Hans Bret (Anabaptist Martyr – Burned at the stake in Antwerp, at the age of 24 years old, January 4th 1577)

Hans Bret (Anabaptist Martyr – Burned at the stake in Antwerp, at the age of 24 years old, January 4^th 1577)

Hans Bret was the son of an Englishman, Thomas Bret, and Elizabeth Akers van der Dors of Dordrecht, Netherlands. In the late 1570s, his father was no longer living, and since his brother David had left for England, he was the sole support of his mother. The Brets lived in Antwerp, where Hans and his mother were members of the Anabaptist fellowship, and Hans was a baker, employed in a confectionary for a baker who was also an Anabaptist.

Hans was a well-educated young man with a mastery of Latin. From the age of twenty-one, he had seriously been involved in the study of the Bible. He was also well known for his discussions and teaching sessions with others concerning the Scriptures. He was quite active in the Anabaptist church’s educational program, and was a close friend of the Anabaptist leader, Hans de Ries.

He was generally known as a man who had power with God, who was greatly advanced in the knowledge of Christ and filled with his Spirit. His ministry was effective both in teaching and evangelizing, and contributed to the growth of the Anabaptist church in Antwerp.

His conversion was followed by his becoming a baptized member of the brotherhood. It was not many months after his baptism that he was arrested. Through betrayal he was seized on May 6, 1576. Hans was taken to the castle of Antwerp. Here, with several other Anabaptist prisoners, he underwent periodic torture and inquisition. Finally he was brought before the court for a special hearing, where he testified boldly to his faith in Christ as Lord and Master, and of his baptism as a testimony of his faith. Sentence was pronounced that he was to be burned at the stake.

In the early morning, Saturday, January 4, 1577, the executioner came into his cell to begin preparation. The first step was to screw fast his tongue to prevent his speaking to the people when taken to the stake. The executioner ordered him to put out his tongue over which he placed an iron clamp, then screwed it tight with a vice-screw over the tongue. This done, he burned the end of the tongue with a hot iron so that it swelled, thereby keeping it from withdrawing. Then they placed Hans in a wagon to carry him from the prison to the marketplace. Stepping from the wagon he knelt to pray with his hands folded and his face lifted toward heaven. Seeing this, the beadles cruelly jerked him from his knees. Roughly they tied him to the stake, wrapping his body and the stake with chains. Straw was stacked around the wood to make the wood catch fire more quickly.

As Hans Bret was chained to the stake, Hans de Ries, his friend, stepped from the crowd and stood as near to him as he dared. In the meeting of their eyes, there was a silent communication of love and encouragement to the end. As the fire blazed, Hans Bret’s 24-year old body suddenly went limp. His spirit was gone – they burned his body to ashes. After the martyrdom, Hans de Ries secured the tongue screw from the ashes, and it has been handed from generation to generation as a memorial to Hans Bret.