A Smith at Komen, in the Year 1551

In or about the year 1551, a smith was arrested for the divine truth at Komen, in Flanders. He freely confessed his faith, and since he would not depart from it, he was sentenced to death in two ways, namely, if he recanted, he was to be executed with the sword; otherwise he was to be burned alive. For this purpose, preparations were made for both; but when the authorities saw the crowd, and feared trouble, they kept the brother in prison. So some climbed to the top of the prison and broke through the roof, to see what was being done with the condemned man. At last, one knocked at the door of the prison, wanting to know whether the brother was alive or dead. When he had been let in, he came back at once with blood on his hand, which he showed to the people, saying: "He is dead! He is dead!" The dead man was then brought out on a ladder, his head lying between his legs, and the ladder placed on the wall of the churchyard, where the priest made a long speech (a sermon, probably), saying among other things that he had renounced his heretical belief and had again accepted the Roman church and her saving faith; and "holding now a good resolution," he said, "he was executed at once, so that he would not fall back into his old error." But it was firmly believed that the priest slandered the dead man, and this all the more, since after relating the sentence he said that the man stubbornly held to his previous confession. So God compels the wicked, in the telling of their lies, to reveal the truth of the matter themselves, without knowing it.