An allegorical portrait of Felix Manz, painted in the 20th century.

Felix Manz (ca. 1498–January 5, 1527), was a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation. Image File history File links Felizmanz_allegorical. ... 1498 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church. ... Swiss Brethren were Anabaptists, a group of radical evangelical reformers who initially followed Huldrych Zwingli of Zürich. ... Anabaptists (Greek ανα (again) +βαπτιζω (baptize), thus, re-baptizers [1], German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the Radical Reformation. ... View of the inner city with the four main churches visible, and the Albis in the backdrop Zürich (German: , Zürich German: Züri , French: , in English generally Zurich, Italian: ) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to both the perceived corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Protestant movement led by Martin Luther. ...

Birth and life

Felix Manz was the illegitimate son of a canon of Grossmünster church in Zürich. Though records of his education are scant, there is evidence that he had a liberal education, with a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Manz became a follower of Ulrich Zwingli after he came to Zürich in 1519. When Conrad Grebel joined the group in 1521, he and Manz became friends. They questioned the mass, the nature of church and state connections, and infant baptism. After the Second Disputation of Zürich^[1] in 1523, they became dissatisfied, believing that Zwingli's plans for reform had been compromised with the city council. Grebel, Manz, and others made several attempts to plead their position. Several parents refused to have their children baptized. A public disputation was held with Zwingli on 17 January 1525. The council declared Zwingli the victor. The Grossmünster Facade of the monastery building, now housing the theological faculty of the University of Zurich The Grossmünster (great minster) is one of the three major churches of Zürich the others being the Fraumünster and St. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Zwinglis Successor Zwinglis successor, Heinrich Bullinger, was elected on December 9, 1531, to be the pastor of the Great Minster at Zürich, a position which he held to the end of his life (1575). ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... Conrad Grebel (ca. ... Events January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... Events April - Battle of Villalar - Forces loyal to Emperor Charles V defeat the Comuneros, a league of urban bourgeois rebelling against Charles in Spain. ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 21 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manzs mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. ...

After the final rebuff by the city council on 18 January, in which they were ordered to desist from arguing and submit to the decision of the council, and have their children baptized within eight days, the brethren gathered at the home of Felix Manz and his mother on 21 January. Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn baptized the others^[2]. This made complete the break with Zwingli and the council, and formed the first church of the Radical Reformation. The movement spread rapidly, and Manz was very active in it. He used his language skills to translate his texts into the language of the people, and worked enthusiastically as an evangelist. Manz was arrested on a number of occasions between 1525 and 1527. While preaching with George Blaurock in the Grüningen region, they were taken by surprise, arrested and imprisoned in Zürich at the Wellenburg prison. January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jörg vom Haus Jacob (Georg Cajacob, or George of the House of Jacob), commonly known as George Blaurock¹ (1491-1529), with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz was co-founder of the Swiss Brethren church in Zürich, and thereby one of the founders of modern Anabaptism. ...

Death by "Baptism"

On 7 March 1526, the Zürich council had passed an edict that made adult re-baptism punishable by drowning. On 5 January 1527, Felix Manz became the first casualty of the edict, and the first Swiss Anabaptist to be martyred at the hands of other Protestants. While Manz stated that he wished "to bring together those who were willing to accept Christ, obey the Word, and follow in His footsteps, to unite with these by baptism, and to leave the rest in their present conviction", Zwingli and the council accused him of obstinately refusing "to recede from his error and caprice". At 3:00 p.m., as he was led from the Wellenburg to a boat, he praised God and preached to the people. A Reformed priest went along, seeking to silence him, and hoping to give him an opportunity to recant. Manz' brother and mother encouraged him to stand firm and suffer for Jesus' sake. He was taken by boat onto the River Limmat. His hands were bound and pulled behind his knees and a pole was placed between them. He was executed by drowning in Lake Zürich on the Limmat. His alleged last words were, "Into thy hands, O God, I commend my spirit." His property was confiscated by government of Zürich, and he was buried in the St. Jakobs cemetery. March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (67th in leap years). ... January 14 - Treaty of Madrid. ... Baptism in early Christian art. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church. ... Anabaptists (Greek ανα (again) +βαπτιζω (baptize), thus, re-baptizers [1], German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the Radical Reformation. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Christ is the English translation of the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ... The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organizationally independent. ... The Limmat is a river in Switzerland which rises in the city of Zürich at the north end of Lake Zürich and flows in northwestern direction until it flows after 35 km into the river Aare north of the small town of Brugg and shortly after the mouth... Lake Zurich showing a sailing boat, a popular pastime on the lake Lake Zurich (also spelled Lake Zürich or Lake of Zürich; in German Zürichsee) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the town of Zürich. ...

Felix Manz left written testimony of his faith, an eighteen-stanza hymn, and was apparently the author of Protestation und Schutzschrift (a defense of Anabaptism presented to the Zürich council).^[3]

Hymn by Manz

An 18-stanza hymn by Manz has been preserved and is found in the Ausbund, a 16th-century hymn book still used by the Amish. It is a hymn of praise to God for His great salvation. The seven lines of the first stanza are found below. The Ausbund is the oldest Anabaptist hymnal and the oldest Christian song book in continuous use. ... The Amish (IPA: ) are an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada (Ontario and Manitoba) that are known for their plain dress and limited use of modern conveniences such as automobiles and electricity. ...

Notes

1. ^ The first disputation occurred in January of 1523 between Zwingli and Johann Faber.
2. ^ These are considered the first adult baptisms of the Reformation era.
3. ^ According to the Mennonite Encyclopedia, research by W. Schmid has shown this to have been written by Manz rather than Grebel, as earlier thought.

References

• A History of the Baptists, by Thomas Armitage ISBN 1-57978-353-8
• Leben und Sterben des Zürcher Täuferfürhers, Felix Mantz, by Ekkehard Trajewski (Estep and others call this the "definitive work" on Felix Manz.)
• Mennonite Encyclopedia, Harold S. Bender, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, Henry C. Smith, et al., editors ISBN 0-8361-1018-8
• The Anabaptist Story, by William R. Estep ISBN 0-8028-1594-4
• The Anabaptist Vision, by Harold S. Bender ISBN 0-8361-1305-5
• The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght ISBN 0-8361-1390-X
• The Reformers and their Stepchildren, by Leonard Verduin ISBN 1-57978-934-X

The Martyrs Mirror or The Bloody Theater, first published in 1660 in Dutch by Thieleman J. van Braght, documented the stories and testimonies of Christian martyrs, especially Anabaptists. ...

External links

• The Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich has issued a historic invitation to Anabaptist descendants to attend a "reconciliation" conference, June 26, 2004. The event will include the unveiling of a historical marker for Felix Manz at the site of his execution by drowning in the Limmat River.