1525
INTRODUCTION
In the Netherlands with their hardy and independent population, prepared by the prereformatory labors of Pupper of Goch and Wesel, the piety and schools of the Brethren of the Common Lot, and the humanism of
Erasmus, the Reformation found from the beginning a fertile soil. Luther’s teachings won adherents especially among his Augustinian brethren who belonged to the German congregation under the leadership of Staupitz and later of Link. Foremost among them were the friars at Antwerp, men like Henry Voes, John Esch, Jacob Propst, and Henry of Zutphen. To Voes and Esch, burned at Brussels on July 1, 1523, fell the honor of being the first martyrs of the evangelic cause. Propst, prior of the Antwerp monks since 1519, whom Erasmus called “a pure Christian, who almost alone preaches Christ,” escaped a like fate in 1522 by a public recantation, but became afterwards a trusted friend of Luther and labored faithfully for thirty-six years in the evangelic ministry at Bremen. fa48 Henry of Zutphen, who succeeded him as prior, “outshone them all” when, at the age of thirty-six, after escaping from prison in Antwerp and laboring for two years in Bremen, he was burned at the stake in Holstein on December 10, 1524.
Henry of Zutphen, this is the only name we know him by; he has been variously called Moller, Moller, and Muller, fa49 but without warrant, was born about 1488 at Zutphen, a village in the province of Geldern in the Netherlands; entered the Augustinian order; studied at Wittenberg, 1508, becoming bachelor of philosophy in 1509 and master in 1511. He served as sub-prior at Cologne, 1514, and as prior at Dolt, 1515. In 1520 he returned to Wittenberg, becoming an intimate friend of Luther and Melanchthon,
and took his bachelor of divinity degree in 1521, defending theses on Justification, which three years later he submitted to the archbishop of Bremen. fa50 In the summer of 1522 he left Wittenberg for Antwerp, where he succeeded Propst as prior and became the leader of the reform
movement. Here he was taken prisoner on September 29, 1522, by Margaret of Savoy, regent of the Netherlands, fa51 but was immediately liberated by the populace including thousands of women, and after several days of hiding made his escape. Intending to return once more to
Wittenberg, he stopped at Bremen, where he was called as preached at St.
Ansgar’s chapel in November, 1522, and obtained Luther’s permission, in the absence of his vicar general Link, to accept the call. fa52 After a richly blessed ministry at Bremen, toward the close of which Jacob Propst and John Timann became his colleagues at Our Dear Lady and St. Martin’s respectively, he accepted a call to conduct a preaching mission at Meldorf in Dithmarschen, between the Elbe and Eider rivers in western Holstein.
Here he preached his first sermon on the Second Sunday in Advent, December 4, 1524, and on the following Saturday, December 10, was burned at the stake in the nearby village of Heide by a band of drunken peasants instigated by the ecclesiastical and civil authorities.
The sad tidings was immediately communicated to Luther by Propst, heart- broken at the calamity and deeply shamed by the recollection of his own cowardice almost three years ago. The letter was intended originally for the Augustinian brethren at Antwerp, but the messenger having departed, Propst sent it to Luther after adding a paragraph in which he besought him to send a letter of consolation to the church at Bremen. fa53
With this request Luther was glad to comply. The death of Voes and Esch, a year and a half before, had stirred in him emotions that could be released only in verse; in their memory he had sung his first hymn, “Ein neues Lied wit heben an,” fa54 and had written a comforting letter to the Christians in the Netherlands. fa55 Now again, no less deeply moved, he put together the story of Henry’s martyrdom, relying on the data in Propst’s letter as well as on other information, prefixed to it a devotional exposition of <190901>
Psalm 9:1, and dedicated the whole in a prefatory epistle of truly apostolic tone to the Christians at Bremen. Wisely he adopted the simple and direct style of the old chronicle writers, keeping himself and his emotions in the
background, and achieved a “beautiful bare narrative” the equal of anything in Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs.” Thus Von Bruder Henrico ynn Diedmar
verbrand is one of the most beautiful and tender of Luther’s writings and deserves a place in the first rank of all his works.
The writing, whose date is either February or March, 1525, is found in the various editions of Luther’s Works at the following places: — Weimar, 18, 215-250; Erlangen, 26, fa52 400-426; 53, 347-354; Berlin, 7, 275-302;
Walch, 21, 94-121; St. Louis, 21a, 687-709. The major portion of it is given also, with excellent linguistic notes, in R. NEUBAUER, Martin Luther, 1 (5. and 6. ed., 1913), 191-205.
The following literature should be consulted: — J. F. IKEN, Heinrich von Zutphen (1886); BERTHEAU in Prot. Realenc. (3. ed.), 21, 735-742;
KALKOFF, Die Anfange der Gegenreformation in den Niederlanden (1903);
LINDSAY, History of the Reformation (1916, reprint), 2:224-234;
KOSTLIN-KAWERAU, Martin Luther (5. ed., 1905), 1:603-620.
The spot at Heide where Friar Henry was burned has been marked, since 1830, by a simple monument. Claus Harms, whose first parish was in Lunden, fa56 retold his story in 1817, and Claus Groth, the most artistic of German dialect poets (born at Heide in 1819), celebrated him in verse, both in the Low German dialect. That Friar Henry’s memory still lives among the common folk of Holstein is seen from a passing reference in Gustav Frenssen’s Dorfpredigten (88th thousand, 1921) in which his martyrdom is mentioned as equally well known with that of John Huss.
A. T. W. STEINHAEUSER. ALLENTOWN,
PENNSYLVANIA
THE BURNING OF FRIAR HENRY IN
DITHMARSCHEN
1525
Martin Luther, Preacher at Wittenberg, to all beloved and elect friends of God in Christ
at Bremen.
Grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Most dearly beloved in Christ: Having gathered from trustworthy and upright witnesses fa57 the true history of the martyrdom of your evangelist, the blessed Friar Henry, I was unwilling that it should remain hidden or be but imperfectly known. I have resolved to publish it, therefore, to the praise and glory of divine grace, which has in these days been so
abundantly bestowed upon us condemned, lost, and unworthy sinners that we not only have, hear, and read the pure Word of God and see it rise, as the sun in his brightness, upon many lands, but also perceive and
experience how the Spirit of God is confirming and establishing this Word with mighty and heroic deeds, as He has been wont to do from the
beginning. Above all, He has given us brave and bold hearts, so that in many places both preachers and hearers are daily being added to the number of the saints, some shedding their blood, others being cast into prison, still others driven into exile, and all enduring the shame of the cross of Christ. Now hath appeared again the form of a true Christian life, terrible indeed with suffering and persecution in the world’s eyes, but precious and well pleasing in the sight of God; as it is said in the Psalter,
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,” and again in
<197214>Psalm 72:14, “Precious shall their blood be in His sight.”
Of these your Henry Zutphen doth verily outshine all, who endured so shameful a martyrdom in Dithmarschen for the sake of the Word of God, and mightily sealed the Gospel with his blood. Howbeit John and Henry of Brussels, fa58 the first martyrs of all, became likewise two bright and shining
lights through their good death, being offered as a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. With them belong also Caspar Tauber burned at Vienna, and George the bookseller in Hungary. fa60 I have heard recently of still another who was burned at Prague in Bohemia for leaving his order of impure chastity and entering the divine estate of matrimony, the order of pure chastity. fa61 These and their like will drown in their blood the papacy with its god the devil; they will also preserve the Word of God in its truth and purity from the unclean profaners, the new false prophets, fa62 who are nowadays bestirring themselves and breaking forth everywhere. For it is certain that God is suffering them to die and pour out their blood in these days when divers heresies and schisms are arising, in order through them to admonish us and to bear witness that this doctrine, which they taught and kept and for which they shed their blood, is indeed the true doctrine and confers the true Spirit; even as aforetime the holy martyrs died for the sake of the Gospel and sealed and certified it unto us with their blood.
No such glory was ever obtained by those who have misled the world with their doctrines of works, human righteousness, and free will. For such doctrines the devil puts no one to death; he suffers their adherents gladly, nay he grants them great riches and the honor and power of this world, so that they are at peace and lead a pleasant life. Even though they died for those doctrines, they would be no martyrs of God, but their own and the devil’s martyrs. The very heathen have endured death for their temporal rights, goods, and honor; as St. Paul says, in <450507>
Romans 5:7, that peradventure some one might die for a good thing fa63 (that is, for things the world counts good, such as riches, honor, and power), but for a righteous thing fa63 one will scarcely die. But to die for the Word of God and for faith, that is a precious, fine, and noble death, possible only to the Spirit and sons of God. To endure such a death is to die for the
unrighteous and even for those who put us to death, and to intercede for them in dying; as Christ did according to Isaiah, “And made intercession for the transgressors.” Hence we read of no instance of a Christian dying for the doctrine of free will and of works, nor for anything else than the Word of God.
Forasmuch, then, as our merciful Lord has so graciously visited you at Bremen, and has drawn very near to you and given you through this same Henry so plain and tangible a demonstration of His Spirit and power, I have thought fit to write down for you and to publish the narrative of his sufferings, in order to admonish you in Christ not to mourn, nor to speak ill
of his murderers, but rather to rejoice and to thank and praise God, who has made you meet to behold and possess these His wonders and gifts of grace. As for those murderers, they have already suffered retribution enough and more than enough, having so horribly stained their hands with innocent blood, and heaped up such great and terrible guilt in the sight of God, that there is far more reason to weep and lament for them than for the blessed Henry, and to pray that not they alone but the whole land of
Dithmarschen may be converted and come to the knowledge of the truth.
This fruit of Henry’s martyrdom is the more confidently to be expected, since many in that land are already turning eagerly to the Gospel and regret this murder committed among them. For God, who permitted the blessed Henry to suffer in that place, verily intends not only to punish the ungodly, if they do not repent, but to turn this murder into a blessing to many in that land and to bring them thereby to eternal life. fa64
I pray you, in the name of God, to take a hearts interest in the dear folk at Dithmarschen, and to show them all friendly comfort and aid, so that they too may come over to our side. For I hear that many are incensed beyond measure at the monks for bringing this outrage upon their land. That is a good spark, kindled by God; it will surely spread into a fine flame, if you treat it with kind and gentle spirit, so that it be not quenched.
I commend to you your preacher, Jacob Propst, fa65 together with the other preachers, whom may God strengthen with you all, and grant you grace to hold fast the doctrine sealed with Henry’s blood, and to follow cheerfully, should God require it, in his footsteps. Amen.
All our brethren in Christ salute you. Pray for us. The grace of God be with you. Amen.