Tyrolean Anabaptist leader and founder of the Hutterites
Jakob Hutter, 18th century engraving
Jakob Hutter
(also spelled
Jacob Hutter
,
Huter
or
Hueter
; c. 1500 ? 25 February 1536) was a
Tyrolean
Anabaptist
leader and founder of the
Hutterites
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Hutter was born in the small hamlet of Moos near
St. Lorenzen
in the
Puster Valley
, in the
County of Tyrol
(present-day
South Tyrol
, Italy). He learned
hat making
in nearby
Prags
and became an itinerant craftsman. Later he settled in
Spittal
,
Carinthia
.
He probably first encountered
Anabaptists
in
Klagenfurt
and soon thereafter was converted to their belief. He began preaching in the Puster Valley region, forming several small congregations. As soon as the
Habsburg
authorities in Tyrol learned of these activities in early 1529, they began to persecute the Anabaptists. In 1527, the Habsburg archduke
Ferdinand I of Austria
had declared that seductive doctrines and heretical sects "will not be tolerated". In turn, Hutter and a few others went to investigate
Moravia
, because they heard the persecution was not as severe there. They visited
Auspitz
, where they found the situation was indeed more tolerant and the Tyrolean Anabaptists decided to emigrate. As small groups moved to Moravia, Hutter first remained in Tyrol to pastor to those who remained. He escaped capture by the authorities because other captured Anabaptists would not reveal his whereabouts, even under severe torture.
Hutter arrived in Moravia in 1533, when the persecution of the Anabaptists in Tyrol was at its peak. Many Anabaptists from the
Palatinate
,
Swabia
and
Silesia
also went to Moravia. Hutter united the local Anabaptist congregations, enabling Anabaptism in Moravia to flourish. Under Hutter's leadership, several of the congregations adopted the early Christian practice of communal ownership of goods, in addition to their Anabaptist beliefs of nonviolence, and
adult baptism
.
In 1535, however, the Moravian
Landtag
diet had all Anabaptists expelled from Moravia and they scattered to surrounding countries. Hutter returned to Tyrol, where he and his wife were arrested on 30 November 1535 in
Klausen
and brought to the fortress of Branzoll (
Bronzolo
). On 9 December, Hutter was deported to the Tyrolean capital
Innsbruck
, where he was interrogated and pressured to
recant
. Even under severe torture he would not recant or reveal the names of other Anabaptists. Hutter was sentenced to death by fire and
burned at the stake
on 25 February 1536 in Innsbruck in front of the
Golden Roof
.
[1]
According to the
Hutterian Chronicle
, a total of 360 Anabaptists were executed in Tyrol.
Hutter's words are recorded in eight letters, written under severe persecution.
Commemoration
[
edit
]
Plaque at the Golden Roof:
"Jakob Huter, one of the most important leaders of the Tyrolean Anabaptists, died here on 25 February 1536 as a martyr of his Christian faith at the stake."
In Innsbruck, Hutter is remembered by a plaque at the Golden Roof.
In 2006?2007, a working group with representatives from Protestant and Catholic churches, the peace movement
Pax Christi
and the Association of Evangelical churches in Tyrol worked toward reconciliation with the Hutterites. On 25 February 2007, the group, along with three couples invited to represent the Hutterites, held a memorial ceremony at the Golden Roof and a joint prayer service in the old city hall in Innsbruck.
[2]
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
- Jakob Hutter
in the
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
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