Gelderland is a province of the Netherlands (1949 population 1,057,941, with 3,403 Mennonites), in which the Anabaptist movement found little footing in the first half of the 16th century, with the exception of the towns of Arnhem, Nijmegen, Zutphen, and Harderwijk, and the vicinity of Winterswijk. The number of congregations has always been small. In the 17th century there were still congregations at (Zalt) Bommel and at Harderwijk. The weakness of the movement here was doubtless due to the severe persecution by Duke Karel van Gelder, who issued a stern edict against them on 12 April 1539. The 1956 congregations in this province were at Apeldoorn, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Wageningen, Winterswijk, and Zutphen. The Brotherhood House of Elspeet is also in this province.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 450-451. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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