About the Book
This scholarly biography and collection of writings by and about an early leader of the Hutterites, a pacifist communal Anabaptist group, sheds light on a persecuted religious minority during the Reformation.
This comprehensive, annotated collection of Jakob Hutter’s letters and related documents begins with an extensive biography of Hutter and his wife Katharina, based on recent archival research. This introduction serves to contextualize the Hutterite movement, a communal and pacifist Anabaptist group that emerged as part of the Radical Reformation in sixteenth-century Tyrol and Moravia.
The main text of the book opens with Hutter’s eight surviving letters, newly translated directly from the seventeenth-century codices where they have been preserved. As the leader of a scattered, persecuted movement, Hutter wrote pastoral letters of encouragement and admonition to various congregations in Tyrol and Moravia. The second chapter consists of material from Hutterite chronicles that describe Hutter’s life and context. Some of these are previously unpublished; in all cases, new translations have been made from the original codices. The third chapter is a collection of reports on government interrogations of Anabaptists who describe Hutter’s missionary activity, typically written by a state official during an interrogation process which often involved torture. Chapter four is a compilation of writings by fellow Hutterites written during Hutter’s life and in the decade after his death, which show the importance of Hutter’s life and teachings. The fifth chapter includes internal correspondence between government authorities trying to suppress the Anabaptist movement. The accounts offer insight into the government’s perspective on the significance of Hutter and the Anabaptist communities in his spheres of activity. Additional documents relating to Hutter’s death and legacy from both within and outside of the Hutterite tradition are included in a final chapter.
This meticulously researched volume, peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Classics of the Radical Reformations series, is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of a volatile and fruitful chapter of church history.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Jakob Hutter’s Letters
2. Chronicle Sources
3. Witnesses
4. Hutterian Epistles
5. Governmental Correspondence
6. Additional Documents
Appendix 1: Timeline for Jakob and Katharina Hutter
Appendix 2: List of Codices
Maps
Notes
Archives Consulted
Bibliography
Index of Names and Places
Scripture Index
About the Author :
In 1529, after the last of the Anabaptists’ first leaders
had been burned at the stake, the recent convert Jakob Hutter became a missionary
and leader in their underground congregations. These fellowships held their
goods in common and abjured violence, seeking to live according to Jesus’
teachings. Ferdinand, ruler of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor), sought to
stamp out this movement through a campaign of surveillance, torture, and
executions. Many Anabaptists fled to more tolerant Moravia; as the repression
in Austria intensified, Hutter and his future wife Katharina followed them. But
in 1535, Ferdinand pressured the governor of Moravia to expel the refugees from
their homes. The Hutters returned to the mission field in Tyrol, where they
were soon captured by Ferdinand’s forces; Jakob would be burned, Katharina was drowned
two years later.
Review :
Like so many of the early Anabaptist leaders, Hutter’s ministry lasted less than a
decade before he was martyred. His leadership of the community that still bears
his name nearly five centuries later lasted only two years. This biography
reveals a complex character, criticized by contemporaries and some historians,
but evidently a respected leader and community builder. The letters included in
this comprehensive collection of writings by and about him reveal a pastor who
was deeply concerned for the flourishing of those he served. This is a welcome
addition to the Classics of the Radical Reformation series, in which we
encounter not only Hutter but his wife, Katharina, and a number of other little
known but significant early Anabaptist leaders. —Stuart Murray Williams, director, Centre for Anabaptist Studies, Bristol Baptist College
In the years-long process of creating and editing their
volume, Emmy Barth Maendel and Jonathan Seiling have produced a most worthy
addition to the Classics of the Radical Reformation series. They have therein
illuminated, brilliantly, the unique communitarian faith and early history of
one of the three Anabaptist movements that would outlast the centuries. The
in-depth and highly readable biographical introduction on Jakob Hutter brings
together a whole spectrum of new scholarship. All eight of Hutter’s extant
writings and a wealth of parallel contextual materials rounds out the scope of
the volume. This is a must-read, particularly now as we celebrate five hundred
years since the birth of Anabaptism, of which Hutterianism is an essential
part. —Leonard Gross, author, The Golden Years of the Hutterites
This volume is of great significance for the study of early Anabaptism. Jakob Hutter offered a vision of communal living that was more radical than others in the Radical Reformation. His call to mission was also a powerful feature of his leadership. The introduction sets Hutter carefully and clearly in his context. Then follows a comprehensive and splendidly scholarly range of primary source material. This task has never been undertaken before and it makes Jakob Hutter: His Life and Letters essential reading for all who wish to understand – and be challenged by – what Hutter said and did, in seeking to follow Jesus. —Ian Randall, Cambridge
For many years, the sources on early Hutterite history most accessible to English-speakers have been dominated by the Hutterite Chronicle and the writings of Peter Riedemann and Peter Walpot. Now, for the first time, we have access to a remarkable collection of writings by and about the founding leader of the Hutterites: Jakob Hutter. This exhaustively curated source collection gathers into one volume the primary sources relevant to Hutter's literary and historical legacy. I highly recommend Jakob Hutter: His Life and Letters not only to scholars but to anyone interested in the fascinating and inspiring story of Hutterite beginnings. —John D. Roth, Goshen College
The letters of Jakob Hutter, newly translated here, supply a searing exposure to the profound inner life and pastoral compassion of a consequential Anabaptist leader. Written amid polarization within Reformation-era Christendom on the one hand and persistent schismatic conflict among the early Anabaptist fellowships in Central Europe on the other hand, Hutter’s letters acknowledge anxiety, display grief, summon solidarity, manifest longing, offer encouragement, and express joy. These letters also channel the emotional valence of Paul’s epistles in a way that brings Paul’s apocalyptic theology of grace to life, not in abstract doctrinal statements but in the heartfelt disclosure of God’s mercy amid extreme stress and suffering. The editors have provided many helpful tools for reading and understanding these letters well, from a detailed biographical introduction to a wealth of other primary sources that illuminate the context for Jakob Hutter’s life and letters. —Gerald J. Mast, series editor, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History
This volume provides the best scholarly introduction to the life and pastoral career of Jakob Hutter, the founding father of the Hutterites. This work has greatest emphasis on English translations of the eight preserved letters authored by Hutter, but it places them in the context of chronicle sources as well as published official records. It helps us to understand how and why the continuing religious communitarian movement has retained the name of Jakob Hutter. —James M. Stayer, professor emeritus, Queen’s University
A testimony to how gripping simple truth can be in the lives of folks suffering under the oppression of political, social, and religious systems. Jakob Hutter was a hatmaker with a message dangerous enough to undo an entire consortium of social reality. His message was direct, unflinching, and practical. His suggested alternative, a community in which all goods would be shared with all, was also simple. It was something simple folks could understand. It made sense. Moreover, this effective alternative also happened to be – according to Hutter – biblically more faithful than the religious rigor undergirding the oppressive systems of the day. For this reason, it was revolutionary and dangerous. —Mennonite Quarterly Review
