What it worshipped and taught
Adult believers' baptism, community of goods, and the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God in one walled city before the imminent Second Coming — dated by Matthys to Easter 1534. Under John of Leiden: all books but the Bible burned, private property abolished, and POLYGAMY made compulsory by decree in July 1534. John took sixteen wives; the queen was DIVARA VAN HAARLEM, Matthys's widow. Refusal, dissent, or complaint became capital offences, executed personally by the king in the marketplace.
Who was in it
Jan Matthys; Jan Bockelson (John of Leiden); Bernhard Rothmann, the theologian; Bernhard Knipperdolling, the executioner and mayor; Divara van Haarlem; Elisabeth Wandscherer, a wife beheaded by John in public for asking to leave; Prince-Bishop Franz von Waldeck, the besieger; the traitor Heinrich Gresbeck, whose account survives.
Of note
THE THREE IRON CAGES STILL HANG ON ST LAMBERT'S TOWER IN MÜNSTER, nearly five centuries 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. This episode is the reason Anabaptism turned decisively pacifist under Menno Simons, and the reason European authorities feared radical religion for the next two centuries.
Its people
Jan Matthys
Enoch
Prophet, Münster Anabaptist Kingdom · c.1500 – 5 April 1534 · active 1533–1534
A baker from Haarlem who declared himself Enoch, the prophesied forerunner, and seized control of Münster in February 1534. He expelled all non-Anabaptists into the winter, abolished private property, burned every book but the Bible, and set Easter 1534 as the date of the world's end. Believing himself divinely protected, he rode out of the besieged city on that Easter Sunday with a handful of followers to confront an army. He was cut to pieces. His head was mounted on a pole in view of the walls and his genitals nailed to the city gate.
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
A 25-year-old Dutch tailor, innkeeper and part-time actor who took power after Matthys was killed. He abolished the city council, had himself crowned king, minted coins, wore gold and jewels taken from the churches, and decreed compulsory polygamy in July 1534 — taking sixteen wives himself. He performed executions personally in the marketplace, including beheading one of his own wives, Elisabeth Wandscherer, in public for asking to leave the starving city. He held out for over a year while the population ate grass, moss and shoe leather.
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
A wealthy Münster cloth merchant and one of the city's leading citizens before the Anabaptist takeover — his respectability is what made the seizure possible. He was elected mayor in February 1534, then served John of Leiden as sword-bearer and public executioner, carrying out the beheadings his king ordered in the marketplace. He was tortured to death alongside John of Leiden and hung in the second of the three iron cages.
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
Jan Matthys's widow, taken as John of Leiden's first and chief wife after Matthys was killed, and crowned queen of the New Zion. She held real ceremonial authority in the city and was among the sixteen wives John accumulated under the compulsory polygamy decree. After the city fell she refused to renounce her faith and was beheaded in the marketplace.
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.
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Elisabeth Wandscherer
—
Queen of Münster beheaded by John of Leiden · died June 1535 · active 1534–1535
One of the sixteen wives John of Leiden took under the compulsory polygamy decree. As the siege reduced the city to eating grass, moss and shoe leather, she asked to be allowed to leave — and, by contemporary accounts, objected to the king eating well while the population starved. He had her beheaded personally in the marketplace, and the remaining wives were made to dance around her body singing. Her death is the most direct surviving evidence of what Münster had become in its final months.
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.
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