Willeboort Cornelisz (d. 1564)
Willeboort Cornelisz, an Anabaptist martyr, beheaded on 26 October 1564 at Middelburg, the capital of the Dutch province of Zeeland. Willeboort, who was a native of Oostkapelle on the Zeeland island of Walcheren, was arrested with his wife, Maeyken Pieters, in the night of 19 January 1561, and imprisoned at Middelburg for three years and nine months. He was tried by the Catholic bishop of Middelburg and tortured several times. Remaining steadfast, he was sentenced to death, but the execution was delayed again and again until it finally took place secretly within the Gravensteen castle for fear of a popular uprising. Maeyken, who gave birth to a child in prison on 17 September 1561, escaped with a number of other prisoners.
From prison Willeboort wrote a letter to his wife, which was first published in the Great Martyrs' book of 1615, and was also included in van Braght's <em>Martyrs' Mirror</em>. The date of Willeboort's death as given by van Braght (14 September 1564, repeated in Mennonitisches Lexikon) is incorrect.
Bibliography
Dit Boec wort genoemt: Het Offer des Herren, om het inhout van sommighe opgheofferde kinderen Godts . . . N.p., 1562, 1567, 1570, 1578, 1580, Amsterdam, 1590, n.p., 1591, Amsterdam, 1595, Harlingen, 1599: 463, Note 1, 469.
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: 305.
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: 677.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 372.
Pekelharlng, K. R. "Geschiedenis der Hervorming in Zeeland." Archie Zeeuwsch Genootschap VI (1866): 44-47.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Willeboort Cornelisz (d. 1564)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Willeboort_Cornelisz_(d._1564)&oldid=86079.
APA style
van der Zijpp, Nanne. (1959). Willeboort Cornelisz (d. 1564). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Willeboort_Cornelisz_(d._1564)&oldid=86079.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 952. All rights reserved.
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