1348

November? 1348

The hysterical citizens of Basel suspected that the Jews were somehow responsible for the outbreak of Plague that was sweeping the countryside. So all of the city's Jews were penned up in wooden buildings and burned alive.

1397

The Jews were expelled from the city.

1514

Conrad Grebel arrived in Basel in the fall to attend the tiny University of Basel (under 100 students). While here Grebel participated in the bursa (collegiate society) of Henry Loriti (a.k.a. Glarean).
(Go to 1515 below.)

1515

After a year of study here, Conrad Grebel obtained a scholarship to attend the much larger University of Vienna.

1517

Ludwig Haetzer arrived to attend the University of Basel.

1522

Hans Denck arrived in Basel, attracted by the fame of Oecolampadius and Erasmus. He soon gained employment as a proofreader in various print shops. He edited the last 3 volumes of Theodore Gaza's Greek grammar. He also socialized in the city's humanistic circles and attended the university lectures of Oecolampadius on Isaiah.
(Go to September 1523 below.)

1523

September 1523

Hans Denck left town to accept a teaching position in Nuremberg, Germany.

1524

The Fifth Epistle of Clement, an ancient source of anarcho-communistic doctrine, was printed here. This publication was soon to influence Bernard Rothmann and the ill-fated Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster.

1525

August 1525

A small Anabaptist congregation of 9 people was discovered in Basel at the beginning of the month. They were all arrested.
(Go to 16 August 1525 below.)

16 August 1525

Six of the 9 Anabaptists arrested earlier in the month were released. Their leader, Lawrence Hochrutiner, was expelled from the city.

1526

June 1526

Felix Manz was in the Basel area around this time. Apparently he found a receptive environment for his Anabaptist message. One chronicler wrote: "Wherever he went, he was accompanied on all sides by men and women, as though he were a visible divinity, and they hung on his lips as though in a trance and enchanted." We next encounter Manz in the town of Wil.

1527

November 1527

Hans Denck died of the plague. He was 27 years old.

1529

14 February 1529

George Blaurock was released from prison. He next appeared in Appenzell.

1530

11 August 1530

Anabaptist extremist Conradin Bassen of Heilbronn was beheaded, his head impaled, and the rest of his body burned. He had preached that Jesus was (a) not born of a virgin; (b) not both God and man; and (c) not mankind's savior. He also did not believe in prayer, the New Testament, or a future life.

1544

April 1544

David Joris and his entourage arrived in Basel. Joris began using the name Johann van Brugge.

1554

March 1554

A book entitled Concerning Heretics, Whether They Are to be Persecuted appeared here, which opened with an essay written by one "Martin Bellius". The book consisted of statements supporting religious tolerance taken from a broad spectrum of Christian writers, including Calvin. Bellius, it turned out, was actually Sebastian Castellio, professor of Greek at the University of Basel.

1556

22 August 1556

Dirkgen Joris died, 3 days before her husband, David Joris.

25 August 1556

David Joris died under the assumed name Johann van Brugge, his Anabaptist identity unknown. He was buried in St. Leonhard's Church with full honors.