Ransdorp (often Ra(e)rop), a village near Amsterdam, Holland, formerly the seat of a Flemish Mennonite congregation. About its history very little is known. The martyr Thijs Joriaensz van Rarop, executed at Muiden in 1569, was from here. In 1563-65 Leenaert Bouwens  is said to have baptized 82 persons at Ransdorp, but this is not correct, since 49 of these 82 were not baptized at Ransdorp, but at Weesp. From this time until the late 17th century a Flemish church existed at Ransdorp, which throughout the 17th century was without a preacher. At the Flemish conference held at Haarlem in 1649 it was represented by Sievert Arentsz and Hendrik Dirksz. About 1665 it sided with the conservative Zonists, but it soon dissolved or perhaps merged with the Zonist congregation in Amsterdam.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 251. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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