Gerrit Cornelisz (d. 1571)
Gerrit Comelisz (Boon), an Anabaptist martyr, a young boatman and a citizen of Amsterdam, was imprisoned because he "was unmindful of his soul's salvation and the obedience which he owed our mother the holy church and to his imperial majesty, as his natural lord and prince, rejecting the ordinances of the holy church, has been neither to confession nor to the holy sacrament for ten years past, and has further dared repeatedly to go into the assembly of the reprobated sect of the Mennonites or Anabaptists, and has also eight years ago, renouncing and forsaking the baptism received by him in infancy from the holy Church, been rebaptized and afterward repeatedly received the breaking of bread according to the manner of the aforesaid sect, and also attended the assembly," as his sentence of death reads. The most brutal persecutions he endured steadfastly; he would not betray his brethren. On 26 June 1571 he was executed by burning. At the stake he prayed the moving prayer, "O Father and Lord, be gracious unto me, let me be one of the least of Thy least lambs or the least member of Thy body! O Lord, who lookest down here from on high and art a discerner of the hearts and of every hidden thing, before whom all things are to be accounted as nothing, Thou knowest my simple love towards Thee, accept me and forgive them that inflict this suffering upon me," A song on his martyrdom is found in Het Offer des Heeren and begins "Als men duysent vijfhondert heeft gheschreven en eenentseventig Jaer."
Bibliography
Dit Boec wort genoemt: Het Offer des Heeren, om het inhout van sommighe opgheofferde kinderen Godts . . . N.p., 1570: 654-658. Available in full electronic text at: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_off001offe01_01/
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: II, 540.
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: 876. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 371.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop: B. De Graaf, 1965: 69.
| Author(s) | Christian Neff |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Neff, Christian. "Gerrit Cornelisz (d. 1571)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gerrit_Cornelisz_(d._1571)&oldid=162800.
APA style
Neff, Christian. (1956). Gerrit Cornelisz (d. 1571). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gerrit_Cornelisz_(d._1571)&oldid=162800.
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