Anabaptist meeting on a boat. Pieter Pieters, ferryman, burned in Amsterdam, 1569. Engraving by Jan Luiken in Martyrs Mirror, v. 2, p. 385 of Dutch edition. Scan provided by Mennonite Library and Archives

Pieter Pieters (called Beckjen or Beck), a Dutch Anabaptist martyr, a skipper of Asperen, living at Amsterdam, was sentenced to death after cruel tor­ture, because he had attended the "damned and forbidden meetings of the Mennonites," had fur­thermore permitted secret meetings of the Mennonites on his ship; although he had not yet been (re)baptized, he was probably a "principal leader"; his two oldest children had been baptized as Roman Cath­olics, but the youngest was still unbaptized. He confessed that he had not attended the Catholic church for four or five years, and that he had con­fessed to a priest only once, about 20 years previously; he had never gone to Mass. Notwith­standing torture and much admonition by Catholic priests and by the sheriffs of Amsterdam, he re­fused to return to the "old faith"; remaining steadfast he was burned at the stake on 26 February 1569, at Amsterdam. His property was confiscated. On the way to the site of execution Willem Jans, also an Anabaptist, called out to him, "Fight bravely, dear brother," whereupon he himself was burned at the stake two weeks later.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 172. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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