its mother in prison and baptized it. Lord Philip van Doorn, dean of Saint John; Postulia, wife of Sir John van der Stegen; and Anna, wife of Sir Goosen van der Stegen, acted as sponsors to this child.

All of them were then put to death, and on the fourteenth of September, at six o'clock in the morning, a young man of the sect named above was beheaded as well.

So far the old document sent to us from Friesland. Compared with the account in the History van den Opgang van's Hertogenbosch, by Borre van Uytrecht, concerning the persons who were brought there as prisoners.

NOTE. It appears that the whole account above was written by someone who had not yet come to the faith, since he calls the true faith of these persons who were put to death a sect; and he seems to have been an eyewitness of their death. So we can assume this with the greater confidence, since it is certain that the opponent of a belief will not embellish it, but will much rather speak against it.