Rutschmann, Rudolf (16th century)

Rudolf Rutschmann, a member of an old peasant family at Zollikon, near Zürich, Switzerland, was one of the earliest Anabaptists. He was baptized during the first week of the existence of the brotherhood, between 22 January and 29 January 1525. Soon after this event fourteen of the leaders of the Anabaptist movement were placed under arrest in the Augustinian monastery for investigation; Rudolf Rutschmann was the first of these to be questioned. He openly confessed that he had been (re)baptized. Since he was now a "servant and subject of God" he would continue to do "what the Spirit of God instructed, taught, and commanded" him to do. He would therefore not allow himself to be deflected by any secular authority. In other respects he would be obedient to "the gracious lords of Zürich" in so far as "it was not contrary to the Word of God." All of the accused agreed with this confession. The sentence of the council, 8 February 1525, released them upon promise to desist and a total fine of 1,000 guilders, with the admonition that they had acted "unreasonably against God and against man with offense." Rutschmann, however, refused to pay the fine.

In a cross-examination at the end of June 1525 it was related that Rudolf Rutschmann had read aloud one or two chapters of the Bible at a Bible study meeting in a peasant house at Nenikon. On the way home he was asked by several women to come into their homes and read to them. After initial hesitation he did so, reading a chapter on the love of God. He had kept his promise of February and had baptized no one, and had only read from the Bible in private homes, as the councillors had permitted him to do. He was released, but compelled to swear an oath that he would leave off baptizing and preaching. He was summoned to the court again and tried in August 1525, where he confessed that he had attended a Bible reading, but that nothing had been said there about baptism. At this point all trace of him is lost.

Bibliography

Blanke, Fritz. Brüder in Christo. Die Geschichte der ältesten Täufergemeinde. Zollikon 1525, Zürich, 1955.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 579 f.

Muralt, Leonhard von and Walter Schmid. Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer in der Schweiz, I. Band: Zürich. Zürich: S. Hirzel, 1952.

Author(s)	Samuel Geiser
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Geiser, Samuel. "Rutschmann, Rudolf (16th century)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rutschmann,_Rudolf_(16th_century)&oldid=146205.

APA style

Geiser, Samuel. (1959). Rutschmann, Rudolf (16th century). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rutschmann,_Rudolf_(16th_century)&oldid=146205.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 395. All rights reserved.

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