1531

July 1531

Bernard Rothmann, an eloquent young chaplain, came to the city and began attracting large crowds with his preaching.

1532

10 April 1532

The guilds gained control of the city council and were able to install Lutheran preachers in all the churches.

25 December 1532

Some 1,000 followers of Bernard Rothmann and Bernard Knipperdolling took a group of local clerics hostage.

1533

February 1533

Bishop von Waldeck gave up trying to reinstate Catholicism and officially recognized the city as a Lutheran municipality. All of the city's 10 churches, except the cathedral, became Lutheran. During this time large groups of Anabaptist refugees, primarily followers of Melchior Hoffmann, arrived from the Netherlands.

October 1533

Bernard Rothmann preached that New Testament communism was the ideal model of true Christian community. Soon, the poor and propertyless classes from all around began flocking to the city.

1534

5 (or 6) January 1534

Two wandering preachers, Bartholomeus Boekbinder & William de Kuiper, arrived and announced that God had sent a new prophet to herald the end of the world. He was known as Jan Matthys of Haarlem, they said, but he was really Enoch. They rebaptized Bernard Rothmann, then left town. Rothmann, in turn, rebaptized about 1,400 others.

13 January 1534

Jan of Leiden, one of Jan Matthys' 12 apostles, arrived in town.

8 February 1534

Jan of Leiden & Bernard Knipperdolling ran through the streets summoning everybody to repent of their sins. A flood of hysteria was unleashed.

10 February 1534

Jan Matthys & Jan of Leiden led an armed rising against the Bishop's troops, occupying the Town Hall and marketplace. They finally took control of the city, and the sympathetic Town Council recognized the principle of liberty of conscience. A call was issued to Anabaptists across the land to join their brothers and sisters in the New Jerusalem.

23 February 1534

In the annual election for Town Council, an overwhelmingly Anabaptist body was elected, with Bernard Knipperdolling as the new burgomaster.

24 February 1534

A crowd of enthusiastic citizens sacked the cathedral and burned all the books, manuscripts and works of art contained therein.

25 February 1534

Jan Matthys announced his intention of killing all the "godless" (those who refused to be rebaptized). Bernard Knipperdolling persuaded Matthys to allow dissenters one week to be rebaptized or leave town.

27 February 1534

Armed bands, urged on by Matthys, ran through the streets yelling: "Get out you godless ones, and never come back, you enemies of the Father." Hundreds of people fled the city, forced to leave all their possessions behind. The remaining Lutherans and Catholics were rebaptized in the marketplace. After this point it became a capital offense to be unbaptized.

28 February 1534

Bishop von Waldeck's army erected earthworks outside the city walls, and the siege of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster began.

15 March 1534

Jan Matthys banned all books except the Bible. The library in Domhof was burned, intentionally destroying the land title records. All privately owned books had to be brought to the Cathedral square and thrown on a great bonfire.

3 April 1534

Jan Matthys invited his disciples to a "last supper".

4 April 1534

Believing that God would assist him, Jan Matthys led a group of about 20 men outside the city to attack Bishop von Waldeck's troops. Matthys was quickly stabbed with a pike, his head cut off, and the rest of his body chopped to pieces. With Matthys dead, Jan of Leiden assumed control of the city.

24 May 1534

Bishop von Waldeck sent Jan of Leiden a formal demand for surrender, which was rejected.

25 May 1534

Bishop von Waldeck's troops mounted a full-scale attack on the city, but were succesfully fought back by the Munsterites. The Bishop's forces suffered a loss of about 200 dead and wounded.

June 1534

Some 200 of the Bishop's mercenaries defected and went over to the Anabaptist side. Others deserted and went home, complaining of irregular payment for their services. The Anabaptists had been showering the Bishop's camp with leaflets promising regular pay to defectors.

16 June 1534

Hille Feicken, a girl from Sneek who had been in Munster only a few months, decided to assassinate Bishop von Waldeck. She was inspired by the Biblical story of Judith. Shortly after walking out of the city gate she was arrested by 3 foot soldiers.

26-27 June 1534

Under torture, Hille Feicken confessed to plotting to murder Bishop von Waldeck. She was finally beheaded.

29-30 July 1534

About 200 dissidents opposed to polygamy, led by a blacksmith named Henry Mollenbecke, captured Jan of Leiden, Bernard Rothmann & Bernard Knipperdolling and imprisoned them in the city hall. They tried to convince Jan of Leiden to abandon the policy but he refused. The dissidents were discussing the possibility of turning the town back to the Bishop, but were interrupted by a group of citizens loyal to Jan of Leiden. Jan was freed, and Mollenbecke and his colleagues were executed. Jan of Leiden ordered Mollenbecke and 7 accomplices bound to the lime trees near the cathedral with iron bounds around their necks. Citizens were given the opportunity to take turns shooting at the rebels. After these 8 were dead, about 50 of Mollenbecke's rebels were beheaded by Knipperdolling.

31 August 1534

Bishop von Waldeck's troops, heavily reinforced, made another attempt to storm the city. This time they got past the outer barricades, but when they approached the main walls they were overwhelmed by a barrage of gunfire, arrows and stones. The Bishop's troops once again retreated.

The prophet Johann Dusentschuer proclaimed Jan of Leiden king.

October 1534

Bernard Rothmann published Restitution of the true Christian teaching, which provided the theological justification for polygamy.

1535

23 May 1535

Henry Gresbeck abandoned his guard post and went over to the Bishop's side. He drew up a map of the city's defenses, showing the weak spots.

24-25 June 1535

Using Gresbeck's map, the Bishop's troops successfully took the city. Almost all of the men capable of bearing arms - roughly 800 in number - were slaughtered. Jan of Leiden, Bernard Knipperdolling & Bernard Krechting were captured and, in the following months, exhibited throughout the region like a circus sideshow.

7 July 1535

Jan of Leiden's No. 1 wife, Divara, was executed, along with Knipperdolling's wife, his mother-in-law and 2 other Anabaptist women.

1536

19 January 1536

Jan of Leiden, Bernard Knipperdolling & Bernard Krechting were brought back to Munster to stand trial.

22 January 1536

Jan of Leiden, Bernard Knipperdolling & Bernard Krechting were bound to stakes on a platform in the marketplace and tortured to death with red-hot tongs. Their bodies were placed in iron cages and hung from the tower of St. Lambert's Church. The cages remain in place today.

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