Jan van de Walle (ca. 1531-1571)

Jan van de Walle (Jan de Lintwerker), an Anabaptist martyr, burned at the stake on 26 February 1571 at Antwerp, Belgium. Jan, a ribbon maker, was born about 1531 at Eecke near Ghent in Flanders. In 1553 or 1554, because of persecution, he fled to Antwerp, where in a wood near the city he had been baptized by Elder Leenaert Bouwens. In 1555 he fled to Ghent, about 1557 to Holland, but after 1560 he lived again in Antwerp. He was chosen as preacher and deacon of the congregation in 1565 by the congregation at a meeting held in an attic in the city. He had not baptized "because he had not been chosen to this end," but sometimes he performed marriages. He refused to take an oath. In January 1571 he was arrested at Antwerp and several times tried and severely tortured. On the rack he gave some information about the congregation, which then numbered 200-300 members. The meetings usually were attended by about 50 persons. Obviously meetings were held in different quarters of the town. He also gave some information about some elders and leaders like Hans Busschaert and Herman de Timmerman. Jan van de Walle died loyal to his faith as did his wife Calleken Meevels on the same day as her husband. Calleken was his third wife; his first and second also had been Mennonites. A brother of Jan, Martin van der Walle, had suffered martyrdom at Bruges in 1558. In Jan's house two letters were found written by Hans de Wever, i.e., Elder Hans Busschaert, and one written from Emmerich, Germany, signed by Joost Janszen, August 1570. Van Braght gives only a short account on this martyr.

Bibliography

Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doops-gesinde 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: 506.

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: 846. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm. 

Génard, Petrus. Antwerpsch archievenblad. Antwerpen, Belgium: Stadsarchief te Antwerpen: XII, 449, 451, 456; XIII, 3, 11-13, 33, 35, 43, 62; XIV, 72 f., No. 843.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 389.

Verheyden, A. L. E. Het Brugsche Martyrologium (12 October 1527-7 Augustus 1573). Brussels, [1944]: 46 f.

Vos, Karel. "De Doopsgez. te Antwerpen." Bulletin de la Commission Royale d'Histoire de Belgique 84 (Brussels 1920): 349-351. The letters found in Jan's house are reprinted here, pp. 382-386.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1957

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Jan van de Walle (ca. 1531-1571)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_van_de_Walle_(ca._1531-1571)&oldid=108304.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Jan van de Walle (ca. 1531-1571). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jan_van_de_Walle_(ca._1531-1571)&oldid=108304.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 85. All rights reserved.

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