Maria and Ursula van Beckum: steadfast together in 1544

Martyrs’ Mirror relates that Maria van Beckum had taken refuge with her brother John after being driven from home because of her faith. When officers came to arrest her in 1544, she asked her sister-in-law Ursula to accompany her. With John’s consent, Ursula went willingly. The account first brings the women to Deventer, where they answered demands to conform by appealing to the word of God.

The narrative then follows them to Delden. Questioned about baptism, they confessed one baptism according to Christ’s command and the apostles’ practice, joining it to a new life in the Holy Spirit. They described the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death. The book places their public sentencing at Delden and portrays the women encouraging one another, giving the kiss of peace, and praying that God would forgive their judges.

Maria was burned first. Ursula watched her sister-in-law’s death and refused a further opportunity to renounce her faith. When a block slipped beneath her foot, officials thought she was reconsidering, but she explained the movement and reaffirmed her resolve to hold to Christ. The source presents their companionship, scriptural confession, and prayers for their persecutors as a witness to faithful endurance.

The exhibit’s illustration caption, readable when enlarged, names Ursula van Beckum and gives 1544; an earlier inventory had read the small date as 1549. Its wording locates the burning at Deventer, whereas the preserved book distinguishes Deventer from the later proceedings at Delden. The photograph remains unchanged, and this history keeps that geographical discrepancy visible rather than silently harmonizing the two descriptions.