View source for Niclaes, Hendrik (1502-1580)

[[File:Niclaes.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Engraving from Apocalypsis, or The revelation of certain notorious advancers of heresie. London, 1655.<br /> 
Scan provided by the [https://uwaterloo.ca/mennonite-archives-ontario/ Mennonite Archives of Ontario].'']]     
Hendrik (Heinrich) Niclaes was the founder of the [[Family of Love|Familists]] or the "House of Love," also called [[Nicolaites|Nicolaites]]. He was a native of [[Münster Anabaptists|Münster]], [[Westphalia (Germany)|Westphalia]], [[Germany|Germany]]. He had visions as a boy, entered a Latin school at the age of nine, but three years later worked in his father's business until he married and took over a business of his own. At the age of 27 he was arrested on a suspicion of Lutheran beliefs, and then moved to [[Amsterdam (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)|Amsterdam]]. Here he was arrested on a suspicion of being a "Münsterite." After his release he stayed nine years longer in Amsterdam. At the age of 39, while he was living in Emden, [[East Friesland (Niedersachsen, Germany)|East Friesland]], where he owned a thriving business, he had prophetic visions and gathered a following. When he was 59 he was again imprisoned and tried on the rack. He escaped to [[Kampen (Overijssel, Netherlands)|Kampen]], Dutch province of [[Overijssel (Netherlands)|Overijssel]], and from there to London and Cologne. He was a prolific writer. [[Nippold, Friedrich (1838-1918)|Nippold]] names 51 titles from his pen, which deal with a mystical pantheism.The disloyalty of some friends embittered the last years of his life. With [[David Joris (ca. 1501-1556)|David Joris ]]he carried on a brief literary dispute. Other [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] connections cannot be claimed, as some older histories erroneously assert. In [[Netherlands|Holland]] he had few adherents. Only in [[Dordrecht (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)|Dordrecht]] was there a group of followers until about 1614. Among his most influential followers was Christoffel Plantijn (1520-1589), noted printer at [[Antwerp (Belgium)|Antwerp]].
= Bibliography =
Cramer, Samuel and Fredrik Pijper. <em>Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica</em>, 10 vols. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1903-1914: VII, <em>passim, </em>see Index.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em>Mennonitisches Lexikon, </em>4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967<strong>:</strong> v. III, 224.

Kühler, Wilhelmus Johannes. <em>Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Doopsgezinden in de Zestiende Eeuw</em>. Haarlem: H.D. Tjeenk Willink, 1932: 387-394.

Lindeboom, J. <em>Stiefkinderen van het Christendom. </em>The Hague, 1929: 201-209.

Nippold, F. "Heinrich Niclaes und das Haus der Liebe." <em>Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie </em>3-4 (1862).
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