Maeyken de Corte (d. 1559)
Maeyken (Mayken) de Corte (Korte), an Anabaptist martyr, who was burned at the stake (Martyrs' Mirror erroneously beheaded) with Grietge Bonaventuers and "old Maeyken" on 11 October 1559, at Antwerp, Belgium. Van Braght's Martyrs' Mirror prints a letter she wrote, giving striking testimony to her strong Biblical faith and her joy in dying. She says her two sisters visited her and tried by all means to save her life; if she would only say she had erred; but she resisted, and would gladly seal her faith with death.
"I feel," she writes, "that the more I humble my self, the more the mighty God works in me, and pours His grace into me. Then I cry most bitterly, fall upon my knees, and thank my God, and say: O my Lord and God, what am I, child of Adam, that Thou art mindful of him, Thou hast given him do minion over all Thy works . . . . What shall we render unto Him, my dear sister, but a penitent and contrite heart, . . . with love and great gratitude . . . . Let us love one another fervently, for God is love, and constantly exhort each other, lest we wax cold through the deceitfulness of sin; so that God may be glorified in us, and we may be delivered from pride, and from unreasonable and wicked men; for all men have not faith. The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and keep us."
Maeyken was a native of Ghent, Belgium. She is commemorated in two hymns, "Babels Raets Mandamenten" and "Aenhoort, Godt, hemelsche Vader," both found in the Lietboecxken van den Offer des Heeren.
Bibliography
Dit Boec wort genoemt: Het Offer des Herren, om het inhout van sommighe opgheofferde kinderen Godts . . . N.p., 1570: 566, 581 ff.
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: Part II, 249.
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: 623. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Génard, P. Antwerpsch archievenblad: IX, 4, 10, 16; XIV, 26 f., No. 301.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 553.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop: B. De Graaf, 1965: 63, 71 f.
| Author(s) | Christian Neff |
|---|---|
| Nanne van der Zijpp | |
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Maeyken de Corte (d. 1559)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeyken_de_Corte_(d._1559)&oldid=129958.
APA style
Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1957). Maeyken de Corte (d. 1559). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeyken_de_Corte_(d._1559)&oldid=129958.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 437-438. All rights reserved.
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