Roermond, an old city (1951 population, 22,500) and fortification at the confluence of the Roer with the Maas, in the 16th century a part of the duchy of Gelre, today belonging to the Dutch province of Limburg, has been a Roman Catholic bishop's see since 1569. It is not known when Anabaptism arose in and around Roermond, but by 1540 Gillis van Aachen was preaching here. About 1545 Menno Simons had come by boat to Roermond from Vischersweert. Persecution of the Anabaptists set in only gradually. The court of Gelderland then moved to Venlo to cope better with the situation, and upon receiving a report from a commissar sent to Roermond moved into that city. Already at the end of July 1551 (not 1550) Tijs van Lind (more correctly Thys van Lin, but also Thijs Hille or Thijs op den Bergh) was burned here at the stake. Two other Anabaptists recanted. Heresy and persecution continued in this area. Many Anabaptists of Roermond are reported to have settled in the Wassenberg district. A report from Roermond dated 1565 mentions the wife and children of Tys van Lind, and also a weaver Lenart Boymers as having Anabaptist leanings. In that year the Anabaptists held meetings in or near the city attended at times by 100 persons. At these meetings Teuwalt (Theobald of Worms? Theodor was an elder of Worms; see Farwendel) and Henrich of Cologne, both about fifty years old, are reported to have preached. Hence it is probable that there was at this time a congregation in Roermond; but since nothing more is known about it, it likely died out soon after these events.
Bax, Willem. Het protestantisme in het bisdom Luik en vooral te Maastricht. s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, 1937: 333-36, 341-48, 352-55.
De Zondagsbode XXII (1908-9): No. 21.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 528.
Rembert, Karl. Die "Wiedertäufer" im Herzogtum Jülich. Berlin: R. Gaertners Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1899: 341 f., 436, 515.
|Nanne van der Zijpp|
Cite This Article
Crous, Ernst and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Roermond (Limburg, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 26 Jul 2014. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Roermond_(Limburg,_Netherlands)&oldid=96280.
Crous, Ernst and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1959). Roermond (Limburg, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 26 July 2014, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Roermond_(Limburg,_Netherlands)&oldid=96280.
Herald Press website.
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