When it was finally decided by the Anabaptists in the Gufidaun region that tyranny had reached the highest degree, so that it was no longer possible for "the saints" to live there, Hutter was commissioned to go to Moravia to prepare a new home for the emigrants. On 11 August , he arrived in Auspitz with one companion. And yet in view of the continued frictions in the congregation, there was imperative need for clear-sighted leadership.
These leaders had shown themselves incapable of energetic execution of original Anabaptist doctrine. They had no clear grasp of true brotherhood, and tended to cling to family ties, which were incompatible with unadulterated Anabaptist doctrine. Reublin's complaints about the education of the children, the difference in the treatment of the members in food and clothing and in respect show how inadequate their leadership was.
Hutter's attack on the problem was different. It was his duty to reform matters. He stated this emphatically in his first address before the brotherhood. After a few days he began the improvements. He therefore betook himself to Gabriel in Rossitz. To be quiet and not perform the duties of his office he was not free to do before God. If he was not needed, he would move on, wherever God directed him. The Hutterites now formed a brotherhood and Hutter was able to lead them with a firm hand.
In a letter written immediately after the separation Hutter named to persons who had come in the last few weeks. The reports he sent from the "holy" church at Auspitz to Tyrol caused a veritable mass migration of Anabaptists to Moravia; they came singly and in groups. The only serious difficulty arose from their relationship with the adherents of Philipp, his opponent, who also lived in Auspitz. The additions from Tyrol continued in increasing numbers; even Tyrolean noblemen, like Sigmund von Wolkenstein, made pilgrimages to Auspitz.
At the beginning of the movement was general among the Anabaptists of Tyrol. Soon the government was shocked by reports that nearly all the valleys in the Sterzing district were full of them; three leaders had come from Moravia and were agitating in the region of Schwatz.
Almost at the same time it was rumored that Hans Anion was planning "to send the common people, whom he had misled from the true faith in the Puster Valley and other places," to Moravia in the coming spring. Although orders continued to be issued to guard the boats on the Inn River, nevertheless the emigrants managed to get to Moravia.
It can be imagined what pleasure the report - false, to be sure - created in Brixen , that Hutter and Hans Amon had been seized in Linz. A considerable number of brethren were captured at Hohen wart in Lower Austria; to them Hutter wrote a long letter of consolation. Here in Auspitz , he said, there was also great tribulation. In Tyrol there were no longer many brethren. These, too, were preparing to go to Moravia under the untiring leadership of Hans Amon.
But in Moravia affairs had also taken a turn for the worse for the Anabaptists. The Moravian diet, which was attended by Ferdinand I in person, acceded to his wish to have all Anabaptists expelled. In vain they lamented that they were illegally being driven from their possessions.
No one in Moravia had ever had cause for complaint to the government. But if the sovereign or the feudal authorities demanded tribute or taxes they were willing to pay as much as they were able, if they were only permitted to keep their work and their religion.
A petition did indeed reach the court, but was disregarded. Marshall Johann von Lipa, who took them into his protection, was threatened with the disfavor of the king. They had to move out into wretched poverty.
Hutter took his bundle on his back, as did his assistants; the brethren and sisters with their children went in pairs. Nowhere were they permitted to camp until they reached the village of Tracht in the possessions of the lord of Liechtenstein. There they lay down on the wide heath under the open sky with many wretched widows and children, sick and infants.
We do not want to wrong or harm any human being, not even our worst enemy. Our walk in life is to live in truth and righteousness of God, in peace and unity. We do not hesitate to give an account of our conduct to anyone. But whoever says that we have camped on a field with so many thousands, as if we wanted war or the like, talks like a liar and a rascal.
If all the world were like us there would be no war and no injustice. We can go nowhere; may God in heaven show us where we shall go. We cannot be prohibited from the earth, for the earth is the heavenly Father's; may He do with us what He will. Now the brotherhood itself insisted on Hutter's leaving. In Moravia present-day Czech Republic religious tolerance was granted. They practiced the communal ownership of goods, nonviolence, and baptism of adult believers.
Jacob Hutter often traveled between Moravia and Tirol to preach and baptize. He was arrested on December 1 , and taken to Innsbruck, where King Ferdinand had his government.
There he was tortured and burned alive on February 25 , His words are recorded in eight letters, written under severe persecution, to his brothers and sisters. Wikimedia Foundation. Jacob Hutter — Jacob Hutter. From there he found his way to Moravia, where he came into contact with the communal groups who sought refuge in the relatively tolerant border region. Between and , Jakob Hutter travelled between Tyrol and Moravia—a distance of over kilometers!
One can still see the marks left by their weapons on the metal door of the palace. The events of the Peasants Revolt were one reason the authorities dealt so earnestly with the Anabaptists. The bloodshed and merciless killing of thousands of peasants by the local authorities may have taught Jakob Hutter firsthand that violence only begets more violence and that in the kingdom of God the way of violence has come to an end. We were reminded that the beliefs we take for granted were forged through sacrifice and intense conflict.
Apparently many of the miners were early converts to Anabaptism. Miners were the migrant workers of the day and their movements were the means by which the new ideas spread across the mountainous region.
Overlooking the village of Schwaz near Rattenberg is an old castle, Freundsberg Castle, which has been converted into a mining museum. Between and twenty Anabaptists were executed in Schwaz alone.
Before their execution, they were imprisoned in the castle. Among the prisoners was the gifted Hans Schlaffer, formerly a Catholic priest, who wrote several letters to the church communities. These letters have survived to the present and have been published as part of a collection of Hutterite epistles. The museum includes a write-up summarizing the Hutterite-Anabaptist history in the region. From the pathway adjacent to Schloss Freundsberg we could see another remarkable and moving connection to our history: Staner Joch.
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