# Hans De Vette, And Eleven Others, Put To Death For The Testimony Of Jesus Christ, At Ghent, In Flanders, A. D. 1559.

1559 · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: HANS DE VETTE, AND ELEVEN OTHERS, PUT TO DEATH FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST, AT GHENT, IN FLANDERS, A. D. 1559.

Source heading; not independently verified

A confession written by Hans de Vette, at Ghent,
where he was imprisoned with eleven others,
in the year 1559, touching his examination.

On the first Friday after Whitsuntide there were
imprisoned at Ghent for the word of the Lord, the
following named persons: Pieter Coerten of Meenen,
Kaerle Tanckreet of Nipkerck, with Proentken, his
wife, of Belle, Jacob Spillebout, Abraham Tanckreet,
and Maeyken Floris of Nipkerck, Anthonis van Cassel,
Hans de Smit, Marcus his brother, Hans de
Vette, with Maritgen, his wife, of Waesten, and
Tanneken, the wife of J. de S. These had been
delivered by treachery to the Procurator General,
who, with three thief-catchers, took them away prisoners
from their lodging place, in the evening.

The next day we were visited by the authorities,
who asked us, each separately, for our names, and
where we came from, which we told them. They
then asked us whether we confessed another baptism
than infant baptism, and whether we had also
received another. We all renounced idolatrous infant
baptism, and confessed that we had received
Christian baptism, except Marcus de Smit, who confessed
that he had not yet received it, but that if he
had opportunity, he wished to receive it with all his
heart. They then asked us whether we desired
learned men to instruct us; that they would send us
some, and just such as we wanted, ecclesiastics or
secular men; they also said that they should not
hurry us. But since they almost always asked us
separately the same questions, I, the writer of this,
said that by the grace of the Lord I wanted no
other instruction than I had received, though an
angel should come from heaven. Gal. 1:8.

Besides this, they nevertheless, about eight days
afterwards, sent one Friar Peter de Backer (who
had partly spied us out), with one of his companions,—two
false prophets, called Jacobines, as I
believe. After we had appeared before them, and
exchanged a few words, we came to infant baptism,
which he declared to be a divinely instituted doctrine,
saying that circumcision was a figure of it;
also, that the apostles had baptized entire households,
and that Christ had commanded it, John 3.
But when I had proven to him, that he had not
spoken the truth, and that the apostles had baptized
none without faith, as is clearly found in the Acts
of the Apostles, he endeavored to speak about another
article, saying that we should not be able to
agree. But I told him that I desired to see the first
finished before proceeding further, and begged him
to repent, proving to him, that their worship was
a rotten and putrid idolatry, contrary to all the
commandments of God, and a human plant; and
that God’s commandments were sufficient for us,
that no lies need be added to them, and that it
availed nothing to regard what God has not commanded.
Then he said that I was deceived, and
had looked too much at their abuses: that it was
true there were some abuses in their church, but
that the principal of what was observed in it, was
good. After many words we parted.

A few days afterwards the Dean of Ronse, an inquisitor
in the country of Flanders, came, and with
him, said Peter de Backer, who had visited us first,
and other false prophets. When I appeared before
them, the Dean asked my name. I replied that my
name was Hans de Vette. Then he asked me whether
I was married. I replied: “Yes.” He then asked
me whether my wife was also of Waesten. I replied:
“Yes.” He asked me how long I had been married.
I said: “Not very long.” He asked me, in
what church and by what parish priest I had been
married. I asked him whether we found anything
said in the Scriptures, that a parish priest was required
for it. He said that in the world whores and
knaves come together without parish priests. Then
I said that I had done this according to the direction
of the Scriptures, as permitted by Paul, in order
to avoid fornication, it being better to marry than to
burn (1 Cor. 7:2,9); whores and knaves on the contrary
will much rather burn than marry, as is abundantly
seen and heard in this wicked world in many
thousands of instances. He then said that this was
a small matter, and that if I had done nothing
more, it could easily have been arranged; however,
I should only tell him where it took place. I told
him that I did not intend to tell him. Then he adjured
me by the living God, that I should tell him;
but I made no reply. Thereupon he asked me why I
had not continued in the faith of the Roman church,
and in her worship. My reply was, that I had separated
from her so as not to become a partaker
of her plagues, since darkness can have no communion
with light, nor Christ with Belial, nor the
righteous with the unrighteous, etc. Hence we must
come out from among her. Rev. 18:4; 2 Corinthians
6:14,17.

He then asked me what I thought of the seven
sacraments, part of which he named to me. I replied
that I considered them utterly worthless, because
of all the abominable idolatry observed by
them; but since the Lord has commanded us to
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confess his name before men, I said that I would
confess my faith to him. He said that I should.
I then began to make my confession; as that I
believed in one God, the Creator of heaven and
earth, sea and waters, and all there is therein; and
who created man after his image. Him alone we
must serve, honor, worship, and love with all our
soul, with all our strength, and with all our thoughts,
since he alone is good; forsaking all idols, whether
of gold, silver, stone, metal, wood, bread, or of
whatever other make or substance they may be,
even as they are rejected and prohibited in the holy
Scriptures; for we know that an idol is nothing in
the world, 1 Cor. 8:4.

As I continued to speak, the Dean of Ronse said
to me that I was making it too long, to write it all
down. “You would make us too much work,” he
said, “if you should thus confess your faith from
the beginning of the Bible.” “I also believe,” said
he, “what you have said here; but what do you
say of the sacrament of baptism as used in our
church; to which every one must come, in order to
be saved?” I replied that I considered infant baptism
worthless, since it was not commanded of God.
He said that circumcision was a figure of it, and that
all the children that were not circumcised in the Old
Testament, or are not baptized in the New Testament,
must be damned. I then said, in accordance
with his own words: “Then the female children in
the Old Testament must all be damned.” He became
angry, and said that what I advanced was only
sophistry. I told him that he should be ashamed
to say that children were damned, to whom as the
Lord says, the kingdom of heaven belongs. He
said that I lied in this. And another priest told me
that one of Paul’s disciples writes that he had learned
infant baptism from his teacher, Paul. Thereupon I
said that Paul writes that we should not be shaken in
mind, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter,
as sent from them; or even though an angel from
heaven should come, and teach us anything different
from what is written in the holy Gospel, he
should be accursed. 2 Thess. 2:2. I also asked him
to show me where the Lord had commanded to baptize
children, or to prove that the apostles baptized
infants; which he could not do.

Again, he asked me how long ago I had been
baptized. I replied: “Not yet a year.” He asked
me where and by whom I had been baptized; but I
did not tell him. He then adjured me three times by
the living God, and by the baptism which I had received,
that I should tell him. I said that Caiaphas
so adjured Christ. He replied that Christ spoke. I
said that Christ spoke for himself; but that when he
was questioned concerning his disciples, he did not
speak.

He then asked me what I held concerning the
sacrament of the altar. I told him that I considered
it nothing less than an unclean, rotten, putrid idolatry,
and an abomination before God. He asked:
“How? Do you not believe that he is present in
it in flesh and blood, just as he walked upon the
earth, or as he hung upon the tree of the cross?”
“Far be it from me,” said I, “that I should believe
that Christ’s flesh and blood are here upon earth;
for Christ himself said to his apostles, that we should
always have the poor with us, but that we should
not always have him.” Matt. 26:11.

He thereupon told me that he was not thus present
in the sacrament, but that it was in spiritual substance,
and that I did not understand the matter;
but that this argument had been established many
centuries before my time; for when Christ held his
supper he said, he took the bread and gave it to his
disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body.”
I replied that the bread which Christ gave to his
disciples, he gave them as an emblem of his body
which was to be broken for them; even as he has
represented himself by figures in many places of
Scripture. In John (15:1) he says: “I am the true
vine;” yet in reality he was no vine, but he compared
himself to a vine. Thus the bread which Christ
brake for his disciples, was spiritually a figure of his
body; for he says in John 6; “Flesh and blood
profit nothing; but the words that I speak are spirit
and life.” He said that this was irrelevant; “for if
Christ were not present,” said he, “how could we
eat damnation thereby?” But I replied: “If it were
the flesh and blood of Christ; we would not eat
damnation thereby: for Christ says himself; ‘Whoso
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life.’ John 6:54. Hence these words must
not be understood literally, but spiritually, namely,
that if one who was still a drunkard, or covetous, or
an idolater, or the like, should go to the Lord’s
Supper with the church of Christ, whose head is
Christ, such an one would be unfit to break bread
with the members of Christ, not discerning Christ’s
body.” 1 Cor. 11:29. Then he said that there were
many among us, who were drunkards, adulterers,
and the like, and that they were well known to him.
I then asked him: “Who are they?” He said:
“J. de R.” I then asked him where he lived. He
replied: “I shall not tell you.” I said that I well
knew if there were such in our church, and were
known, they would, according to the Scriptures,
be put away and excluded. 1 Cor. 5:11.

He then asked me, who had baptized me. And
when he could not learn it from me, he adjured me,
but I did not tell him. Then his secretary said: “I
will wager you a pot of wine, that you will tell it before
a fortnight has passed;” but I would not bet.
He then asked me how often I had observed the
Supper. I replied that I had sometimes observed it,
when opportunity offered itself, with many dear
brethren and sisters. He asked: “With whom?
what are their names?” I gave him the name of
one of them, whom he specially named in his question.
He then inquired concerning others, whether
I regarded them as my brethren, or whether they
were only friends or novices; “for I have learned all
this Flemish,” said he, “about novices [aencomelingen,
i. e. newcomers], friends and brethren.” I
said: “I thought you were from Brabant; do you
understand so much Flemish?” “I hardly know
what I am.” he said; “perhaps I am a foundling.”
“Yes,” said I, “John’s Revelation (13:1) speaks of
a beast, which rose up out of the sea; you may belong
to that race.”

598

He then asked me whether I did not believe that
Jesus Christ had assumed flesh and blood from
Mary. I replied that I believed that the Word
which was in the beginning with God, and by which
the world was created, became flesh. Then he said
that according to the flesh he was David’s son. I
replied: “If he is David’s son, Christ himself says:
How then doth David call him Lord?” He said
that Christ only adduced this to the Pharisees by
way of argument; but Matthew, said he, describes
his generation from Abraham to Mary. I replied,
that Matthew traces the generation of Christ only
to Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom Christ
was born; and Luke says that Jesus was supposed
to be the son of Joseph. “But,” said he, “do you
not believe that Mary is the mother of Christ?” I
said: “Yes; Christ says: ‘Whosoever shall do the
will of my Father, the same is my mother, sister and
brother.’ ” Matt. 12:50.

He then said that Christ was of the seed of the
woman. But I told him, that women had no seed
themselves: for as the woman is of the man, even so
is the man also by the woman. 1 Cor. 11:12. Then
he said that he was of Mary’s substance and blood.
But I replied that Christ said to the Jews, that he
was from above, but they from beneath; “ye are of
this world,” he said; “I am not of this world.” John
8:23. Moreover, the apostle says: “The first man
is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven.” 1 Cor. 15:47. I then told them that
they should repent of their unrighteousness, persecution,
and false, idolatrous doctrine. They said:
“We have the true doctrine.” I said that Paul nevertheless
commands us to avoid such as command
to abstain from meats, which God has created for
the use of them that believe; and who forbid to
marry, and have their conscience seared with a hot
iron; for it is better to marry than to burn; but you
people, contrary to the Scriptures, command to abstain
from meats, and forbid to marry, and will
rather burn than marry. 1 Tim. 4:2,3; 1 Cor. 7:9.

Dean. “We do not forbid to marry.”

Hans. “Certainly you do; you know that because
of your commandment a person may neither eat
meat nor marry, in Lent, and on many other days;
and you have entered into a covenant that restrains
you from marrying; but you commit such fornication
that it is a shame to speak of it, as is daily
seen from the bastards that are brought to your
houses, and Paul says that we shall not eat with
such, namely, fornicators, drunkards, etc., but that
they are to be delivered unto Satan, for the destruction
of their flesh.” 1 Cor. 5:5.

Dean. “We are not so bad; we do not want to
deliver them to Satan, we are so much the better.”

Hans. “Poor man, would you be better than
Paul? But all that is told you is of no avail; for you
will not repent; but if you want to dispute with us
in the market or any other public place, we are
ready, in hopes that some of the ignorant might be
drawn thereby.”

Dean. “This shall not be; who should judge
there? boatmen, fish-mongers, and the like? That
would be just the way to excite a tumult; but we
are fools that we dispute so much with you; the
proper way to do would be, simply to tell you our
faith, and if you will not believe it, pass sentence.”

We had many other words yet as about the worshiping
of saints, the Pope of Rome, confession,
fasting, purgatory, and the sleeping of the saints,
which it would take much too long to write. The
foregoing I have written down from memory, even
as they often occurred; but since it happened long
ago, I should not be able to write it down word for
word. But since I well know that it is of no avail
to tell them anything, and that they are arrogant
and shameless, I sometimes give them very brief
answers, offering to dispute with them in public,
which they refused. They often put the same questions
repeatedly to our brethren and sisters that are
in bonds with us, who are all still of good cheer, the
Lord be praised; for we feared the false prophets
much more before we spoke with them, than afterwards.
But the Lord knows how to give his chosen
a mouth in such hours as he has promised, better
than we can imagine; for those who seemed weak
when not in bonds, are so courageous, that it is astonishing
to see and hear it. The Lord alone be
praised forever and ever. Amen.

The Dean also asked me whether we did not pray
for him. I said: “Yes.” “What do you people
call me?” said he; “Do you call me Saul?” I replied:
“I have sometimes heard you called the Inquisitor
(they all laughed); sometimes the Dean of
Ronse.” He said: “That is my name.” We had
many more words yet; however partly from lack of
paper, I forbear writing more; but I beg all who see
this, to receive it in good part, And if possible, let
a copy of this be sent to our acquaintances at Antwerp,
and one to our acquaintances in the West.

Thereupon these twelve friends (whose names are
mentioned in the beginning of Hans de Vette’s
letter) all courageously laid down their lives for the
truth. First four valiantly passed through the conflict,
who offered up their burnt-sacrifice in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and a short time
afterwards, six others, who, after steadfast confession
of their faith, were also brought forth, and being
asked whether they would not yet recant, they answered:
“No,” but if they had committed any crime,
they should be dealt with accordingly. They were
speedily sentenced to death as heretics, and when
they were taken out to death in two wagons, two
monks sat beside them, who prevented them from
speaking much, so that they could only with great
difficulty speak a word or two, namely: “Fear not
them that kill the body; for after that they have no
more that they can do;” but, O men, repent, for the
apostle says that he that lives after the flesh shall die.
Rom. 8:13.

When they were led into a hut of wood and straw
in which they were to be burnt, they manifested
great joy, and commending their souls into the
hands of God, they put off the corruptible, to put
on the incorruptible.

There remained yet two pregnant women, who,
after giving birth to their children, and lying in,
were both secretly beheaded in the count’s castle.
Thus all these, continuing steadfast unto the end,
went to rest with the Lord and shall also enter into
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eternal joy with him, in the company of all the dear
children of God. Matt. 25:21; John 1:12.





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