Dirk Willemsz (d. 1569)
![](/images/thumb/5/55/MM2-387.jpg/300px-MM2-387.jpg)
Engraving by Jan Luiken in Martyrs Mirror, v. 2, p. 387 of Dutch edition.
Source: Rijksmuseum.
Dirk Willemsz (Willems), an Anabaptist martyr, was born and lived at Asperen, Dutch province of South Holland. He was burned at the stake outside the town of Asperen on 16 May 1569. According to Van Braght, Dirk managed to escape from prison. Pursued by a guard or policeman, he succeeded in saving his life by crossing a wide river covered with thin ice. The policeman following him on the ice fell in and was at the point of drowning. Dirk came back and saved the man, who was very grateful and would have let him go, but the burgomaster ordered him to seize the heretic. So Dirk was brought back to prison and after some months died steadfastly. In the Martyrs' Mirror there is a fine etching of the rescue.
Bibliography
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doops-gesinde 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, 387.
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: 741. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
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Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Dirk Willemsz (d. 1569)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 20 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dirk_Willemsz_(d._1569)&oldid=141426.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1956). Dirk Willemsz (d. 1569). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dirk_Willemsz_(d._1569)&oldid=141426.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 66-67. All rights reserved.
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