Seiler, Heini (d. 1529)

Heini (Heinrich) Seiler, an Anabaptist martyr, a hatter of Aarau, Switzerland, who suffered death by drowning at Bern in July 1531 together with Hans Seckler and Hans Dreier. He was one of the eight Anabaptists who had planned to take part in the great religious colloquy of 1528 in Bern but were arrested, tried after the colloquy, and expelled from the city and canton. Seized the second time, Seiler was examined on 24 May 1529, with the two men mentioned above and held prisoner for two years longer. An account of the trial is found in Hansmann, Hans. On 19 April 1531, he had a conversation with Hans Pfistermeyer.

2020 Update

Heini (Heinrich) Seiler, an Anabaptist martyr, a hatter from Aarau, Switzerland, suffered death by drowning at Bern on 8 July 1529 together with Hans Seckler (also known as Hans Hansmann) and Hans Dreier (Treyer). [QGTS III, #399; #402.] He was one of the eight Anabaptists who took part in the great religious colloquy of 1528 in Bern in May 1527 [QGTS III, #341; 342]. After the colloquy, he was expelled from the city and canton. Seized a second time, Seiler was examined on 24 May 1529. [QGTS III, #396] Seckler and Dreier were examined a few days later, 7 June 1529. [QGTS III, #398]. On 8 July 1529 a death sentence by drowning was pronounced against all three and appears to have been carried out that same day. [QGTS III, #399, note 6; #402]. Two years later, Hans Pfistermeyer, in the process of recanting his Anabaptism, had a conversation in prison with a "Heyni" on 21 April 1531. This "Heyni" subsequently recanted along with Pfistermeyer. [QGTS IV, 60-65]. Martin Haas concluded that "Heyni" was most probably Heini Steffan, or perhaps Heini of Taegeren, who had the 1531 conversation with Pfistermeyer. [QGTS III, #156, note 1; QGTS III, #132, n. 1] The most recent scholarship thus indicates that when Christian Neff named Heini Seiler as Pfistermeyer's prison companion in 1531, he confused Heini Seiler (already deceased) with Heini Steffan.

Bibliography

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: 1129. 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. IV, 148.

Heiz, J. Die Täufer im Aargau. Aarau, 1902: 11-13.

Müller, Ernst. Geschichte der Bernischen Täufer. Frauenfeld: Huber, 1895; reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. de Graaf, 1972: 44.

Bibliography for Update

Haas, Martin, ed. Aargau – Bern – Solothurn. Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer in der Schweiz [QGTS], Bd. 3. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag, 2008: #132, #156, #341, #342, #396, #398, #399, #402.

Haas, Martin, ed. Drei Täufergespräche. Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer in der Schweiz [QGTS], Bd. 4. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag, 1974: 60-65.

Author(s)	Christian Neff
	C. Arnold Snyder
Date Published	April 2020

Cite This Article

MLA style

Neff, Christian and C. Arnold Snyder. "Seiler, Heini (d. 1529)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2020. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Seiler,_Heini_(d._1529)&oldid=167979.

APA style

Neff, Christian and C. Arnold Snyder. (April 2020). Seiler, Heini (d. 1529). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Seiler,_Heini_(d._1529)&oldid=167979.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 498. All rights reserved.

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