Metken (d. 1547)
Metken, an Anabaptist martyr, wife of Jacob Vrencken, born at Roosteren, Montfort district, in the duchy of Gelre, now province of Limburg, was baptized in 1535 by Jan Smeitgen van Tricht in the home of Herman van den Berge, heard Menno Simons preach in 1545 in Visschersweert, where she lived, was imprisoned at Valkenburg (Dutch province of Limburg) on 22 August 1547, and soon afterward, remaining steadfast, suffered a martyr's death; her two sisters and her brother had been executed earlier. She was the mother of five children and 35 years of age. Her husband, also a Mennonite, had left Visschersweert five or six days before she was arrested. Her confession gives interesting information about the Mennonite faith and Mennonite practices and doctrines. Metken's daughter Mariken of about 12 years, was also examined. She reported that she had often seen her mother reading a little booklet, "which she called the New Testament." Mariken, though she had never been in a church, knew the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed in the Dutch language. Her parents had also taught her a prayer (to be spoken before the meals), which she then recited. This is indeed a fine example of true Christian education.
Bibliography
Bax, Willem. Het Protestantisme in het Bisdom Luik I. The Hague, 1937: 325-327, 398-401.
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1864): 147 ff. (1890): 56, 60.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 118.
Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. 2 v. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: I, No. 343.
Author(s) | Christian Neff |
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Nanne van der Zijpp | |
Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Metken (d. 1547)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 25 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Metken_(d._1547)&oldid=58786.
APA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1957). Metken (d. 1547). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Metken_(d._1547)&oldid=58786.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 658-659. All rights reserved.
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