The Life and Thought of Michael Sattler

By C. Arnold Snyder

C. Arnold Snyder’s full-length biography and analysis of the thought of Michael Sattler, the noted Anabaptist leader, martyr, and author of The Schleitheim Articles. This book is another case study in Anabaptist origins, as well as a being a biographical study of Michael Sattler. It is particularly stimulating in breaking new ground around the Roman Catholic (Benedictine) roots of Swiss and South German Anabaptism. This study, therefore, constitutes a major advance in Anabaptist historiography.

The author of this volume is gentle, unassuming, and deceptively modest in his approach, but clear and incisive in his findings. The book is a model of careful historical method and scholarship. In stimulating the kind of fresh analysis and research indicated, the author has placed all of his colleagues in the field in his debt, and added significantly to our understanding of the early sixteenth century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 1984
• ISBN: 9780836198195

Book preview

The Life and Thought of

MICHAEL SATTLER

Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History

No. 26

The Life and Thought of

MICHAEL SATTLER

C. Arnold Snyder

Studies in Anabaptist

and

Mennonite History

Edited by Cornelius J. Dyck, Leonard Gross, Leland Harder, Guy F. Hershberger, John S. Oyer, Theron Schlabach, J. C. Wenger, and John H. Yoder

Published by Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Kitchener, Ontario, in cooperation with Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen, Indiana. The Society is primarily responsible for the content of the studies, and Herald Press for their publication.

1. Two Centuries of American Mennonite Literature, 1727-1928*

By Harold S. Bender, 1929

2. The Hutterian Brethren, 1528-1931

By John Horsch, 1931

3. Centennial History of the Mennonites in Illinois*

By Harry F. Weber, 1931

4. For Conscience* Sake*

By Sanford Calvin Yoder, 1940

5. Ohio Mennonite Sunday Schools*

By John Umble, 1941

6. Conrad Grebel, Founder of the Swiss Brethren

By Harold S. Bender, 1950

7. Mennonite Piety Through the Centuries

By Robert Friedmann, 1949

8. Bernese Anabaptists and Their American Descendants*

By Delbert L. Gratz, 1953

9. Anabaptism in Flanders, 1530-1650

By A. L. E. Verheyden, 1961

10. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan*

By J. C. Wenger, 1961

11. Anabaptist Baptism: A Representative Study

By Rollin Stely Armour, 1966

12. Lost Fatherland: The Story of Mennonite Emigration from

Soviet Russia, 1921-1927

By John B. Toews, 1967

13. Mennonites of the Ohio and Eastern Conference*

By Grant M. Stoltzfus, 1969

14. The Mennonite Church in India, 1897-1962

By John A. Lapp, 1972

15. The Theology of Anabaptism: An Interpretation

By Robert Friedmann, 1973

16. Anabaptism and Asceticism

By Kenneth R. Davis, 1974

17. South Central Frontiers

By Paul Erb, 1974

18. The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to

Central Asia, 1880-1884

By Fred R. Belk, 1976

19. Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian

Anabaptist Movement, 1525-1531

By Werner O. Packull, 1976

20. Conscience in Crisis: Mennonites and Other Peace Churches

in America, 1739-1789

By Richard K. MacMaster with Samuel L. Horst and Robert F. Ulle, 1979

21. Gospel Versus Gospel: Mission and the Mennonite Church, 1863-1944

By Theron F. Schlabach, 1979

22. Strangers Become Neighbors: Mennonite and

Indigenous Relations in the Paraguayan Chaco

By Calvin Redekop, 1980

23. The Golden Years of the Hutterites, 1565-1578

By Leonard Gross, 1980

24. Mennonites in Illinois

By Willard H. Smith, 1983

25. Petr Chelčický: A Radical Separatist in Hussite Bohemia

By Murray L. Wagner, 1983

26. Maintaining the Right Fellowship: A Narrative Account of Life in

the Oldest Mennonite Community in North Ameria

By John L. Ruth, 1984

27. The Life and Thought of Michael Sattler

By C. Arnold Snyder, 1984

* Out of print but available in microfilm or photocopies.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Snyder, C. Arnold, 1946-

The life and thought of Michael Sattler.

(Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history; no. 27)

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. Sattler, Michael, d. 1527. 2. Anabaptists—Biography.

I. Title. II. Series.

BX4946.S29S69 1984 284’.3[B] 83-22885

ISBN 0-8361-1264-4

The paper used in this publication is recycled and meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

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THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF MICHAEL SATTLER

Copyright © 1984 by Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa. 15683

Published simultaneously in Canada by Herald Press,

Kitchener, Ont. N2G 4M5

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 83-22885

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For

WALTER AND RUTH

who planted the seeds

and then nourished them

Contents

Foreword by Cornelius J. Dyck

Authors Preface

Abbreviations

I. THE LIFE OF MICHAEL SATTLER

1. A Review of Biographical Literature and Source Evidence

2. The Benedictine Context: St. Peter’s of the Black Forest

The Benedictine Background

St. Peter’s of the Black Forest: 1093-1496

St. Peter’s of the Black Forest: 1496-1531

Conclusion

3. The Reformation in Southwest Germany

The Emergence of Reformation Ideas up to 1522

Growing Opposition: 1522-1524

Kenzingen and the Peasants’ War: 1524-1525

Conclusion

4. Michael Sattler’s Relation to the Swiss Anabaptist Movement: Zurich

The Emergence and Spread of Anabaptism in Zurich

The Zurich Sources

Conclusion

5. Sattler’s Anabaptist Career: Strasbourg, Lahr, Schleitheim, Horb, and Rottenburg

Strasbourg and Lahr

Schleitheim

Horb and Rottenburg

Conclusion

II. THE THOUGHT OF MICHAEL SATTLER

6. Michael Sattler’s Thought as Seen in His Writings

The Letter to Bucer and Capito

The Schleitheim Articles

The Letter to the Church at Horb

Sattler’s Trial Responses

Conclusion

7. Sattler and Scripture

Sola Scriptura

The Commands of Scripture

Following Christ

8. Sattler’s Christology

Christ Incarnate, the Man of Sorrows

Christ the Spiritual Conqueror

9. Sattler’s Doctrine of Salvation

Sattler’s View

Grace

The Reformation: Justification

Conclusion

10. Sattler’s View of the Church

Benedictine Community

Evangelical and Anabaptist Influences

11. Conclusion

End Notes

Bibliography

Index of Concepts

Index of Names and Places

Map

The Author

Foreword

We have long known that the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century were neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant in their identity. The early assertion of Max Weber to this end has been confirmed in the subsequent writings of Robert Friedmann, Hans Hillerbrand, Walter Klaassen, and others. The basis for the development of this thesis, however, was more theological than historical.

In recent years historical depth probes have been made which further clarify Anabaptist identity through a study of origins. The work of Kenneth Davis on asceticism, Werner Packull on mysticism, James Stayer on economic and political dynamics, as of Klaus Deppermann and Martin Haas on eschatological motifs, has confirmed the earlier theological readings on the sui generis nature of Anabaptism.

These studies, however, have also brought to light the socioeconomic and political context of early Anabaptist history. While the initial revolutionary nature of Dutch Anabaptism, from the attack on the Amsterdam City Hall in May 1530 to the demise of the Münsterite kingdom in 1535, has been an accepted part of Anabaptist historiography, it is only recently that we have become aware of revolutionary ferment also in the origins of Swiss Anabaptism. The attempts of Conrad Grebel, Balthasar Hubmaier, Wilhelm Reublin, and Hans Krüsi to establish a territorial church in the Hailau, Schaffhausen, and Waldshut regions, for example, was not unrelated to the peasant unrest of 1525. This illustrates the inadequacy of simply referring to nascent Swiss Anabaptism as an attempt to complete the Zurich Reformation.

The present volume is another case study in Anabaptist origins, as well as being a biographical study of Michael Sattler. It is particularly stimulating in breaking new ground around the Roman Catholic (Benedictine) roots of Swiss and South German Anabaptism. While Sattler apparently left the monastery largely because of peasant unrest, the reforms which the Bursfeld congregation implemented at St. Peters had a significant influence upon his theology as it was later to appear in Anabaptism. It thus becomes clear that the seven articles of Schleitheim, and especially Article IV, come to us out of the monastery as much as from Zurich and Strasbourg.

This study, therefore, constitutes a major advance in Anabaptist historiography. Some of the old theories about Anabaptists being a Protestant version of monasticism will need to be reexamined. New typologies will develop in the process of fresh definitions of identity which take the Roman Catholic, monastic, and medieval antecedents more seriously than before. The meaning of the Schleitheim Articles will be reevaluated.

The author of this volume is gentle, unassuming, and deceptively modest in his approach, but clear and incisive in his findings. The book is a model of careful historical method and scholarship. In stimulating the kind of fresh analysis and research indicated, the author has placed all of his colleagues in the field in his debt, and added significantly to our understanding of the early sixteenth century. It is a pleasure to indude Arnold Snyder’s volume in the SAMH series of monographs.

Cornelius J. Dyck

Elkhart, Indiana  

Author’s Preface

Some sixty years ago, North American Mennonites began discovering Zurich and Conrad Grebe!. The locus was Goshen College; the protagonist, Harold S. Bender. The story that was told went something like this:

It was in Zurich, under the leadership of Zwingli’s follower Conrad Grebel, that the Anabaptist vision first emerged. It was a vision inspired by the great Reformation doctrines of scripture alone and salvation by faitn. But where the mainline reformers drew back, the Anabaptists pushed ahead, completing the Reformation by their requirement of active discipleship and obedience, within the context of a gathered, peaceful church. Anabaptism then spread out from Zurich to the rest of Europe. It was mercilessly persecuted, and was forced to combat schism and fanaticism from within, but in the end, it was successful in holding to the original Zurich vision.

We owe very much indeed to Harold S. Bender, for the high level of scholarship he strove for, and for the scholars he inspired—even though the story we tell now has been somewhat revised. Sixty years of scholarship have complicated the Zurich picture. Furthermore, we can now identify a variety of non-Swiss sources and influences upon Anabaptism. Zurich remains an important part of the whole, but the vision that emerged there is now seen as one among several distinct Anabaptist views.

One reaction to the intensive scholarship fostered by Bender has been that Anabaptism—as an overarching concept—is rarely studied anymore. The field has become very specialized. At the very least, today’s scholar must begin by concentrating on one of the major Anabaptist streams, such as the Swiss, South-German, Hutterite, or Dutch traditions. The study which follows is most emphatically a specialized study. It is concerned only with the Swiss-Anabaptist tradition, but even more, it deals primarily with the life and thought of just one man, and his influence on the emerging Swiss movement, it must be said, however, that his was no ordinary life, and his influence was decisive and far-reaching.

The Swiss-Anabaptist vision before the composition of the Schleitheim Articles in 1527 included a wide variety of views and doctrines, not just those of Grebel and Mantz. It was only at Schleitheim, under Michael Sattler’s leadership, that Swiss-Anabaptist doctrine crystallized, to borrow John H. Yoder’s phrase. The clarity and scope of Schleitheim doctrine, and Michael Sattler’s well-publicized trial and cruel execution, had the effect of consolidating the movement.

It has become clear that Michael Sattler is the person most responsible for shaping the enduring Swiss-Anabaptist movement, but the documents concerning his life are scarce. Consequently, no critical biography has been attempted since Gustav Bossert composed the sketch which still appears in the Mennonite Encyclopedia. A critical study is long overdue, in view of the historical questions that present themselves. What exactly did Michael Sattler contribute to Anabaptism at Schleitheim? Did he simply continue the original Zurich vision of Grebel and Mantz, or did he add new elements to the original movement? Said another way, where do Sattler’s doctrines originate? Does Schleitheim represent the true culmination of Reformation beginnings, or does it represent a throwback to medieval piety? It was to darify such questions that this study was undertaken.

The first part of this book is concerned with shedding light on the life of Michael Sattler. Consequently it employs an historical methodology. Documents and records pertaining to Sattler’s life were sought out and evaluated to construct a more accurate picture of the man and the environments in which he lived and moved.

Biography is, however, only a means to a larger end. The larger aim is to determine at what points and in what ways Sattler’s Anabaptist thought reflects the various traditions to which he had been exposed. Thus a constant concern underlying the historical section is the identification of literature representing the various schools of thought which Sattler knew at firsthand.

The second part of this book takes up a comparison of Michael Sattler’s writings with texts from the various traditions with which he had had historically documented contact. By means of this method we will be able to identify the theological roots of the doctrines which succeeded in crystallizing the Swiss-Anabaptist vision at Schleitheim.

This project was first completed as a doctoral dissertation in Religious Studies at McM aster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In preparing the manuscript for publication, extended footnotes and documentation in the original languages were omitted. Complete copies of the dissertation have been placed in various North American research centers, including: Mennonite Historical Library, Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio; Historical library, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana; Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario; Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas; Mennonite Brethren Study Center, Fresno, California.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge my debt to those who have helped make this work a reality. My special thanks to Professor Géraid Vallée, who served as dissertation committee chairman and took the time to give careful and detailed criticism throughout. Professors Ed Beame, C ]. Dyck, Klaus Deppermann, John Oyer, and John H. Yoder provided helpful suggestions and corrections throughout; Leonard Gross rendered valuable service in preparing the manuscript for the press. In the early stages of research I was very much heartened and helped by the correspondence I received from the Benedictine brothers at Mount Savior monastery and Frs. Ambrose Wathen and Roland Behrendt. My thanks to them for their fraternal encouragement. But above all, my thanks go to Professor Walter Klaassen, my Doktorvater, whose research prompted my questions in the first place, and who suggested Michael Sattler as a dissertation topic. Professor Klaassen, who also served on the dissertation committee, has seen this project through from beginning to end.

This work was made possible by timely and crucial research grants. My thanks to the Center for Reformation Research, St. Louis, for the fellowship that introduced me to paleography, and to the Canada Council, whose doctoral fellowship not only provided a living wage for our family but also financed a year of research in West Germany, thus providing access to archival sources. Of the several archives in which I worked my special thanks to the archivists and staff of the Generallandesarchiv, Karlsruhe, and the Erzbischöfliches Archiv, Freiburg, for their patience and help.

I am indebted to two Mennonite colleges for playing a crucial role in making this book possible. Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario, generously provided me with an office for two years, allowing me to work in a stimulating atmosphere of collegiality, at arm’s length from printed sources and expert advice. Four years ago Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio, offered employment, providing the means for the completion of this work. While at Bluffton College I have gained from discussions with my colleagues, Professors Delbert Gratz and J. Denny Weaver. To Arman Habegger I owe thanks for having initiated me into the mysteries and wonders of word processing, and also to Jane Yoder, Terry Stutzman, and Steve Mullet, my courageous student assistants, who mastered the computer and typed this entire manuscript in their evening hours, as part of their undergraduate employment.

The writing of this book spans a period of intense family growth. Our immediate family has grown with the welcome births of Carrie, Christian, Clifford, and Kari. We have also gained a grandpop by marriage, as well as three sets of aunts and uncles, and many cousins. The book is much the richer for it all, but especially for the unfailing support and editorial advice of my life companion, Linda. We have enjoyed it.

Arnold Snyder   

Bluffton College 

Bluffton, Ohio    

August 25, 1982

Abbreviations

I

The Life of

MICHAEL SATTLER

CHAPTER 1

A Review of Biographical Literature and Source Evidence

¹

The introductory lines of John H. Yoder’s book on Michael Sattler outline his early life in the following way:

Michael Sattler was born sometime around 1490 at Staufen in the Breisgau. He entered the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter’s northeast of Freiburc, where he became—or was likely to become— prior. In the 1520’s he came, by way of Lutheran and Zwinglian ideas, to forsake the monastery and to marry, and by March, 1525, had become a member of the Anabaptist movement which had just begun at Zurich two months before. Although his major focus of activity probably continued to be in the Breisgau, Sattler was again at Zurich for the great disputation of November 6-8, 1525, following which he was imprisoned and then expelled on November 18. He continued active in Breisgau and Württemberg until we find him a year later in Strasbourg. With these few lines we have sketched practically all that is known of the life of Sattler up until the time of the earliest documents in the present collection.²

Granted that Yoder’s work is not biographical in nature, it must be pointed out that the above lines go somewhat beyond what is actually known of Settler’s life prior to the turn of the year, 1526/1527: the four italicized portions in the above sketch each represent assumptions concerning Michael Sattler’s life and thought which have only tenuous support in the sources. Yoder, however, is merely reproducing the traditionally held view of Sattler’s life.

The tendency of the biographers to expand on the data is present not only for the early portion of Sattler’s life, but also in the reconstruction of Sattler’s Anabaptist career, where sources are more numerous. In what follows we shall briefly compare the received biographies with the source literature to identify areas calling for further critical examination.

There are four primary treatments of Michael Sattler’s life. The central work is that of Gustav Bossert,³ but Wilhelm Wiswedel’s short article is also significant⁴ Wiswedel owes much to the Introduction with which Walther Köhler prefaced his edition of the Schleitheim Articles and other Sattler materials.⁵ Most recently, Martin Haas has published a short biographical sketch of Sattler.⁶ These four treatments differ from each other mostly in emphasis and detail rather than in substance.

Nothing is known of Sattler’s early life except that he was born in Staufen in the Breisgau. His date of birth is not known. On this the biographers and the sources are in accord.⁷ The question of Sattler’s education, however, gives rise to some speculation. It is clear from the sources that he was literate and able to understand and to speak Latin;⁸ thus a certain degree of education must be assumed, but whether Sattler had more education than was available to him in the cloister is open to question.

Bossert, Köhler, and Wiswedel all state that Sattler was learned and familiar with the original scriptural languages, presumably Hebrew and peihaps Greek.⁹ The direct source here appears to be the trial account as recorded in the Hutterite Chronicle, which calls Sattler ein gleerter Man and attributes to him the knowledge of both Latin and Hebrew.¹⁰ The problem with the Chronicle as a source is that its trial report is just a summary version of known accounts, except for the details quoted above, which go beyond the information contained in other trial accounts. It is most likely that the author of the Chronicle simply expanded his account on the basis of allusions found elsewhere.¹¹

If Sattler had known Hebrew and Greek this would indicate a full and intensive humanist background and would place him in very close proximity to the other marginal Hebraists, Hans Denck and Ludwig Haetzer, both of whom he would have known in Strasbourg. On the other hand, such an education could be expected to have left behind some traces of evidence. Sattler’s name, however, has failed to appear on university matriculation lists.¹² He is yet to be identified in the correspondence of scholars interested in the biblical languages, and his work gives no evidence of such a background. In short, the question of the extent and quality of Sattler’s education remains an open one.

The sources are not very informative regarding Sattler’s monastic life. He was a monk at the Benedictine monastery St. Peter’s of the Black Forest, near Freiburg,¹³ and appears to have reached the position of prior.¹⁴ It is not known when he entered or left the monastery, since contemporary records from St. Peter’s are not extant.¹⁵ Bossert, Köhler, and Wiswedel indulge in no speculation beyond these bare facts: they consider the monastery only in so far as Sattler eventually became dissatisfied with it. Granted the general tendency of the biographers to expand on the data, this is a rather curious sin of omission, since Sattler received his initial religious training within the Benedictine milieu. There would seem to be every reason to consider monasticism as a potentially positive force, instrumental in shaping some of Sattler’s later views.¹⁶ Further examination of Sattler’s monastic milieu may well shed light on Michael Sattler as an Anabaptist.

It is not clear from the sources why Sattler left the monastery, nor is it clear what steps took place in the transition from the cloister to the Anabaptist brotherhood. The primary evidence bearing on Sattler’s reasons for leaving the cloister comes from his trial statement. Sattler states that he left the monastery because of a call from God. He alludes to the decay and corruption of the monastic estate (certainly not novel, even for a Catholic), and suggests further that monasticism as such was the fulfillment of the prophecy found in 1 Timothy 4:3.¹⁷ As they stand, the reasons given by Sattler for leaving the monastery are rather uninformative.

Despite lack of evidence, all three older biographers assume that Sattler left the monastery as the result of a Lutheran conversion. Bossert is the most restrained of the three in that he only implies such a causality. Köhler and Wiswedel are less cautious: they point specifically to Luther and draw parallels wherever possible.¹⁸ Particularly misleading is the assertion that like Luther, the study of the Pauline letters drove him to break with the old church. ¹⁹ On the contrary, Sattler’s only reference to Paul in this connection is in reply to the eighth charge against him at his trial. It is clear that this reference does not point to the Pauline letters generally, but rather to I Timothy 4:3 which he quotes immediately following. It should be noted further that Sattler at no time gives either Luther or Zwingli credit for his departure from the monastery. In sum, that Sattler left the monastery for Protestant reasons is an assumption not warranted by the evidence as we have it. Such a conclusion may be safely made only after further research.

The biographers are not reticent in describing the actual steps supposedly followed in the transition process, as follows: a) Sattler leaves St. Peter’s, sometime in the 1520s; b) he marries; c) he is forced to flee to Switzerland because of the efforts of Ferdinand I to extirpate heresy in the Breisgau; and d) early in 1525, while in Switzerland, he joins the Anabaptist movement.²⁰ It must be granted, first of all, that all the events listed above actually did take place, but it is far from clear that they took place in this particular sequence, at these times, or for the reasons adduced. Sattler may well have married after having been in Switzerland, for example. He may have been in Zurich out of curiosity or interest, rather than in exile. There are no textual reasons for assuming that the biographers have put together the authoritative chronology here. And in fact, in no case is the Peasants’ War even remotely considered as a potential catalyst involved in Sattler’s transition from St. Peter’s to Switzerland.

More serious is the question of when Sattler joined the Anabaptist movement in Zurich. The sources cited in this connection are two. On March 25, 1525, a brother Michael appears in the Zurich record, but this brother subsequently recants completely.²¹ If this is Sattler, his Anabaptist convictions certainly have not been demonstrated. The first mention of Sattler by name occurs on November 18, 1525. At this time he abjures and is released upon payment of costs.²² Thus, although Sattler is demonstrably in Anabaptist company in November 1525, his actions at that time do not demonstrate strong Anabaptist convictions, in marked contrast to his later heroism in the face of incredible torture. The two references quoted in support of Sattler’s early conversion to Anabaptism in Zurich are less than decisive.

Besides the November oath of renunciation in the Zurich record, Sattler’s name appears also in the testimony of three prisoners from the Bülach area, a town ten kilometers north of Zurich. The one datable testimony places Sattler’s missionizing activity in the summer of 1526.²³ There is one further piece of evidence which appears to pertain to Sattler, namely a letter written by Hans Kuenzi to the Zurich Council.²⁴ In that letter Kuenzi mentions that an ex-monk by the name of Michael is living with him, learning the weaver’s trade, but Kuenzi seems to deny that this Michael is the same Michael who had been your prisoner—an almost certain reference to Sattler. This latter document is not without its problems, as we shall see later, but in any case it is not considered or utilized by the biographers.

In summary, the sources do document the fact that Sattler missionized as an Anabaptist in the area just north of Zurich. As against the picture drawn by the biographers, however, there is little support for the view that Sattler was converted in early 1525, missionized in the Zurich area and was then ejected in November 1525 because his success drew the attention of the Zurich authorities. Neither are there indications that Sattler had close connections with Grebel, Mantz, and Blaurock in Zurich proper. Rather, the Anabaptist names which appear along with Sattler’s name in the Zurich record are the names Kuenzi, Winckler, Brennwald, and Muntprat.²⁵ In sum, a closer look at Sattler’s relationship to the Zurich movement is called for.

Following the notice of Sattler’s missionary activity north of Zurich, there is no record of his whereabouts until late December 1526 or early January 1527. At that time a farewell letter was written by Sattler to Bucer and Capito, whom Sattler addresses as beloved brothers in God.²⁶ It appears that when he left Strasbourg, Sattler missionized in and around the nearby town of Lahr, across the Rhine in Baden. On February 7, 1527, Jacob Ottelinus, pastor at Lahr, wrote to Martin Bucer complaining of Sattler’s Anabaptist activity in the area.²⁷

There is evidence that Bucer and Capito had been favorably impressed upon meeting Sattler. Capito wrote a letter to the Horb City Council soon after Sattler’s trial and death in which he spoke very highly of Sattler: He demonstrated at all times an excellent zeal for the honor of God and the church of Christ²⁸ Likewise Bucer, in writing against the errors of Kautz and Denck, stated concerning Sattler that we do not doubt that Michael Sattler, who was burned at Rottenburg, was a clear friend of God, even though he was a leader in the baptism order.²⁹ In retrospect, Capito and Bucer were Willing to concede that Sattler had been an earnest and sincere Christian, even if somewhat in error.

The sources are silent concerning several statements made by the biographers. There is no evidence that on leaving the Zurich area, Sattler attempted to stay in the Breisgau only to be forced out by Austrian persecution.³⁰ Neither is there any evidence that Sattler’stayed at Wolfgang Capito’s home as a personal guest of the reformer.³¹ Again, there is no direct evidence of contact between Sattler and Hans Denck. Denck was banished from Strasbourg on December 24, 1526.³² Assuming that Sattler was already in Strasbourg at this time, it is virtually certain that the two men would have met, for the Anabaptist circle was too small to predude such a meeting. But Sattler did not play a role in the debate between Denck and the Strasbourg reformers.³³

It is clear that Sattler knew Ludwig Haetzer, for Haetzer later said some rather unflattering things about him,³⁴ but we have no evidence that Sattler was repelled by the man.³⁵ Finally, although the disagreement between Sattler and the Strasbourg reformers was obviously cordial rather than vitriolic, it is questionable whether this cordiality alone allows the historian to make broad theological assumptions regarding the orthodoxy of Sattler’s position in contrast to Denck’s.³⁶ There remain fundamental questions concerning Sattler’s relations to the reformers in Strasbourg and to the Strasbourg Anabaptists.

Following the mention of Sattler in Ottelinus’ letter of February 7, 1527, we next find Sattler in the town of Schleitheim on February 24.³⁷ Today the evidence is considered conclusive that Michael Sattler was the primary figure responsible for framing the Schleitheim Articles, which were accepted at that time.³⁸ The biographers, with the notable exception of Haas,³⁹ place Sattler in Württemberg following his stay in Strasbourg and prior to his Schleitheim activity.⁴⁰ Apparently Ottelinus’ letter was not known to Bossert, for the time span open to Sattler is a mere seventeen days between the time of his Lahr activity and his presence in Schleitheim. Furthermore, we have no sources which point directly to Sattler’s having been active in Württemberg. In fact, recently discovered sources strongly suggest that Sattler’s activity in Württemberg was minimal and limited to whatever time was available between the Schleitheim meeting and the arrest.⁴¹

Following the Schleitheim conference, Sattler appears to have traveled directly to Württemberg, to the town of Horb on the Neckar. Very soon after his arrival he was arrested there by officials of Count Joachim von Zollern, regent for Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.⁴² Being under Austrian political jurisdiction, the officials of the district were militantly Catholic, and preparations for a trial were undertaken immediately. Staging a trial proved to be a difficult undertaking, for not only did local sentiment run in favor of the arrested Anabaptists, but also the attempt to find willing judges met with a variety of obstacles.⁴³ The initial trial date, set for April 12, had to be postponed, and Count Joachim, perhaps fearing that his prisoners might be set free,⁴⁴ moved Michael Sattler, his wife, and two other foreigners to a tower in the little town of Binsdorf.⁴⁵

A new trial date was set for May 17 in the town of Rottenburg on the Neckar; the four prisoners from the Binsdorf tower were tried, along with seventeen Anabaptist prisoners from Rottenburg.⁴⁶ The trial lasted two days, at the end of which Michael Sattler and his codefendants were found guilty. Sattler was sentenced to have his tongue cut off, to have his body torn seven times with glowing tongs, and finally to be burned to death. This verdict was carried out on May 20, 1527.⁴⁷

The details concerning Sattler’s arrest and trial are found in the biographies in essentially correct form. Some new source evidence, however, changes details of the picture. We now know, for instance, that there were two arrests in Horb, that Michael Sattler’s wife’s name was Margaretha, that the number of prisoners tried in Rottenburg was twenty-one, that the prisoners had been interrogated under torture, and that Sattler himself had been questioned prior to the actual trial.⁴⁸ These details are informative and add perspective to the arrest and trial of Sattler, but the biographers and the sources agree on all essential points concerning this final period of Sattler’s life.

This brief survey should serve to underline the need for a fresh appraisal of Sattler’s life. In the case of Sattler’s pre-Anabaptist days, too littie is known of the circumstances in which Sattler found himself. What kind of a monastery was St. Peter’s of the Black Forest? What was its educational policy? What was its relation to contemporary Benedictine currents? How might Sattler have come into contact with Reformation ideas? Further research into the early milieus in which Sattler lived and moved should provide a better framework for answering these and other questions concerning Sattler’s pre-Anabaptist days.

In terms of Sattler’s Anabaptist career, the relative wealth of documentation shifts the task from one of exploring milieus to one of critically evaluating documents and their use. Some of the results of this critical evaluation have already been indicated. What should emerge following a total study such as we are outlining is a fresh view of the life of Michael Sattler. The aim in this section of the book is to provide such a critical biography. The aim in the second section is