View source for Venice (Provincia di Venezia, Italy)

Through a confusion that was finally cleared up by the work of the American scholar H. A. DeWind, it was long thought that there was an [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] movement in Northern [[Italy|Italy]] that centered in Venice and flourished about the middle of the 16th century. There was even a report of an "Anabaptist Synod" held at Venice in 1550. DeWind has shown that the group thought to be Anabaptist and even labeled as such by its enemies was a radical evangelical, and finally anti-Trinitarian group, which had nothing to do with true Anabaptism. This invalidates much of the work of [[Benrath, Karl (1845-1924)|Karl Benrath]] (see bibliography).

[[Rizzetto, Antonio (d. 1565)|Antonio Rizzetto]], [[Gherlandi, Giulio (ca. 1520-1562)|Giulio Gherlandi]], and [[Sega, Francesco della (1528/32-1565)|Francesco della Sega]], fleeing from Italy, reached [[Moravia (Czech Republic)|Moravia]], where they became [[Hutterian Brethren (Hutterische Brüder)|Hutterite]] converts, the latter two joining the Hutterite group at [[Pausram (Moravia, Czech Republic)|Pausram]]. Returning to Italy as Anabaptist missionaries, all three were finally imprisoned and executed at Venice, Gherlandi in October 1562, Rizzetto and della Saga in February 1565. The Venetian Archives contain valuable materials on these three Anabaptists and others as well as on the anti-Trinitarian movement as a whole.
= Bibliography =
DeWind, Henry A. "Italian Hutterite Martyrs." <em>Mennonite Quarterly Review </em>XXVIII  (1954): 163-85.

"Wiedertäufer im Venetianischen um die Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts." <em>Theolpgische. Studien und Kritiken. </em>LVIII (1885): 9-67.

= Maps =
[[Map:Venice (Provincia di Venezia, Italy)|Map:Venice (Provincia di Venezia, Italy)]]
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