Christen, Christen (17th century)
Christen Christen (van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, calls him Christen Christiaen), according to van Braght was imprisoned in 1659 at Bern, Switzerland, with six of his fellow preachers and deacons. They had to choose between joining the Reformed Church, expulsion, or death. An official report of 20 January 1660, states that there were not six men, but eleven, and that Christen was a native of Langnau. A song found in the Geistliches Liederbüchlein of 1696 gives the information that in January 1659 a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Dürsrütti near Langnau in the Emmental was surprised and a number of men were arrested at Trachselwald, then taken to Bern. Van Braght says nothing is known concerning their choice or their fate, but Müller, Berner Täufer, gives the information that after repeated attempts to convert them to the state church they were taken by boat to Holland on 10 September 1660. Christen and at least one brother, Benedicht Baumgartner, succeeded in returning to Switzerland. Nothing further is known about these two men. The arrest and mistreatment of the eleven brethren in the Bernese prison was reported to Hans Vlamingh in Amsterdam, and led to the intercession of the Dutch government with the Bernese magistrates (1660) and to measures taken by the Dutch Mennonites in behalf of their Swiss brethren.
Bibliography
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doopsgesinde of Weereloose Christenen, Die om ‘t getuygenis van Jesus haren Salighmaker geleden hebben ende gedood zijn van Christi tijd of tot desen tijd toe. Den Tweeden Druk. Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts, 1685: Part II, 826.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs’ Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour … to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 124. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Müller, Ernst. Geschichte der Bernischen Täufer. Frauenfeld: Huber, 1895. Reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. De Graaf, 1972: 123 ff., 173 f., 179 f., 191.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Christen, Christen (17th century)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Christen,_Christen_(17th_century)&oldid=129189.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1953). Christen, Christen (17th century). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Christen,_Christen_(17th_century)&oldid=129189.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 575. All rights reserved.
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