Menno Simons

Timeline

1. 1496–1537Witmarsum · EuropeBorn in Witmarsum, Friesland, he was ordained in Utrecht in 1524 and served as a priest in Pingjum and his hometown of Witmarsum. Around 1525 he began questioning the biblical basis for infant baptism, reading the works of reformers such as Luther and Zwingli and gradually embracing the principle of biblical authority. When his brother Peter was killed while participating in an Anabaptist uprising in 1534, this gave him strong reservations about the radical path of violence and prompted him to think deeply about viable paths of moderate reform.
2. 1537–1545Friesland · EuropeIn January 1537 he formally left the Catholic Church, received adult (believers') baptism, and became a preacher and organizational leader of moderate Anabaptism. Resisting the influence of the radical path of the Münster Rebellion, he centered his movement on pacifism, biblical authority, church discipline, and separation of church and state, holding secret gatherings across Friesland to rebuild and consolidate scattered Anabaptist communities. His first major work, A New Birth, was also written in 1537.
3. 1545–1561Lübeck · EuropeWanted under a bounty issued by Charles V, he traveled throughout the Low Countries and northern Germany preaching and was never captured. Around 1540 he wrote Foundations of Christian Doctrine, systematically expounding Anabaptist theology. In his later years, under the protection of local nobility in Holstein, he settled in Fürstenhagen, established a printing shop, and wrote prolifically until his death on January 31, 1561. His followers carried on his faith under the name "Mennonites."