ANABAPTISTS

name loosely used of several sects which arose in Europe at and after the Reformation. They first appeared at Wittenberg, 1521. Their tenets were partly religious (the rejection of current doctrine Catholic or Reformed) and partly social. They became all-powerful in Munster, 153235, and were then cruelly put down. The term ‘Anabaptist’ was applied later to various reformers, who often did not follow the teaching of those of Munster. Like some medieval heretics they sought a primitive ideal of apostolic simplicity, and perhaps they can best be described as Christian Socialists.