Binder, Eucharius (d. 1527)

Eucharius Binder (also called Carius or Eukarius Kellermann, as in Wappler, Thüringen), an Anabaptist martyr, was one of the first evangelists of the South German Anabaptists. He came from Coburg, where he was engaged in cabinetmaking, joined the Anabaptists in Thuringia, and was baptized by Hans Hut in 1526 in a village near Coburg, as was also his wife, Ursula Nospitzer (Meyer, 248). He accompanied Hans Hut on his journeys and seems to have brought about Hut's entry into Königsberg in Franconia (Berbig, Königsberg, 315). In the records published by Berbig his full name is not given; but there is no doubt that he is identical with the Eucharius Tischler of Coburg, who, as Wolf Schreiner of Königsberg says, stated under torture that his brother-in-law Eucharius with three other men, including Johannes von Bibra (Hans Hut), had come to him; after his sermon he had been baptized and soon afterward all the others present from Königsberg and vicinity had followed his example (Berbig, 315). Wappler reported similar statements by other Anabaptists, e.g., Thoman Spiegel, Hans Weichsenfelder (234, 243-45, 279, 281).

From Königsberg Binder went to Nürnberg and Augsburg. In Augsburg he was present at the baptism of Eitelhans Langenmantel in February 1527. He seems to have been influential in Upper Austria later on. In Styria he assisted Hans Hut in sending out four apostles: Hieronymus von Mannsee, Leopold Schiemer, Jakob Portner, and Joachim of Nürnberg (Nicoladoni, Bünderlin, 27). According to a statement by Hans Weichsenfelder (Wappler, 231) he was also in Moravia.

In the summer of 1527 we find Binder in Augsburg again, participating in the Martyrs' Synod (20 August 1527) and at the suggestion of Hut (Meyer, 248) was sent into the region of Salzburg as an evangelist. Here he fell into the hands of the catchpolls. After a brief imprisonment and several trials, in which he courageously defended his faith, a cruel verdict was pronounced on him and his fellow prisoners. With 37 fellow believers, among them the preachers Hieronymus von Mannsee, Joachim März, and Wolfgang Wimmer, he was locked into a house, 27 October 1527, which was then set on fire; all perished in the flames (Beck, Geschichts-Bücher, 57). Dr. Johann Eck, the well-known enemy of the Reformation, reported the execution on 26 November 1527 to Duke Georg of Saxony (Seidemann, 152, appendix 43b). Binder had left his wife in Augsburg; she stayed there with his brother-in-law, Thoman Baur, a day laborer, but spent some time in Laugingen (Roth, 16, 18, and 47). On 12 April 1528, she attended the Easter service, at which all present were arrested (see Augsburg).

A hymn of Binder's is still extant, "Wir danken Gott von Herzen," which pointed out that only suffering and pain open the gates of heaven. It consisted of 11 stanzas, and was at first distributed as a leaflet (K. Goedecke, 241). In two of the Hutterian hymnals Binder was named as the author (Beck, 57). In the Ausbund it is No. 35, where, however, it is erroneously attributed to Jörg Steinmetz, who was beheaded in Pforzheim in 1530. Wackernagel reprinted it in Kirchenlied (III, 540). The mass execution at Salzburg was mentioned in the song, "Ach Gott im Himmelreich" (Ausbund, No. 27), which Wackernagel also included (V, 788).

Bibliography

Berbig, G. "Die Wiedertäufer im Amt Königsberg." Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht 13 (1903): 315.

Goedeke, Karl. Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung. 2., ganz neu bearb. Aufl. Dresden: Ehlermann, n.d.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 222.

Meyer, Christian. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Schwaben und Neuburg I (1874).

Nicoladoni, Alexander. Johannes Bünderlin von Linz und die oberösterreichischen Täufergemeinden in den Jahren 1525-1531. Berlin : R. Gaertner, Hermann Heyfelder, 1893.

Roth, Friedrich. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Schwaben und Neuburg 28 (1901).

Seidemann, Johann Karl. Thomas Münzer. Dresd. u. Leipz., 1842.

Wappler, Paul. Die Täuferbewegung in Thüringen von 1526-1584. Jena: Gustav Fisher, 1913.

Author(s)	Christian Hege
Date Published	1953

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MLA style

Hege, Christian. "Binder, Eucharius (d. 1527)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Binder,_Eucharius_(d._1527)&oldid=128488.

APA style

Hege, Christian. (1953). Binder, Eucharius (d. 1527). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Binder,_Eucharius_(d._1527)&oldid=128488.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 343. All rights reserved.

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