Rebellion of Radicals Part II — The Tyranny of Jan van LeidenIn case you missed Part IIn 1535

Rebellion of Radicals Part II — The Tyranny of Jan van LeidenIn case you missed Part IIn 1535 Anabaptist rebels under the leadership of Jan van Matthys had taken over the city of Munster, Germany, believing that they would usher in the second coming of Jesus and bring about God’s Heavenly Kingdom on Earth.  Matthys was a prophet who believed he was in direct communication with God.  On Easter Day he was told by God that if he rode out against the enemy army alone, God would give him the power to destroy Waldeck’s army and end the siege.  Van Matthys rode out alone and was quickly struck down and beheaded.The Munster Rebellion should have ended right then and there, after all their leader, Matthys had been brutally cut down despite being God’s prophet.  His head was placed on a pike outside the city for all to see.  The death of Matthys must have been incredibly disheartening for such religious folk, many felt as though God had abandoned them.  The Munster Rebellion should have ended right then and there.But it didn’t.  After the death of Matthys, another charismatic Dutchman and follower of Matthys named Jan van Leiden stepped forward and announced to the Anabaptists of Munster that Matthys was a false prophet, obviously mislead by the devil, and that he was the one true prophet with a true link to God.  Amazingly the people of Munster hailed van Leiden as the new prophet, declaring him the new leader of the Munster Anabaptists. Later, based on the vision of a local baker, van Leiden would be declared the “New King David” of a “New Zion”.  Matthys was an extremist and a radical, van Leiden would take that extremism to the next level.  van Leiden would continue his predecessors policy of building a Holy Kingdom on Earth that was based on a strict interpretation of the Bible.  The rules were enforced with draconian zeal, and breaking of any Biblical law or one of van Leiden’s decrees was punishable by death.  One of van Leiden’s most controversial decrees was the institution of forced polygamy.  It became illegal for any man to have less than two wives, and became illegal for any woman to reject a marriage proposal.  In a city where there was an even ration of men to women, such a system resulted in families sharing wives.  Van Leiden himself was said to have 16 wives himself, one of which was beheaded for rebelling against his authority.  Another woman was beheaded in the town square for refusing to marry him.To enforce the laws of his new kingdom, van Leiden created a “secret” police force to root out dissidents and non-believers.  He even decreed that at all times peoples doors and windows had to be open so that his police could always see what was going on inside.  Daily inspections were made by the police.  In the meantime the people were starving due to the siege, and were reduced to eating rats, tree bark, and boiling leather shoes.  Scores were dying daily due to malnutrition, starvation, and disease.  Van Leiden and his retinue, however, were feasting like kings.  While in the new Kingdom of God everyone was equal, and thus shared equally in food and wealth, it became one of those situations where van Leiden and his inner circle were “more equal” than others.  The Anabaptist dream of a Godly Kingdom on Earth had transformed into a dystopian nightmare. -- source link

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