Joachim Vermeeren (16th century)

Joachim Vermeeren (Joos or Hans or Janne), called "(de) Suyckerbacker," was a Mennonite elder who lived at Antwerp, Belgium, and who baptized there as well as at Ghent and other Flemish towns a large number of people, and also performed many marriages. From which year Joachim was active could not be ascertained, but in 1557 he was already an elder. He also visited the Dutch province of Zeeland and in 1565 he was in Cologne, Germany. Here, apparently together with Matthys Servaes, he was arrested. Under the persuasion of the Catholic priest Georg Cassander, who visited him in prison, Joachim recanted. About his further fate nothing is known.

Joachim's wife was also a Mennonite; Elder Dirk Philips wrote a letter to her, presumably in 1559, while she was in prison at Antwerp (this letter is found in Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica). According to van Braght's Martyrs Mirror, the name of this woman was Adriaentgen (Jochem's Wijf). In the letter by Dirk Philips her exact name is not found. Shortly after, this woman with four other Anabaptists succeeded in escaping from the Steen castle prison. It is not clear whether she was later rearrested and put to death (as the superscription of Dirk Philips' letter suggests) or not. No documents about her are available.

Bibliography

Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doops-gesinde 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: 269.

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: 639. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.

Cramer, Samuel and Fredrik Pijper. Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica. 10 v. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1903-1914: X, 675-688.

Mellink, Albert F. De Wederdopers in de noordelijke Nederlanden 1531-1544. Groningen: J.B. Wolters, 1954: 310, 399.

Verheyden, A. L. E. "Mennisme in Vlaanderen." Unpublished manuscript.

Vos, Karel. "De Doopsgezinden te Antwerpen." Bulletin de la Commission Royale d' Histoire de Belgique 84 (1920): 338-343.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1957

Cite This Article

MLA style

van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Joachim Vermeeren (16th century)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Joachim_Vermeeren_(16th_century)&oldid=92144.

APA style

van der Zijpp, Nanne. (1957). Joachim Vermeeren (16th century). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Joachim_Vermeeren_(16th_century)&oldid=92144.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 111. All rights reserved.

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