Braidl, Klaus (1528?-1611)
Klaus Braidl (also called Klaus Schuster), the leader of the Hutterian Brethren in Moravia, 1583-1611. He united with them in 1550 and was chosen preacher in 1564. In that year he was sent as a missionary to the Palatinate, where he persuaded Farwendel, the elder of the Anabaptist congregation at Neustadt a.d.W., to join the Hutterites and immigrate to Moravia.
After the death of Hans Kräls, Braidl was chosen as head of the entire brotherhood, and led it prudently for 28 years. He applied great care to the development of trades and handicraft in the communities, and set up various regulations, such as the "bath rule" in 1592, the "clothing rule" in 1603, and additions to the regulations of cobblers, dyers, and millers. He stepped into public view when Parson Christoph Andreas Fischer slandered his brotherhood in his polemic (1603), Von der Wiedertäufer verfluchtem Ursprung. Braidl countered with a pamphlet, Eine Widerlegung und warhaffte Verantwortung der alten grausamsten abscheulichen und unverschamisten, schmach und unwarhafftigen Beschuldigungen, so Christof Andreas Fischer, Pfarrherr zu Feldsberg, über uns Brüder erdacht, 1604, which energetically repudiates the false accusations (Loserth, 61, 63, 113). With the exception of Peter Riedemann's Rechenschaft unserer Religion this reply was the only publication of the Hutterian Brethren in the 16th century (Horsch, 110). A letter written by Braidl to Salomon Böger (1607), as well as letters written to him by Salomon Böger and B. Goller (1607-1610) are in the possession of the Hutterian Brethren in North America. Braidl died 21 January 1611 at the age of 82 at Neumühl near Polau, Moravia. Beck describes him as "steadfast, just, moderate in fortune, unyielding in misfortune." His successor was Sebastian Dietrich.
Bibliography
Beck, Josef. Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967: 195, 214, 216, 237, 287, 360.
Loserth, Johann. Der Communismus der mährischen Wiedertäufer im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert: Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte, Lehre und Verfassung. Vienna, 1894.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 253.
Horsch, John. The Hutterian Brethren, 1528-1931. Goshen, IN: Mennonite Historical Society, 1931.
| Author(s) | Christian Hege |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hege, Christian. "Braidl, Klaus (1528?-1611)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Braidl,_Klaus_(1528%3F-1611)&oldid=144685.
APA style
Hege, Christian. (1953). Braidl, Klaus (1528?-1611). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Braidl,_Klaus_(1528%3F-1611)&oldid=144685.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 401-402. All rights reserved.
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