Menno SimonsMenno Simons was an early leader of the Anabaptist movement in Holland. Born in 1496, Simons became a Roman Catholic priest at the age of 28. After a few years, Simons began to have doubts about the church's practice of infant baptism and the Lord's Supper. He did not leave the church immediately, but continued to preach and develop his ideas. In January of 1536 he left his position in the Catholic church and soon led the area's group of Anabaptists. Menno Simons is important to Mennonite history for several reasons:
Menno Simons died of natural causes in 1561. The house where Menno Simons lived in Germany still stands, along with a large linden tree which he is said to have planted and under which he was buried. Created 1998 by Derek Suderman |