Clement Hendrickss, a Sail Maker

The dreadful fury and bloodthirstiness of the papistic rulers in the city of Amsterdam continued, and on the same day they pronounced sentence of death upon a fourth person of the said Anabaptist religion, named Clement Hendrickss, a sail maker by trade.

Though he had a living, effective and holy faith, yet for lack of opportunity, or for some other reason, he too, like the martyr before him, Cornelis Janss, had not yet received baptism upon his faith, which grieved him greatly while he was in bonds; but he did not on this account throw away his hope in the grace of God, since he had not left it undone out of contempt for this holy ordinance of Christ, but for lack of opportunity, because of the pressure of persecution.

The authorities of the city named above also regarded it in this light, and sentenced him to the fire, according to the imperial decree, as though he had already been baptized upon faith, because he confessed that he desired it. This severe punishment of death he endured valiantly and steadfastly, and so he was counted by the pious with the number of the faithful martyrs of Jesus Christ, though according to the judgment of the papists he died as a heretic, as appears from the following sentence, which was publicly read to him in court, just before his death, by the rulers of darkness, in these words:

Sentence of death of Clement Hendrickss, sail maker

Whereas Clement Hendrickss, sail maker, citizen of this city, at present a prisoner here, being unmindful of his soul's salvation,* and of the obedience which he owed to our mother, the holy church, and to his imperial majesty, as his natural lord and prince, has so fallen away from the holy church that he, despising her ordinances, has for five years and longer gone neither to confession nor to the holy sacrament, and has at three different times attended the assembly of the reprobate and accursed sect of the Mennonists, the last time about a year ago; and is so hardened in the said sect that even while a prisoner he has declared that he is sorry he is not rebaptized, and has not received the breaking of bread; and has also repeatedly attended the meetings; to which reprobate sect of Mennonists named above he, the prisoner, still persistently clings, refusing to return to our mother, the holy church, even though he has repeatedly been urged and instructed to do so, by various clergymen as well as by the court of this city; so that the prisoner, according to what has been stated, has committed crime against divine and human majesty, in disturbing by his sect the common peace and welfare; therefore, my lords of the court, having heard the demand of my lord the bailiff, and seen the confession of the prisoner, and having had regard to his great stubbornness and obstinacy, and having duly considered everything, have condemned the said prisoner, and by these presents do condemn him to be executed with fire, according to the decrees of his majesty; and declare all his property confiscated for the benefit of his majesty aforesaid, without prejudice to the privilege of this city in all other matters. [n984-1] Done in court, in presence, and so on.

Of the torturing of the above mentioned Clement Hendrickss, and when this took place

The person named above was tortured, according to the previous sentence of the judges, on the fourth of March, in the year 1569, as appears from the records of the confession.

Thus extracted from the book of criminal sentences, preserved in the archives of the city of Amsterdam.

N. N.

Here follow several letters from the martyrs named above, the first from Jan Quirijnss, and the other from Clement Hendrickss.