https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9bAVtrqNSs&t=318s
The Micro & Macro Cosmos of Pieter Bruegel the Elder
***
Conversation with Gemini
Die anabaptist exept cross as rerligios symbol?
Yes, Anabaptists accept the cross as a central element of their faith, though their relationship to it as a physical icon or symbol differs between theology and practice.
reknew.org
1. Theological Acceptance (Central to Faith)
reknew.org
Thematic Core: In Anabaptist theology (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites), the cross of Jesus Christ is fundamental to salvation, peace, and non-violence.
Living the Cross: Anabaptists place heavy emphasis on "taking up one's cross" through daily discipleship, humble living, self-sacrifice, and non-resistance.
reknew.org
2. Physical Symbolism and Display (Historical Caution)
While the theology of the cross is central, historically Anabaptists were hesitant to use physical images or icons of the cross:
Avoidance of Outer Show: Early Anabaptists favored inward, lived faith over outward religious adornment, avoiding jewelry, crucifixes, or elaborate church decorations.
Rejection of Sacramental/State Symbolism: During the 16th-century Radical Reformation, physical crosses were strongly associated with Roman Catholicism and established state churches, which persecuted Anabaptists.
Focus on Simplicity: Plain meetinghouses were traditionally preferred over ornate buildings with prominent crosses.
3. Modern Practice
Conservative Groups (Amish, Old Order Mennonites): Continue to avoid wearing cross jewelry or placing crosses in meetinghouses to maintain plainness and avoid idolatry.
Moderate and Progressive Anabaptists: Many modern Mennonite churches display a simple wooden cross in their sanctuaries or wear cross jewelry as a standard Christian expression.
Die anabaptist removed crosses from the catholic churches during the uprising?
Yes, radical Anabaptists systematically removed and destroyed crosses, crucifixes, altars, and statues from Catholic churches during religious uprisings in the 16th century—most notably during the M;nster Rebellion (1534–1535).
The M;nster Rebellion & Iconoclasm
When radical Anabaptists under Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden seized control of M;nster in 1534 and declared it the "New Jerusalem," they launched a aggressive campaign of iconoclasm (Bildersturm):
www.deutschlandmuseum.de
Purging of "Idols": They viewed crucifixes, religious images, relics, and saints' statues as idolatrous remnants of Catholicism that violated the second commandment.
www.deutschlandmuseum.de
Clearing the Churches: Anabaptist mobs entered Saint Lambert’s Church, the M;nster Cathedral, and other sanctuaries to smash stone altars, tear down crucifixes, deface religious imagery, and burn theological books (sparing only the Bible).
www.amusingplanet.com
Desecration: Crosses and sacred artwork were broken up, thrown into the streets, or used as raw construction material to build fortifications against the besieging forces of the Prince-Bishop.
Mainstream Anabaptism vs. The Uprising
It is important to distinguish the radical group at M;nster from the broader, peaceful Anabaptist movement (such as the Swiss Brethren, early Mennonites, and Hutterites):
Group Approach to Catholic Symbols
Radical M;nsterites (1534–1535) Used physical force, violent iconoclasm, and state power to forcibly strip and purge Catholic churches.
Peaceful Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish) Rejected violence. They quietly abandoned Catholic churches and outward ornamentation without resorting to violent destruction or uprisings.
Further Exploration
For a detailed breakdown of the M;nster Rebellion and how radical Anabaptist leaders reshaped the city's religious landscape, this video offers a strong historical overview:
The Insane Story of the Anabaptist Kingdom of M;nster
This video provides a deep dive into the 1534–1535 M;nster uprising, explaining how radical leaders took control of the city and initiated sweeping iconoclastic campaigns against traditional Catholic iconography.
The Insane Story of the Anabaptist Kingdom of M;nster - YouTube
Ryan M Reeves · 23K views
Was Peter Bruegel an secret anabaptist or sympathizer?
There is no conclusive historical evidence that Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a secret Anabaptist or an active sympathizer. However, the connection between Bruegel and Anabaptism—alongside other dissenting religious groups of the 16th-century Low Countries—remains one of the most debated topics in art history.
While Bruegel lived in an era of intense religious strife, art historians generally view him not as a sectarian partisan, but as a humanist observer, Christian moralist, and subtle social critic.
1. The Anabaptist Connection: The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist (1566)
The strongest argument linking Bruegel to Anabaptist sympathies stems from his 1566 painting, The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist.
Hedge Sermons (Hagenpreken): In 1566, thousands of religious dissidents gathered in secretive, outdoor woodland meetings throughout the Netherlands to hear Protestant and Anabaptist preachers. Bruegel depicts Saint John preaching in a dense forest to a sprawling, diverse crowd.
artsandculture.google.com
+ 1
Adult Baptism: John the Baptist was a core figure for Anabaptists (who rejected infant baptism in favor of adult believer's baptism).
The Multitude: Rather than focusing purely on the divine, Bruegel paints a motley, crowded gathering—peasants, burghers, soldiers, and foreign onlookers—capturing the exact chaotic energy of contemporary illegal religious assemblies.
www.wga.hu
Art historians note that numerous copies of this specific painting were made and circulated, suggesting it was deeply popular among religious dissenters, including Anabaptists, who saw their own clandestine gatherings mirrored in biblical history.
2. Broader Context: Erasmian Humanism over Sectarianism
Rather than belonging to a radical sect like the Anabaptists, most modern scholars (such as Larry Silver and Ethan Matt Kavaler) place Bruegel in the tradition of Erasmian Christian Humanism or Spiritualism:
Erasmian Tolerance: Influenced by Desiderius Erasmus, many Netherlandish intellectuals sought an inward, personal faith that rejected both Catholic corruption/Inquisition violence and Protestant fanatical iconoclasm.
Patrons: Bruegel’s primary patrons were wealthy Catholic merchants, humanists, and Habsburg officials (such as Niclaes Jonghelinck and Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle). A public or overt connection to Anabaptists—who were fiercely prosecuted as heretics by the state—would have meant immediate execution or exile.
www.metmuseum.org
3. Ambiguity as Survival (Hinter dem Vorhang der Ironie)
Bruegel operated under the iron fist of Spanish Catholic rule and the Duke of Alba's Council of Troubles. Direct political or religious statements were fatal.
www.artinsociety.com
Veiled Irony: Bruegel mastered visual paradox, allegory, and irony. In works like The Procession to Calvary (1564) or The Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1565–1567), biblical atrocities are transposed into contemporary Flemish villages occupied by Spanish red-coats.
Universal Human Folly: Instead of endorsing a single dogma (whether Catholic, Calvinist, or Anabaptist), Bruegel consistently highlights human fallibility, blindness, and the tragic absurdity of religious violence.
artsandculture.google.com
Summary
Category Historical Consensus
Formal Anabaptist Membership? No. Unlikely given his patron network and civic standing in Antwerp and Brussels.
Sympathy for Dissidents? Yes, selectively. He clearly sympathized with the persecuted local populace and captured the spirit of illegal open-air preaching.
Overall Worldview Christian Humanist. He used moral irony, paradox, and subtle imagery to criticize tyranny, religious fanatical excess, and human ignorance from an independent vantage point.
***
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Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista,[1] from the Greek ;;;;;;;;;;;;: ;;; 're-' and ;;;;;;;;; 'baptism';[1] German: T;ufer, earlier also Wiedert;ufer)[a] is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation in the 16th century. Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. This stance, commonly referred to as believer's baptism, is opposed to the baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized.
The early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in a confession of faith in 1527 called the Schleitheim Confession. Its author Michael Sattler was arrested and executed shortly afterward. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.[2][3]
Other Christian groups with different roots also practice believer's baptism, such as the Baptists, but these groups are not Anabaptist. The Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement. The Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Bruderhof and the Apostolic Christian Church are Anabaptist denominations that developed after the Radical Reformation, following their example.[4][5][6] Though all Anabaptists share the same core theological beliefs, there are differences in the way of life among them; Old Order Anabaptist groups include the Old Order Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, Old Order River Brethren and the Old Order German Baptist Brethren.[4] In between the assimilated mainline denominations (such as Mennonite Church USA and the Church of the Brethren) and Old Order groups are Conservative Anabaptist groups. Conservative Anabaptists, such as the Dunkard Brethren Church, Conservative Mennonites and Beachy Amish, have retained traditional religious practices and theology, while allowing for judicious use of modern conveniences and advanced technology.[7][8]
Emphasizing an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity, Anabaptists in general are distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include nonconformity to the world: "the love feast with feet washing, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and the holy kiss, as well as turning the other cheek, no oaths, going the second mile, giving a cup of cold water, reconciliation, repeated forgiveness, humility, non-violence, and sharing possessions."[9][10][11][12][13]
The name Anabaptist originated as an exonym meaning "one who baptizes again", referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, when they had already been baptized as infants. Many called themselves "Radical Reformers".[14] Anabaptists require that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen. They understand the New Testament order is to repent and then be baptized, and infants are unable to repent and turn away from sin to a life of following Jesus; thus infant baptism is invalid. The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism:
I have never taught Anabaptism. ...But the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ.
—;Hubmaier, Balthasar (1526), Short apology.[15]
Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by state churches, both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics, beginning in the 16th century and continuing thereafter, largely because of their interpretation of scripture which put them at odds with official state church interpretations and local government control. Anabaptism was never established by any state and therefore never enjoyed any associated privileges. Most Anabaptists adhere to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, which teaches against hate, killing, violence, taking oaths, participating in use of force or any military actions, and against participation in civil government. Anabaptists view themselves as primarily citizens of the kingdom of God, not of earthly nations. As committed followers of Jesus, they seek to pattern their life after his.[16]
Some former groups who practiced rebaptism, now extinct, believed otherwise and complied with these requirements of civil society.[b] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and many historians consider them outside Anabaptism. Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas M;ntzer in 1524: "True Christian believers are sheep among wolves, sheep for the slaughter ... Neither do they use worldly sword or war, since all killing has ceased with them."[17]
Lineage
Major denominational families in Christianity:
This box: viewtalkeditWestern ChristianityEastern Church)Catholic Church(Eastern Catholic Churches)Eastern Orthodox ChurchOriental Orthodox ChurchesChurch of the EastSchism (1552)Assyrian Church of the EastAncient Church of the EastProtestant Reformation(16th century)Great Schism (1054)Nestorian Schism (431)Chalcedonian Schism (451)Early ChristianityGreat Church(Full communion)
(Not shown are ante-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and restorationist denominations.)
Medieval forerunners
Main article: Proto-Protestantism
Anabaptists are considered to have begun with the Radical Reformation in the 16th century, but historians classify certain people and groups as their forerunners because of a similar approach to the interpretation and application of the Bible. For instance, Petr Chel;ick;, a 15th-century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology.[18] Medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists,[19][20] and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the Anabaptists.[21]
Medieval dissenters and Anabaptists who held to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount share in common the following affirmations:
The believer must not swear oaths or refer disputes between believers to law-courts for resolution, in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6:1–11.
The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, nor wield the sword. No Christian has the jus gladii (the right of the sword). Matthew 5:39
Civil government (i.e. "Caesar") belongs to the world. The believer belongs to God's kingdom so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed. John 18:36 Romans 13:1–7
Sinners or unfaithful ones are to be excommunicated and excluded from the sacraments and from some level of interaction with believers until they repent, according to 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 and Matthew 18:15 seq., but no force is to be used towards them.
Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants' War
Main article: Zwickau prophets
Twelve Articles of the Peasants pamphlet of 1525
On December 27, 1521, three "prophets" from Zwickau appeared in Wittenberg who were influenced by (and, in turn, influencing) Thomas M;ntzer – Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch, and Mark Thomas St;bner. They preached an apocalyptic, radical alternative to Lutheranism. Their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants' War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression.
Under the leadership of M;ntzer, it became a war against all constituted authorities and an attempt to establish by revolution an ideal Christian commonwealth, with absolute equality among persons and the community of goods. The Zwickau prophets were not Anabaptists (that is, they did not practise "rebaptism"); nevertheless, the prevalent social inequities and the preaching of men such as these have been seen as laying the foundation for the Anabaptist movement. The social ideals of the Anabaptist movement coincided closely with those of leaders in the German Peasants' War. Studies have found a very low percentage of subsequent sectarians to have taken part in the peasant uprising.[22]
Views on origins
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Research on the origins of the Anabaptists has been tainted both by the attempts of their enemies to slander them and by the attempts of their supporters to vindicate them. It was long popular to classify all Anabaptists as Munsterites and radicals associated with the Zwickau prophets, Jan Matthys, John of Leiden, and M;ntzer. Those desiring to correct this error tended to over-correct and deny all connections between the larger Anabaptist movement and the most radical elements.
The modern era of Anabaptist historiography arose with Roman Catholic scholar Carl Adolf Cornelius' publication of Die Geschichte des M;nsterischen Aufruhrs (The History of the M;nster Uprising) in 1855. Baptist historian Albert Henry Newman, who Harold S. Bender said occupied "first position in the field of American Anabaptist historiography", made a major contribution with his A History of Anti-Pedobaptism (1897).
Three main theories on origins of the Anabaptists are the following:
The movement began in a single expression in Z;rich and spread from there (monogenesis);
It developed through several independent movements (polygenesis); and
It was a continuation of true New Testament Christianity (apostolic succession or church perpetuity).
Monogenesis
Some scholars (e.g. Harold S. Bender, William Estep, Robert Friedmann)[23][24] consider the Anabaptist movement to have developed from the Swiss Brethren movement. They generally argue that Anabaptism had its origins in Z;rich and that the Anabaptism of the Swiss Brethren was transmitted to southern Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and northern Germany, where it developed into its various branches. The monogenesis theory usually rejects the M;nsterites and other radicals from the category of true Anabaptists.[25] In the monogenesis view the time of origin is January 21, 1525, when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn baptized several others immediately. These baptisms were the first "re-baptisms" known in the movement.[26] This continues to be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism.
Polygenesis
James M. Stayer, Werner O. Packull [de], and Klaus Deppermann disputed the idea of a single origin of Anabaptists in a 1975 essay entitled "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis", suggesting that February 24, 1527, at Schleitheim is the proper date of the origin of Anabaptism. On this date the Swiss Brethren wrote a declaration of belief called the Schleitheim Confession.[27][page needed] The authors of the essay note the agreement among previous Anabaptist historians on polygenesis, even when disputing the date for a single starting point: "Hillerbrand and Bender (like Holl and Troeltsch) were in agreement that there was a single dispersion of Anabaptism ..., which certainly ran through Zurich. The only question was whether or not it went back further to Saxony."[27]:;83;
After criticizing the standard polygenetic history, the authors found six groups in early Anabaptism which could be collapsed into three originating "points of departure": "South German Anabaptism, the Swiss Brethren, and the Melchiorites".[28] According to their polygenesis theory, South German–Austrian Anabaptism "was a diluted form of Rhineland mysticism", Swiss Anabaptism "arose out of Reformed congregationalism", and Dutch Anabaptism was formed by "Social unrest and the apocalyptic visions of Melchior Hoffman". As examples of how the Anabaptist movement was influenced from sources other than the Swiss Brethren movement, mention has been made of how Pilgram Marpeck's Vermanung of 1542 was deeply influenced by the Bekenntnisse of 1533 by M;nster theologian Bernhard Rothmann. Hoffman influenced the Hutterites when they used his commentary on the Apocalypse shortly after he wrote it.
Others who have written in support of polygenesis include Grete Mecenseffy [de] and Walter Klaassen, who established links between M;ntzer and Hans Hut. In another work, Gottfried Seeba; and Werner Packull show the influence of M;ntzer on the formation of South German Anabaptism. Similarly, author Steven Ozment links Hut and Hans Denck with M;ntzer, Sebastian Franck, and others. Author Calvin Pater shows how Andreas Karlstadt influenced Swiss Anabaptism in various areas, including his view of Scripture, doctrine of the church, and views on baptism.
Several historians, including Thor Hall,[29] Kenneth Davis,[30] and Robert Kreider,[31] have also noted the influence of humanism on Radical Reformers in the three originating points of departure to account for how this brand of reform could develop independently from each other. Relatively recent research, begun in a more advanced and deliberate manner by Andrew P. Klager, also explores how the influence and a particular reading of the Church Fathers contributed to the development of distinctly Anabaptist beliefs and practices in separate regions of Europe in the early 16th century, including by Menno Simons in the Netherlands, Grebel in Switzerland, M;ntzer in central Germany, Marpeck in the Tyrol, Peter Walpot in Moravia, and especially Balthasar Hubmaier in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Moravia.[32][33]
Apostolic succession
Baptist successionists have at times pointed to 16th-century Anabaptists as part of an apostolic succession of churches ("church perpetuity") from the time of Christ.[34] This view is held by some conservative and fundamentalist Baptists, some Mennonites, and some "true church" movements.[c] Modern scholarship and Baptists, however, opposes this theory by pointing out that these non-Catholic groups had no connection with one another, had origins that were separate both in time and in place, and clearly differed theologically from each other, seeing that some held heretical views.[d]
A different strain of successionism is the theory that the Anabaptists are of Waldensian origin. Some hold the idea that the Waldensians are part of the apostolic succession, while others simply believe they were an independent group out of whom the Anabaptists arose. Ludwig Keller, Thomas M. Lindsay, Henry Clay Vedder, Delbert Gr;tz, John T. Christian and Thieleman J. van Braght (author of Martyrs Mirror) all held, in varying degrees, the position that the Anabaptists were of Waldensian origin.
History
Schleitheim Confession printed in 1550, displayed in the Anabaptist Room of the Local History Museum in Schleitheim, Switzerland
Spread of the early Anabaptists in Central Europe
Dutch Mennonites
(spread from Emden)
South and Central German Anabaptists
(spread from K;nigsberg in Franken)
Swiss Brethren
(spread from Z;rich)
Moravian Anabaptists
(spread from Nikolsburg)
Switzerland
Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. As early as 1522, it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the mass, and even infant baptism. Zwingli had gathered a group of reform-minded men around him, with whom he studied classical literature and the scriptures. However, some of these young men began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform. The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich. When the discussion of the mass was about to be ended without making any actual change in practice, Conrad Grebel stood up and asked "what should be done about the mass?" Zwingli responded by saying the council would make that decision. At this point, Simon Stumpf, a radical priest from H;ngg, answered saying, "The decision has already been made by the Spirit of God."[35]
This incident illustrated clearly that Zwingli and his more radical disciples had different expectations. To Zwingli, the reforms would only go as fast as the city council allowed them. To the radicals, the council had no right to make that decision, but rather the Bible was the final authority of church reform. Feeling frustrated, some of them began to meet on their own for Bible study. As early as 1523, William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in villages surrounding Zurich, encouraging parents to not baptize their children.
Seeking fellowship with other reform-minded people, the radical group wrote letters to Martin Luther, Andreas Karlstadt, and Thomas M;ntzer. Felix Manz began to publish some of Karlstadt's writings in Zurich in late 1524. By this time the question of infant baptism had become agitated, and the Zurich council had instructed Zwingli to meet weekly with those who rejected infant baptism "until the matter could be resolved".[36] Zwingli broke off the meetings after two sessions, and Manz petitioned the council to find a solution, since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with. The council then called a meeting for January 17, 1525.
Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a disputation in 1525 prompted Swiss Brethren to part ways with Huldrych Zwingli.
The council ruled in this meeting that all who continued to refuse to baptize their infants should be expelled from Zurich if they did not have them baptized within one week. Since Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel, born on January 5, 1525, the council decision was personal to him and others who had not baptized their children. Thus, when 16 of the radicals met on January 21, the situation seemed particularly dark. The Hutterian Chronicle records the event:
After prayer, George of the House of Jacob (George Blaurock) stood up and besought Conrad Grebel for God's sake to baptize him with the true Christian baptism upon his faith and knowledge. And when he knelt down with such a request and desire, Conrad baptized him, since at that time there was no ordained minister to perform such work.[37]
Afterwards Blaurock was baptized, and he in turn baptized others at the meeting. Even though some had rejected infant baptism before this date, these baptisms marked the first re-baptisms of those who had been baptized as infants and thus Swiss Anabaptism was born on that day.[38][39]
Tyrol
Anabaptism appears to have come to Tyrol through the labors of Blaurock. Similar to the German Peasants' War, the Gaismair uprising set the stage by producing a hope for social justice. Michael Gaismair had tried to bring religious, political, and economical reform through a violent peasant uprising, but the movement was quashed.[40] Although little evidence exists of a connection between Gaismair's uprising and Tyrolian Anabaptism, at least a few of the peasants involved in the uprising later became Anabaptists. The common link was the desire for a radical change in the prevailing social injustices. Disappointed with the failure of armed revolt, Anabaptist ideals of an alternative peaceful, just society probably resonated on the ears of the disappointed peasants.[41]
Before Anabaptism was introduced to South Tyrol, Protestant ideas had been propagated in the region by men such as Hans Vischer, a former Dominican. Some of those who participated in conventicles where Protestant ideas were presented later became Anabaptists. The population in general seemed to have a favorable attitude towards reform, be it Protestant or Anabaptist. Blaurock appears to have preached itinerantly in the Puster Valley region in 1527, which most likely was the first introduction of Anabaptist ideas in the area. Another visit through the area in 1529 reinforced these ideas, but he was captured and burned at the stake in Klausen on September 6, 1529.[42]
Jacob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol and later became a leader among the Hutterites, who received their name from him. Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol, and most of the Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I. In November 1535, Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck where he was burned at the stake on February 25, 1536. By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was dying out, largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts because of incessant persecution.[43]
Low Countries and northern Germany
Menno Simons
Melchior Hoffman is credited with the introduction of Anabaptist ideas into the Low Countries. Hoffman had picked up Lutheran and Reformed ideas, but on April 23, 1530, he was "re-baptized" at Strasbourg and within two months had gone to Emden and baptized about 300 persons.[44] For several years Hoffman preached in the Low Countries until he was arrested and imprisoned at Strasbourg, where he died about 10 years later. Hoffman's apocalyptic ideas were indirectly related to the M;nster rebellion, even though he was "of a different spirit".[45]
Obbe and Dirk Philips had been baptized by disciples of Jan Matthijs but were opposed to the violence that occurred at M;nster.[46] Obbe later became disillusioned with Anabaptism and withdrew from the movement in about 1540, but not before ordaining David Joris, his brother Dirk, and Menno Simons.[47] Joris and Simons parted ways, with Joris placing more emphasis on "spirit and prophecy", while Menno emphasized the authority of the Bible. For the Mennonite side, the emphasis on the "inner" and "spiritual" permitted compromise to "escape persecution", while to the Joris side, the Mennonites were under the "dead letter of the Scripture".[47]
Because of expansion, some of the Low Country Mennonites emigrated to the Vistula delta, a region settled by Germans but under Polish rule until it became part of Prussia in 1772. There they formed the Vistula delta Mennonites, integrating some other Mennonites mainly from northern Germany. In the late 18th century, several thousand of them migrated from there to Ukraine (which at the time was part of Russia), forming the so-called Russian Mennonites. Beginning in 1874, many of them emigrated to the prairie states and provinces of the United States and Canada. In the 1920s, the conservative faction of the Canadian settlers went to Mexico and Paraguay. Beginning in the 1950s, the most conservative of them started to migrate to Bolivia. In 1958, Mexican Mennonites migrated to Belize. Since the 1980s, traditional Russian Mennonites migrated to Argentina. Smaller groups went to Brazil and Uruguay. In 2015, some Mennonites from Bolivia settled in Peru. In 2018, there were more than 200,000 of them living in colonies in Central and South America.
Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia
Although Moravian Anabaptism was a transplant from other areas of Europe, Moravia soon became a center for the growing movement, largely because of the greater religious tolerance found there.[48][49] Hans Hut was an early evangelist in the area, with one historian crediting him with baptizing more converts in two years than all the other Anabaptist evangelists put together.[50] The coming of Balthasar H;bmaier to Nikolsburg was a definite boost for Anabaptist ideas to the area. With the great influx of religious refugees from all over Europe, many variations of Anabaptism appeared in Moravia, with Jarold Zeman documenting at least ten slightly different versions.[51]
Jacob Wiedemann appeared at Nikolsburg and began to teach the pacifistic convictions of the Swiss Brethren, on which H;bmaier had been less authoritative. This would lead to a division between the Schwertler (sword-bearing) and the St;bler (staff-bearing). Wiedemann and those with him also promoted the practice of community of goods. With orders from the lords of Liechtenstein to leave Nikolsburg, about 200 St;bler withdrew to Moravia to form a community at Austerlitz.[52]
Persecution in South Tyrol brought many refugees to Moravia, many of whom formed into communities that practised community of goods. Others came from Silesia, Switzerland, German lands, and the Low Countries. With the passing of time and persecution, all the other versions of Anabaptism would die out in Moravia leaving only the Hutterites. Even the Hutterites would be dissipated by persecution, with a remnant fleeing to Transylvania, then to Ukraine, and finally to North America in 1874.[53][page needed][54]
South and central Germany, Austria and Alsace
Thomas M;ntzer led the German peasants against the landowners.
South German Anabaptism had its roots in German mysticism. Andreas Karlstadt, who first worked alongside Martin Luther, is seen as a forerunner of South German Anabaptism because of his reforming theology that rejected many Catholic practices, including infant baptism. However, Karlstadt is neither known to have been "rebaptized", nor to have taught it. Hans Denck and Hans Hut, both with German mystical background (in connection with Thomas M;ntzer) both accepted "rebaptism", but Denck eventually backed off from the idea under pressure. Hut is said to have brought more people into early Anabaptism than all the other Anabaptist evangelists of his time put together.
However, there may have been confusion about what his baptism (at least some of the times it was done by making the sign of the Tau on the forehead) may have meant to the recipient. Some seem to have taken it as a sign by which they would escape the apocalyptical revenge of the Turks that Hut predicted. Hut even went so far as to predict a 1528 coming of the kingdom of God. When the prediction failed, some of his converts became discouraged and left the Anabaptist movement. The large congregation of Anabaptists at Augsburg fell apart (partly because of persecution) and those who stayed with Anabaptist ideas were absorbed into Swiss and Moravian Anabaptist congregations.[55][22] Pilgram Marpeck was another notable leader in early South German Anabaptism who attempted to steer between the two extremes of Denck's inner Holiness and the legalistic standards of the other Anabaptists.[56]
Persecutions and migrations
Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism.
Birching of Anabaptist martyr Ursula in Maastricht, 1570; engraving by Jan Luyken from Martyrs Mirror[57]
Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists, resorting to torture and execution in attempts to curb the growth of the movement. The Protestants under Zwingli were the first to persecute the Anabaptists, with Manz becoming the first Anabaptist martyr in 1527. On May 20 or 21, 1527, Roman Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler.[58] King Ferdinand declared drowning (called the third baptism) "the best antidote to Anabaptism". The Tudor regime, even the Protestant monarchs (Edward VI of England and Elizabeth I of England), persecuted Anabaptists as they were deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability.
The burning of a 16th-century Dutch Anabaptist, Anneken Hendriks, who was charged with heresy
The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by the ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I which were passed against the Donatists, and decreed the death penalty for anyone who practised rebaptism. Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, describes the persecution and execution of thousands of Anabaptists in various parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660. Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Unlike Calvinists, Anabaptists failed to gain recognition in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, and as a result they continued to be persecuted in Europe long after that treaty was signed.
Anabaptism stands out among other groups of martyrs, in that Anabaptist martyrologies feature women more prominently, "making up thirty per cent of the martyr stories, compared to five to ten per cent in the other accounts."[59]
Beliefs and practices
Main article: Anabaptist theology
Anabaptists view themselves as a separate branch of Christianity, not being a part of Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy.[60][61][62][e] Anabaptist beliefs were codified in the Schleitheim Confession in 1527, which best represents the beliefs of the various denominations of Anabaptism (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians).[2][3]
Anabaptist denominations, such as the Mennonites, teach "true faith entails a new birth, a spiritual regeneration by God's grace and power; 'believers' are those who have become the spiritual children of God."[63] In Anabaptist theology, the pathway to salvation is "marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by 'faith alone', but by the entire process of repentance, self-denial, faith rebirth, the heart having new love, which led to obedience."[63] Those who wish to tarry this path receive baptism after the New Birth.[63] Anabaptists heavily emphasize the importance of obedience in the salvation journey of a believer.[64]
As a whole, Anabaptists emphasize an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity and are thus distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include the observance of feetwashing, the holy kiss, and communion (with these three ordinances being practiced collectively in the lovefeast in the Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren traditions), Christian headcovering, nonconformity to the world, nonresistance, forgiveness, and sharing possessions, which in certain communities (as with the Bruderhof) takes on the form of communal living.[10][13][11][12]
Types
Different types exist among the Anabaptists, although the categorizations tend to vary with the scholar's viewpoint on origins. Estep claims that in order to understand Anabaptism, one must "distinguish between the Anabaptists, inspirationists, and rationalists". He classes the likes of Blaurock, Grebel, Hubmaier, Manz, Marpeck, and Simons as Anabaptists. He groups M;ntzer and Storch as inspirationists, and anti-trinitarians such as Michael Servetus, Juan de Vald;s, Sebastian Castellio, and Faustus Socinus as rationalists. Mark S. Ritchie follows this line of thought, saying, "The Anabaptists were one of several branches of 'Radical' reformers (i.e. reformers that went further than the mainstream Reformers) to arise out of the Renaissance and Reformation. Two other branches were Spirituals or Inspirationists, who believed that they had received direct revelation from the Spirit, and rationalists or anti-Trinitarians, who rebelled against traditional Christian doctrine, like Michael Servetus."
Those of the polygenesis viewpoint use Anabaptist to define the larger movement and include the inspirationists and rationalists as true Anabaptists. James M. Stayer used the term Anabaptist for those who rebaptized persons already "baptized" in infancy. Walter Klaassen was perhaps the first Mennonite scholar to define Anabaptists that way in his 1960 Oxford dissertation. This represents a rejection of the previous standard held by Mennonite scholars such as Bender and Friedmann.
Another method of categorization acknowledges regional variations, such as Swiss Brethren (Grebel, Manz), Dutch and Frisian Anabaptism (Menno Simons, Dirk Philips), and South German Anabaptism (H;bmaier, Marpeck). Historians and sociologists have made further distinctions between radical Anabaptists, who were prepared to use violence in their attempts to build a New Jerusalem, and their pacifist brethren, later broadly known as Mennonites. Radical Anabaptist groups included the M;nsterites and the Batenburgers, who persisted in various guises as late as the 1570s.
Spirituality
Further information: Hymnody of continental Europe § Anabaptists
Memorial plate at Schipfe quarter in Z;rich for the Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century by the Z;rich city government
Charismatic manifestations
Within the inspirationist wing of the Anabaptist movement, it was not unusual for charismatic manifestations to appear, such as dancing, falling under the power of the Holy Spirit, "prophetic processions" (at Zurich in 1525, at Munster in 1534 and at Amsterdam in 1535),[65] and speaking in tongues.[66] In Germany some Anabaptists, "excited by mass hypnosis, experienced healings, glossolalia, contortions and other manifestations of a camp-meeting revival".[67] The Anabaptist congregations that later developed into the Mennonite and Hutterite churches tended not to promote these manifestations but did not totally reject the miraculous.
Marpeck, for example, wrote against the exclusion of miracles: "Nor does Scripture assert this exclusion ... God has a free hand even in these last days." Referring to some who had been raised from the dead, he wrote: "Many of them have remained constant, enduring tortures inflicted by sword, rope, fire and water and suffering terrible, tyrannical, unheard-of deaths and martyrdoms, all of which they could easily have avoided by recantation. Moreover one also marvels when he sees how the faithful God (Who, after all, overflows with goodness) raises from the dead several such brothers and sisters of Christ after they were hanged, drowned, or killed in other ways. Even today, they are found alive and we can hear their own testimony ... Cannot everyone who sees, even the blind, say with a good conscience that such things are a powerful, unusual, and miraculous act of God? Those who would deny it must be hardened men."[68] The Hutterite Chronicle and the Martyrs Mirror record several accounts of miraculous events, such as when a man named Martin prophesied while being led across a bridge to his execution in 1531: "this once yet the pious are led over this bridge, but no more hereafter". Just "a short time afterwards such a violent storm and flood came that the bridge was demolished".[69]
Holy Spirit leadership
The Anabaptists insisted upon the "free course" of the Holy Spirit in worship, yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures.[70] The Swiss Anabaptist document titled "Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches". One reason given for not attending the state churches was that these institutions forbade the congregation to exercise spiritual gifts according to "the Christian order as taught in the gospel or the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 14". "When such believers come together, 'Everyone of you (note every one) hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation', and so on. When someone comes to church and constantly hears only one person speaking, and all the listeners are silent, neither speaking nor prophesying, who can or will regard or confess the same to be a spiritual congregation, or confess according to 1 Corinthians 14 that God is dwelling and operating in them through His Holy Spirit with His gifts, impelling them one after another in the above-mentioned order of speaking and prophesying."[71]
Today
Anabaptists
Evangelical Mennonite Church in Altkirch, Association of Evangelical Mennonite Churches of France
Worship service at The Meeting Place in Winnipeg, Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
Amish children on their way to school
In 2025, there were over 2.03 million baptized Anabaptists in 87 countries.[72] Over 36% are found in Africa, another 30% in North America, 20% in Asia and the Pacific, 9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and less than 3% in Europe.[73]
The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity today include the Amish, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Hutterites, Mennonites, Apostolic Christian Church, and Bruderhof.[74][75] Within many of these traditions (Amish, Mennonite, Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren) are three subsets: (1) Old Order Anabaptists (2) Conservative Anabaptists and (3) Mainline Anabaptists; for example, among Schwarzenau Brethren are the Old Order German Baptist Brethren (who use horse and buggy for transportation and do not use electricity), the Dunkard Brethren (who adhere to traditional theological beliefs and wear plain dress but use modern conveniences), and the Church of the Brethren (who are largely a mainline group where members are indistinguishable in dress from the general population).[76]
Although many see the more well-known Anabaptist groups (Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites) as ethnic groups, only the Amish and the Hutterites today are composed mainly of descendants of the European Anabaptists, while Mennonites come from diverse backgrounds, with only a minority being classed as ethnic Mennonites. Brethren groups have mostly lost their ethnic distinctiveness.[citation needed]
The Bruderhof Communities were founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold in 1920,[77] establishing and organisationally joining the Hutterites in 1930. The group moved to England after the Gestapo confiscated their property in 1933, and they subsequently moved to Paraguay in order to avoid military conscription, and after World War II they moved to the United States.[78]
The Goshen College Music Center in Goshen, Indiana, Mennonite Church USA
Groups which are derived from the Schwarzenau Brethren, often called German Baptists, while not directly descended from the 16th-century Radical Reformation, are considered Anabaptist because of their adherence to Anabaptist doctrine. The modern-day Brethren movement is a combination of Anabaptism and Radical Pietism.[79]
Neo-Anabaptists
Neo-Anabaptism is a late 20th and early 21st century theological movement within American evangelical Christianity which draws inspiration from theologians who are located within the Anabaptist tradition but are ecclesiastically outside it. Neo-Anabaptists have been noted for their "low church, counter-cultural, prophetic-stance-against-empire ethos" as well as for their focus on pacifism,[80] social justice and poverty.[81][82] The works of Mennonite theologians Ron Sider and John Howard Yoder are frequently cited as having a strong influence on the movement.[83]
Relationship with Baptists
There are some similarities between Baptists and the Anabaptists, which is why some historians have advocated the view that General Baptists were influenced by Anabaptism. The similarities between these groups include baptism of believers only, religious freedom, similar perspectives on free will, predestination and original sin, along with congregationalism.[84][85] It is almost certain that the earliest Baptist church led by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys interacted with the Mennonites and that Smyth borrowed ideas from Anabaptism. However, it has been debated if influences from Anabaptism ever found their way to the English General Baptists.
Those who held closer views with the Anabaptists switched to the Mennonite movement along with Smyth, while those who identified as Baptists did so under Helwys who disagreed with Smyth and the Mennonites on multiple issues, denying Melchiorite Christology and Anabaptist views of the civil magistrate. These English General Baptists may have had secondary influences from Anabaptism, although it is a matter of debate among historians.[86] Despite the existing similarities between these two groups, the relationship between Baptists and Anabaptists was strained in 1624 when five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists.[87] The theory that Anabaptism influenced Baptist theology has been believed by Philip Schaff,[88] A.C. Underwood, and William R. Estep. Gourley wrote that among some contemporary Baptist scholars who emphasize the faith of the community over soul liberty, the Anabaptist influence theory is making a comeback.[89]
John Smyth
Puritans of England and their Baptist branch arose independently, and although they may have been informed by Anabaptist theology, they clearly differentiate themselves from Anabaptists as seen in the London Confession of Faith 1644, "Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called Anabaptists".[90] Moreover, Baptist historian Chris Traffanstedt maintains that Anabaptists share "some similarities with the early General Baptists, but overall these similarities are slight and not always relational. In the end, we must come to say that this group of Christians does not reflect the historical teaching of the Baptists".[91]
There have been some discussions whether Anabaptist theology influenced Particular Baptists in a limited sense. This theory proposes that there existed a native Anabaptist population in England that may have given rise to ideas held by Particular Baptist theologians. There exists some evidence of there being native English Anabaptists during this time, however many historians have rejected the idea that Anabaptist influences gave rise to the Particular Baptists, and there appears to be no concrete evidence of any Anabaptist influence in Particular Baptists.[92] According to Barrington Raymond White, the relationship between the English Separatists and the Radical Reformers was that of people coming to similar conclusions from their reading of the Bible based on the context of a similar situation.[92][93]
In practice, Anabaptists have maintained a more literal obedience to the Sermon on the Mount, while Baptists generally do not require nonresistance, non-swearing of oaths, and no remarriage if the first legitimate spouse is living. Traditional Anabaptists also require a head covering for women, modest apparel, practical separation from the world, and plain dress, which most Baptists no longer require. However, some Anabaptists and General Baptists have improved their relations and sometimes have worked together.[94]
Influence on society
Common Anabaptist beliefs and practices of the 16th century continue to influence modern Christianity and Western society.
Voluntary church membership and believer's baptism
Freedom of religion – liberty of conscience
Separation or nonconformity to the world
Nonresistance, interpreted as pacifism by modernized groups
Priesthood of all believers
The Anabaptists were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion.[f] When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries, religious freedom which was independent from the state was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with anarchy; Kropotkin[96] traces the birth of anarchist thought in Europe to these early Anabaptist communities.
According to Estep:
Where men believe in the freedom of religion, supported by a guarantee of separation of church and state, they have entered into that heritage. Where men have caught the Anabaptist vision of discipleship, they have become worthy of that heritage. Where corporate discipleship submits itself to the New Testament pattern of the church, the heir has then entered full possession of his legacy.[97]
Anabaptist characters exist in popular culture, most notably Chaplain Tappman in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22; James (Jacques) in Voltaire's novella Candide; Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Le proph;te (1849); and the central character in the novel Q, by the collective known as "Luther Blissett".
See also
Adrianists
Amish Mennonite
Christian anarchism
Christian communism
Christian socialism
Clancularii
Conservative Mennonites
Donatists (first historical occurrence of re-baptism)
Funkite
List of Anabaptist churches
Martyrs Mirror
Melchior Rink, a central-German Anabaptist leader during the 16th century
Peace churches
Plain people
Restorationism
Shtundists
Tabor College
References
Explanatory notes
Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term Wiedert;ufer (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term T;ufer (translation: "Baptizers") is now used, which is considered more impartial. From the perspective of their persecutors, the "Baptizers" baptized for the second time those "who as infants had already been baptized". The denigrative term Anabaptist, given to them by others, signifies rebaptizing and is considered a polemical term, so it has been dropped from use in modern German. However, in the English-speaking world, it is still used to distinguish the Baptizers more clearly from the Baptists, a Protestant tradition that was developed in England years later. Compare their self-designation as "Brethren in Christ" or "Church of God": Stayer, James M. (2001). "T;ufer". Theologische Realenzyklop;die (TRE) (in German). Vol. 32. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 597–617. ISBN 3-11-016712-3. Br;der in Christo", "Gemeinde Gottes.
For example, those of the M;nster Rebellion or Balthasar Hubmaier.
A "true church" movement is a part of the Protestant or Reformed group of Christianity that claims to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity. Most only assert this in relation to their church doctrines, polity, and practice (e.g., the ordinances), while a few hold they are the only true Christians. Some examples of Anabaptistic true church movements are the Landmark Baptists and the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The Church of God, the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, and others represent a variation in which the "true church" apostatized and was restored, in distinction to this idea of apostolic or church succession. These groups trace their "true church" status through means other than those generally accepted by Roman Catholicism or Orthodox Christianity, both of which likewise claim to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity.
Such as the Adoptionism of the Paulicianists; some of the other groups often cited were in fact little different from the Catholics and bore little similarity to modern Baptists.
According to the Martyrs Mirror, the Anabaptist movement has existed since the times of the apostles. It is not Protestant, according to this vital publication.
The origins of religious freedom in the United States are traced back to the Anabaptists.[95]
Citations
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Bruening, Michael W. (2017). A Reformation Sourcebook: Documents from an Age of Debate. University of Toronto Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-44263570-8. In 1527, Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim (in canton Schaffhausen, on the Swiss-German border), where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (doc. 29). Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.
Hershberger, Guy F. (2001). The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-57910600-3. The Schleitheim articles are Anabaptism's oldest confessional document.
Gertz, Steven (2004). "Outsider's Guide to America's Anabaptists". Christianity Today. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
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Scott, Stephen (1996). Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. People's Place Book. Good Books. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-56148-101-9. Many writings have been made among conservative Mennonites supporting the Christian woman's veiling.
Pettegree, Andrew (2000). The Reformation World. Psychology Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-415-16357-6. Among the common characteristics of Anabaptists, therefore, was a return to early Christianity, to an unadorned faith and to a sincere commitment to Christ.
Redekop, Calvin; Beitzel, Terry (2019). Service, The Path To Justice. FriesenPress. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-5255-3584-0.
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Dyck 1967, p. 49.
Stayer, James M; Packull, Werner O; Deppermann, Klaus (April 1975), "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis: the historical discussion of Anabaptist origins", Mennonite Quarterly Review, 49 (2)
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Ross, Melanie C.; Lamport, Mark A. (2022). Historical Foundations of Worship: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Perspectives. Worship Foundations. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-1-4934-3498-5. Later groups such as the Brethren in Christ (Be in Christ [Canada]), German Baptist Brethren, the Bruderhof Communities, and the Apostolic Christian Church are also included in the umbrella term "Anabaptist."
Bronner, Simon J. (2015). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47194-3. Only a tiny minority within the Church of the Brethren continues some vestigates of plain dress, such as the prayer covering for women. The Old German Baptist Brethren and the Dunkard Brethren, however, have maintained standards of traditional plain dress.
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Philip Schaff. "Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes". www.ccel.org – Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved November 26, 2023. The English and American Baptists have inherited some of the principles without the eccentricities and excesses of the Continental Anabaptists and Mennonites.
Gourley, Bruce. "A Very Brief Introduction to Baptist History, Then and Now." The Baptist Observer.
"London Baptist Confession of 1644". Spurgeon.org. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called Anabaptists
Traffanstedt, Chris (1994), "Baptists", A Primer on Baptist History: The True Baptist Trail, archived from the original on September 11, 2013
"Origins of the Particular Baptists". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
White, Barrington Raymond (1971). The English Separatist Tradition: from the Marian Martyrs to the Pilgrim Fathers. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-826709-6.
"What's the Difference Between Anabaptists and Baptists?". History of Christianity. July 13, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
Verduin, Leonard (1998), That First Amendment and The Remnant, The Christian Hymnary, ISBN 1-890050-17-2
Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch (1911). "Anarchism" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclop;dia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 914–919.
Estep 1963, p. 232.
General and cited sources
Carroll, J. M. (1931). The Trail of Blood: Following the Christians Down Through the Ages, or, the History of Baptist Churches from the Time of Christ, Their Founder, to the Present Day. Lexington, KY: Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. 56 p. + fold. chart. Without ISBN
Dyck, Cornelius J (1967), An Introduction to Mennonite History, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 0-8361-1955-X.
Estep, William R (1963), The Anabaptist Story, Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-1594-4 .
Hoover, Peter (2008). The Mystery of the Mark: Anabaptist Mission Work Under the Fire of God. Mountain Lake, MN: Elmendorf Books. ISBN 978-1-5172-5504-6.
Klaassen, Walter (1973), Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant, Waterloo, ON: Conrad Press.
Klager, Andrew P. (2010). "Balthasar Hubmaier's Use of the Church Fathers: Availability, Access and Interaction". Mennonite Quarterly Review. 84 (1): 5–65. Gale A220412887.
Klager, Andrew P. (2011). Truth is immortal: Balthasar Hubmaier (c. 1480–1528) and the Church Fathers (PhD). University of Glasgow.
Knox, Ronald. Enthusiasm: a Chapter in the History of Religion, with Special Reference to the XVII and XVIII Centuries. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1950. viii, 622 p.
Marpeck, Pilgram (1978), Klassen, William; Klassen, Walter (eds.), Covenant and Community: The Life, Writings, and Hermeneutics, Scottdale, PA: Herald.
Packull, Werner O. (1977). Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement, 1525–1531. Herald Press. ISBN 978-0-8361-1130-9.
Packull, Werner O (1995), Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-6256-6.
Stayer, James M (1994) [1991], The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods, Montr;al: McGill-Queen's Press, MQUP, ISBN 0-7735-0842-2.
van Braght, Thieleman J (1950) [1938], Martyrs Mirror, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 978-0-8361-1390-7 .
Williams, George Hunston (2000) [1962], The Radical Reformation (3rd ed.), Truman State University Press, ISBN 0-664-20372-8.
Further reading
Arthur, Anthony (1999). The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster. ISBN 0-312-20515-5.)
Bamford, Mary E. (1894). Harrison, Larry (ed.). "In Editha's Days. A Tale of Religious Liberty". The Bible Makes Us Baptists. LCCN 06006296.
Baylor, Michael G. (1993). Revelation & Revolution: Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer. Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-16-5.
Bender, Harold S. (1944). The Anabaptist Vision. MennoMedia. ISBN 0-8361-1305-5. )
Bender, Harold S.; Dyck, Cornelius J.; Martin, Dennis D.; Smith, Henry C. (eds.). Mennonite Encyclopedia. ISBN 0-8361-1018-8.
Cohn, Norman (1970). The Pursuit of the Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-500456-6.
Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis (1911). "Anabaptists" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclop;dia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 903–905.
Dipple, Geoffrey, Confessional Migration: Anabaptists – Mennonites, Hutterites, Baptists etc., EGO – European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2015, retrieved: March 11, 2021 (pdf).
Fast, Heinhold (1999). "Anabaptists". In Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 45–48. ISBN 0802824137.
Ham, Paul (2018). New Jerusalem: The short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant sect. Sydney: Random House Australia. ISBN 978-0-14378133-2.
Hillerbrand, Hans (1991), Anabaptist Bibliography 1520–1630, ISBN 0-910345-03-1.
Hoover, Peter. "The Secret of the Strength" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2017. Alt URL
Melton, J. Gordon, ed. (1978). The Encyclopedia of American Religions. ISBN 0-8103-6904-4.
Newman, Albert H (1896), A History of Anti-Pedobaptism, From the Rise of Pedobaptism to AD 1609, ISBN 1-57978-536-0 .
Pearse, Meic (1998), The Great Restoration: The Religious Radicals of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Paternoster, ISBN 978-0-85364800-0.
Stayer, James M. (1976). Anabaptists and the Sword. Coronado Press. ISBN 0-87291-081-4.
Suitner, Riccarda (2024). Venice and the Radical Reformation. Italian Anabaptism and Antitrinitarianism in European Context. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-50019-4.
van Braght, Thieleman J. The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror. ISBN 0-8361-1390-X.
Verduin, Leonard. The Anatomy of a Hybrid: A Study in Church-State Relationships. ISBN 0-8028-1615-0.
Verduin, Leonard (2001). The Reformers and their Stepchildren. The Baptist Standard Bearer. ISBN 0-8010-9284-1.
External links
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Library resources about
Anabaptism
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"Anabaptism". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
The Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies series, published by Pandora Press (including scholarly texts on Anabaptist history).
Global Anabaptist Wiki
Pilgrim Ministry: Anabaptist church directory
Anabaptist History Complete Playlist (Parts 1–20) history of the movement from the Bible to present. (YouTube videos, 27 hours)
"The Story of the Church: The Protestant Reformation: The Anabaptists and Other Radical Reformers". Ritchie Family Page. Archived from the original on December 17, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2005.
"The Anabaptist Story". The Reformed Reader. Archived from the original on December 15, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2005.
The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, by E. Belfort Bax 1903
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Categories: AnabaptismChristian terminology
***
Nicolaes Jonghelinck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicolaes Jonghelinck
Born 1517
Antwerp, Belgium
Died 1570 (aged 52–53)
Occupations Merchant banker, art collector
Known for Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Frans Floris
Nicolaes Jonghelinck (1517–1570) was a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp. He is best known for his collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Frans Floris. His brother was the sculptor Jacques Jonghelinck.
Iongelinck. Fortification listed on map of Antwerp dated 1582
In the archives of Antwerp, a writ of guarantee by Jonghelinck, dated 15 February 1566 and declaring to be worth 16.000 guilders for his friend Daniel de Bruyne lists "sixteen paintings by Bruegel, among them the Tower of Babel, a painting with the title Christ carrying the Cross, the twelve Months of the Year, and all the others whichever they might be". Jonghelinck probably commissioned these paintings for his fortified country house outside of Antwerp that was designed by his brother Jacques in 1547 and sold in 1554 to Nicolaes. It can still be seen on a map dated 1582, although it was destroyed during the fall of Antwerp.[1]
Months of the Year
Though it is known that Jonghelinck owned 16 paintings by Bruegel at the time of his death, the specific list is unknown and for many years art historians assumed that this cycle of paintings included either four panels for the four seasons or twelve panels for all twelve months. Now it is assumed they represent six bi-monthly pairs, with one missing.[2] They are assumed to be a continuation of an older tradition to make cyclical images of the Labours of the Months, but they were hung by Jonghelinck in his chateau and therefore may simply have been ordered as wall decorations.[3] The surviving Months of the Year cycle are:
The Gloomy Day (February/March)
The Gloomy Day (February/March)
A 1565 Bruegel sketch "Spring" although not part of the Months cycle series it could very well be similar to what Bruegel had in mind when he painted "High Spring" {April/May)
A 1565 Bruegel sketch "Spring" although not part of the Months cycle series it could very well be similar to what Bruegel had in mind when he painted "High Spring" {April/May)
The Hay Harvest (June/July)
The Hay Harvest (June/July)
The Harvesters (August/September)
The Harvesters (August/September)
The Return of the Herd (October/November)
The Return of the Herd (October/November)
The Hunters in the Snow (December/January)
The Hunters in the Snow (December/January)
The Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
Bruegel's Tower of Babel is one of several paintings in the possession of Jonghelinck that came into the collection of the City of Antwerp and later found their way into the Austrian Imperial collection of Vienna through Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria.[4] A smaller version by Breugel's hand is in Rotterdam, dated to the same period, which indicates the popularity of the subject in Jonghelinck's day.
The Procession to Calvary
The Procession to Calvary
Michael Francis Gibson wrote an art history book entitled The Mill and the Cross, which served as the basis for the 2011 film The Mill and the Cross, directed by Lech Majewski. The film puts the characters in the painting and the circumstances of the painting's creation into their historical context in sixteenth-century Flanders. It stars Rutger Hauer as Bruegel and Michael York as his patron Jonghelinck.
Labours of Hercules
Hercules Killing the Lernaean Hydra
Another artist in Jonghelinck's collection was Frans Floris, who made ten panels of the Labours of Hercules (which are now lost and only known through later engravings).[5] Floris also made seven compositions on the liberal arts for Jonghelinck, which were later exported to Genoa.[6]
Provenance
Nicolaas Jonghelinck is listed as the first owner in 1566 (referring to the writ of guarantee above) for several of the paintings that have survived in the Austrian Imperial collection and are still in the Kunsthistorisches Museum today. For example, the record for The Gloomy Day, or D;sterer Tag (Vorfr;hling), shows in its provenance record Nicolaas Jongelinck; 1594 Geschenk der Stadt Antwerpen an Erzherzog Ernst; 1595 Nachlass Erzherzog Ernst; Rudolf II.; Slg. Leopold Wilhelm.[7]
References
Christian V;hringer – Pieter Bruegel. 1525/30-1569, Tandem Verlag 2007 (h.f.ullmann imprint) S. 116f ISBN 978-3-8331-3852-2
See for example record 261005 for Hunters in the Snow in the RKD
Plus semper quam pingitur: The Catholic Bruegel by German art historian Nils B;ttner
Turmbau zu Babel on museum website
The Labours of Hercules on the British Museum website
Seven Liberal Arts / Grammatica on the British Museum website
D;sterer Tag (Vorfr;hling) on museum website
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
ISNIVIAFGNDWorldCat
Artists
ULAN
Categories: 1517 births1570 deathsArt collectors from AntwerpBusinesspeople from Antwerp16th-century merchantsPeople from the Spanish Netherlands
***
Bruegel’s Season Cycle Explained
Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Seasons (also called The Series of the Months) is a 1565–1566 cycle of six or twelve paintings that depict the passage of time through the changing of the year Web Gallery of Art. The series was commissioned by wealthy Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jonghelinck for his palatial home, where the panels were likely hung as a continuous decorative frieze above the paneling Web Gallery of Art.
Structure and Purpose
The cycle follows the traditional northern European calendar tradition, showing seasonal activities and natural changes. While only five panels survive, the intended scope was either six (two months each) or twelve (one month each) Web Gallery of Art. Bruegel’s approach was to show nature itself as the indicator of the season — trees, animals, and weather patterns convey the time of year, while human activity illustrates the rhythms of rural life Web Gallery of Art.
Seasonal Themes and Symbolism
Each painting captures a distinct seasonal mood and occupation:
Spring – renewal, planting, and the return of life.
Summer – harvest, outdoor labor, and communal work.
Autumn – gathering crops, preparation for winter.
Winter – stillness, survival, and seasonal rest
TheCollector.
Bruegel’s work reflects a syncretic worldview, blending everyday life with Christian and calendar symbolism. The cycle can be read as both a calendar and an allegory for the cycle of life, death, and rebirth burganova-text.com.
Artistic Method
Bruegel’s technique is panoramic and densely populated, showing multiple activities and figures within a single scene explainary.net. He avoids provincialism by treating village life as part of a larger social and environmental system. His compositions often include:
Crowds and rituals — seasonal festivals, religious observances.
Landscape as narrative — weather, light, and terrain shape the mood.
Social commentary — depicting both peasant and merchant life, showing the interconnectedness of classes explainary.net.
Interpretation
The Seasons is more than a calendar illustration; it’s a visual philosophy of time. Bruegel presents the year as a continuous, cyclical process, with each season tied to human labor, nature, and community TheCollector+1. The cycle reflects the existential and humanist concerns of the Northern Renaissance, where art served both decorative and didactic purposes.
In short, Bruegel’s Season Cycle is a visual record of a year in 16th-century Flanders, rich in symbolism, social insight, and seasonal allegory, designed to educate, decorate, and reflect on the rhythms of life.
***
Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Seasons Cycle is a revolutionary 1565 series of large panel paintings commissioned by Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jongelinck. It divided the year into six Northern European seasons, elevated landscape and peasant labor over religious narratives, and tracked humanity's rhythm against nature. Structure of the Cycle
In 16th-century Netherlands, the calendar was traditionally split into six distinct transitional periods rather than four standard seasons. Bruegel planned six monumental paintings to decorate his patron's dining room, of which five survive today:
Hunters in the Snow (December–January / Winter):
Depicts weary hunters with thin hounds descending a snowy ridge overlooking a frozen village where people skate and play ice games.
The Gloomy Day (February–March / Early Spring):
Portrays a stormy, overcast coastal landscape with stark trees and people bracing against harsh weather (held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum).
Early Spring (April–May): Believed to be lost or missing since the 17th century.
Haymaking (June–July / Early Summer):
Shows peasants harvesting and gathering hay under bright skies in an expansive valley view (housed in the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague).
The Harvesters (August–September / Late Summer):
Captures the heavy, drowsy heat of late summer as workers reap wheat and rest in the shade, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Return of the Herd (October–November / Autumn):
Features cattle driven down from pastures against a darkening, amber-hued landscape as the year winds down.
Artistic Meaning and Innovations Landscape as Subject:
Instead of treating nature as a mere background for holy stories, Bruegel made the changing colors, atmospheric weights, and topography of the seasons the true core of the artwork.
Human Labor and the Cycle of Life: The panels merge human toil with the indifferent, recurring cycles of the natural world, showing everyday people working, resting, and surviving through shifting climates.
Immersive Environment: Hung side-by-side in a domestic dining space, the sequence provided an all-encompassing chromatic shift for viewers, moving from the pale blues and whites of deep winter to golden yellows and deep greens of harvest.
For a closer look at the composition and hidden details of Bruegel's winter masterpiece:
***
Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Seasons Cycle is a revolutionary 1565 series of large panel paintings commissioned by Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jongelinck Are the any proof that merchant Niclaes Jongelinck commisssioned the Seasons Cycle?
Yes, there is concrete, primary archival evidence confirming that Niclaes Jongelinck owned and commissioned Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s famous Seasons (or Months) cycle.
gerryco23.wordpress.com
The Primary Proof: The 1566 Antwerp City Archive Pledge
The primary historical proof comes from an official legal document dated February 21, 1565 (1566 by modern calendar standards), preserved in the Antwerp City Archives (Stadsarchief Antwerpen, Tresorij T.1711).
jhna.org
What the Document Reveals:
The Financial Surety: Niclaes Jongelinck pledged his personal art collection to the city of Antwerp as collateral to guarantee a massive bond (16,000 guilders) for his associate Daniel de Stier.
The Bruegel Inventory: The legal pledge includes a detailed inventory of Jongelinck's art collection at his suburban villa, 't Goed ter Beke. It explicitly lists sixteen paintings by Pieter Bruegel, including:
jhna.org
The Twelve Months (de Twaelf Maenden / the Seasons cycle)
janbrueghel.net
The Procession to Calvary
grokipedia.com
The Tower of Babel
grokipedia.com
Why It Proves a Direct Commission
While a financial pledge technically proves ownership, art historians consider it definitive proof of a direct commission for several key reasons:
Site-Specific Planning: The size, unified scale, and horizontal format of the cycle’s large wooden panels (originally six panels representing two months each) were specifically tailored to form a continuous decorative frieze for the dining room of Jongelinck’s villa outside Antwerp.
www.bruegel2018.at
Timeline Precision: The dates on the surviving signed panels (1565) directly align with the February 1566 legal inventory, showing that Bruegel had just completed the entire series for Jongelinck’s estate.
www.wga.hu
***
Was the list of The Twelve Months (de Twaelf Maenden / the Seasons cycle) existant?
Yes, absolutely. The specific phrase "de Twaelf Maenden" (The Twelve Months) appears explicitly in the original February 21, 1566 legal pledge document in the Antwerp City Archives.
What the 1566 Archival Document Text Says
In the official inventory recorded for Niclaes Jongelinck's surety, Pieter Bruegel’s works are listed by name and quantity. While most pieces in such inventories were grouped generally, the document singled out this specific cycle:
www.wikiart.org
The Exact Entry: The text records 16 paintings by Pieter Bruegel ("seestien stucken van Bruegel"), explicitly calling out:
"De Twaelf Maenden" (The Twelve Months)
www.wikiart.org
't Cruysdragen (The Procession to Calvary)
Den Toren van Babel (The Tower of Babel)
jhna.org
The Great Art-Historical Debate: 12 Panels or 6 Panels?
While the phrase "de Twaelf Maenden" proves beyond doubt that the cycle represented the 12 months of the year, it sparked a centuries-long debate among art historians: Did Bruegel paint 12 individual panels or 6 bi-monthly panels?
1. The Case for 6 Panels (The Modern Consensus)
Most art historians today agree that "de Twaelf Maenden" referred to 6 large panels, each representing a two-month period (bimonthly scheme):
The 1595 Archival Proof: When the City of Antwerp repurchased the cycle in 1595 to gift it to Archduke Ernst of Austria, the state record explicitly described the set as "six panels representing the twelve months of the year."
www.wikiart.org
The Visual Evidence: The surviving five paintings (e.g., Hunters in the Snow, The Harvesters) depict weather transitions and agricultural activities that combine two calendar months into a single composition (such as July/August or December/January).
www.wikiart.org
2. The Case for 12 Panels
A minority view suggests Bruegel initially painted 12 smaller/individual panels matching the traditional medieval calendar tradition, but 6 were lost early on. However, given the massive scale of the surviving panels and the 1595 record, the 6-panel interpretation remains the standard consensus.
www.wikiart.org
Summary
The listing "de Twaelf Maenden" is genuine, documented history. It proves that Jongelinck commissioned and possessed a unified, named calendar cycle created by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Whwn did The surviving five paintings get their modern titles?
The titles we use today—The Hunters in the Snow, The Harvesters, The Gloomy Day, Haymaking, and The Return of the Herd—were not assigned by Pieter Bruegel the Elder himself. Instead, they evolved gradually over centuries and were formally standardized in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Historical Evolution of the Titles
1560s–1600s: Series Titles
• Descriptive inventory labels: "De Twaelf Maenden" or "Six panels of the months"
1700s–1800s: Descriptive Museum Inventories
• Catalogs describe subjects: "Landscape with peasants harvesting", "Winter landscape with hunters"
Late 19th – Early 20th Century: Modern Standardization
• Formal museum cataloging establishes concise titles (e.g., Hunters in the Snow)
1. The 16th Century: Broad Series Names (No Individual Titles)
In the 16th century, painters rarely gave titles to individual easel pictures.
In the 1566 inventory of Niclaes Jongelinck’s estate, the series was grouped simply as "De Twaelf Maenden" (The Twelve Months).
In 1595, when the City of Antwerp gifted the collection to Archduke Ernest of Austria, they were recorded as "six panels representing the twelve months of the year."
2. 17th to 18th Century: Functional Descriptions
As the set was split up among Habsburg royal collections and private buyers, royal inventories described what was happening in the scenes rather than using short titles:
What we now call The Hunters in the Snow was recorded in imperial collections as "A landscape in winter with hunters."
The Harvesters was listed in descriptions simply as "A corn harvest" or "Peasants eating in a grain field."
3. 19th Century: Systematic Museum Cataloging
When public museums were established in Europe during the 19th century—most notably the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (which houses three of the surviving five)—curators began compiling systematic catalogs.
To help the public and scholars identify specific works, curators turned those long inventory descriptions into concise titles in German and Dutch:
Die J;ger im Schnee (The Hunters in the Snow)
www.humanalens.com
Der d;stere Tag (The Gloomy Day)
www.khanacademy.org
Die Heimkehr der Herde (The Return of the Herd)
www.khanacademy.org
4. 20th Century: English Translation and Global Consensus
During the early to mid-20th century, art historians like Charles de Tolnay and Gustav Gl;ck published comprehensive catalogues raisonn;s of Bruegel’s complete works. English art literature and major institutions (such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which acquired The Harvesters in 1919) standardized the English names into the universally recognized titles used today.
Hunters in the Snow Art History Explained
This video provides an art-historical analysis of The Hunters in the Snow, exploring how Bruegel constructed his seasonal landscape and how it fits into the broader 1565 cycle.
***
The Hunters in the Snow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the short story by Tobias Wolff, see Hunters in the Snow (short story).
The Hunters in the Snow
Artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Year 1565
Type Oil on panel
Dimensions 117 cm ; 162 cm (46 in ; 63+3;4 in)
Location
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The Hunters in the Snow (Dutch: Jagers in de Sneeuw), also known as The Return of the Hunters, is a 1565 oil-on-wood painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Northern Renaissance work is one of a series of works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. The painting is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. This scene is set in the depths of winter during December/January.
This painting is part of the BBC's 100 Great Paintings.
Background and origins
The Hunters in the Snow, and the series to which it belongs, are in the medieval and early Renaissance tradition of the Labours of the Months: depictions of various rural activities and work understood by a spectator in Bruegel's time as representing the different months or times of the year. For in 1565, this was the beginning of upcoming harsh winters, called the Little Ice Age.[1]
Description and composition
The painting shows a wintry scene in which three hunters are returning from an expedition accompanied by their dogs. By appearances the outing was not successful; the hunters appear to trudge wearily, and the dogs, rather lean and gaunt, seem to share the hunters' weariness. One man carries the "meager corpse of a fox" illustrating the paucity of the hunt. In front of the hunters in the snow are the footprints of a hare—which has escaped or been missed by the hunters. The overall visual impression is one of a calm, cold, overcast day; the colors are muted whites and grays, the trees are bare of leaves, and wood smoke hangs in the air. Several adults and a child prepare to singe a pig at an inn with an outside fire. There is a sign just above the entrance of the inn that is nearly detaching from its hardware. The sign reads "Dit Is Gu(l)den Hert" ("This is the Golden Hart" ie "deer"; the letter "l" is abraded) and represents the vision of Saint Hubertus, or of Saint Eustace, patron saint of the hunters.[1] Of interest are the jagged mountain peaks which do not exist in the Low Countries.
The painting prominently depicts crows sitting in the denuded trees and a magpie flies in the upper centre of the scene. Bruegel sometimes uses these two species of birds to indicate an ill-omen as in Dutch culture magpies are associated with the Devil.[2]
The landscape itself is a flat-bottomed valley (a river meanders through it) with jagged peaks visible on the far side. A watermill is seen with its wheel frozen stiff. In the distance, figures ice skate, play a forerunner of bandy or ice hockey, kolf, and play eisstock[3] ("ice-stick", similar to curling) on a frozen lake; they are rendered as silhouettes.
Interpretation and reception
External videos
video icon Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow (Winter), 1565, Smarthistory
Writing in the "opinion" section of Nature, art historian Martin Kemp points out that Old Masters are popular subjects for Christmas cards and states that "probably no 'secular' subject is more popular than ... Hunters in the Snow".[4] The painting is the subject of modernist poet William Carlos Williams's ekphrastic poem "The Hunter in the Snow".[5]
The surviving Months of the Year cycle are:
The Hunters in the Snow, Dec–Jan, also known as 'Winter'
The Hunters in the Snow, Dec–Jan, also known as 'Winter'
The Gloomy Day, Feb–Mar, also known as 'Early Spring'
The Gloomy Day, Feb–Mar, also known as 'Early Spring'
Spring, 1565, a drawing made to be engraved and suggestive of April–May. It was apparently never painted by Bruegel himself, but after his death came dozens of versions in paint by his son and others.
Spring, 1565, a drawing made to be engraved and suggestive of April–May. It was apparently never painted by Bruegel himself, but after his death came dozens of versions in paint by his son and others.
The Hay Harvest, June–July
The Hay Harvest, June–July
The Harvesters, Aug–Sept
The Harvesters, Aug–Sept
The Return of the Herd, Oct–Nov
The Return of the Herd, Oct–Nov
Bruegel's other snow paintings
Adoration of the Magi in the Snow (1563)
Adoration of the Magi in the Snow (1563)
Winter Landscape with Ice skaters and Bird trap (1565)
Winter Landscape with Ice skaters and Bird trap (1565)
Massacre of the Innocents (c.1565–1567)
Massacre of the Innocents (c.1565–1567)
The Census at Bethlehem (1566)
The Census at Bethlehem (1566)
Popular culture
Hunters in the Snow appears in Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris (1972), during the zero gravity scene, accompanied by organ prelude BWV 639 by Bach.[6]
The film 24 Frames (2017) is structured in 24 chapters of "Frames" usually set in a fixed camera position filming a scene of nature or the seashore. The 'action' of each Frame is highly constrained and often focuses on either one or two animals either casually interacting or possibly vaguely interacting with one another. The opening Frame depicts The Hunters in the Snow and selectively animates the actions of one of the animals or birds by superimposing movement upon the original canvas to suggest motion and life in process.[citation needed]
The painting is briefly shown in the 2017 horror film It Comes at Night.
In the novel Headlong by Michael Frayn, Martin Clay speculates on the sequence and number of Bruegel's paintings, starting with a disquisition on The Hunters in the Snow, after finding what he believes to be a lost picture of the series in a country house.
A magnified detail of the painting serves as the cover design for Claire Keegan's novel Small Things Like These, published by Faber & Faber for international distribution.[7]
The painting is also included several times in Lars Von Trier's 2011 film Melancholia.
See also
List of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
References
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Fowler, Alastair (2014). "Brueghel's Hunters in the Snow". Source: Notes in the History of Art. 34 (1): 14. doi:10.1086/sou.34.1.23882369. JSTOR 23882369.
Kaschek, Bertram; Buskirk, Jessica; M;ller, J;rgen, eds. (2018). Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Religion. Leiden and Boston: Brill. p. 265. ISBN 9789004367579. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
Wolf, Manfred (2018-10-20). "Pieter Bruegel - Meister der Beobachtung". Ober ;sterreich Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-24.
Kemp, Martin (December 2008). "Looking at the face of the Earth". Nature. 456 (18): 876. Bibcode:2008Natur.456..876K. doi:10.1038/456876a.
Williams, William Carlos. "The Hunter in the Snow". Emory University. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
Chen, Min (2024-05-18). "As Seen on 'Solaris': A 16th-Century Masterpiece in Space". Artnet News. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
"Small Things Like These (Paperback)". Luddites Books & Wine. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
Kunsthistorisches Museum website
Hunters in the snow painting on Google Art Project
Further reading
Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. (2001). Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780870999901. (see index)
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Labours of the months by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder
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Categories: 1565 paintingsCorvids in artPaintings of dogsHunting in artPaintings by Pieter Bruegel the ElderPaintings in the Kunsthistorisches MuseumWorks about melancholiaSnow in artPaintings of bridgesPaintings of foxes
Bruegel s Season Cycle Explained
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