View source for Zelis Jacobs (d. ca. 1565)

Zelis (Zilis, Zielis, Sielis, Zylis), or Zelis Jacobs, a Mennonite elder, a native of [[Monschau (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany)|Monschau]] in the Eiffel, [[Germany|Germany]], was from c1554 active in Cologne and along the Rhine as far as [[Strasbourg (Alsace, France)|Strasbourg]]. This simple man, a charcoal burner, was a powerful apostle, evangelist, and leader of the church; he also trained ministers. In early 1557, when the Dutch elders [[Leenaert Bouwens (1515-1582)|Leenaert Bouwens]], [[Dirk Philips (1504-1568)|Dirk Philips]], and [[Menno Simons (1496-1561)|Menno Simons]] had begun to practice rigorous banning (see [[Ban|Ban]]), Zelis, Lemken, and other elders, then usually called [[High German Mennonites|High German Mennonites]], found themselves unable to agree with them. Zelis and Lemken attacked particularly Menno, accusing him in a letter of 1557 (found in <em>DB</em> (1894)) of leaving his former tolerant views to approve [[Marital Avoidance|marital avoidance]]. Menno answered in <em>Grontlijcke Onderwys oft Bericht van de Excommunkatie</em> (1558) and, after a second letter of Zelis and Lemken, in <em>Antwoort . . . op Zylis ende Lemmekens . . . Faemrooven</em> (1560). In the meantime a large conference of German elders meeting at Strasbourg in 1557 opposed marital avoidance and overly strict banning. In 1559 Dirk Philips and Leenaert Bouwens traveled to South Germany to ban Zelis, Lemken, and the High Germans.

After 1559 there is no information about Zelis; he probably died in 1565. Zelis Jacobs is not identical with [[Zilles Leitgen Kremers (16th century)|Zilles Leitgen Kremers]], who stayed at [[Münster Anabaptists|Münster]] in 1534.
= Bibliography =
Bax, W. <em>Het Protestantisme in het bisdom Luik I</em>. The Hague, 1937: 302 f., note.

Cramer, Samuel and Fredrik Pijper. <em>Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica</em>. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1903-1914: vol. VII, 56, 61, 87, 220, 222, 527.

<em>Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1894): 36 f., 47-53, 58, 60 f.

Krahn, C. <em>Menno Simons</em>. Karlsruhe, 1936: 95-97.

Kühler, Wilhelmus Johannes. <em>Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Doopsgezinden in de Zestiende Eeuw</em>. Haarlem: H.D. Tjeenk Willink, 1932: vol. I, 318-28.

<em>Der Mennonit</em> 9 (1956): No. 1: 10.

Rembert, Karl. <em>Die "Wiedertäufer" im Herzogtum Jülich</em>. Berlin: R. Gaertners Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1899: 458 f., 501 f.

Vos, K. <em>Menno Simons</em>. Leiden, 1914; 135f., 142 f., 191, 253 f.
{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, pp. 1022-1023|date=1959|a1_last=Zijpp|a1_first=Nanne van der|a2_last= |a2_first= }}