New Jerusalem: The short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant Sect.

by Paul Ham

IN FEBRUARY 1534 a radical religious sect whose disciples were being persecuted throughout Europe seized the city of Münster, in the German-speaking land of Westphalia. They were convinced that they were God's Elect, specially chosen by the Almighty to be the first to ascend to Paradise on Judgement Day, as told in the Book of Revelation. And it would all happen here, in 'New Jerusalem' (as they renamed the city), during Easter 1535, when God and Christ would descend and usher in the End Times. But the 'Melchiorites', as they were called after their founding prophet, would be well-prepared for Apocalypse, swiftly turning the city into a Christian theocracy- They threw out the Catholics and Lutherans, 'rebaptised' their followers, destroyed all old religious icons, adopted a communist system of shared property, and imposed a new law of polygamy that compelled all women and girls who'd reached puberty to marry. Because women outnumbered men about three times, many men had 3-5 wives. John of Leiden, who proclaimed himself 'king' of New Jerusalem, had 16 wives - all according to God's exhortation in Genesis to 'go forth and multiply'. The backlash against the sect would be long and brutal. The Catholic and Lutheran powers were determined to make a terrible example of what they saw as a dangerous mob of crazed heretics. And so began the siege of Munster. For 18 months, the city was shut off from the world, periodically attacked and then slowly starved. And yet, for most of this time, the sect clung to their faith with astonishing resilience, even as they descended into hellish suffering. 'New Jerusalem- Judgement Day 1535' is a story of religious obsession and persecution, of noble ideals trampled to dust, of slavish sexual surrendera.all in the name of Christ. It tells of one of the first violent revolts of the Reformation, which, together with the Peasants' War of 1524-25, helped to ignite 110 years of religious conflict that ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The story holds a terrible fascination in our own time, on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, scarred again by the return of religious wars, of hatred and slaughter, all in the name of a god or a faith.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany, Christianity, European History, Church History, Religion

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

PAUL HAM is a historian specialising in 20th century conflict, war and politics. Born and raised in Sydney, Paul has spent his working life in London, Sydney and Paris. He teaches narrative non-fiction at SciencesPo in Reims and English at l'École de guerre in Paris. His books have been published to critical acclaim in Australia, Britain and the United States, and include: 'Hiroshima Nagasaki', a controversial new history of the atomic bombings (HarperCollins Australia 2010, Penguin Random House UK 2011, & Pan Macmillan USA 2014-15); '1914: The Year The World Ended' (Penguin Random House 2013); 'Sandakan' (Penguin Random House 2011); 'Vietnam: The Australian War' and 'Kokoda' (both published by HarperCollins, 2007 and 2004). Paul has co-written two ABC documentaries based on his work: 'Kokoda' (2010), a 2-part series on the defeat of the Japanese army in Papua in 1942 (shortlisted for the New York Documentary prize); and 'All the Way' (2012), about Australia's difficult alliance with America during the Vietnam War, which he also narrated and presented (it won the UN's Media Peace prize). Paul is the founding director of Hampress, an independent ebook publisher, and a regular contributor to Kindle Single, Amazon's new 'short book' publishing platform, for which he has written '1913: The Eve of War' and 'Young Hitler', co-written 'Honey, We Forgot the Kids', and published several titles by other authors. Hampress welcomes your ideas! A former Australia correspondent for The Sunday Times (1998-2012), Paul has a Masters degree in Economic History from London School of Economics. He lives in Sydney and Paris, and takes time off now and then to organise the Big Fat Poetry Pig-Out, an annual poetry recital, for charity.

Some relevant links:

http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Ham/e/B001...

https://www.hampress.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ham

http://us.macmillan.com/hiroshimanaga...

http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/hir...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...

http://www.amazon.com/Sandakan-Paul-H...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42...

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors...

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/97807...

Reviews

[Su Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks at a Anabaptist sect in Germany/Holland in the 1500's, and how both the Lutherans & Roman Catholics joined together to wipe them out. How the sect spiralled into chaos, debauchery and lost their core beliefs, as the siege of Munster continued. There is similarity with today's ISIS and other fundamental faiths. The writing style is engaging and fast paced, it reads like a novel. I found it a very good read.

[Natasha Wyndham · Rating 2 out of 5]

At 320 pages it felt long. I don't feel like I got any insight into the society this all unfolded in, just a lot of vague generalisations.

And it was repetitive. It found lots of ways to repeat the same couple of points over and over again. And it seemed to reiterate things that had already been described. And it was repetitive.

It's frustrating, because it's a fascinating topic it was clearly well researched. But it was painfully tedious to read.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Anabaptist Rebellion that led to the fall of Münster and the establishment of a polygamous theocracy arrayed against the full force of the Holy Roman Empire sounds like every excess of the Reformation and the mediaeval world exaggerated. Yet, Paul Ham follows the rise and shocking fall of the Melchiorites as they morphed from a relatively peaceful sect to a militant group able to overthrow a city government and to fight against the earthly powers of the established church and the Holy Roman Empire.

As a microcosm of the fierce battles between the established Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran reformers and the Anabaptist radical reformers, the theocracy in Münster displays all the elements of the struggles that typified the Reformation. Ham introduces the leaders of the sect from its peaceful and ultimately resigned leader to the militant members who usurped authority along with the leaders of the Church opposed to the sect.

This is a really interesting window into a fundamental part of the history of the church, the religious transformation that overtook Europe, and the founding of the Anabaptist movement. However, Ham takes a few too many liberties writing as a popular historian. The writing is repetitive at times, many points are repeated too often, leaving parts of the book feeling padded. More detailed notes to accompany Ham’s richer bibliography would’ve also been appreciated. Yet, there is plenty of context placing the Anabaptist uprising in the iconoclastic milieu of the late Middle Ages and Ham draws on the detailed writings of the Reformers to show the full range of opposition the Melchiorites faced from all quarters.

The historical parallels between this group and the modern iconoclasts and fanatics of ISIS and right-wing dominionists is not lost on either Ham or the reader and it is his thoughtful afterword that cements his central theme.

Overall, this is fine introduction to this fascinating period but with needed improvements to elevate it to a better, more thorough treatment.

[Scott Wearne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic case of the truth being stranger than fiction
As is often the way what occurred in history repeats with lessons we can learn from now

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work of narrative history and insight. This is a book I’ll show to friends who think history is a boring list of facts. So vivid and informative in its writing. My very minor issue was the politically partisan “Afterword” which was more an attack on Trump and Pence then it was a reflection on the relevance of a 16th century extreme religious movement. A deeper look into the general psychology of why people have rigid eschatological and moral beliefs, both secular and religious, would have been a much more satisfying conclusion

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this very readable history of the rise and fall of the Anabaptists in their ‘New Jerusalem’ in Munster in the 1530s. It brought to mind what Sydney J Harris once said, “History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.”

[Les Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history, very well researched and written.