Jan Jansz Brant (d. 1559?)
Jan Jansz Brant, an Anabaptist martyr, who in his youth had led a dissolute life. After his conversion both he and his wife joined the Mennonite Church. They were natives of Zuidland on the South Holland island of Putten, and were arrested on 9 November 1559 at Geervliet on the same island. Jan Jansz remained steadfast and was sentenced to death on 29 November 1559. The execution did not take place immediately after the sentence. Apparently this delay was caused by negotiations for a ransom, which, however, were fruitless. The date of the execution is not known. It took place at the castle of Geervliet (not at The Hague as Bibliographie and also ML report). Jan Jansz was bound in a sack and thrown from the bridge of the castle into the moat. When the sack burst open, the executioner pushed him under the water with a pole. This cruel death is celebrated in a song found both in the Lietboecxken van den Offer des Heeren (1563 and following editions) and the Tweede Liedeboeck (1583) beginning "Hoort Vrienden, ich schenck u een liet" (Hear, friends, I give you a song). The account found in the later martyrbooks, including van Braght, Martyrs' Mirror, is taken from this song. It is not clear what happened to Jan Jansz's wife. She was still in prison when the song was written after her husband's death.
Bibliography
Dit Boec wort genoemt: Het Offer des Herren, om het inhout van sommighe opgheofferde kinderen Godts . . . N.p., 1570: 550-552.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doopsgesinde of Weereloose Christenen, Die om 't getuygenis van Jesus haren Salighmaker geleden hebben ende gedood zijn van Christi tijd of tot desen tijd toe. Den Tweeden Druk. Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts, 1685: II, 243.
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: 617. 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. I, 256.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop: B. De Graaf, 1965: 62, 71.
| Author(s) | Christian Neff |
|---|---|
| Nanne van der Zijpp | |
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Jan Jansz Brant (d. 1559?)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_Jansz_Brant_(d._1559%3F)&oldid=145110.
APA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1957). Jan Jansz Brant (d. 1559?). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_Jansz_Brant_(d._1559%3F)&oldid=145110.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 76-77. All rights reserved.
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