Greiner, Blasius (d. ca. 1571)

Blasius Greiner, the ancestor of the extensive Mennonite family of the Greiners, and his brother Andreas, who was the master of the glassworks at Walkersbach in Württemberg, Germany, which was a church subsidiary of Oberurbach owned by O. A. Schorndorf, were won to the Anabaptist cause in 1562 by the preaching of a leader in the woods at Oberurbach, who preached at night to ten or twelve persons from a pulpit-like stone; after the sermon they fell on their faces, wrung their hands, and finally said, "The Lord be praised." Blasius Greiner greatly influenced not only his family, but also the Oberurbach community, which contained so many Anabaptists that a general inspection lasting months was conducted here in 1598, in which first individuals, and then when the process was taking too long and getting too expensive, families were examined. The Greiner brothers had razed the chapel in Walkersbach, so that about 1548 the pastor of Oberurbach had to hold his weekly Monday services in the homes.

In March 1567 Blasius Greiner was arrested and taken to the prison in Maulbronn, where he was induced to recant in May 1569. His recantation was adopted in 1571 as the model for all Anabaptists. After he had been released he returned to his early convictions, married again, and moved away, and died not later than 1571. In Maulbronn he had violent arguments with the Hutterian Brethren, who accused the Swiss Brethren of disorderly conduct. The Hutterite's name was Jogl; his family name is not known nor is that of his companion. By disorderly conduct they meant a noncommunal life. Blasius' sons were Anabaptists and Schwenckfeldians; they attended the preaching in the state church, but read Schwenckfeld's books during the sermon. They, however, concealed Anabaptist preachers, such as Bastlin Weber, Veit Gilg, and Hans Büchel.

An Ulrich Greiner who appeared in die Mainhardt Forest in 1523 called himself a glazier from Schleusingen (Thuringia). He was presumably related to Blasius. Another relative, Jakob, master glazier of Lautertal (Neulautern) under Duke Albrecht of Löwenstein, whose children were forcibly baptized in Löwenstein in 1586, had to leave the vicinity. He perhaps went to Lauscha, Sonneberg area of Meiningen. In 1525 Hans Greiner had established a glassworks in Langenbach near Schleusingen widi Swabian glaziers, the beginning of the still thriving Lauscha glass industry. From there it was taken by the Greiners to Bohemia; the Protestants among them were expelled from Bohemia after the battle of the White Mountain, and moved into the margravure of Brandenburg-Ansbach. From them descended the mother of the famed church historian Albert Hauck. The Greiners remaining in Bohemia have become Catholics.

Bibliography

Bossert, Gustav. Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer I. Band, Herzogtum Württemberg. Leipzig: M. Heinsius, 1930.

Greiner, Karl. "Beiträge zur Geschichte der Glasindustrie in Württemberg," Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte für Landesgeschichte, n.s. 34 (1928): 70-99.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 171.

Schwäbischer Mercur No. 359 (6 August 1920).

Author(s)	Gustav, Sr Bossert
Date Published	1956

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MLA style

Bossert, Gustav, Sr. "Greiner, Blasius (d. ca. 1571)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Greiner,_Blasius_(d._ca._1571)&oldid=105659.

APA style

Bossert, Gustav, Sr. (1956). Greiner, Blasius (d. ca. 1571). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Greiner,_Blasius_(d._ca._1571)&oldid=105659.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 577. All rights reserved.

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