Commentary on the Heinrich the Hutterite post

The 1614 extract from The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren presents a fascinating account of Heinrich Bühler’s faithfulness in the face of persecution. That said, certain details in the report can stand further explanation. The following commentary offers additional background to the account, so that it can be fully understood both as a whole and in its particulars. Words and phrases set to bold in the full account receive comment further below.

On July 9, 1614, two brothers—Heinrich Bühler, a vinedresser, and Joachim Arter, a brewer—were captured at Zurich in Switzerland and imprisoned there for fifteen weeks.
     On the third day several lords of the council came to them in prison and summoned each brother separately. They asked them what they were doing in the country—had they come to mislead the people?
     The brothers replied that they had letters and messages to deliver in Zurich and other places, but the main reason for their coming was that both had an inheritance to claim.
     A week later the warden of the dungeon was sent to the brothers with a message that the lords would release them if they promised to leave the country at once and never return.
     The brothers said that on no account could they do this as it was against their faith and conscience.
     After a few days the lords came once more to them in the prison and first rebuked them for obstinately refusing to see that they, the lords, wanted only the best for them.
     Then they accused the brothers of misleading people, despising governmental authority, and rejecting the Christian church, which meant that they were an evil sect and could not be tolerated in the country. The brothers told them quite simply that they had no intention of misleading anyone. They were sorry that so many people were already misled and imprisoned in sin.
     They said they wished to respect governmental authority, as God commands, and be obedient in all that is right, besides paying their rents, taxes, and tithes. But in anything that would be against their faith and conscience, they would obey God rather than men. Regarding the Christian church, they said they valued it so highly that they had left home and fatherland in their desire to join the true church.
     These answers so enraged the lords that they refused to listen any longer. They withdrew in indignation, threatening to send them to the galleys, put them in the pillory, or beat them with rods.
     The town clerk and the town constable in particular sought out the brothers and urged them to abandon their plans and obey the lords if ever they wanted to see their wives and children again.
     The brothers answered that their wives and children were in good hands, so they were not worried about them even if they were never to see them again in this life. They would wait patiently for whatever God ordained.
     For quite a long time after this, the lords neither came to the brothers nor did anything further about them.

     On the last day of the month of July, a violent and terrifying storm broke over the city of Zurich. The Wellenberg tower where the brothers were imprisoned was struck by lightning in three different places. The cathedral and the Spitalkirche in Zurich were struck too.
     This event filled many people with great fear. They believed the storm was a punishment for their sins and for letting innocent men be kept in prison, because the brothers imprisoned in the Wellenberg were completely unharmed. Some encouraged the brothers by saying that these happenings might lead to their release.
     Many others, however, especially the band of Calvinist ministers (before they know that the great cathedral and the Spitalkirche had also been struck) put the worst interpretation on it, saying that in the storm God showed his displeasure with that sect—he was obviously punishing it, since the authorities were unwilling to do so.
     Within the next few weeks the lords came twice to the brothers in prison, each time with the question whether they had thought it over—were they ready to promise never again to enter the country?
     The brothers said they could not give such a promise, for the earth and all that is in it belongs to the Lord of heaven.
     They were again threatened with the galleys, the pillory, and beating with rods. One of the lords told them how terrible it would be in the galleys—they would certainly regret not having listened. The brothers replied that they would trust in God, whose eyes penetrate even into the depths of the sea.
     Try as they might, the lords could make no headway, for Heinrich and Joachim refused to give in. The brothers were taken from prison to the town hall, where the court official pointed out how extremely vexed the lords were by their obstinacy and their refusal to accept instruction.
     However, on account of the long imprisonment and the lightning that had struck the tower, it had already been decided that the brothers should return home to their people.
     Since the prisoners would neither swear nor even make a promise instead of an oath, the lords swore that if they were ever caught in their jurisdiction or territory again, they would receive very different treatment.
     Through God’s intervention, the two brothers were released on Friday morning, October 24. After fifteen weeks in prison they returned to the church of the Lord with clear consciences and completely at peace. Let us praise God for this! (Hutterian Brethren 1987, 605–8)

1. brothers: As elsewhere throughout The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren, the terms refers to brothers in the faith, not literal brothers. The Chroniclealso uses “sisters” in a similar manner.

2. vindresser: In addition to the raising of barley and oats, agriculture in the Zurich area included cultivation of grapes, that is, the development of vineyards. A vinedresser is the person who provides daily care, cultivating and pruning the vines.

3. They asked them what they were doing in the country: Heinrich was from the village Brüttisellen, just a few miles north of Zurich, so the lords’ question assumes that Heinrich had been absent from his homeland. They would not have asked such a question if he still lived in Brüttisellen. Stay tuned for further discussion about where Heinrich lived at this time.

4. come to mislead the people: The lords’ question reflects their suspicion that Heinrich and Joachim had come to Zurich as Hutterite missionaries. In fact, Hutterite missionaries (or emissaries) did often travel throughout Switzerland and the surrounding areas calling people to abandon their sins and/or current church affiliation in order to join God’s true church, the Hutterian Brethren.

5. both had an inheritance to claim: This is a key clue for a future post—not to be coy, but stay tuned.

6. dungeon: Although we often picture dungeons as being underground, the word simply refers to a place where prisoners are kept. See further number XX below.

7. leave the country at once and never return: As noted above, the lords believe that the two men were in Zurich on a missionary trip.

8. it was against their faith and conscience: The brothers’ refusal to leave and promise never to return because it was against their faith and conscience is consistent with the lords’ suspicion. If the two had come to Zurich on personal business rather than as a matter of spreading the faith, promising never to return would not violate their faith and conscience. It seems, then, that the Chronicle admits that the lords understood the purpose of the visit accurately.

9. they had left home and fatherland in their desire to join the true church: This statement confirms that Heinrich had left his homeland and provides the reason why: in order to join the true (Hutterian) church.

Swiss pillory from the eighteenth century

10. galleys, … pillory, … rods: Prisoners sent to the galleys had to endure the hard labor of rowing a ship. During this period in European history, slaves and convicted criminals made up the majority of the galley crew.

The pillory is often equated with the stocks that one sees in historical pieces from the Middle Ages or colonial America. However, the Swiss pillory is said to have differed, “being constructed in the form of a long cage, so that the offender can neither sit or kneel, but is under the necessity of continuing the whole time of the punishment in an exact posture” (Bankes et al. 1794, 887). In spite of their differences, the stocks and cage served the same purpose: to put some criminal on public display, where he or she would receive both verbal and, on occasion, physical abuse.

The meaning of “beat them with rods” is fairly self-evident, although he makeup of the rods (wood, as in a caning?) is unclear in the sources at hand; neither is it certain whether Swiss authorities also used whips or scourges in a similar fashion. Whatever the exact details might have been, the punishments threatened the two Hutterites were horrific and possibly life-threatening.

11. town clerk … town constable … lords: A council of lords (nobles) exercised authority in Zurich at this time, but the city government also included officials such as the clerk and constable, who were responsible for managing and enforcing council decisions.

12. Wellenberg tower: The Wellenberg tower, or Wellenbergturm, was a 50-foot tall tower built in the middle of the Limmat River, which runs through Zurich. Although it was originally built as some sort of fortification, for most of its history (at least from the 1300s until it was demolished in 1837) it served as a prison. It apparently had nine small cells spread over three floors. According to historian Arthur Dürst, the cells were so low that prisoners were barely able to sit upright. The worst offenders were confined to a wooden box in the attic that permitted no light to enter.

L: Drawing of the Wellenberg tower sitting in place in the Limmat River. R: Wooden staircase leading to two dungeons/cells.
See further the website of Prof. Aurther Dürst here.

13. cathedral and … Spitalkirche: The reference to the cathedral could be to one of the four primary churches in Zurich: Grossmünster, Fraumünster, Predigerkirche, and St. Peterskirche. The first two were the closest to the Wellenberg tower, which might argue in their favor. The Spitalkirche (that is, hospital church) is not identified further in the historical sources.

14. Calvinist ministers: Although Huldrych Zwingli led the Reformation in Zurich, after his death in 1531 his successor, Heinrich Bullinger, came to an agreement with John Calvin on the key doctrines of Reformed faith (the Second Helvetic Confession, 1549). Thus the state-sponsored church in Zurich could rightly be said to be led by Calvinist ministers.

15. depths of the sea: In the context of being threatened with hard labor in the galleys, the reference to the depths of the sea was both biblical in tone (Jonah) and relevant to the situation.

The Zurich town hall during this period.

16. town hall … court official: The town hall was located on the easy bank of the Limmat, roughly a quarter mile north of the Wellenberg tower. One would think that the court official was a judge, but the rest of the account implies that his responsibility was more to announce a decision than to make that decision. The lords are the ones with the authority to imprison and to release from prison. As with the clerk and the constable earlier, the court official serves only to exercise their policies and decisions.

17. the lords swore: Ironically, because the two Hutterites refused to swear they would not return, the city lords took it upon themselves to declare an oath that Heinrich and Joachim would be dealt with severely if ever they were found within the Zurich jurisdiction.

Sources

Bankes, Thomas, Edward Warren Blake, Alexander Cook, and Thomas Lloyd. 1794. A New, Royal, and Authentic System of Universal Geography, Antient and Modern. London: Cook. Available online here.

Hutterian Brethren. 1987. The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren. Vol. 1. Rifton, N.Y.: Plough.