''Martyr's Mirror'' or ''The Bloody Theater'', first published in Holland in 1660 in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Thieleman J. van Braght Thieleman Janszoon van Braght (29 January 1625 – 7 October 1664) was the Anabaptist author of the ''Martyrs Mirror'' or ''The Bloody Theater'', first published in Holland in 1660 in Dutch. Van Braght was born in Dordrecht. His major work clai ...

, documents the stories and testimonies of Christian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s, especially

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

. The full title of the book is ''The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660''. The use of the word ''defenseless'' in this case refers to the Anabaptist belief in

non-resistance Nonresistance (or non-resistance) is "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy. It is considered as a form of pri ...

. The book includes accounts of the

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

of the apostles and the stories of martyrs from previous centuries with beliefs similar to the Anabaptists. Next to the Bible, the ''Martyrs Mirror'' has historically held the most significant and prominent place in

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...

and

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

homes. In 1745,

Jacob Gottschalk Jacob Gottschalk (Godtschalk) Henricks van der Heggen (c.1670 – c.1763) was the first person to serve as a Mennonite bishop in America. Life Gottschalk was born around 1670 in Germany, in Goch, a town at the Dutch border. In 1701, he receiv ...

arranged with the

Ephrata Cloister The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a Intentional community, religious community, established in 1732 by Conrad Beissel, Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lancaster ...

to have them translate the ''Martyrs Mirror'' from Dutch into German and to print it. The work took 15 men three years to finish and in 1749, at 1,512 pages, it was the largest book printed in America before the Revolutionary War. An original volume is on display at the Ephrata Cloister. The 1685 edition of the book is illustrated with 104 copper etchings by

Jan Luyken Johannes or Jan Luyken (April 16, 1649 – April 5, 1712) was a Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraver.Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

, in 1837. An edition entitled ''A Martyrology of the Churches of Christ'' was translated and printed in England in 1850 in 2 volumes by

Edward Bean Underhill Edward Bean Underhill (1813–1901) was an English missionary secretary, known as a Baptist historian and biographer. Life Born at St. Aldate's, Oxford, on 4 October 1813, he was one of seven children of Michael Underhill, a grocer in Oxford, by ...

under the auspices of the

Hanserd Knollys Hanserd Knollys (1599–1691) was an English particular Baptist minister. Life He was born at Cawkwell, Lincolnshire, about 1599. He was educated privately under a tutor, was for a short time at Great Grimsby grammar school, and afterwards ma ...

Society in England. The ''Martyrs Mirror'' differs from ''

Foxe's Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...

'' in that it only includes those martyrs which were considered nonresistant, while Foxe's book does not include many Anabaptist martyrs. The ''Martyrs Mirror'' is still a beloved book among

and

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

. While less common now than in the 20th century, in Mennonite homes ''Martyr's Mirror'' is a common wedding gift.

References

External links

Project Gutenberg ebook of ''Martyrs Mirror''The 104 illustrations from the ''Martyrs Mirror''
from Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
A scan of the full English translation of ''Martyrs Mirror'' at The Internet Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martyrs Mirror Amish in Europe Mennonitism in the Netherlands Persecution of Christians 1660 books 17th-century Christian texts Christian hagiography History of Anabaptists Ephrata Cloister Dutch biographical dictionaries Persecution by Christians

See also

References

External links