View source for Hortensius, Lambertus (1500-1574)

Lambertus Hortensius, a Dutch historian, studied at the school of St. Jerome at [[Utrecht (Utrecht, Netherlands)|Utrecht]], then at the University of Leuven. In 1527 he was employed as a teacher in the school of St. Jerome, was here dedicated as a priest, and served from 1544 as rector of the Latin school at Naarden. In 1572 he lost his entire estate to plundering Spanish soldiers and died on the nearby country estate "de hooge Eng" or "Crayl" in 1574.

One of his several works is of interest to us:<em> Tumultuum anabaptistarum liber unus </em>(Basel, 1548). This booklet of 84 pages is dedicated to the mayors and the council of [[Amsterdam (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)|Amsterdam]]. It endeavors to increase the fame of the council by bringing into prominence its wisdom and energy in mastering the [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] attempt at a coup d'état, in contrast to the negligence and foolishness of the government of [[Münster Anabaptists|Münster]]. After a brief reference to the origins of the Anabaptist movement, which he finds in a miscomprehension of [[Luther, Martin (1483-1546)|Luther's]] <em>Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen, </em>Hortensius presents a detailed account of the events in Münster in a smooth and skillful style in Latin, without division into chapters or sections. The result is a graphic and impressive description of the affair, which explains the remarkable influence the book enjoyed for centuries. Its historical value is slight. The first Dutch translation, <em>Het Boeck . . . van den Oproeren der Weder-dooperen </em>(Enkhuizen, 1614), quarto size, 53 pages, contained 8 1/2 remarkable full-page hand-colored illustrations in five colors (copy in the [[Mennonite Historical Library (Goshen, Indiana, USA)|Mennonite Historical Library]] at Goshen). Later Dutch editions appeared in 1624, 1660, 1694, and 1699.The <em>Histoire des Anabaptistes, </em>published anonymously at Paris in 1695, is in effect a translation of Hortensius.
= Bibliography =
Cornelius, C. A. <em>Die Geschichtsquellen des Bistums Münster</em>. Münster, 1850: II, p. XXVIII.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em> Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 348.

Mees, G. "Lambertus Hortensius ... als geschiedschrijver." Nieuwe verhandelingen van het Provinciaal Utrechtsch genootschap van kunsten en wetenschappen 11 (Utrecht, 1838).
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