# Worship in Pieter Pieters Beckjen’s boat c. 1569; sentence dated 26 February 1569 · Overview The exhibit’s boat-worship scene has a specific counterpart in Martyrs’ Mirror. Pieter Pieters Beckjen, whose name also appears there as Pieter Peters Beckjen, worked as a boatman on the Amstel. Before his execution in 1569, he gathered persecuted believers from around Amsterdam in his boat so that they could strengthen one another in the faith through the word of God. Van Braght’s account is followed by the text of Beckjen’s death sentence, copied from Amsterdam’s criminal records. It charges him with attending prohibited Mennonite assemblies and twice allowing such meetings in his own boat. It also records his refusal to have his newborn child baptized according to the established church’s ceremonies. Ordinary acts of hospitality, worship, and parental conviction had become grounds for punishment by the authorities. The sentence is dated 26 February 1569 and orders execution by fire and confiscation of his property. It records that he had been examined and threatened with torture on 17 January. Van Braght remembers his refusal to abandon his confession of Christ and presents the court document so readers can see both that steadfastness and the hostile construction placed upon it by his judges. The chart describes a ferryman’s boat in Amsterdam harbor and dates the scene approximately to 1569. The book specifies a boatman on the Amstel and gives an exact date for his sentence, but no exact date for the meetings. The approximate scene date is therefore retained without turning the day of his condemnation into a supposed date of worship. Both the narrative and the sentence remain available in their preserved wording. - [Preserved Martyrs’ Mirror: Pieter Pieters Beckjen, Amsterdam, 26 February 1569, page 708](/sources/martyrs-mirror/original.html#Page_708) - [Preserved Martyrs’ Mirror: sentence of death of Pieter Pieters Beckjen, pages 708–709](/sources/martyrs-mirror/original.html#Page_709) - [Supplied timeline, IMG_9377: forbidden worship in a ferryman’s boat, c. 1569](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/blob/main/sources/church-history/photos/IMG_9377.jpg) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/events/amsterdam-boat-worship-1569/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+Worship+in+Pieter+Pieters+Beckjen%E2%80%99s+boat&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AWorship+in+Pieter+Pieters+Beckjen%E2%80%99s+boat%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fevents%2Famsterdam-boat-worship-1569%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+amsterdam-boat-worship-1569%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+c.+1569%3B+sentence+dated+26+February+1569%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)