Germany

Three months before the death of Jan Hus in Constance, Germany,a Bohemian scholar named Jerome secretly snuck into the city.He had already escaped from prison in Vienna, and had boldlymade his way to Germany, without protection, to try to help his friendHus. Jerome had translated the writings of John Wycliffe into the Czechlanguage, which Hus had read and followed. Feeling perhaps that it washe, Jerome, who should have been arrested, he bravely wrote letters tothe emperor and the Council of Constance, pleading for safe conductand to be heard on behalf of Hus—but they refused. Having done all hecould, he made his way back to Bohemia. He never made it home. As he traveled through a small town inGermany, the Duke of Sulzbach sent an officer to illegally arrest him.Chained around the neck and shackled, he was led back into Constanceas if he was the center of a parade. Surrounded by men on horseback andmany more guards, they took him to a degrading prison to await trial. Later, during which time Hus was martyred, the Council of Constance still refused to let Jerome speak. They knew he was a persuasive,intelligent scholar, and were afraid of his ability to defend the Christianfaith.

Michael Sattler was born in 1495 and became a monk. Likemany Reformation-era monks, he wrestled with his sensualpassions and his love for God. Sattler broke his oath of celibacy for an equally unavailable woman named Margarita, a nun whoalso broke her oath for marital love. Later, the Sattlers would die for afar greater love: their bond with God. By 1526, the Sattlers had returned to the Anabaptist movement,which Michael had been forced to renounce years earlier to avoid imprisonment. Now, with his Anabaptist convictions strengthened, Michael dedicated his life to preaching at a church in Horb, a strongly Catholic region of Austria. On February 4, 1527, in the small German town of Schleitheim, the Anabaptists met and introduced to the world a new way of understanding church and Gospel. The Sattlers traveled to Germanyfrom Horb for the deliberations that produced the “Seven Articles of theFaith,” also known as the “Brotherly Union.” Michael Sattler helpedwrite this founding document of the Anabaptist movement. But traveling home from that meeting, Michael and Margarita Sattler were captured and their articles confiscated. They were transformedfrom Anabaptist advocates to Anabaptist martyrs—a twist of events thatpropelled the church further than Sattler could ever have imagined.Tried before a