Hans Brael Severely Persecuted, in the Year 1557

In the year 1557, a few days before Ascension Day, Brother Hans Brael, while on a journey, was arrested in the Pusterthal for the faith and testimony of Jesus Christ. Nearly a league from the castle he met the judge, who did not know him, rode past him, and greeted him, Hans Brael thanking him; but the actuary rode up to him and asked him: "Where are you going, and what have you been doing here?" He answered that he had been with his brothers. The actuary asked him whether the Baptists were his brothers. "Yes," he answered. He then seized him, and the judge turned around, got down from his horse, took the brother's own belt from his body, bound him with it, and made him walk like a dog beside his horse, through mud and mire, for a whole league, until they came to the castle. He was so worn out from walking, and from being bound so tightly, that he could stand no longer, but fell down in the field, so that even the lord of the castle rebuked the judge for having bound him so tightly. There they examined him, took from him whatever they found on his body, and put him in prison. The next day he was brought out at once, and the lord of the castle examined him himself, and asked him about his faith and baptism, and what he thought of the sacrament. When he made confession of his faith and the divine truth, they abandoned it all and pressed him hard to recant. But when he told them plainly not to count on his renouncing the truth he had confessed, they brought him back to prison.

Eight days later he was brought out again, and the lord examined him with six others; but since they could accomplish nothing, they sent him back to prison. After another eight days they arraigned and examined him before the whole council, and the judge called his faith a delusion and his church a sect. Acts 24, verse 14. But Hans said: "It is neither a sect nor a delusion; but it is the church of God." The judge said: "It may be the devil's; how could it be God's church?" and he became angry about it and said again, "On what account should it be called the church of God?" But Brother Hans boldly held to it, that it was the church of God. Then the judge said: "Since he knows who has come from the lordship of Innsbruck, we also want to know where those are whom they send out into this country, what their names are, and who has fed and sheltered them; all this we want to know." But he answered them: "We are not sent out to the harm or injury of anyone; but our calling is that we should seek the salvation of men and urge them to repentance and reformation (Matthew 10, verse 5; Acts 2, verse 38); but the things asked here are not articles of faith, nor are they necessary to know; so I do not want to tell them, or to accuse anyone." The judge urged him strongly to spare himself, since his body would be tortured if he refused to name the persons, and to confess who had sheltered him. Hans asked the judge and the whole council whether he could be considered good if he took the course proposed to him, and betrayed those who had shown him such kindness by feeding and lodging him. The members of the council looked at one another, and said themselves that they would not consider it good if it were done to them. But the judge became enraged, and asked whether he meant to charge the honorable council with demanding treachery of him, and again warned him very solemnly to spare himself, or they would deal very severely with him. But since he would not confess to them, they sent him back to prison again, to see what he would decide.

After this they brought him out again and took him to the rack, where he took off his clothes himself, lay down before them, and patiently submitted to the torturing ropes, so that the eyes of the bystanders filled with tears, and they could not keep from weeping.

The executioner hung him up by the rope, but the judge earnestly urged him to spare himself and to name the persons they wanted; but he said he would betray no one, and would endure whatever God allowed them to inflict on him. Then they tied a large stone to his feet. The judge became angry when he saw that he could accomplish nothing, and said: "You swear to each other that you will not betray one another." He answered: "We do not swear, but we do not betray anyone, because it would be wrong." Then the judge said: "You are a rogue; I have caught you in a lie; why will you let yourself be tortured." The brother said: "I am no rogue, and in what lie have you caught me?" The judge said: "You said that you were no teacher, but we find that you certainly are one." He answered: "I am no teacher; but if I were one, I would not be ashamed of it; for it is an honorable thing before God." First Timothy 3, verse 1.

Then they left him hanging by the rope and went away; but the executioner stayed with him. In the meantime the officers assembled, and he was told to confess, or they would not stop racking him until they had torn his limbs apart. He answered that he would endure whatever God allowed them to inflict on him, since they could do no more than God allowed. The executioners said: "Are you not a fool, to think that God looks down to see what we are doing in this hole; for this would be ridiculous." Then the council came back and said that the lady of the castle had interceded for him, that they should torture him no longer, and so they would let it rest; and they sent him back to prison.

Then the lord rode very joyfully to Innsbruck, to the government, and when he returned he had the priests dispute with Hans and examine him for two days in a row, namely Saturday and Sunday, he himself being present. But when they could accomplish nothing by their various disputations, and their false and deceitful doctrine, which would take too long to relate, and he remained steadfast, and constantly confessed that what he stood in, and would stand in by the protection and help of God, was the truth, the lord at last became exasperated with him and said: "O you stubborn dog, I have tried every possible means and way with you, and will try them still, and will put you on a sharp pile, and see how you will trust your God in this trial." But he answered: "I shall not suffer for any wrongdoing, but only for the truth and the faith; and God will overlook no wrong." After three days they put him into a deep, dark, filthy tower, where he could see neither sun nor moon nor daylight, so that he did not know whether it was day or night; only now and then he could tell that it was night, when it was a little colder in the tower than at other times. It was also so moist and damp in the tower that his clothes rotted on his body, so that he became almost naked, and was without a single garment for a long time; he had only a coarse blanket that had been given him, which he wrapped around his body, and so he sat in misery and darkness. The shirt on his body had so rotted that he had not a shred of it left, except the collar, which he hung on the wall.

Once, when these children of Pilate had him brought out to test whether he would not fall away, the light hurt his eyes so much that he was glad when they let him down again into the dark tower. Such a foul stench also came from the filth that was in this dark hole, that no one could stay in his presence; when they brought him in, they instantly had to go away from him again; indeed, the councilors said themselves that they had never smelled such a horrible stench. So he lay in this filthy tower, in which there were also many vermin and loathsome reptiles, so that at first he protected his head for a long time with an old hat that had been thrown to him out of pity. The tower had had no occupant for a long time, so the vermin were very numerous, and they caused him much terror, until he got used to it. The vermin sometimes ate his food too, so that when they let his food down, he had to eat it all up before he set down the dish; otherwise the vermin so covered it that he could not well eat it. When he got a dish of soup and set it down even once, they ate it up in a moment. In short, he could keep neither bread nor anything else; for as soon as the vermin smelled it, they were instantly at it. However, this was his least concern, since he was so tormented with hunger, no great amount being given him, so that he could easily eat it all up, if only he was well. The vermin sometimes got into his drink too, and drowned in it, until he finally got a large stone, which he set on top of his pitcher.

His chief affliction in this great trial, however, was that he could get no news from the church or the brothers. At that time there was in the high country a certain Hans Mein, a servant of the Lord, who also had a great desire to hear some news of him. He sent word to him in the tower, that if it was still well with him, and his heart held firmly to God and to his church, he should send him a certain token; and if he had nothing else, he should send him a little bit of straw, however little it might be. But such were the misery and poverty in which he sat, that he could not even find that much in the tower. Then he thought of his rotten collar, which he had hung on the wall; he was glad of it, and took the collar and sent it from the tower to his brother, as a token that he was still unchanged in his faith in God, and at peace with the church. When the brother received the collar, and saw by it his misery and poverty, he and his church felt great compassion for him; and after weeping bitterly and sorrowfully, they sent word back to him that they were very willing to send him clothes or anything else in his great poverty, if only he could get it. But he would not have it, because if they had found it out, they would have thrown him on the rack and tortured him again, in order to get the names of others. So he sent them word that he would let the garment of patience be enough for him.

So he lay in this filthy tower all summer, until after Michaelmas, in the fall, when they saw that the frost was coming; then they took him out and put him into another prison, which likewise could not have been worse. There he had to sit with one hand and one foot in the stocks for thirty-seven weeks, unable to lie down or to sit properly, but only to stand; besides, he had to endure much abuse and mockery from the ungodly, who said

"There lies a holy man; nobody is as wise as he; there he sits as a light of the world, and as a witness of the people of God and His church," and other such taunting remarks.

Again, since he could get no comforting news from the church, God so ordered it that he was comforted by the unbelieving; for on one occasion a nobleman came to comfort him, telling him to be courageous, and not to let himself be frightened, since he well knew that he had the truth on his side, and that his faith was the true one, but that it was impossible to follow it, or to suffer what he suffered; at which the brother earnestly admonished him. Once it also happened that his soul was kindled in God, and he sent for the actuary who had arrested him, asking him to come to him in prison. The man came to him very quickly, sat down, and asked him what he wanted, that he had sent for him. The brother said: "The only reason is that I cannot keep from telling you that, as you well know, you are the chief cause of my imprisonment and miserable sufferings, though I have never in all my life done you any injury." The actuary sat there frightened and speechless, saying not a word, except that he had had to do it. The brother said: "Yes, the judgment of God drove you to it; because you were so bloodthirsty against the pious, it also fell to your lot to fulfill your judgment by it. You have brought a heavy judgment on yourself; God will certainly find you out for this, require it at your hands, and punish you for your sins." The actuary was dumbfounded and could not say a word, so frightened was he; and so he went away. About two weeks afterward he died very suddenly in the night, being both well and dead within a quarter of an hour. God had struck him with great fear, so that he cried and moaned terribly, and lamented that he had done wrong and sinned.

So it goes with those who will serve the devil and his minions. I say nothing of the fact that he was severely rebuked for this by his master and his mistress, and got the devil's thanks for it from his own people; for they said to him, so loudly that the brother heard it himself: "How did the devil so possess you, that you would not let this man go, though you might easily have done so?" and they wished that the devil had rather carried him off, since he had done this deed, for which he had to pay so dearly at last.

In the same night that he died, a great joy came over the brother, so that with prayer and thanksgiving he could not praise God enough; for on that night it came into his mind that he would yet return to the brothers and the church. In the morning a servant came to him and told him that the actuary had died very terribly and suddenly during the night. Psalm 73, verse 18. When this had happened with the actuary, the lord and his wife were seized with great terror.

About eight days afterward, the servant who took care of the tilling of the land came into the castle, and toward evening came to the brother with the keys, and asked whether he hoped to get out. He answered: "I will see what you will do with me." The servant wanted to open the stocks, but could not find the right key. The brother told him not to do it, since it might go badly for him. But when he could not find the right key, he told him that he could set him free, but it would probably not be at that time. The lady of the castle also sent a servant to the prison, who called to the brother and said: "The gracious lady would have me tell you that she will send for the judge and the jurate, and if you will say just two words, that you will let yourself be instructed, and confess that you have erred, you will be set free, and she will take upon herself the sin you commit by it, so that no guilt will fall on you." But he answered: "She has sins enough already, let her leave off from them: she needs no sins from others." First Timothy 5, verses 22 and 1. So he had to lie in prison and sorrow for another winter.

Then an order came from Innsbruck, from the council, which the lords came and read to him. It read as follows: since he was so stubborn, and would receive no instruction, he should be sent to the sea; and there he should go the next morning; there he would find out how evildoers are stripped and scourged. But he answered that he would trust in God his Lord, who is on the sea as well as on the land, to help him and give him patience. Second Corinthians 1, verse 9; Matthew 14, verse 31.

They then let him out of prison, and let him walk about in the castle for two days, so that he might learn to walk again; for he was not well able to walk, so badly had the use of his limbs been damaged by imprisonment, stocks, fetters and bonds, in which he had lain for two years, less five weeks, not having seen the sun for about a year and a half.

He was then given into the custody of one of the servants, who was to take him to the sea. So he took leave of everyone in the castle, and urged them to repentance. The lady of the castle sent word to him that he should come to her, which he did. She called him into her study, where he took leave of her, and urged her also to repentance, and begged her not to trouble the pious (who do no harm in the practice of their religion) and not to arrest any more of them, to which she agreed; and she began to weep, so that the tears ran down her cheeks, and said: "Never again in my life shall I lay hands on them." She gave him some money for the journey, and sent him away.

This servant then took him away with him. The servant was a wicked man; he called the brother a rogue at every turn, or gave him some other insulting name.

After leading him for two days, the servant filled himself so full of wine in a tavern at Niederdorf (for those present had so often drunk his health) that, instead of going to bed to sleep, he stretched himself out on the table, and falling asleep instantly like a dumb beast, he rolled off the table.

Seeing this, the brother opened the door of the room, and the door of the house too, locked them again, and went away.

So God helped him to make his escape that night, which happened in the year 1559; and so he returned in peace and with joy to the church of the Lord, his brothers. Afterward he went up into that country again several times, since the ministry of the divine Word had been committed to him.

From this it may be seen how God supports and helps His own, and how He can give those who cling to Him with a true heart much strength and patience in suffering, through their strong faith, which would otherwise be impossible. Second Timothy 4, verse 17; Philippians 4, verse 13; Matthew 17, verse 20. And it is also seen how He casts out His enemies and adversaries, and knows where to find them; for not only did the actuary die a very dreadful death, as has already been stated; but while Hans Brael still lay in prison, the lord of the castle died suddenly; and the servant who was to take Hans to the sea also died miserably, even before the brother left the country; and about two years afterward the judge died as well, and not an ordinary death, but a most miserable one. Second Maccabees 9, verse 5.