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New Jerusalem, Paul Ham ; translations of original documents by Jonathan Schmidt and Sarah Markiewicz

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 341-352) and index

contains biographical information

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index present

non fiction

New Jerusalem

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Paul Ham ; translations of original documents by Jonathan Schmidt and Sarah Markiewicz

In 1534 a radical religious sect seized the city of Münster, in the German-speaking land of Westphalia. Convinced that they were God's elect, chosen to be the first to ascend to Paradise on Judgement Day, they believed in would happen here, in 'New Jerusalem' during Easter 1535. The 'Melchiorites', as they were called after their founding prophet, turned the city into a Christian theocracy, throwing out the Catholics and Lutherans, 'rebaptising' their followers, destroyed religious icons, adopting a communist system of shared property and imposing a new law of polygamy. The backlash against the sect would be long and brutal, known as the siege of Munster. For 18 months, the city was shut off, periodically attacked and slowly starved. For most of this time, the sect clung to their faith with astonishing resilience, even as they descended into suffering. New Jerusalem is the story of religious obsession and persecution, of noble ideals trampled to dust, all in the name of Christ. It tells of one of the first violent revolts of the Reformation, which helped to ignite 110 years of religious conflict that ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The story holds a fascination in our own time, scarred again by the return of religious wars, of hatred and slaughter, all in the name of a god or a faith

adult