The Fly of Friedberg

When Balthasar Hübmaier proposed a debate with his former mentor, John Eck, in 1524, he called himself “the fly of Friedberg” and the renowned German Catholic theologian “the elephant of Ingolstadt.” Although Hübmaier was sometimes known for his hunger for controversy, his choice of nicknames was fitting. After all, the redoubtable Eck had earned a reputation as one of the sharpest minds in Germany, having opposed Martin Luther at the Leipzig Debate in 1519. It was to Eck that Luther uttered his famous words “Here I stand” at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Hübmaier, on the other hand, was something of a gadfly — not only to Catholic authorities but also to the Protestant Reformers and even the radical Reformers, all of whom he aligned himself with at one phase of his life or another.

With a powerful voice and a mightier pen, Hübmaier could not be ignored. His arguments for the supremacy of Scripture, the primacy of faith, the memorial nature of the Lord’s Supper, the vernacular reading of the liturgy, believer’s baptism, and the church-state distinction ultimately cost him his life at the hands of the Austrian government. Rather than recant his beliefs (as he had done earlier in his life), the Anabaptist Hübmaier was tortured on the rack and killed, by burning, for his devotion to the centrality of the gospel and the purity of the church.

Priest and Anti-Semite

Born in Friedberg, Germany, in 1480 or 1481, Balthasar Hübmaier was not of noble ancestry. Beginning his studies later than most children, he nevertheless received a master’s degree at the University of Freiburg by 1511. In Ingolstadt, where he received his doctorate in theology a year later, Hübmaier met Eck, the well-known scholastic and patristic scholar, and developed his skill for disputation. Most importantly, he earned a reputation as an excellent orator, becoming preacher and chaplain of the new Church of the Virgin. According to Hübmaier’s biographer Henry C. Vedder, the “turning-point in his life” was his move in 1516 to Regensburg, where he left the auspices of Eck and became the chief preacher of the new cathedral (Balthasar Hübmaier, 37).

When Hübmaier arrived in Regensburg, he found the town in a tumultuous campaign to rid the city of its Jewish population. Hübmaier championed the cause, helping to expel all the city’s Jews in 1519. After the synagogue was turned into a Catholic chapel dedicated “to the beauteous Mary,” pilgrims flocked to the city to make offerings to the shrine because a purported 54 miracles had taken place under Hübmaier’s leadership. When the local Dominican monks complained about the loss of wealth and prestige at their own monastery, the ensuing legal battle prompted Hübmaier to move to the small town of Waldshut. And it was here that Hübmaier reformed his doctrine and his own heart.

Year of Decision

Devoting himself afresh to the study of Scripture, Hübmaier gave special attention to the Pauline epistles, first to Romans and then to 1 and 2 Corinthians. During this time, he became convinced that the Catholic Church had departed from the teachings of the apostles. He met the great humanist scholar Erasmus while visiting Basel, Switzerland, in 1522, but he was a bit unimpressed with his lack of fervor for the truths of the Bible. Upon returning to Waldshut, Hübmaier began to consume tracts by Luther, identifying himself with the Reformation. As William R. Estep has noted, 1522 was indeed “the year of decision for him” (The Anabaptist Story, 80). However, Hübmaier ended up aligning himself much more closely with the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli than with Luther.

When he visited Zwingli at the Second Zürich Disputation, he conferred with the Reformer on several matters, including the lack of biblical evidence for infant baptism. Zwingli was somewhat sympathetic with believer’s baptism. Hübmaier’s first published work, Achtzehn Schlussreden, printed in 1524, was composed of eighteen articles that he invited local pastors to debate. The first was unmistakably Reformed: “Faith alone makes us holy before God.” The fifth stated, “The mass is not a sacrifice but a remembrance of the death of Christ.” By the end of the year, Hübmaier removed all pictures and images from the church.

Baptizer on the Rack

Although the city of Waldshut stood by their newly married leader against the charges of Ferdinand I of Austria, Hübmaier sought refuge in Schaffhausen, in Swiss territory. There he wrote several treatises, including Concerning Heretics and Those Who Burn Them, a pamphlet on religious liberty and an important text for the Anabaptist movement.

In a letter in January 1525 to Johannes Oecolampadius, Hübmaier declared that “infant baptism is without reality” (Balthasar Hübmaier, 108). Three months later, he was baptized. Then, on Easter Sunday, he baptized over three hundred people out of a milk pail. For the next year, Hübmaier engaged in a back-and-forth literary debate with Zwingli over baptism, who seemed increasingly annoyed with his former protégé. “There must be some outward sign of testimony,” Hübmaier argued, “by which brothers and sisters can know one another, though faith be in the heart alone.”

Hübmaier fled from the Austrian government to Zurich, where (ironically) he was arrested for fomenting insurrection. Heinrich Bullinger admitted it was actually because Hübmaier was so highly regarded by his fellow Anabaptists. Stretched on the rack, he did recant his beliefs. However, after writing no less than seventeen treatises in Nikolsburg, including On the Sword, where he upheld the legitimacy of the state and the purity of the church, he was eventually arrested by Austrian authorities and tortured. But this time he did not recant. On March 10, 1528, he was burned in a public square in Vienna. Three days later, his wife, with a stone tied to her neck, was drowned in the Danube.