Thomas Franssen was executed with the sword at The Hague, Netherlands, on 12 November 1536. He was a native of Utrecht and lived at Amsterdam, where he was arrested in the fall of 1536. He was tried at Amsterdam (tortured on 7 November) and then taken to The Hague, where the trial was continued. Thomas was charged with crimes of buying and reading heretical books, failing to observe the regulations of the (Catholic) church, eating meat on fast days, and working on holy days. He had not attended (Catholic) church services for three or four years because he did not believe the doctrine of the Mass. In the documents he is said to be a "Lutheran," i.e., heretic, and a Sacramentist, who taught false doctrines. It is not clear whether he was an Anabaptist, but apparently he was, for he is said to have been rebaptized and to have administered baptism himself. Because he refused to recant and to be instructed by the Catholic theologians, he was sentenced to death. His head was to be put on a pole and his property confiscated.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 715. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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