Hellrigl, Ursula (b. ca. 1521)
Ursula Hellrigl (Helrigling), is mentioned first in the court records of 3 June 1539 when the Innsbruck authorities reported to Ferdinand I that a peasant girl of 18 years, a native of the Upper Inn Valley, had been in prison at St. Petersberg nearly 15 months. In pity for her youth and sex, attempts had been made by Dr. Gallus Müller to convert her. Though she was not versed in the Scriptures, she clung to her faith because her coreligionists lived less frivolously than the world. Her mother, an Anabaptist, had died in prison. One of her three brothers had recanted, and was now pleading for his sister's release.
Ferdinand was inclined to grant the request, but feared that such a release would strengthen ignorant persons in their error. He ordered that she should be further instructed. In the following year her family appealed again. On 13 August 1540, the king ordered her sent to Italy, where she would not know the language. Thus she came to Sigmundskron, and in 1543 she was finally pardoned "for the sake of her youth and the petitions of her friends," Peter Müller of Silz having promised to pay the costs of the case, and returned to her people. The Hutterian chronicles report that she was tied to the feet of Brother Liebich when he was racked. But neither of them recanted. "What the devil and his children wished to see happen is easy to imagine. But they were honorable and pious, and did not let any temptations cause them to sin." She is credited with the hymn, "Ewiger Gott vom Himmelreich" (13 stanzas).
Daniel Hellrigl, an Anabaptist, who died at Nikolsburg, 3 April 1615, "an aged preacher," was probably a relative of Ursula's. Zacharias Hellrigl (1580-1630) is the author of five hymns: "Die Danksagung des Morgens"; "Elend hat mich betroffen"; "Erheb meine Seel den Herrn"; "Vom Leben und Tod des Frommen"; and "Es ist nun um die Vesperzeit."
Bibliography
Beck, Josef. Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967: 157-159.
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: II, 64.
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: 466 f. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 280.
Die Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder: Gesangbuch darinnen viel und mancherlei schöne Betrachtungen, Lehren, Vermahnungen, Lobgesänge und Glaubensbekenntnisse, von vielen Liebhabern Gottes gedichtet und aus vielen Geschichten und Historien der heiligen Schrift zusammengetragen, allen frommen Liebhabern Gottes sehr nützlich zu singen und zu lessen. Scottdale, Pa. : Mennonitisches Verlagshaus, 1914. Reprinted Cayley, AB: Hutterischen Brüdern in Kanada, 1962: 838-846.
Loserth, Johann. Der Anabaptismus in Tirol. Vienna: F. Tempsky, 1892: 241.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. De Graaf, 1965: 178.
| Author(s) | Johann Loserth |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Loserth, Johann. "Hellrigl, Ursula (b. ca. 1521)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hellrigl,_Ursula_(b._ca._1521)&oldid=65058.
APA style
Loserth, Johann. (1956). Hellrigl, Ursula (b. ca. 1521). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hellrigl,_Ursula_(b._ca._1521)&oldid=65058.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 695. All rights reserved.
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