Jan Smit (d. 1572)
Engraving by Jan Luiken in Martyrs Mirror, v. 2, p. 641 of Dutch edition.
Source: Rijksmuseum.
Jan Smit, an Anabaptist martyr, executed in 1572 by hanging near Haarlem, Dutch province of North Holland. Through the intermediation of Simon Fytsz, Mennonite preacher on the Dutch island of Texel, van Braght was enabled to give a number of particulars concerning Jan Smit: he was born in the earldom of Marck near Cologne, Germany, but later lived at Monnikendam, Dutch province of North Holland. Here he was arrested but liberated by a Protestant officer. Soon after, while he was in a boat on the Zuiderzee, he was apprehended again by a Spanish soldier, and brought to Amsterdam, where he was urged to assist the Spanish army, then besieging Haarlem, to fight their enemies; he refused to do so "because he had no enemies." He was sentenced to death by Don Frederick, son of the Duke of Alba, and suffered martyrdom as a true disciple of Christ.
Bibliography
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doopsgesinde of Weereloose Christenen, Die om 't getuygenis van Jesus haren Salighmaker geleden hebben ende gedood zijn van Christi tijd of tot desen tijd toe. Den Tweeden Druk. Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts, 1685: Part II, 641.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs' Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour . . . to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 962. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Jan Smit (d. 1572)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_Smit_(d._1572)&oldid=141600.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Jan Smit (d. 1572). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_Smit_(d._1572)&oldid=141600.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 82. All rights reserved.
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