Hagiography Sts. Johann, Hendrik, and Henry, the First Martyrs of the Reformation Hans Wiersma

he story of the first evangelical martyrs is closely related (colleagues of Erasmus on the university faculty at Lou- Tto the story of the Observant Augustinian Monastery vain). From the autumn of 1519, when the Louvain faculty at Antwerp. The brief existence of the Antwerp monastery published an official condemnation of Luther, through the roughly overlaps the first decade of Luther’s tenure at Wit- summer of 1521, when the Edict of Worms was published tenberg. Established in 1512, the Antwerp monastery was in cities and towns, these five principals turned up the heat dissolved ten years later, thanks in part to the fact that the on Luther’s adherents in the Low Countries. brethren there would not stop preaching Luther’s ideas. In Receiving particular attention was the activity of the 1522, the monastery was vacated and closed for good. In monks belonging to the Observant Augustinian Monastery 1528, the monastery’s chapel was reestablished as a Roman in Antwerp. In a letter from September 1521, Aleandro sin- Catholic parish church. gled out the Antwerp prior, Probst, as a major contributor Today, that church still stands on Antwerp’s Augustijn- to the “Lutheran problem” in the Low Countries.5 In the enstraat. If you visit the church, you will find, tucked in end, Probst earned himself a visit from the authorities. On a far corner, a small exhibit outlining the reasons for the December 6, 1521, Probst was escorted to Brussels, where demise of the old Augustinian monastery and for the exe- he was imprisoned. There he was investigated by various cution of two of its members.1 For Luther, on the other inquisitors (including Latomus and Edmond) and threat- hand, the deaths of those who were killed for propagating ened with execution. Probst relented a few months later, evangelical teaching were nothing to hide in a corner: their agreeing to recant publicly thirty articles deemed hereti- deaths were to be proclaimed far and wide. cal. On February 9, 1522, Probst renounced Luther from Luther’s connection with his monastic brothers in the the pulpit of the Brussels cathedral. The text of Probst’s Low Countries began in earnest with the 1519 arrival of a renunciation was soon published.6 new prior in Antwerp.2 The prior, a Netherlander named The publication of the Antwerp prior’s recantation and Jacob Probst, had studied at Wittenberg since before his reassignment to another monastery in Flanders did not, Luther’s arrival and was likely a Wittenberg resident when however, fully quiet evangelical impulses back in Antwerp. the Ninety-Five Theses were posted. A unique piece of In May, Luther’s chapter of Observant Augustinians con- epistolary evidence suggests Luther’s connection with and vened in Jena. There it was determined that another Neth- influence on Probst. In a 1519 letter to Luther, Erasmus erlander, Henry van Zutphen, would be sent to lead the wrote: “There is a prior in your monastery in Antwerp, a brethren at Antwerp. Zutphen took up where Probst left pure Christian man, who holds you in high regard. He has off, defying the ban on evangelical preaching. On Septem- been your student [discipulus] for a long time, as he him- ber 29, 1522, Zutphen was arrested under the orders of self proclaims. Of nearly all the clergy, he alone proclaims Governor Margaret. However, a mob uprising (made up Christ.”3 Probst also appears to have had a hand in the mostly of women, apparently) made possible the new pri- translation of Luther’s writings, which began appearing in or’s escape. After a few days hiding in Antwerp, Zutphen and around Antwerp around this time.4 fled northward, ending up in Bremen.7 The spread of Luther’s teaching in the Low Countries One week after the failed attempt to snatch Zutphen, did not go uncontested, of course. Among the principal the brothers of the Antwerp Augustinian monastery were players combating the Lutherei were Girolamo Aleandro (also arrested en masse. Each was interrogated; most were known as “Aleander,” the famous papal legate), Margaret released. However, eight of the brothers were detained. of Savoy (Charles v’s aunt and governor of Charles’s ter- Like Probst before them, the eight Augustinians were pros- ritories in northwestern Europe), and Franz van der Hulst ecuted under the terms of the Worms edict: brought to (who would become the chief inquisitor in the Low Coun- Brussels, thrown in jail, investigated by various inquisitors, tries), as well as Jacob Latomus and Nicholas van Egmond and threatened with execution. Under this process, five of

Lutheran Forum 27 the eight brothers were released after new technology, the printing press. courage and steadfastness of the mar- properly repudiating Luther and his Within days, pamphlets detailing the tyrs as well as the guilt and perfidy teachings. However, the remaining deaths of the two Antwerp brothers of the prosecutors. Summarizing the three friars—Lambert Thorn, Hen- were printed and distributed through- sixty-two “heretical” articles into one, drik Voes, and Johann van Esschen— out the Low Countries and beyond. Luther’s hymn explains that Voes and refused to recant. Their inquisitors In one of the pamphlets, entitled The Esschen were executed for contending prepared a document detailing sixty- Events and Circumstances concerning the that “[i]n God we should trust solely.” two articles of heterodox faith, suffi- Degradation and Burning of Three Chris- Luther then exposed the “sophists” for cient evidence to condemn the three tians Nobles and Martyrs of the Augustinian their attempt to spread the rumor that Augustinians as heretics.8 Order in Brussels, the anonymous author the two Augustinians were less than As for the Antwerp monastery, clearly sympathizes with the victims, constant: “They still go on belying; the buildings were barricaded and painting the authorities as villains and They say that with their latest breath all of the belongings were sold. The their executions as a gross miscarriage The boys, in act of dying, Repented eucharistic host was taken from the of justice.10 The tract became a best- and recanted! Let them lie on for ever- monastery’s chapel and brought in seller of sorts: editions were printed more.” For Luther, the death of his a great procession to Antwerp’s Our by various printers, one as far away as two brothers in Brussels simply con- Lady Cathedral, where, with Gov- Augsburg. firmed that the preaching of the true ernor Margaret in attendance, the As for Luther, he did not receive gospel had returned to the church: sacrament was reconsecrated. Three word of the July 1 executions until “His word is yet remaining! E’en at months later, on January 16, 1523, the the end of the month. Upon learning the door is summer nigh, The winter buildings of the Augustinian monas- that two of his fellow friars had been hard is ended.”14 tery—erected only ten years earlier— burned at the stake, Luther began to Luther’s musical memorial to Voes were leveled to the ground. Only the weep and said: “I thought I would and Esschen accomplished two char- chapel was spared. be the first one to be martyred by the acteristic aims of martyr literature. About half a year after the destruc- holy gospel, but I am not worthy.”11 Traditionally, the martyrologist’s task tion of the monastery in Antwerp, Otherwise little is known of Luther’s was to tell the story and fit it into the fates of the three holdouts were immediate reaction to the news. What the context of the divine plan. That realized. Lambert Thorn apparently is clear is that the tragedy in Brussels Luther managed to accomplish this asked for additional time and was supplied Luther with the inspiration to task in the form of a humable tune— returned to prison, kept there until his try his hand at martyrology. The result similar in sound and structure to “A death by natural causes in 1528. Hen- took two forms: a letter of consolation Mighty Fortress Is Our God”—is drik Voes and Johann van Esschen, on and a hymn of praise. noteworthy in itself. the other hand, received the complete In August, Luther was moved to Beyond the particulars of the Brus- treatment. On July 1, 1523, the two write to “the Christians in the Low sels executions, the significance of were arrayed in the full ecclesiasti- Countries.” During the same month, Luther’s hymn lies in its effort to place cal regalia of their order and led in Luther penned his first published the deaths in theological context. For a procession that included Aleandro, hymn—a ballad of sorts to the two Luther, the executions were a symp- Latomus, and Egmond. The proces- young men burned in Brussels—called tom of the battle between God and sion terminated at the square in front “Ein neues Lied wir heben an.”12 The devil—a battle brought about by the of the Brussels cathedral, St. Gudala, initial stanza of Luther’s hymn makes return of the true gospel. In Luther’s where pyres stood prepared. The fri- clear his understanding that what hap- view, the constancy of the martyrs ars were then ceremonially degraded, pened to Voes and Esschen was part (as he deems them in his hymn) was their monastic garb replaced with of the divine plan. proof of the devil’s defeat; the youths’ plain robes. Both were given one last martyrdom was a “new thing” that A new song here shall be begun— chance to recant. Refusing the offers God was “revealing.” As the hymn The Lord God help our singing!— of last-minute reprieve, Voes and Ess- explains, the ashes of the two friars Of what our God himself hath chen were fastened to stakes. Torches would be scattered into all lands, and done, applied fire to the wood. According to their blood would become a perma- Praise, honour to him bringing: reports, the two young friars sang Te nent, Cain-like mark upon the heads At Brussels in the Netherlands, Deum laudamus before succumbing to of Luther’s opponents. By two young boys, He gracious the smoke and flames.9 The theological sentiments voiced Displays the wonders of his hands, The reports themselves are inter- in Luther’s ballad were amplified in Giving them gifts right precious, esting. The aftermath of the auto-da- a pastoral letter addressed “to the And richly them adorning.13 fé of Voes and Esschen indicates the Christians in the Low Countries” and growing power of the then-relatively The hymn goes on to highlight the released around the same time as the

28 Fall 2011 publication of the hymn. In this letter, honor of the Brussels martyrs would Zutphen was dragged naked from Luther understood the event in Brus- not be his last contributions, however. his bed and marched barefoot (or per- sels as the heralding of a new day. He In fact, it would be the death of Henry haps was dragged behind a horse) to congratulated the Netherlanders for van Zutphen—the Antwerp escapee the nearby city of Heide, the regional being “the first to suffer shame and who wound up in Bremen—that would seat. He was imprisoned in a cellar injury, anxiety and distress, imprison- provide Luther with the opportunity overnight; early the next morning, his ment and death, for Christ’s sake.” to craft his most developed account of fate was decided. A pyre was prepared In this vein, Luther lauded Voes and a martyr’s life and death.17 for Brother Henry, but when they Esschen as “those two precious jew- After fleeing the crackdown in could not get the fire to light, they beat els” who considered “their lives of no Antwerp, Zutphen headed for Witten- him to death instead. Luther’s report account… in order that Christ and his berg northward along the Netherlands’ of the details of Zutphen’s final hours, word might be glorified.”15 inner coast. When he arrived in Bre- including the beating which ultimately The letter is upbeat throughout: men, some locals prevailed upon him killed him, is remarkably detailed. “How welcome must that fire have to preach. Bremen church historians The graphic representation of Zut- been which hurried them from this mark November 9, 1522, as the occa- phen’s death is but one of many fea- sinful life to eternal life yonder. God sion of the first evangelical sermon in tures which put The Burning of Brother be praised… that we who have… wor- Henry in league with traditional stories shipped so many false saints have lived of the lives and deaths of martyrs.18 to see and hear real saints and true Jacob Voragine’s Legenda Aurea martyrs.” In fact, as Luther saw it, or Golden Legend was to medieval the only downside in the whole busi- Europeans in the West what Foxe’s ness was that “we up here in Germany Book of Martyrs was to early modern have not yet been sufficiently deserv- Protestants.19 The Golden Legend con- ing to become so precious and worthy tains detailed accounts of the lives and an offering to Christ,” an observation deaths of saints and martyrs of bibli- reminiscent of his remark upon first cal times and beyond. Luther was, on hearing of the executions.16 the one hand, impressed by the type With the hymn and the letter taken of literature represented by the Legend, together, Luther’s attempt to tell the frequently citing the stories of saints story of the Brussels’ martyrs dem- and martyrs in his lectures. But he was onstrates at least two points worthy critical as well: “I am quite annoyed of note. Luther first of all possessed a with the nonsense and lies to be found keen awareness of Christianity’s mar- in the Catalogue [of Saints] and the Golden tyrological tradition, a certain know- Legend,” he wrote to Spalatin already how in writing about martyrs and in 1516.20 It should not come as a Burning of Esschen and Voes martyrdom, and second, he was ready surprise, then, that although Luther to adjust the received tradition to suit Bremen, preached by Zutphen. He followed in the tradition of recording evangelical principals. The concept was eventually called to be pastor of the lives and deaths of martyrs, at the that fidelity unto death was divinely Bremen’s St. Ansgar church. In the same time he was not above amending inspired and—to borrow from Tertul- late fall of 1524, Brother Henry was the tradition in order to suit his evan- lian—the notion that martyrs were called to preach in the city of Meldorf, gelical commitments. “seed” planted to bring growth to northeast of Bremen. Shortly after The Burning of Brother Henry, first the church were wholly assumed by arriving in Meldorf, the law—albeit published in March of 1525 (four Luther. And by contrasting past “false” of the vigilante sort—finally caught months after Zutphen’s death), is worship of martyrs past with the rec- up with Zutphen. On December 9, a divided into three sections. First there ognition of “true martyrs” present, posse of citizens came with torches in is a consolation letter addressed to the Luther implied that the appearance of the dead of night and kidnapped Zut- “Elect of God” at Bremen; second, a new victims would not be the occasion phen from the parsonage. According brief Psalm commentary entitled “An for the establishment of an evangeli- to Luther’s written account of these Exposition of the Ninth Psalm Con- cal version of the cult of the saints. events, the mob had been organized cerning Christ’s Martyrs”; and last, a The burning of Luther’s fellow by a group of local Dominicans, aided lengthy section entitled, “The History Observant Augustinians in Brussels by some local Franciscans. To help of Brother Henry of Zutphen.” There inspired the reformer’s initial contri- stoke the proper frenzy, the organizers is not much distinctive to set this work bution to the corpus of martyrological reportedly plied the mob with “Ham- apart from many of the classic Chris- literature. Luther’s hymn and letter in burg beer.” tian martyrologies. It is of a piece with

Lutheran Forum 29 the Martyrdoms of Polycarp and of phen years earlier) and “the trustwor- to the German term Niederländen. In his 1523 Perpetua and Felicity. But there are thy reports of godly people.”24 The letter to “Die Christen im Niederland,” Luther addressed the faithful “ynn Holland, Braband, certain predictable differences. For result is a fairly sophisticated piece of und Flandern.” The sixteenth-century Low instance, where John Chrysostom journalism, with no small amount of Countries included what are today the nations once hailed the miraculous powers opinion mixed in. Luther’s narrative of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Nether- of the remains of St. Ignatius, Luther is successful in eliciting sympathy for lands. Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, makes no similar claim for what was the humble Henry, pity for the igno- 57 vols., eds. J. F. K. Knaake et al. (Weimar: left of St. Henry.21 rant (and drunk) peasants that were Böhlau, 1883ff) 12:77–80 [hereafter cited as wa]. The first section of Luther’s ode to incited against him, and loathing for 3. wabr 1:413f. My translation. Henry van Zutphen, namely the letter the religious and secular officials who 4. See Casper Visser, Luthers Geschriften in de personally addressed to the Bremen- had conspired to bring about the Nederlande tot 1546 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1969), ers, had three main concerns: to preacher’s death. Prominent among 31–39. establish clearly the status of Zutphen the traditional features that make up 5. Corpus Documentum Inquisitionis Haereticae Pravitatis Neerlandicae, vol. v, ed. Paul Ferdericq as a true martyr, to place the killing this martyrology is Luther’s care to (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1901), 410. of Zutphen in theological as well as present Henry’s death in “the pat- 6. Jacob Probst, Anathematizatio & revoca- biblical context, and to offer consola- tern of Christ,” to borrow a term tio Fratris iacobi Praepositi, olim prioris Fratrum tion and encouragement to Zutphen’s from the early church. “Thy will be Heremitarum Sanct Augustini, opidi Antverpiensis parishioners in Bremen. In addition, done, O Lord!” Henry was reported (Antwerp: Vorsterman, 1522). The title trans- Luther gave time to a fourth concern: to have said upon being sentenced to lates as “The Condemnations and Revocations of Brother Jacob Probst, formerly the Prior the eternal wellbeing of Zutphen’s kill- the stake. Then, according to Luther, of the Hermits of St. Augustine at Antwerp.” ers. “There is really far more reason to Henry, “lifting his eyes to heaven,” Dutch and German editions were also printed. weep and lament for them than for the said, “Lord, forgive them, for they Probst’s own recollection of his arrest, pros- sainted Henry,” Luther advised, “and know not what they do.”25 ecution, and recantation are in Jacob Probst, to pray that not only they, but the A close reading of Luther’s earliest Historia utriusque captivitatis propter verbum Dei, Iacobus Praepositus [“The Story of Jacob Probst whole land… may be converted and martyrological compositions leaves the and Both of His Imprisonments on account come to the knowledge of the truth. strong impression that the reformer of the Word of God”] (Wittenberg: Rhau- It is to be expected confidently that implemented traditional literary Grunenberg, 1523). this will indeed be the fruit of Henry’s means to serve non-traditional—that 7. Zutphen himself reported these events martyrdom.”22 The passage demon- is, evangelical—ends. In other words, in a letter to Jacob Probst on November 29, strates two characteristics common in adhering closely to the features 1522. See Corpus, vol. iv, 158f. 8. The sixty-two articles survive in Der to the genre: the notion that the per- typical of the church’s martyrological Actus vnnd hendlung der Degradation vnd verprenung petrators rather than the victims are literature, Luther adapted a centuries- der Christlichen dreyen Ritter vnd Merterer Augustiner most in need of pity and the hope that old genre to nurture and promote his ordens geschehen zu Brussel (Augsburg: Melchior the martyr’s death would result in new novel movement. Because he did, later Romminger, 1523). converts. Christians can properly recognize and 9. Ibid, iii. A collection of primary sources relating to the prosecution and execution of The second section of the Zutphen honor the earliest evangelical martyrs. Voes and Esschen is in Corpus, vol. iv, 193– L memorial, the Psalm commentary, is F 214. the most unique of the three sections. 10. The pamphlet, noted above, includes Although many martyr narratives are Hans Wiersma is Assistant Profes- the mistaken report that the third Augustin- interlaced with Scripture quotations sor of Youth and Family Ministry at ian, Lambert Thorn, was burned three days and allusions, Luther exegetes Psalm Augsburg College in Minneapolis, later. Such an error suggests that the writer was relying on hearsay, at least in part. Other 9 verse-by-verse to demonstrate that Minesota. pamphlets—such as Martinus Heckenhover’s the persecution of the faithful is part Dye histori so zwen Augustiner ordens gemartert seyn of the divine plan. As Luther puts it, Notes tzu Bruxel jn Probant von wegen des Euangelj [“The “Here you see how this psalm com- 1. The subject of the Antwerp Augus- Story of How Two Augsutinians Were Mar- tinian monastery and the inquisitorial pros- forts us and bids us hope.”23 tyred at Brussels in Brabant, on account of the ecution of its members has received updated Gospel”] from 1523—indicated that only Voes The final and lengthiest section, treatment among Dutch and Flemish scholars and Esschen were burned. Luther’s rendition of the life and in recent years. See, for instance, Gert Gielis, 11. wa 12:74. My translation. death of Zutphen himself, is charac- Verdoelde schaepkens, Bytenden Wolven: Inquistie in 12. Regarding Luther’s “Ein Neues Lied,” terized by painstaking attention to de Lage Landen (Leuven: Davidsfonds, 2009); see “Luther’s First Hymn” by Sally Messner detail, which includes the names of Jos Vercruysse, “De Antwerpse Augustijnen en on p. 24 in this issue, and Dick Akerboom de Lutherse Reformatie, 1513–1523” in Tra- many individuals involved in Henry’s and Marcel Gielis, “‘A New Song Shall Begin jecta 16 (2007): 193–216; and Johan Decavele, Here…’: The Martyrdom of Luther’s Follow- demise. Luther’s sources for the nar- De Eerste Protestanten in de Lage Landen: Geloof en ers among Antwerp’s Augustinians on July 1, rative were “personal experience” (he Heldenmoed (Leuven: Davidsfonds, 2004). 1523, and Luther’s Response,” in More than a had become acquainted with Zut- 2. The term “Low Countries” corresponds Memory: The Discourse of Martyrdom and the Con-

30 Fall 2011 struction of Christian Identity in the History of Chris- Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, ed. and trans. fesioneel Lutheronderzoek 15 (November 2006), tianity, Annua nuntia lovaniensia 51, ed. Johan Theodore Tappert (Philadelphia: Westminster, 63–79. Leemans (Leuven: Peeters, 2005), 243–70. 1955), 193. 19. Jacob DeVoragine, The Golden Leg- 13. Translated by George MacDonald in 16. Ibid., 194. end: Readings in the Saints, 2 vols., trans. W. G. his Exotics: A Translation of the Spiritual Songs of 17. An even fuller, albeit dated, account of Ryan (Princeton: Princeton University, 1993), Novalis, the Hymn-Book of Luther, and Other Poems Henry van Zutphen’s life and death is in J. F. and John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (London: from the German and Italian (London: Strahan, Iken, “Heinrich von Zütpthen,” Verein für Refor- Secker and Warburg, 1965). 1876). The American edition of Luther’s mationsgeschichte 12 (Halle: 1886). 20. wabr 1:50, lw 48:17. Works, following and slightly correcting the 18. See “The Burning of Brother Henry,” 21. John Chrysostom, “Homily on St. MacDonald translation, has the title (and first in Luther’s Works, American Edition, 55 vols., Ignatius,” available online at www.ccel.org/ line) of the hymn as “A New Song Here Shall eds. J. Pelikan and H. Lehmann (St. Louis and ccel/schaff/npnf109.vii.iii.html (accessed July Be Begun.” However, the German verb anheben Philadelphia: Concordia and Fortress, 1955ff.) 15, 2011). suggests “lift,” “hoist,” “raise up.” In any case, [hereafter cited as lw] 32:263–86. For an in- 22. lw 32:267. the start of the hymn clearly has in mind the depth exploration of this writing of Luther’s, 23. lw 32:272. words of the Psalmist: “Sing a new song unto see Hans Wiersma, “The Death of Henry 24. lw 32:265. the Lord.” van Zutphen: The Story of a Lowlands Mar- 25. lw 32:285. 14. Ibid. tyr as Chronicled by Jacob Probst and Martin 15. wa 12:78. Translation in Martin Luther, Luther,” Luther Bulletin: Tijdschrift voor Intercon-

Sykos (Fig) Cycle ii.

Joel Kurz To see the wholly perfect likeness, the man diminished climbed the tree. i. He was the one whom God beheld and said, With you I must stay and eat. Dark, dense jewels I have eaten, The sycophant came down with joy: drawn of juice into a state What I’ve stolen I’ll repay fourfold, of hardened sweetness, enclosed and of my wealth, half goes to the poor! with minuscule, multitudinous seeds. The man parted from his evil deeds to eat of and with the good. From a tree of ancient origin they have come. Pleasing to the eye iii. and desired by the body for food, they were taken in full ripeness In a vineyard three years rooted, a fig tree bore no fruit. without blessing, bringing shame “Cut it down and spare the ground!” on nakedness—corrupting and came the demand. “But no,” covering the image divine. the farmer pled, “grant one more year Until I held the black-ripe fruit for digging and for dung, and grace within my hand and bit into if it does come.” So turned, the soil the white-red flesh, I had not known by sweat and blood became the depths of good perceived as evil. a fertile earth; the man of toil himself cut down in casting off the curse. Cursed became the soil of our nativity, Renewed from depths up toward sprouting sorrow, thorns, and thistles. the sky, the tree with limbs of life By their fruit they shall be known. holds forth the fruit of grace. Does one gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Can a fig Into the land shall all then come, bear olives or form fruit on a vine? from vines and figs to eat— All trees said to this one, partaking in common of the good “Come and rule over us!” but firm and dwelling now in peace. it replied, “Shall I forsake my sweetness and good fruit to gain all power?” Joel Kurz is pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Warrensburg, Missouri.

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