Hans Vermeersch (d. 1559)
Hans Vermeersch (thus called in Groot Offerboek of 1615 and later in martyr books, including van Braght, Martyrs' Mirror; in Offer his name is Hans van der Maes), an Anabaptist martyr, executed at the end of 1559 at Waastene (Warneton) in West Flanders, Belgium. About this martyr nothing is known but a letter he wrote in prison, which is found in Offer des Heeren and all following martyr books, including van Braght's Martyrs' Mirror. He states that he was taken from prison to the inquisitor, and gives a detailed account of his trial, both the inquisitor's questions and his answers. In the Offer this letter is followed by a hymn concerning Hans beginning "Tyrannich werck spoortmen nu alle weghen" (Tyrannic action is now found everywhere). In the 17th century members of a Vermeersch family were found among the Flemish Mennonite congregation of Haarlem, while Gielis Vermeersch was a deacon at Harlingen about 1690. It could not be determined whether or in what way these families are related to the martyr Hans Vermeersch.
Bibliography
Dit Boec wort genoemt: Het Offer des Heeren, om het inhout van sommighe opgheofferde kinderen Godts . . . N.p., 1562, 1567, 1570, 1578, 1580, Amsterdam, 1590, n.p., 1591, Amsterdam, 1595, Harlingen, 1599: 358-66: 259. Available in full electronic text at: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_off001offe01_01/
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, 259.
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: 631. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. De Graaf, 1965 : 67.
Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
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Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Hans Vermeersch (d. 1559)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 19 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hans_Vermeersch_(d._1559)&oldid=168290.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1956). Hans Vermeersch (d. 1559). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hans_Vermeersch_(d._1559)&oldid=168290.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 653. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.