Hebberecht family
Hebberecht, a Mennonite family in Flanders which emigrated to Aardenburg, Dutch province of Zeeland. Christoffel Hebberecht, a cloth merchant of Ghent, Belgium, obtained citizenship in Aardenburg in 1633, and became a deacon of the Aardenburg Mennonite congregation. His son Ghysel (or Gillis) Hebberecht, also called Gillis Aelbrechts, a well-to-do cloth merchant, married Susanna de Meyere, was a preacher of the Aardenburg congregation from 1651 until his death, shortly after 21 September 1680. He played a prominent role in the difficult period when the government vigorously opposed the Mennonites, chiefly at the instigation of the Calvinist preacher Buce. With calm firmness and warm faith he led the church wisely. When the authorities called the Mennonites as civil guards (1657-58), and accused them of disloyalty to the country because they could not for reasons of conscience accept the service, Hebberecht after many discussions finally obtained an agreement in 1663 that the Mennonites should pay a "guard fee" in return for exemption from service. A charge of Socinianism made against Hebberecht in 1660 was dismissed by the magistrate. When the city was besieged by the French in 1762, Hebberecht again became the soul of the congregation. Ready to stand by the city in trouble, the Mennonites nevertheless adhered to their principle not to fight with arms. Contemporaries, among them Hunnius, the Reformed pastor of Oostburg, praised him for his faithfulness to principle and his leadership through the period of confusion. Under Hebberecht the Aardenburg church experienced a period of great development.
Bibliography
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1876): 81, 105; (1879): 14 f.; (1881): 1 f., 27-29; (1883): 11, 13-17, 18, 22; (1884): 32-34;
F. K. van Lennep, Verzameling van Oorhonden, betrekking hebbende op het gedacht von Eeghen. Amsterdam, 1918; see Index.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 268.
Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, 8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: v. III, 601 f.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Hebberecht family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hebberecht_family&oldid=117731.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1956). Hebberecht family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hebberecht_family&oldid=117731.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 684. All rights reserved.
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