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The Tailor-King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Muenster
Relates the early sixteenth-century uprising of a radical sect of Anabaptists, who took over the northern German town of Munster and fought off the powers of church and state for two years
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
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April 11, 2025
"By definition an apocalypse does not peter out."
Преди доста години вече слушах подкаста на Дан Карлин за тази история, още тогава си бях отбелязал тази книга като to-read, най-накрая стигнах и до нея. Историята на Ян Матиас, Ян от Лайден, Бернард Книпердолинг и Бернард Ротман е страшно увлекателно описана от автора Антъни Артър, почти романизирана като формат. Този вид достъпност на една историческа случка много ми допада, вместо да говори за дати и цифри авторът се фокусира върху хора и събития, доста кратко и ясно се поставя контекста и се започва с реалната случка. Самото кралство на анабаптистите в Мюнстер е един от тези моменти в историята, които те карат да спреш и да се замислиш до каква крайност е способен човекът, воден от фанатизъм. Артър много добре заключва, че Вирджиния Улф греши, човекът не се е променил в началото на XX век, същите сме сега, каквото са били и анабаптистите в Мюнстер, отказът да го признаем и да внимаваме обикновено води до преповтарянето на такива истории, като при Уейко с Клонка Давидова.
Преди доста години вече слушах подкаста на Дан Карлин за тази история, още тогава си бях отбелязал тази книга като to-read, най-накрая стигнах и до нея. Историята на Ян Матиас, Ян от Лайден, Бернард Книпердолинг и Бернард Ротман е страшно увлекателно описана от автора Антъни Артър, почти романизирана като формат. Този вид достъпност на една историческа случка много ми допада, вместо да говори за дати и цифри авторът се фокусира върху хора и събития, доста кратко и ясно се поставя контекста и се започва с реалната случка. Самото кралство на анабаптистите в Мюнстер е един от тези моменти в историята, които те карат да спреш и да се замислиш до каква крайност е способен човекът, воден от фанатизъм. Артър много добре заключва, че Вирджиния Улф греши, човекът не се е променил в началото на XX век, същите сме сега, каквото са били и анабаптистите в Мюнстер, отказът да го признаем и да внимаваме обикновено води до преповтарянето на такива истории, като при Уейко с Клонка Давидова.
August 1, 2023
Vivid case study of a descent to despotism and totalitarianism, and not just a re-telling of a story of Münster commune. Unexpectedly detailed, given the events took place 500 years ago. Even more unexpected that author draws convincing parallels with modern religious fundamentalists like Jamestown and Waco.
May 1, 2023
-1 star for still being under copyright.
Mostly solid historical account of the Anabaptist revolution: a revolution where they went so overboard that the Protestants and Catholics united their forces to defeat it, both of which seeing the Anabaptists as a credible threat across Christiandom. This book give a sense of this conflict, a kind of stereo vision for the events of the reformation, of Martin Luther / Zwigler / Melanchthon and generally the world before the Treaty of Westphalia, and the modern System of the World that followed it. Starting and mostly focused on the events of the failed revolution itself, Arthur also does a pretty exhaustive job of following those who interpreted the events through own lens to pretty much the dawn of the current millenium.
I found one blooper; consulting the original german and latin first-hand source material that Arthur seemed to rely on seems to show that the organ described early in the book when the church was beset by iconoclasts was probably not actually brass - this is the only detail I really cared to look up so it's unfortunate that it wasn't actually accurate, given the level of detail in this seemingly well researched book. And given Arthur is long gone now it's a pity that this detail cannot be updated - this is the cost of information being stored in books rather than some kind of digital format, I guess. It would have been interesting, apparently, if it were actually brass -- but the evidence seems to support otherwise. Unfortunately as this book serves as the basis for future books making sense of this era, this error has propagated.
With that unfortunately incorrect detail in the background, this is a story that even 700 odd years later still raises eyebrows : how could such a series of events happen? And yet the author makes a pretty reasonable case at the end that the events involved, and the people involved are not so dissimilar from us. That such a madness could sweep nearby, that it can happen here. That the "history is over, we've got it all figured out" attitudes of of his era were bound to fall way.
There was also something eerily similar about the account and the accounts of men who lived through the seige of stalingrad, leningrad, revolution era China and a couple other seiges I've heard about - as though that's a kind of natural end result of these kinds of movements: what it looks like when "it's over". It's not pretty. I had a couple of nightmares definitely inspired by this book.
Over the years there's been many calls for political change, such as by Occupy calling for a jubilee. In fact one did occur in this case, and this book recalls what a jubilee, done Anabaptist style, really meant. The jubilee is definitely not the only historically interesting precedent here either. I agree with Erin Piorier, and other reviewers here haven't really gotten this point across - this is a particularly weird episode of history. I can see why Marx and Engels was keen to understand it.
Mostly solid historical account of the Anabaptist revolution: a revolution where they went so overboard that the Protestants and Catholics united their forces to defeat it, both of which seeing the Anabaptists as a credible threat across Christiandom. This book give a sense of this conflict, a kind of stereo vision for the events of the reformation, of Martin Luther / Zwigler / Melanchthon and generally the world before the Treaty of Westphalia, and the modern System of the World that followed it. Starting and mostly focused on the events of the failed revolution itself, Arthur also does a pretty exhaustive job of following those who interpreted the events through own lens to pretty much the dawn of the current millenium.
I found one blooper; consulting the original german and latin first-hand source material that Arthur seemed to rely on seems to show that the organ described early in the book when the church was beset by iconoclasts was probably not actually brass - this is the only detail I really cared to look up so it's unfortunate that it wasn't actually accurate, given the level of detail in this seemingly well researched book. And given Arthur is long gone now it's a pity that this detail cannot be updated - this is the cost of information being stored in books rather than some kind of digital format, I guess. It would have been interesting, apparently, if it were actually brass -- but the evidence seems to support otherwise. Unfortunately as this book serves as the basis for future books making sense of this era, this error has propagated.
With that unfortunately incorrect detail in the background, this is a story that even 700 odd years later still raises eyebrows : how could such a series of events happen? And yet the author makes a pretty reasonable case at the end that the events involved, and the people involved are not so dissimilar from us. That such a madness could sweep nearby, that it can happen here. That the "history is over, we've got it all figured out" attitudes of of his era were bound to fall way.
There was also something eerily similar about the account and the accounts of men who lived through the seige of stalingrad, leningrad, revolution era China and a couple other seiges I've heard about - as though that's a kind of natural end result of these kinds of movements: what it looks like when "it's over". It's not pretty. I had a couple of nightmares definitely inspired by this book.
Over the years there's been many calls for political change, such as by Occupy calling for a jubilee. In fact one did occur in this case, and this book recalls what a jubilee, done Anabaptist style, really meant. The jubilee is definitely not the only historically interesting precedent here either. I agree with Erin Piorier, and other reviewers here haven't really gotten this point across - this is a particularly weird episode of history. I can see why Marx and Engels was keen to understand it.
July 2, 2019
Excellent short history of the "Anabaptist Commune." Although Arthur presents the story as a forerunner of the revolutionary/religious movements of the modern era, modernists used to scorn these manifestations as "medieval throwbacks" to the era of Munster. From whichever end of the lens, it merely reveals that the human search for utopia and the psychological disjunctions it produces are a timeless - perhaps necessary - product of the human condition.
The events of Jan van Leyden at Munster do indeed follow the parallels of David Koresh at Waco and Jim Jones at the Guyana Peoples' Temple. In European history, they foreshadow more the brief revolutionary upsurges following WW I, like the Spartacist rising in Berlin, or the revolutionary coups in Hamburg and Budapest and Munich. As in these latter utopian enclaves, their brief success doomed them to isolation, their heroism falling to fanaticism and finally political cannibalism. As in Munster, utopia is devoured from within long before the Party of Order moves in for the coup de grace.
Yet as long as the human species looks to overcome the limitations of its mortal genetics and the natural world, the spirit of "King Jan" and Munster will be with us. Like life the book is short, its subject eternal.
The events of Jan van Leyden at Munster do indeed follow the parallels of David Koresh at Waco and Jim Jones at the Guyana Peoples' Temple. In European history, they foreshadow more the brief revolutionary upsurges following WW I, like the Spartacist rising in Berlin, or the revolutionary coups in Hamburg and Budapest and Munich. As in these latter utopian enclaves, their brief success doomed them to isolation, their heroism falling to fanaticism and finally political cannibalism. As in Munster, utopia is devoured from within long before the Party of Order moves in for the coup de grace.
Yet as long as the human species looks to overcome the limitations of its mortal genetics and the natural world, the spirit of "King Jan" and Munster will be with us. Like life the book is short, its subject eternal.
April 20, 2019
"why should Münster have persisted in claiming our attention? The answer to the last question is dramatically visible today. Two hundred feet above the old Market Square, now called the Prinzipalmarkt, in modern, late-twentieth-century Münster, hang three iron cages, each measuring about seven feet by three feet by three feet. They are the same cages that Bishop Franz had had built nearly five centuries ago to contain the bodies of the three men executed before his eyes. The cages rest above the nave of St. Lambert’s Church, over the clock. One is slightly larger than the other two and positioned above them. In each cage, between dusk and dawn, a faint light is visible from a tiny yellow bulb; the lights were placed there in 1987, a more sentimental time than 1536, “in memory of their departed souls.”"
May 25, 2015
Read this back in the year 2000. Thanks to this post from the Marginal Mennonite Society I gained access to the following excerpt. The following is excerpted from The Tailor-King: The Rise & Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster by Anthony Arthur (St. Martin’s Press, 1999), pp. 78-82.
“As Jan van Leyden’s grip on the city of Munster tightened, Bishop von Waldeck’s army prepared for its first assault. In March his military engineers had recommended draining the outer moat to allow the storming of the outer wall by the Judefelder Gate and the taking of the ‘roundel,’ or tower, that supported it. Von Waldeck wanted to begin the digging immediately, but had to assign several hundred men to defend his powder magazine in Wolbeck. A recent rebel assault on the village suggested that the storehouse there was in danger, and its loss would leave him without the means to continue the siege. Digging finally did commence on April 29, with a company of Saxon miners directing the efforts of 300 farmers every night for a week.
“The moat before the Judefelder Gate had been selected because the city, despite appearances, was not perfectly flat. The elevation there was about 8 feet higher than elsewhere, meaning the moat, fed by the river Aa, was shallow enough to allow a drainage ditch to divert the flow temporarily and expose the bottom. This was a major engineering effort. Moreover, it had to be done under the guns of the defenders, which meant work was limited to the cover of night. After a week it was apparent that more men were needed. The Bishop requested help from his neighbors, and 2,000 additional farmers were forced to leave their spring planting to dig the Bishop’s drainage ditch.
“Jan’s men struck back on May 16, in a surprise attack that destroyed 16 cannons and decimated a supply convoy sent by the Archbishop of Cologne. Thirty soldiers were killed, and the wagons were destroyed along with a quantity of gunpowder. This setback forced the Bishop to delay his planned artillery barrage for three days, during which his commanders made a final written demand to the Anabaptists for their surrender. On May 20 came the first of two replies, which sounded surprisingly receptive: ‘We, the Elders of the Company of Christ in Munster, have received your message and given it our consideration. You say that you would like a sincere exchange of views, so that the world will be able to recognize the truth and this matter may be concluded in the peace of God.’
“They were sure, the Elders said, that a solution could be reached once the princes realized whom they were fighting and why. The questions now were where they should meet -- how far from the city gates? -- and what solutions were to be suggested. The commanders’ written response was requested, and they were enjoined to ‘fear God and honor Him.’ There is no record of a response. A second message, sent directly to the Bishop, closed the door on further talks: ‘Because the truth can never be known on earth, we are content to let God who dwells in heaven be our judge.
“On Friday, May 22, the attack began in earnest. For each of the next four days, 35 cannons would each lob 20 shells per day toward the city’s gate towers and defensive walls, a total of 700 cannonballs made of stone and iron a day -- it was impossible for any defensive positions to withstand such a barrage, the Bishop’s commanders said. In Telgte, 12 heavy wagons and 100 horses were gathered to carry munitions, grappling hooks, and 85 storming ladders to the battle site. The foot soldiers who would take the walls after the bombardment (for double their usual pay) were backed up by the cavalry, which would drive through the gates once they were opened.
“On the afternoon of May 25, before the attack scheduled for the following dawn, soldiers readied huge bundles of straw, to be placed after dark over the spongy earth of the drained area of the moat. The soldiers would pass easily over these mats to attack the now vulnerable outer wall.
“The Bishop was so confident of his plan’s success, wrote Philip of Hesse to the King of Denmark, that he was sure he could release all of his soldiers within two weeks. The defenders, to be sure, were not idle. Teams of women assembled heaps of earth and manure to patch the holes in the walls that enemy canon would create. The old men and boys in the fire brigades practiced passing leather buckets of water to smother the flames started by burning arrows shot over the walls. Hundreds of armed men patrolled the walls and waited by their cannons at each of the 10 city gates. But the men capable of battle were hugely outnumbered by a professional army that had been preparing for months for an attack. As the sun began to set on the evening of May 25 and his troops gathered themselves in readiness for the coming attack, the Bishop’s optimism seems to be well founded.
“It was severely shaken when he sat down at the end of the next day to write a report to Philip of Hesse. Because of a few drunken soldiers, he said, the attack had been a disaster. The soldiers had begun drinking early in the afternoon of May 25, it appeared, then had lapsed into an alcoholic stupor. On awakening they saw the thin edge of the sun on the horizon -- they had slept through the night, they told each other with alarm, and the designated moment of attack had arrived! The soldiers, still drunk, raced through the camp crying ‘Charge!’ Before the commanders could intervene, an attack was in full swing, uncoordinated and unled, other than by half a dozen drunks who could not distinguish between a sun setting in the west and one rising in the east. Stumbling into the swampy moat, where there had not yet been time to place the straw mats, the soldiers were easy targets for the alerted defenders. Two hundred died or were wounded in the short battle that ensued. The Anabaptist shopkeepers suffered virtually no casualties, and the city’s reputation as an unconquerable citadel under God’s protection received a healthy boost. The soldiers, thoroughly humiliated, were ‘beginning to be rebellious,’ wrote von Waldeck.
“The incompetent attempts of the Bishop to destroy the Anabaptists were a dramatic contrast to the military order and imagination that had so far marked their resistance. Jan van Leyden clearly had a talent for psychological warfare. His taunting of the Bishop and his men humiliated them and endeared him to his followers, who could now see the justification for his stringent discipline. Religious enthusiasm, however, was by definition hard to control. Even as it made the Anabaptists so difficult to conquer, it sometimes led them into disaster. On the same evening as the Bishop’s misbegotten assault, a chimney sweeper called Wilhelm Bast received his own vision: he was to go forth and burn everything he could within the Bishop’s realm, beginning with the powder storehouse in Wolbeck. He was captured soon after setting a few huts ablaze and condemned to die by fire in the most painful manner conceivable. Wood was piled around an iron post, at the top of which was a short chain, a few feet long, on a swivel. The victim’s wrist was secured to the chain and the fire was lighted. He had enough room to run around the fire, but not enough to escape being slowly roasted alive.
“While Jan no doubt found it useful to have a martyr in Wilhelm Bast, he also had only 1,500 fighting men under his command and could ill afford useless sacrifices. As spring edged into summer, his situation was beginning to deteriorate, even as the Bishop’s forces began to regroup for another attack. Ultimately, Jan hoped enough support would arrive from the Netherlands to let him break out of Munster. United under his leadership, the Anabaptists could effect a reprise of the Peasants’ Revolt of nine years before. Only this time the princes and bishops would die, not the rebels.”
“As Jan van Leyden’s grip on the city of Munster tightened, Bishop von Waldeck’s army prepared for its first assault. In March his military engineers had recommended draining the outer moat to allow the storming of the outer wall by the Judefelder Gate and the taking of the ‘roundel,’ or tower, that supported it. Von Waldeck wanted to begin the digging immediately, but had to assign several hundred men to defend his powder magazine in Wolbeck. A recent rebel assault on the village suggested that the storehouse there was in danger, and its loss would leave him without the means to continue the siege. Digging finally did commence on April 29, with a company of Saxon miners directing the efforts of 300 farmers every night for a week.
“The moat before the Judefelder Gate had been selected because the city, despite appearances, was not perfectly flat. The elevation there was about 8 feet higher than elsewhere, meaning the moat, fed by the river Aa, was shallow enough to allow a drainage ditch to divert the flow temporarily and expose the bottom. This was a major engineering effort. Moreover, it had to be done under the guns of the defenders, which meant work was limited to the cover of night. After a week it was apparent that more men were needed. The Bishop requested help from his neighbors, and 2,000 additional farmers were forced to leave their spring planting to dig the Bishop’s drainage ditch.
“Jan’s men struck back on May 16, in a surprise attack that destroyed 16 cannons and decimated a supply convoy sent by the Archbishop of Cologne. Thirty soldiers were killed, and the wagons were destroyed along with a quantity of gunpowder. This setback forced the Bishop to delay his planned artillery barrage for three days, during which his commanders made a final written demand to the Anabaptists for their surrender. On May 20 came the first of two replies, which sounded surprisingly receptive: ‘We, the Elders of the Company of Christ in Munster, have received your message and given it our consideration. You say that you would like a sincere exchange of views, so that the world will be able to recognize the truth and this matter may be concluded in the peace of God.’
“They were sure, the Elders said, that a solution could be reached once the princes realized whom they were fighting and why. The questions now were where they should meet -- how far from the city gates? -- and what solutions were to be suggested. The commanders’ written response was requested, and they were enjoined to ‘fear God and honor Him.’ There is no record of a response. A second message, sent directly to the Bishop, closed the door on further talks: ‘Because the truth can never be known on earth, we are content to let God who dwells in heaven be our judge.
“On Friday, May 22, the attack began in earnest. For each of the next four days, 35 cannons would each lob 20 shells per day toward the city’s gate towers and defensive walls, a total of 700 cannonballs made of stone and iron a day -- it was impossible for any defensive positions to withstand such a barrage, the Bishop’s commanders said. In Telgte, 12 heavy wagons and 100 horses were gathered to carry munitions, grappling hooks, and 85 storming ladders to the battle site. The foot soldiers who would take the walls after the bombardment (for double their usual pay) were backed up by the cavalry, which would drive through the gates once they were opened.
“On the afternoon of May 25, before the attack scheduled for the following dawn, soldiers readied huge bundles of straw, to be placed after dark over the spongy earth of the drained area of the moat. The soldiers would pass easily over these mats to attack the now vulnerable outer wall.
“The Bishop was so confident of his plan’s success, wrote Philip of Hesse to the King of Denmark, that he was sure he could release all of his soldiers within two weeks. The defenders, to be sure, were not idle. Teams of women assembled heaps of earth and manure to patch the holes in the walls that enemy canon would create. The old men and boys in the fire brigades practiced passing leather buckets of water to smother the flames started by burning arrows shot over the walls. Hundreds of armed men patrolled the walls and waited by their cannons at each of the 10 city gates. But the men capable of battle were hugely outnumbered by a professional army that had been preparing for months for an attack. As the sun began to set on the evening of May 25 and his troops gathered themselves in readiness for the coming attack, the Bishop’s optimism seems to be well founded.
“It was severely shaken when he sat down at the end of the next day to write a report to Philip of Hesse. Because of a few drunken soldiers, he said, the attack had been a disaster. The soldiers had begun drinking early in the afternoon of May 25, it appeared, then had lapsed into an alcoholic stupor. On awakening they saw the thin edge of the sun on the horizon -- they had slept through the night, they told each other with alarm, and the designated moment of attack had arrived! The soldiers, still drunk, raced through the camp crying ‘Charge!’ Before the commanders could intervene, an attack was in full swing, uncoordinated and unled, other than by half a dozen drunks who could not distinguish between a sun setting in the west and one rising in the east. Stumbling into the swampy moat, where there had not yet been time to place the straw mats, the soldiers were easy targets for the alerted defenders. Two hundred died or were wounded in the short battle that ensued. The Anabaptist shopkeepers suffered virtually no casualties, and the city’s reputation as an unconquerable citadel under God’s protection received a healthy boost. The soldiers, thoroughly humiliated, were ‘beginning to be rebellious,’ wrote von Waldeck.
“The incompetent attempts of the Bishop to destroy the Anabaptists were a dramatic contrast to the military order and imagination that had so far marked their resistance. Jan van Leyden clearly had a talent for psychological warfare. His taunting of the Bishop and his men humiliated them and endeared him to his followers, who could now see the justification for his stringent discipline. Religious enthusiasm, however, was by definition hard to control. Even as it made the Anabaptists so difficult to conquer, it sometimes led them into disaster. On the same evening as the Bishop’s misbegotten assault, a chimney sweeper called Wilhelm Bast received his own vision: he was to go forth and burn everything he could within the Bishop’s realm, beginning with the powder storehouse in Wolbeck. He was captured soon after setting a few huts ablaze and condemned to die by fire in the most painful manner conceivable. Wood was piled around an iron post, at the top of which was a short chain, a few feet long, on a swivel. The victim’s wrist was secured to the chain and the fire was lighted. He had enough room to run around the fire, but not enough to escape being slowly roasted alive.
“While Jan no doubt found it useful to have a martyr in Wilhelm Bast, he also had only 1,500 fighting men under his command and could ill afford useless sacrifices. As spring edged into summer, his situation was beginning to deteriorate, even as the Bishop’s forces began to regroup for another attack. Ultimately, Jan hoped enough support would arrive from the Netherlands to let him break out of Munster. United under his leadership, the Anabaptists could effect a reprise of the Peasants’ Revolt of nine years before. Only this time the princes and bishops would die, not the rebels.”
May 13, 2017
Anthony Arthur, inspired by the modern-day drama of David Koresh and siege directed against him and the Branch Davidians by the US government, undertakes to share the story of the so-called Münster Rebellion (1534-35), focused on the charismatic leader Jan van Leyden and those in his radical Anabaptist circle. The story is better known in Europe, and is the subject of extensive German scholarship, but remains less well known to English speakers and those in the New World. Arther gives as the reason the story is so well known in Germany that the cages in which Jan van Leiden and two other leaders of the Rebellion have been on continuous display in Münster for nearly 500 years. The material is rich and colorful, and Arthur uses a number of primary sources, including eyewitness accounts, in an attempt to bring the story to life for his English readers. The book's title is derived from an excoriating missive sent by Luther to the people of Münster under van Leyden's spell. The writing in the book is often stilted and labored, particularly in the first half. Arthur seems to find his stride in the book's second half, as the story moves with increasing rapidity towards its inevitable and grisly conclusion. The final chapter awkwardly transitions into a discussion of the legacy of van Leyden and the Münster Rebellion, complete with moralizing ruminations on universal human nature and society and superficial comparisons to Koresh, Jim Jones, the Nazis, Hitler, and others. The book will be of most interest to the discriminating reader with pre-existing general knowledge of Reformation history and the Anabaptist movement in particular.
September 19, 2019
The first time I heard of these historical events was on Dan Carlin's brilliant *Hardcore History* podcast. It may be the most interesting set of history that I've ever encountered. I doubt all will feel the same way, but the Reformation is such a critical time in history (specifically Western history) and as a Christian who gleans much from the Reformed tradition that I'm compelled by it. This story has all the stuff that speaks into our culture today: religious radicalism, problems with ultimate individualism, state vs. populism, church vs. state, Catholics vs. Protestants vs. Anabaptist, mental health, supernatural and visionary experiences, Satanic/demonic influence, theology, eschatology, dangers of millennialism, apocalyptic activity, cultish behavior, abuse, misogyny, lessons for charismatic and noncharismatic Christians, and, yes, even nonbelievers, etc. It even feels like an HBO mini-series akin to Game of Thrones with sex (though not explicitly recounted) and violence galore (more explicit)...but no dragons.
Go read it. Or do yourself a favor and at least listen to Carlin's (who is not a Christian) podcast: https://www.dancarlin.com/product/har...
Go read it. Or do yourself a favor and at least listen to Carlin's (who is not a Christian) podcast: https://www.dancarlin.com/product/har...
January 21, 2018
Historical events explained in a gripping easily digestible narrative.
A story from the middle ages with parallels to modern conflict and despotic rulers. Forensically written and researched . I knew nothing of the siege of Munster or Jan Van Leyden until I read Wolf Trial a fiction Novel by Neil Mackay (also excellent imho). This sparked my interest to learn more about the actual events. I was not disappointed. Arthur breaks down a complex ( well for me anyway ) historical episode and its main characters into a very easily read tale.
A story from the middle ages with parallels to modern conflict and despotic rulers. Forensically written and researched . I knew nothing of the siege of Munster or Jan Van Leyden until I read Wolf Trial a fiction Novel by Neil Mackay (also excellent imho). This sparked my interest to learn more about the actual events. I was not disappointed. Arthur breaks down a complex ( well for me anyway ) historical episode and its main characters into a very easily read tale.
May 21, 2024
Like many others, I was turned onto this book by Dan Carlin's Prophets of Doom podcast. This story is absolutely wild, and it's a shame that there is so sparse a literary landscape in the English language about it. Highly recommended historical non-fiction account of one of the craziest cults to ever do it. And man did they go for it.
Also, there's a part where the sieging soldiers bend over and moon the besieged because mooning people is hilarious whether you're fighting a war against them or not.
Also, there's a part where the sieging soldiers bend over and moon the besieged because mooning people is hilarious whether you're fighting a war against them or not.
August 18, 2017
The truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction. The story has everything you'd expect from a good drama, and nothing you'd expect from a non-fiction book about an obscure religious sect. Murder, brainwashing, treason, psychopathy, sacrifice, siege, torture, lust, greed, you name it. Worth the quick read, despite the confusing mass of similar-sounding names.
August 10, 2019
Wonderful coverage of one of the strangest events in Church history (and much of history in general). I earnestly hope this will someday serve as a basis for a large-budget film. The only creativity necessary would be costumes, set, dialogue, and perhaps how to tone things down so that it doesn't sound *too* far-fetched for film.
September 5, 2019
Life is stranger than fiction
The storyline is incredible because it actually happened. The narrative contains a lot of psychoanalysis, really a bit too much. After reading this one wonders why there has not been a movie. It is scary to see how quickly well meaning people can degenerate.
The storyline is incredible because it actually happened. The narrative contains a lot of psychoanalysis, really a bit too much. After reading this one wonders why there has not been a movie. It is scary to see how quickly well meaning people can degenerate.
July 28, 2025
This is one of the most bizarre and extraordinary stories I have ever encountered. One is repeatedly amazed and disturbed by what happened in Munster in 1533. Highly recommend. Originally, I heard about this event from Dan Carlin, who has a wonderful podcast on the ordeal if anyone's not quite satiated from Arthur's book alone.
March 26, 2018
A well researched and passably written account of a fascinating event, only misses a 5th star for failing to expand on the personalities involved - forgivable for the obscure burghers on the Anabaptist side but not certainly in the case of Franz von Waldeck and his allies.
September 6, 2018
Incredible story, fairly average book.
March 17, 2021
Hilarious.
May 21, 2022
Fantastic often times disturbing history about the anabaptists in Münster.
December 29, 2022
A flawed understanding of the Anabaptist Kingdom. Arthur relies too heavily on Kerssenbrock without providing any critical analysis and continues 16th-century propaganda around the Anabaptists.
May 22, 2023
Crazy, crazy, crazy.... Great read.
December 30, 2014
(3 stars for writing, but 5 stars for compelling, real-life weird bit of history)
It's the reformation and religious and social tumult is rolling across Europe. As if those Lutherans weren't crazy enough, along come the Anabaptists. The Anabaptists don't believe in infant baptism. They also have a millenarian streak. They are persecuted throughout Europe. In the walled city-state of Muenster, in present day Germany, Anabaptist ideas have taken hold among some of the population. Anabaptists live alongside Lutherans and Catholics. The Anabaptists and the Lutherans band together and kick out the Catholics. Then slowly the Anabaptists take over and boot out the Lutherans. The anabaptists, led be some charismatic individuals are under siege from the Bishop outside the walls, who isn't really a religious leader so much as the powerful guy who represents the status quo. The anabaptists believe they are creating God's kingdom on earth. They abolish private property. They institute polygamy. They start burning books and encouraging kids to rat out their parents. They start executing people. They hold out for quite awhile against the Bishop outside the walls.
This is a tragic and fascinating story. It's a short, brisk read. I would have appreciated a slightly longer book with more context about the reformation and anabaptism in general. The story is so strange and compelling that it stands on it's own, but it would've been even better in the hands of a better historian/researcher/writer.
It's the reformation and religious and social tumult is rolling across Europe. As if those Lutherans weren't crazy enough, along come the Anabaptists. The Anabaptists don't believe in infant baptism. They also have a millenarian streak. They are persecuted throughout Europe. In the walled city-state of Muenster, in present day Germany, Anabaptist ideas have taken hold among some of the population. Anabaptists live alongside Lutherans and Catholics. The Anabaptists and the Lutherans band together and kick out the Catholics. Then slowly the Anabaptists take over and boot out the Lutherans. The anabaptists, led be some charismatic individuals are under siege from the Bishop outside the walls, who isn't really a religious leader so much as the powerful guy who represents the status quo. The anabaptists believe they are creating God's kingdom on earth. They abolish private property. They institute polygamy. They start burning books and encouraging kids to rat out their parents. They start executing people. They hold out for quite awhile against the Bishop outside the walls.
This is a tragic and fascinating story. It's a short, brisk read. I would have appreciated a slightly longer book with more context about the reformation and anabaptism in general. The story is so strange and compelling that it stands on it's own, but it would've been even better in the hands of a better historian/researcher/writer.
April 17, 2015
The Rise and fall of the Anabaptist kingdom of Munster is a surprisingly little known historical incident, surprising because it is such an extraordinary story. The tale of 'King Jan' and his nearly two year occupation of Munster (The 'Kingdom of God) has been cited as an historical example of a successful medieval proto-communist popular uprising, but it really shouldn't be. Anthony Arthur's excellent book paints it as horrific tragedy tempered occasionally with high farce. It is the classic tale of how 'absolute power corrupts absolutely', and of how the highest minded idealistic motives can can so quickly twist into the lowest acts of barbarity and tyranny. This is a book that poses numerous difficult questions to the reader regarding the folly we as a race are capable of, man's inhumanity toward his fellows and the terrible evils that blind belief (not just in religion, but in anything)can unleash into the world.
February 17, 2014
More like 2.5/5. Arthur takes an exciting episode of Reformation history and makes it feel mundane. A few of the chapters really sizzle, but for the most part reading this book felt like a chore, and I literally fell asleep while reading it at one point. I think the reason that the book doesn't fulfill its potential is that Arthur doesn't do a good enough job of putting the Muensterites into their larger Anabaptist and Reformation contexts (he is not a Reformation historian). He tries to make their story into some kind of morality tale instead of just letting it stand on its own as a fascinating and bizarre episode in a tumultuous time.
September 11, 2015
This is a fantastic book detailing the life of the Anabaptists around Munster in the 1530's. Talks about how the Anabaptist extremists took control of the city and the siege that held them in ultimately resulting in their demise. The amount of cruelty, by today's standards, is mind blowing. A fascinating read on how a simple intellectual contagion can cause so much destruction.
March 24, 2014
In the early sixteenth century, the German city of Münster was seized and held for a year by violent psychopathic Anabaptists. If that wasn't a hell of a story already, Arthur brings it to life in grisly Technicolor. Highly recommended.
June 6, 2012
[To be added later.]
August 1, 2013
One of most engaging historical accounts I've ever read. Truly reads like a novel.
January 4, 2017
Excellent account of the Muenster Anabaptist cult uprising.
May 25, 2025
4.5
Main reference for Dan Carlin's "Prophets of Doom". 200 pages of delight
Main reference for Dan Carlin's "Prophets of Doom". 200 pages of delight
November 29, 2012
Fantastic historical account of the Anabaptist takeover of Munster. I highly recommend it.
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