Rijnsburg (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)

Rijnsburg, a village a few miles west of Leiden, Dutch province of South Holland, was the center of the Collegiant movement; its adherents were therefore also called “Rijnsburger Collegianten” or Rijnsburgers. They met here twice a year, at Pentecost and in August. The meeting place, called Groote Huis, was a country estate. Here they held their communion services and performed baptism by immersion. The first of these “great meetings,” attended by Collegiants from everywhere, was held about 1640 and the last one in 1787; thereafter only occasional baptismal services were held at Rijnsburg, the last one in 1801. The Groote Huis and other properties were sold in 1828.

Besides members of other churches, many Mennonites joined the group at Rijnsburg. Some of the many Mennonites baptized here were Willem van Maurik of Amsterdam in 1730, Hendrik Koekebakker of Wormerveer in 1737, Daniel Hovens of Haarlem in 1735, Aagje Deken of Amsterdam in 1760, Maria Bavink of Amsterdam in 1762, Pieter Vijgh of Rotterdam in 1775, and Pieter Zeper of Leeuwarden in 1781. Mennonites, both ministers and laymen, often addressed the Rijnsburg meetings and conducted the communion and baptismal services. Among these there are familiar names, such as Koenraad van Diepenbroek of Haarlem, Agge Roskam Kool of Beverwijk, Pieter Klaasz de Jong of Krommenie, Joost Daams and Daniel Hovens of Haarlem.

The conservative Mennonites, for example, the Zonists and many Waterlanders, were opposed to the progressive Collegiant ideas and in many congregations the members who attended the Rijnsburg meetings were excluded from the communion service in their home churches. In 1673 a number of Waterlander congregations in North Holland decided not to admit to the pulpit any ministers who were leaders and speakers at Rijnsburg.

It was at Rijnsburg that Richard Blount, one of the founders of the Baptist Church in England, was baptized by immersion.

Bibliography

Jong, P. K. de. Aanteekeningen van de Personen, die gesproke hebbe . . . op de Reynsburgse Vergadering: sedert het Jaar 1727 (manuscript in Amsterdam Mennonite Library).

Rues, S. F. “Opregt Berigt van den tegenwoordigen Staet der Collegianten of Rynsburgers.” Tegenwoordige Staet der Doopsgezinden. Amsterdam, 1745: 275-330.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. I, Nos. 892, 896; v. II, Nos. 2947 f., 2952 2954.

Slee, J. C. van. De Rijnsburger Collegianten. Haarlem, 1895: 187, 288-312, 412-16, 437-42, and passim.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Rijnsburg (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rijnsburg_(Zuid-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=109931.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Rijnsburg (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rijnsburg_(Zuid-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=109931.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 333. All rights reserved.

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