# Münster Anabaptist Kingdom · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Cult Dossier · No. 021 · Apocalyptic / Doomsday
Münster Anabaptist Kingdom
The New Jerusalem; the Kingdom of a Thousand Years
February 1534 – June 1535 · Münster, Westphalia (Holy Roman Empire)
II. MEDIEVAL — HERESY, DUALISM AND THE MILLENNIUM
Fully religious — apocalyptic Anabaptist theocracy
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 23 February 1534 Anabaptists win the Münster city elections; Knipperdolling becomes mayor.
- 27 February 1534 Non-Anabaptists expelled from the city into the winter.
- late February 1534 Prince-Bishop Franz von Waldeck begins the siege.
- 5 April 1534 Easter Sunday. Matthys, believing himself divinely protected, rides out against the besiegers with a handful of men and is cut to pieces; his head is displayed on a pole and his genitals nailed to the city gate.
- July 1534 John of Leiden abolishes the council, declares himself king, and decrees polygamy.
- 24–25 JUNE 1535 Betrayed by deserters, the city falls. Von Waldeck's troops kill hundreds in street fighting and cut down many more attempting to escape across the moat. Starvation had already reduced the population to eating grass, moss and shoe leather, and by some accounts corpses.
- 22 January 1536 John of Leiden, Knipperdolling and Bernhard Krechting are publicly tortured to death with red-hot tongs in the PRINZIPALMARKT, Münster's main market square. Their bodies are hung in three iron cages from the tower of St Lambert's Church.
### Its people
### Jan Matthys
Enoch
Prophet, Münster Anabaptist Kingdom · c.1500 – 5 April 1534 · active 1533–1534
Before the law. Killed in combat before any trial.
Where things stand. Deceased 5 April 1534.
- 1533 Declares himself Enoch; sends apostles across the Low Countries.
- February 1534 Takes control of Münster; expels non-believers.
- 5 April 1534 Rides out against the besiegers on the predicted date and is killed.
Checked 2026-08-24
### John of Leiden
Jan Bockelson; Jan Beukelszoon; King of the New Zion
King, Münster Anabaptist Kingdom · c.1509 – 22 January 1536 · active 1534–1535
Before the law. Tortured and executed by the Prince-Bishop of Münster.
Where things stand. Deceased. His body was hung in an iron cage from the tower of St Lambert's Church alongside those of Knipperdolling and Krechting. THE THREE CAGES STILL HANG THERE, nearly five hundred years on, and are lit softly from within at night. ONE CAVEAT: the present steeple is NEO-GOTHIC, built between 1880 and 1901 after the earlier tower was demolished as unsafe, and the sources do not establish whether the cages themselves are the 1536 originals.
- April 1534 Takes over after Matthys's death.
- July 1534 Crowns himself king; decrees polygamy.
- 1535 Beheads Elisabeth Wandscherer in the marketplace.
- June 1535 City falls after betrayal by deserters.
- 22 January 1536 Publicly tortured to death with red-hot tongs alongside Knipperdolling and Krechting.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Bernhard Knipperdolling
—
Mayor and executioner, Münster Anabaptist Kingdom · c.1495 – 22 January 1536 · active 1534–1535
Before the law. Tortured and executed by the Prince-Bishop of Münster.
Where things stand. Deceased 1536. His cage still hangs in Münster.
- 23 February 1534 Elected mayor as the Anabaptists take the city.
- 1534–35 Serves as John of Leiden's executioner.
- June 1535 City falls.
- 22 January 1536 Tortured to death with red-hot tongs; body caged on St Lambert's tower.
Checked
### Divara van Haarlem
Queen Divara
Queen of Münster · c.1511 – 7 June 1535 · active 1534–1535
Before the law. Executed by the Prince-Bishop's forces.
Where things stand. Deceased 1535, aged about 24.
- 1534 Widowed when Matthys rides out to his death.
- 1534 Married to John of Leiden; crowned queen.
- June 1535 City falls; she is captured.
- 7 June 1535 Beheaded after refusing to recant.
Checked
### Elisabeth Wandscherer
—
Queen of Münster beheaded by John of Leiden · died June 1535 · active 1534–1535
Before the law. —
Where things stand. Deceased 1535.
- 1534 Taken as one of John of Leiden's sixteen wives under the polygamy decree.
- 1535 Asks to leave the starving city; objects to the king's provisioning.
- JUNE 1535 Beheaded by John of Leiden personally in the Münster marketplace.
- June 1535 The city falls days later.
Checked
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