Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation
Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation
Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation
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<strong>at</strong>titude of the Dordrecht elder. When Gerrit<br />
visited Dordrecht, Cornelis dared not bring the<br />
case before the brethren. He did not invite Gerrit<br />
Claes to speak with them about the m<strong>at</strong>ter.<br />
Having no success, the Danzig elder eventually<br />
left, addressing the following words to Cornelis<br />
“Your words differ from your acts.”<br />
With the Danzig elder gone, Cornelis<br />
celebr<strong>at</strong>ed communion with the followers<br />
of Appeldoorn on October 14th, 1629. The<br />
Rotterdam leaders summoned him to appear<br />
before the brethren, but Cornelis didn’t show up.<br />
Eventually the Rotterdam congreg<strong>at</strong>ion banned<br />
the Dordrecht elder as well as preacher Mels<br />
Ghysbrechts. L<strong>at</strong>er on, a preacher from Haarlem<br />
was also banned. All these actions only led to<br />
more harm. On July 27th, 1631 the followers of<br />
Appeldoorn occupied the meetinghouse of the<br />
Rotterdam congreg<strong>at</strong>ion. By taking legal steps<br />
they also tried to get possession of the goods<br />
for the poor.<br />
Having consulted most congreg<strong>at</strong>ions, a<br />
d<strong>at</strong>e was set for a g<strong>at</strong>hering of Flemish and<br />
Old-Flemish Gemeinden. At first the meeting<br />
was supposed to be held in February 1632, but<br />
it was l<strong>at</strong>er postponed to April 1632. The Flemish<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ions of the Province of Groningen<br />
under the leadership of elder Jan Luies, as well<br />
as those under elders Cornelis Jans and Tonnis<br />
Gerrits were opposed to the union. Prior to the<br />
meeting, the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions in the Province of<br />
Zeeland had also asked for a delay, though they<br />
eventually signed the tre<strong>at</strong>y.<br />
On April 21st, 1632 seventeen Flemish<br />
and Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions appeared <strong>at</strong><br />
Dordrecht. Added to them were deleg<strong>at</strong>es from<br />
the Old-Flemish <strong>at</strong> Amsterdam, Haarlem and<br />
Rotterdam who had been punished. The merger<br />
between the Flemish and Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
of Dordrecht was finalized, after which<br />
all deleg<strong>at</strong>es signed the tre<strong>at</strong>y. For this occasion<br />
Adriaen Cornelis had drafted a new confession,<br />
the so-called Dordrecht Confession. 32<br />
From Old-Flemish to Danzig Old-Flemish<br />
The signing of the Dordrecht Confession<br />
in 1632 left the Old-Flemish branch severely<br />
diminished. Diss<strong>at</strong>isfied members of the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
of Amsterdam, Haarlem (Lucas<br />
Philipsfolk), Leiden and Rotterdam had sided<br />
with the United Flemish. The same was true<br />
of the entire congreg<strong>at</strong>ions of Arnhem, Utrecht<br />
and Emmerich/Kleef. During the years following<br />
1632, the Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions of<br />
Amsterdam and Rotterdam had to fight a legal<br />
b<strong>at</strong>tle over their meetinghouses and their budget<br />
for the poor. <strong>No</strong> wonder they called their adversaries<br />
“Housethieves” (Huisrovers) instead of<br />
Hauskäufer (Huiskopers)!<br />
Small congreg<strong>at</strong>ions like Zaltbommel and<br />
Bommel/Ooltgenspla<strong>at</strong> perished around 1635.<br />
Other small congreg<strong>at</strong>ions like Vianen and<br />
Gorkum could only survive by accepting help<br />
from the neighbouring bigger congreg<strong>at</strong>ions of<br />
Utrecht and Dordrecht. By doing so, they were<br />
eventually drawn into the United Flemish camp.<br />
About the congreg<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>at</strong> Frieddrichstadt, Germany,<br />
it is known th<strong>at</strong> the Hauskäufer merged in<br />
1631/32 with the local Old Frisians (Pieter Jans<br />
Twiskfolk) and the High Germans. 33<br />
A year after the unific<strong>at</strong>ion between the<br />
Flemish and the Old-Flemish took place, the<br />
hand of peace was offered to Vincent de Hont<br />
and his congreg<strong>at</strong>ion in a letter, the Vredebode.<br />
It was wisely signed by former Old-Flemish<br />
represent<strong>at</strong>ives of the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions of Arnhem,<br />
Dordrecht, Haarlem, Leiden and Utrecht. They<br />
expressed their sorrow over the breakup of 1620<br />
and asked for reconcili<strong>at</strong>ion. 34 De Hont did not<br />
respond, nor did he react to the peace offer of<br />
Claes Claesz. in: Propositie ofte voorstellinghe<br />
(Haarlem, 1634).<br />
The other Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions tried to<br />
aid each other as best as they could. The elders<br />
of Rotterdam, Haarlem and Leiden assisted<br />
the Amsterdam congreg<strong>at</strong>ion in regaining their<br />
meetinghouse. Although the congreg<strong>at</strong>ional<br />
n<strong>at</strong>ure of their movement remained, the Old-<br />
Flemish formed a close fellowship. Only a few<br />
examples of their connection can be given. Of<br />
course, congreg<strong>at</strong>ions th<strong>at</strong> had no elder were<br />
assisted by elders from elsewhere with baptism<br />
and communion. Quarrels within the community<br />
were settled, and standards for behavior and conduct<br />
were upheld. For instance, the Rotterdam<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion wrote in 1666 to the congreg<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
of Amsterdam th<strong>at</strong> they considered persons<br />
who particip<strong>at</strong>ed in marriage parties (wereldse<br />
bruiloften) were not eligible as elder or Diener. 35<br />
Also other events happened. In 1662 the Leiden<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion was in trouble. The Amsterdam<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion invited all other churches to come<br />
to Leiden to deal with the m<strong>at</strong>ter. In a letter of<br />
March 21st, 1662 the Rotterdam congreg<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
responded to the invit<strong>at</strong>ion by st<strong>at</strong>ing th<strong>at</strong> they<br />
were not willing to send deleg<strong>at</strong>es because<br />
the Leiden congreg<strong>at</strong>ion should have invited<br />
them. 36<br />
The number of Danzig Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
in the Netherlands<br />
Around 1680 there were eleven Danzig<br />
Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ions left: Amsterdam,<br />
Rotterdam, Delfshaven, Brielle and Oud-Beyerland<br />
in the Province of Holland and Blokzijl,<br />
Giethoorn, Oldemarkt and Zuidveen in the<br />
Province of Overijssel, and two <strong>at</strong> Haarlem.<br />
The Leiden congreg<strong>at</strong>ion had perished shortly<br />
after the de<strong>at</strong>h of elder Jan Rose. The former<br />
Haarlem congreg<strong>at</strong>ion of Lucas Philips was<br />
about to perish, and the same was true of the<br />
small Landsmeer congreg<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Of the remaining congreg<strong>at</strong>ions Amsterdam<br />
and the Haarlem Oude Gracht congreg<strong>at</strong>ion were<br />
still strong, both perhaps having about three hundred<br />
members. Except for the small Oldemarkt<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion, the Overijssel churches were also<br />
strong. Within the next two or three decades<br />
they launched a new Old-Flemish congreg<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
in the vicinity of Sappemeer. Pe<strong>at</strong>workers<br />
from Blokzijl, Giethoorn and Zuidveen left<br />
Overijssel to work in the pe<strong>at</strong> settlements in the<br />
Province of Groningen, and l<strong>at</strong>er formed a new<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Rotterdam seems to have lost a lot of its<br />
member through outside marriages (buitentrouw)<br />
and conflict. At the beginning of the<br />
18th century it had to rely on the elders of the<br />
Amsterdam and Haarlem congreg<strong>at</strong>ion for baptism<br />
and communion. One of the few remaining<br />
preachers moved to Amsterdam in the 1630s.<br />
Though the church tried to extend its life, it was<br />
perishing by th<strong>at</strong> time. Delfshaven, Brielle and<br />
Oud-Beyerland were only small congreg<strong>at</strong>ions.<br />
Their end also came sometime in the thirties or<br />
forties of the 18th century.<br />
The connection to Danzig<br />
As early as the Middle Ages, Dutch and<br />
Flemish traveled East, set up their business and<br />
sometimes remained in the land. There was extensive<br />
ship travel between the Netherlands and<br />
the Baltics and Prussia. Prussia was the granary<br />
for the Netherlands, which included present-day<br />
Belgium and the Netherlands. Because of this dependency<br />
on grain, everything was done to keep<br />
the narrow sea-passage of the Sont, the g<strong>at</strong>eway<br />
to the Baltic Sea, open for merchant-vessels.<br />
Many refugees from Flanders went to the<br />
Netherlands. Others fled to Emden or Cologne<br />
in Germany. As noted earlier, some Flemish and<br />
Dutch refugees went directly to Prussia, others<br />
lived elsewhere and l<strong>at</strong>er arrived in Prussia.<br />
Heavy persecution by the Duke of Alva from<br />
1568 on only increased the stream of travelers<br />
eastward. The Dutch were experts in milling,<br />
land reclam<strong>at</strong>ion and farming, so they were<br />
– even though they were Protestants or Anabaptists<br />
– more than welcome to settle in the marshy<br />
lands of the Vistula River.<br />
Th<strong>at</strong> the refugees considered the East as the<br />
“Promised Land” can be seen from the following.<br />
In a play performed in 1638, the famous Dutch<br />
writer and poet Joost van den Vondel described<br />
the Prussian land in terms of the “Promised<br />
Land,” where the refugee could forget all his<br />
sorrow and enjoy the richness of the land. 37<br />
Within the space of this article there is no<br />
room to divulge any details of the rise of the<br />
Mennonite congreg<strong>at</strong>ions in Prussia. Suffice it to<br />
say th<strong>at</strong> during the time of Menno Simons there<br />
was already a congreg<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>at</strong> Danzig. His gre<strong>at</strong><br />
successor, Dirk Philips, is even considered to be<br />
the first elder of this congreg<strong>at</strong>ion. In the early<br />
years there were also congreg<strong>at</strong>ions <strong>at</strong> Elbing<br />
and in the Gross Werder area.<br />
When the first conflicts among Mennonites<br />
in the Netherlands arose, the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions in<br />
the East were autom<strong>at</strong>ically involved. As soon as<br />
the conflict between Flemish and Frisian erupted,<br />
elder Dirk Philips was commissioned to go to the<br />
Netherlands to resolve the m<strong>at</strong>ter. But Dirk did<br />
not succeed, and died in 1568, shortly after the<br />
first b<strong>at</strong>tles had been fought. Dirk had strongly<br />
sided with the Flemish party, but it seems th<strong>at</strong><br />
the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions in the East tried to maintain<br />
the peace in their own communities for as long<br />
as they could. They received letters concerning<br />
the conflict from the Netherlands. In 1582 deleg<strong>at</strong>es<br />
from Danzig particip<strong>at</strong>ed in a g<strong>at</strong>hering<br />
<strong>at</strong> Haarlem where <strong>at</strong>tempts were made to heal<br />
the breach. Among them was Quiryn Vermeulen,<br />
elder of the Danzig congreg<strong>at</strong>ion. Eventually the<br />
conflict th<strong>at</strong> had broken up the congreg<strong>at</strong>ions in<br />
the Netherlands also split the Prussian church.<br />
Quiryn was banned by elder Hilchen Smit of the<br />
Montau congreg<strong>at</strong>ion. 38 In approxim<strong>at</strong>ely 1590,<br />
<strong>Preservings</strong> <strong>No</strong>. <strong>25</strong>, <strong>December</strong> <strong>2005</strong> - 33