God in heaven.
Oh my god.
Be still.
I'm frightened.
God,
this is sacrilege!
Stop, I tell you!
This is the house of God!
It seemed so clear to me when it first began.
The Roman Catholic Church had ceased to be the guardian of faith for Europe's masses,
and in the eyes of many, became their oppressor.
Driven to desperation by plague and famine, bands of peasants rose up against
the Church's tyranny.
In their acts of rebellion, I was certain I saw the hand of God.
And so I, Wilhelm Reublin, left the priesthood.
I believed that with the peasants' backing, the corrupted Church could be
overthrown, replaced by a true Church, not just reformed, but restored to the
principles of Scripture.
I began my quest while Michael Sattler still collected taxes as prior of St.
Peter's Monastery.
It's Hoffman again.
Our lordship believes we have become lax in the collection of our taxes and rent.
I have taxed and double-taxed.
There simply isn't more to take.
I know that.
He doesn't.
Perhaps if I received Lord Hoffman myself?
A cup I'd be happy to pass.
Take care, Michael.
He's a jealous master.
Your Grace?
Any news from the East, Lord Hoffman?
All bad.
Nothing between us and the damned infidels but Vienna.
Everything is dead or enslaved.
Yes, we hear terrible stories.
Not half so terrible as the truth.
Cut off the bastards' arms and they fight on, a scourge surely from Satan.
It's a hard winter.
That should help.
What would help is gold.
We can defeat the Turks prior if we're given the means to do it.
Taxes.
It always comes down to that, doesn't it?
Enemies within, enemies without.
We're mindful of the enemies within.
As for the enemies without...
God willing, this will help.
How much?
Forty-seven guilders.
Less with every pass.
Plague and famine have taken their toll.
They have so little left.
Prior if the Turks sack Vienna, there will be nothing.
Still, we do our subjects little favor to save them from the Turks' swords so we can
crush them with our taxes.
There must be guilders left to collect.
You can't wring blood from a turnip.
Then you take what the turnip has.
And this, are they complete?
I go by baptisms.
I've heard that these radicals, these Anabaptists, they refuse to baptize
their children.
Better than us to worry about their necks.
Better your collection book.
Every time a child goes unbaptized, a name goes missing from the list.
Hundreds of names, hundreds of children.
We should be concerned.
For the protection of their souls?
If we don't stop the Turks, Prior, there will be no souls to protect.
It was the day of the Antichrist.
Satan was loosed on the earth.
We all believe that.
But what face did he wear?
Some said the infidel Turks.
Others said the reformers, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli.
Some, the Pope.
And still others said it was those of us who came to be known as the Anabaptists.
Is it your intention that this child receive the blessings promised by our
Lord?
It is.
A child of Christ, an enemy of Satan?
Amen.
Then I declare this babe prepared to receive baptism.
Although Zurich had broken away from the Catholic Church, its congregation still
maintained many Roman practices, such as the Mass and infant baptism.
Andrew Reitzman, I welcome you into the Church of the people.
I welcome you to a church freed from the tyranny of Catholic rule, to follow Christ
without interference from Popes or Bishops.
I baptize you, Andrew Reitzman, in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
I welcome you to church.
Into the arms of hell!
This is no baptism!
How dare you?
I speak on authority of the Scriptures.
To baptize an infant means no more than to water a cat.
It remains a sacrament.
A sacrament of Satan, the Pope's lie.
Leave my church.
Behold, the Pope's puppet.
Guards, get the guards.
Listen to reason.
To follow Christ, one must choose to believe.
A child cannot choose.
My church shall not become the stage for your debate.
It's not my debate, brother.
I ask, did Christ ever baptize a child or his disciples?
Did he?
Blasphemy!
This sacrament is the Pope's lie.
I don't know how you can do this.
Do not baptize the infant.
Infant baptism is a sacrament.
Do not baptize the infant.
The Swiss canton of Zurich, presided over by the pastor and politician Ulrich
Zwingli.
A close ally we believed would help complete the restoration of the church.
You barge in and disrupt a perfectly peaceful service.
In the name of what?
Conscience?
In the name of Christ.
So you claim the Pope's authority.
I thought we'd agreed that a man must be free to follow his own conscience.
So long as conscience is guided by scripture, not the city council.
Change can only happen when people are ready for it.
Foolhardy acts will only bring about a resistance to change.
George, we can listen, Ulrich, if you have a better way.
Opinions are divided on infant baptism.
Disagreements will be heartfelt, I'm sure.
You have spoken against the baptism of infants.
When you were a priest, did you not baptize infants?
Until I saw the error of my ways.
Ah, so we're agreed that men of goodwill may change their mind.
Baptism is a matter that should be decided by church leaders, not merchants.
I have in mind a public dispute centered on this issue of infant baptism,
open to everyone.
We can all discuss whether a child baptized is a child saved or merely wet.
And who will judge the dispute?
The council?
The council elected by its citizens.
If you move the people of Zurich, the council will listen.
If not...
You must abide by its judgment.
One Altman Weber.
In the year of our Lord, 1524, no payment.
In the year of our Lord, 1523, half payment.
We extended your credit on the promise that you could settle these accounts,
my lord.
My lord, the people can't afford to buy food.
They have no money to pay for my printing.
Yes.
Confiscate his press.
What?
No!
No, no, no, please!
No, no, Prior, please!
Stop!
How can I pay if I have no hope for an income?
And how can the church survive if its citizens refuse to bear their
responsibilities?
There must be some other way.
Perhaps.
Take his livestock instead.
Prior!
And the chickens.
No!
The church should feed its flock, not fleece it.
We have no money.
How are we to eat?
Margareta.
Yes, sister.
Can you come?
Right now.
Please.
Yes.
Of course.
Sister.
Margareta.
The baby is dead, Margareta.
My baby is hungry.
No wonder he cannot speak.
Oh, my God.
How long?
Since yesterday, she won't get enough...
Milk.
That's all he needs.
I want to run away and help.
Listen, Ursuline.
You've done all you can.
No!
All he needs is milk.
Here, help me, sister.
Here,
give me your hand.
Yes, help.
Oh, no.
It is morning, Friar.
It is indeed.
Wouldn't be needing a meal, would you?
No, thank you.
We've broken fast.
Broke hell out if by the looks of you.
Morning, sister.
Morning.
Do you speak?
No.
No?
No.
I saw a child starved to death last night.
His mother had gone mad.
And now, do you see that man over there?
The printer?
He starves himself to feed his son.
I know.
You know and you just stand there?
It is the law.
Why doesn't the law touch the tax collector?
Can you tell me that?
When it's lacking, they should flog him.
Margarita.
The law.
I will speak to the abbot.
Try his concubine.
It'll do you better.
That's enough.
Oh.
Oh, Michael, you may be holy, but I can't believe how blind you are.
What would you have me do?
Do...
Why don't you bring me a chicken for that gruel I serve?
I'd have to steal it.
Well, I wouldn't complain.
You'd lose your soul over a chicken.
No, but you would, apparently.
Margarita, I...
Excuse me, Prior.
I have work to do.
An adequate feast for our guests, wouldn't you agree, Prior?
Yes, Your Grace.
And deserving the large contribution in return?
Without doubt.
But we do need to...
Well, is it you want it?
The Beguines, Your Grace.
They exhaust their resources to feed the hungry that come.
Dreadful situation.
We give them all we can.
It is past their stomachs, I'm afraid.
They're growing complaints about the church.
Very good.
Beggars always have and always will blame others about their plight.
It is more than the idle chatter of beggars.
Some of the sisters fear that unless we lower taxes and rents, grumbling may turn
into full-scale revolt.
Beguines gossip must not extend to matters of faith, Michael.
That cannot be tolerated.
Of course not.
Have you seen this?
No.
Gutenberg's folly has been used as a tool of sedition.
They print these by the hundreds.
Anyone who can read becomes a theologian.
Where do they come from?
South, we think.
Here, Zurich.
The work of radicals.
People call them Anabaptists.
They promote heresy.
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
It's scripture.
Without interpretation.
It incites rebellion.
We must keep our ears to the ground.
I hope I hear well enough to know the church's enemies.
The infidel Turks Archduke Ferdinand fights.
That enemy can be heard by the simplest novice.
But the enemy that threatens order from within, that takes a keener ear.
The enemy's prior.
We must keep an ear to the ground.
We speak of reform.
We speak of leading the Pope's ways for those of scripture.
Yet look at us.
Where Rome once taxed our congregations, we now have a council, which demands our
tithes.
Where monasteries once assigned us priests, we now have pastors, appointed by
a secular council.
Our church still tolerates graven images.
And finally, we have this question of baptism.
You say, now, that because Christ neither taught for nor against the baptism of
infants, that the Old Testament is decisive.
That the covenant God's people once held by circumcision is now sealed through the
hope of baptism performed on infants.
I say, lie!
The baptism of infants was a lie when the Pope called for it.
The scriptures have not changed.
Baptism must be a choice made of free will.
Such a choice is not possible for infants.
If this council continues their baptism, it does not damn the babe.
It damns the church!
A delicate matter, this business of baptism.
An extremely delicate matter.
Still, how much harm can come from abandoning the practice of watering
babies?
We depend on the grain we've received from the canton still controlled by Rome.
More change and we'll be cut off.
That logic is absurd.
If our concern is to appease Rome, we should not have broken away in the
first place.
Do you think for one moment that if we decide in their favor, it will stop there?
He's right, Jacob.
There's more here than a child's baptism.
These radicals threaten our ability to govern Zurich.
I have a son in their ranks.
His beliefs are strong, but hardly treasonous.
Urik, these people we now call radicals have been your students.
We have known them as friends.
Comrades, in our break with Rome, there must be some compromise.
Faith is a fragile thing.
It's not enough to be against Rome.
Zurich must remain united as one people.
A fortress whose foundation is the baptism of all its citizens at birth.
Only then can we stand united against our enemies.
So, the disputation has been decided.
They will not accept it.
They will insist on further debate.
The debate is fine, but there must be an end to debate.
A church, a city without discipline, inspires chaos.
Divide and conquer, the Romans used to say.
And the Roman Pope says it still.
The council has prepared its ruling on the issue of infant baptism.
The Zurich canton, in every respect, upholds the arguments and positions
articulated by Pastor Ulrich Zwingli.
The council also serves its authority to enforce the results of this dispute.
Any parent with unbaptized children, after seven days of this ruling,
will lose the rights of citizenship and will be banished from the canton of
Zurich.
Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel, as citizens, are ordered, on pain of imprisonment,
to refrain from any further discussion of the matter which has been judged in this
dispute.
Do not worry.
I will continue my protest.
The council also embraces the right to declare judgment on those who are not
citizens of the canton of Zurich.
Wilhelm Reutemann, George Blaurock, Johannes Brotli, Andreas Kasselberger and
Ludwig Ketzer have eight days to leave all territories within this council's
jurisdiction.
I say our hope is north.
In the countryside, the peasants have begun to revolt against their lords.
God's word is meant to incite faith, not swordplay.
Zurich, we have to continue here.
The peasants need leaders.
The peasants need to hear Christ's teachings, not battle cries.
Besides, we've been silenced.
Truth cannot be silenced.
Zurich is our home.
Not my home.
We can begin somewhere else.
With the peasants' support, we can build a new church.
A true church cannot be built on violence.
I say we stay in Zurich, whatever the cost.
North.
The peasants.
There is our hope.
Baptize me.
Baptize you?
Brother, I cannot.
Yes, you can, and you must.
Why?
We've been ordered to submit the unbaptized for baptism, am I right?
Yes, of course.
By rejecting the baptism of infants, am I not rejecting my own?
If we defy the council, we will be imprisoned.
Not imprisoned.
Freed.
George is right.
Better a prison of stone than a prison of false conviction.
Baptize me, brother.
Re-baptism is a crime.
Oh, not re-baptism.
But a first true baptism.
Brother George.
Do you...
Are you sorry for your past sins?
Oh, that's a lot to be sorry for.
That is.
And I am.
By accepting the sign of baptism, is it your choice to now proclaim your
faith before God, and in the presence of these witnesses?
It is.
God, help me be strong.
Then I baptize you.
George Blaurell.
In the name of God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Give me your hand, brother.
Brother George, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of God, so walk from
this day forth in newness of life.
And so, we came to be known as the Anabaptists, those who re-baptize.
To those who ruled Europe, who viewed infant baptism as a mark of citizenship,
we had committed the ultimate act of treason.
Those who believed him, Jesus said, if you follow my teaching, you are really
my disciples, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
Shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Oh Lord, free,
free.
Free.
Yes?
Friar, Sister Margaret asks for you.
At this time of the night?
Something about a printer and Lord Hoffman.
Hoffman, get my horse.
You can't do this!
What are you doing?
Let me go!
Please, let him go!
No!
Thomas!
The printer!
It's too late to get help.
Just hold him.
Hoffman!
You are on land under the administration of my monastery.
Precisely.
I should not have to do your work.
But he...
What has he done?
Your printer has been very busy.
You shall know the truth.
Anabaptist.
Did you know about this?
I know the track, not the source.
It's a statement of faith!
I am treason!
What the man did, he was driven to by hunger.
The man is a traitor!
And a heretic!
By whose order?
Whose authority?
I have been guilty of envy.
Yes.
More than once, Prior.
I have been guilty of sloth.
Gone.
And unclean thoughts.
For man or woman?
For woman, Prior.
A particular woman.
Which woman?
She... she comes through the door in the kitchen.
Fine.
A dozen of fathers in a week of scrubbing pots.
But Prior...
The kitchen.
I may see her again.
We conquer our doubts by facing them, not by secluding ourselves away from...
away from them.
But Prior...
Now go.
And sin no more.
Good morning.
You startled me.
I'm sorry.
Where were you?
I guess I was hiding.
Why?
Is something wrong?
Oh...
Here.
Let me help you.
Thank you.
Well?
Well...
I've done a lot of thinking lately.
You think too much.
About the church.
As always.
It's been difficult for us, hasn't it?
It's always been difficult for monks and women.
Natural enemies.
I don't want it to be that way.
Well, that's a comforting thought.
I have something to tell you, Margaret.
I'd be surprised if you didn't.
I'm leaving.
Leaving what?
The monastery.
The church.
The church!
Oh, my God!
I thought a long time about this.
You only told me that those walls of St. Peter's were very safe.
You said that I never even had to look outside if I didn't want to.
Well...
I never wanted to.
But lately...
I can't look anywhere else.
Leaving the walls is one thing, but...
leaving the church, that's quite another.
I would never force your conscience, Margaret.
It's not mine I'm thinking of, Michael.
You'll be a mocked man.
You cannot stay in Austrian territory.
I know, I...
I just had to...
I had to see you before I left to say...
to tell you...
to say...
Farewell.
You have no mercy.
Perhaps if you'd ask for mercy...
I don't even know where I'll go, I just...
I just know...
that I have to seek the peace that eluded me in the monastery.
I still can't offer title.
I can't even offer security or comfort.
But I can...
offer...
would...
offer you my...
my hand in marriage.
You...
are...
asking me...
to come with you.
We felt something for each other once before...
you entered the paginage and I the monastery.
I had...
hoped...
to you.
Can you still feel something for me?
The steepest price...
that I have had to pay the church...
was not being able...
to express my feelings.
It's for you.
If you go with me...
you may pay a steeper price for your affection.
Yes.
You ready to...
to risk all to go with me?
Yes.
Margarita.
I bless you in the name of the Father...
and of the Son...
and of the Holy Spirit.
I still don't know where we'll go.
No matter.
Whither thou goest...
I will go.
Thy people...
shall be my people.
And thy God...
my God.
Freedom!
That is the promise of God's word in scripture.
Listen to the ring of that word.
It was at a rural church on the outskirts of Zurich...
that I first met Michael and his new wife, Margarita.
Freedom!
Freedom from the tyranny of Rome!
Freedom from lords and masters!
Do you know either of those two?
Not from here, brother.
Freedom to hunt game on the land of the nobility!
You ask for divine justice!
Brothers and sisters, freedom from oppression...
begins with freedom in Christ.
And freedom in Christ begins...
with a sign that you are ready to fight.
You are ready to follow Christ.
The sign...
of voluntary adult baptism.
All who are ready to follow that sign...
come forward and gather around me.
No!
For baptism!
I cannot, woman.
How can you condemn his soul?
Water is only a sign it cannot save.
Your child's soul is protected by its innocent state.
You... you can baptize.
No longer I hold no office.
What of your oath?
My oaths were of man, not God.
Can you... can you also assure me...
that my baby's soul will not be lost?
No, I cannot.
Bastard!
Enough!
Catch him!
All of you!
Catch him!
I see a man of God.
You see an uncertain man.
These forests give refuge to a good many uncertain men and women.
You've come to be rebaptized.
We've traveled a good way.
We have questions.
I am Wilhelm Reublen.
I will give what answers I can.
We thought when Zwingli broke with Rome...
that it was only a matter of time.
But Zwingli showed he had no more heart than Luther...
to complete the task he started.
So now that task falls to us.
Task?
Completing the Reformation.
Restoring the church to the purity of its early days.
It's a grand idea.
How do you intend to accomplish it?
The peasants.
They're beginning to look to the Anabaptists for leadership.
Luther has turned his back on them.
Rome has its hands full with the Turks.
When the peasants overthrow the lords...
we will have the foundation for our church.
They may find their pitchforks and clubs...
no match against steel and gunpowder.
They, Michael...
we have numbers and right on our side.
Still, it seems...
revolt...
is a poor way to recreate a church...
founded on suffering and love.
A small accommodation to make...
for a church based on the word.
There's a place for you, Michael.
We need clear-thinking men, literate men.
Think of it!
A chance to be independent, free.
Yes.
The idea certainly has appeal.
Although I've always thought of freedom...
as an internal state.
Not an external one.
You, my friend, have been in the monastery too long.
Give it some thought.
I'll be preaching again tonight.
Perhaps I should stop by for you.
You have a good man in there.
Yes, I do.
And he a good woman.
I'm glad you approve.
But you... you, I take it, do not approve of me.
I don't know enough about you.
Ask away.
Are you married?
Oh, yes.
Children?
One.
A beautiful little girl, Mary.
Why aren't they with you?
I am not a particularly safe man with whom to travel.
My husband needs peace.
He needs time.
He does not need to be pushed into your dangerous schemes.
I know I push too hard.
But it's only because I believe so deeply.
Because I have worked so long and so hard.
And because now, finally, I am so close.
To what?
All right.
Finished.
It's well worth four guilders, I'd say.
More like three, when you add the border.
I would start tonight, but Wilhelm is due.
Will he come along?
Do you think he would mind?
Wilhelm?
It's a different sword.
A dangerous sword.
A sign of faith?
Or ambition?
He's likely to find that those who draw the sword die by the sword.
The sword.
And I do not want you by his side when he finds that out.
Don't worry.
We monks make bad weavers.
But we make worse soldiers.
I suppose Wilhelm doesn't like to be kept waiting.
I shall get my cloak.
Thank you.
Michael Sattler?
Yes, what...
Come with us, please.
Where am I to be taken?
Zurich.
Orders of the council.
It will go better if you don't resist.
I have no reason to.
Well, come along then.
Michael!
Margaretta!
Michael!
Where are you taking him?
I escaped the net which snared Michael and the Anabaptists Felix Mons, George
Blaurock and Conrad Grebel.
I was no sheep to be taken in the night.
Oh,
it's devilish cold in here.
Who are you, my lord?
No lord, a pastor, Ulrich Swingly.
Swingly?
Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit.
I've brought some warm cider.
Why am I arrested?
Allow me to ask who you are.
Michael Sattler.
We have indications that you held office at St. Peter's Monastery in the Black
Forest.
I was prior there before I left.
Prior?
Yes.
It's common for monks of lower order to flee with their treasuries, but a prior?
I left my treasury as well.
Tell me, what possessed you to join the Anabaptists?
I have joined no group, no.
Some more cider.
Please.
We have information that you kept company with one of their leaders, William
Roybloom, who was banished.
Banished?
I had no idea he was banished.
I merely had some questions for which he seemed anxious to provide answers.
A man who asks questions, now that I can understand.
Tell me what you think of Roybloom's answers.
Hmm.
I have not decided.
He seems determined to separate God's word from man's.
Not always an easy distinction to draw.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Well, I hope Christ's teachings are more than a matter of taste.
So do I.
So, you would agree that some authority is necessary, especially in spiritual
matters?
I believe in spiritual authority, yes.
I should know better than to debate a prior.
So tell me, what is your opinion on this issue of rebaptism?
I know that in the 13th century, Rome conducted an inquisition against
several groups whose members practiced rebaptism.
But since this is the 16th, and I have broken with Rome, I'm uncertain about many
things.
A prudent answer.
What's this?
A statement that you are not rebaptized, and do not claim loyalty with those who
are.
Does this present any difficulties for you?
Certainly not at present.
I hope not.
One word of warning.
Beware of Wilhelm Breivlin.
He seems determined.
He's a driven man.
A dangerous companion for a man with questions.
Michael was released the next morning.
A man with questions was a law of freedom in those days.
Not so easy for those with answers.
Zwingli was beginning to show the same enthusiasm as Rome for enforcing the rules
of the church, but the power of the state.
The council orders that the Anabaptists be placed in prison on bread and water for as
long as is needed for the prisoners to recognize the authority of this duly
elected council that affairs both secular and spiritual.
It's happening here, too.
Oh, no.
Men sit in prison, and I... I ruin cloth.
It's late.
What?
Michael, come to bed.
One bad thread.
I've wasted a week's work.
I must... must have mixed a dye wrong.
We've been at it only six months.
We still have a lot to learn.
Don't ruin my foul mood with your logic.
You've ruined enough today.
Don't you get dye on my gown.
For a man of conscience, few things are so terrible as doubt, uncertainty.
But for every man plagued with doubt, there was a multitude steeped in
conviction, thousands ready to do battle with their Roman oppressors.
Surely now God was prepared to smite the corrupt church.
Help!
We must answer it, I suppose.
Willem, you're...
There were so many.
There were only a hundred or so.
Easy.
I told them not to leave the trees.
I'm sure you did.
It felt like a week before the scythe.
Yes, it does.
I thought with the peasants,
we could take the upper hand.
We were stronger.
We could beat them.
But our church...
I have the sword.
We still have hope.
Yes, in God.
It's Rosberg.
Powerful men, the Archduke there can't touch them.
They'll help us.
You're exhausted.
We'll talk in the morning.
We need you, Michael.
In the morning.
We need you.
Eat.
One bad thread.
Pardon?
I sewed the board of the single dyed thread.
And it took over the bolt.
So you've learned a lesson.
No.
We just keep making the same mistake.
Over and over.
Michael, I don't think it's...
It takes only one bad thread to ruin the entire fabric, don't you see?
We weave man's authority into God's and the church is corrupted.
But we do have to live in the world.
In the world, perhaps.
But not of it.
Is that possible?
That's the truth of baptism.
Leaving the kingdom of the world...
And joining the kingdom of God.
Yes.
When I was a prior, I split my vows between Christ and the Duke.
Luther, he divides his loyalty with the German state.
Zwingli, his council.
Wilhelm is right.
A baptism of choice signals that we break with the world in matters of faith.
But Wilhelm had his peasants.
Yes.
The sword.
When we accept its power, we invite its corruption.
How can we avoid that?
By forming a church, separate from the power of the sword.
The apostles had no duke.
No prince.
And no guarantees.
What can you say to a woman who wants safety for her children?
What guarantee can you offer a man for his family?
Faith.
Only faith.
As Christ was raised from the dead, so walk in the newness of life.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I baptize you, Peter Eberhard von Zollern.
Amen.
For our son's Godfather.
Thank you, Elsa.
And well earned, too.
A toast, then.
To Peter Eberhard von Zollern.
How long can you stay with us, Eberhard?
I joined Ferdinand in the morning.
Vienna?
Yes, I'm sorry.
Can't be helped.
I hear they're under siege.
We'll be lucky if that's all.
If the Turks break through in Vienna, we have nothing to stop them.
Besides, if we keep losing ground to those Turkish bastards, we'll soon be standing
on each other's shoulders.
I understand the land we lose to the Turks is more than made up in our other
campaigns.
Still, there's no point in conceding anything to a horde of barbarians on
ponies.
Be careful, Eberhard.
Ursula, I'm no fool.
But the man who is too careful winds up with his head in his lap.
I'd rather your head remain exactly where it is.
I'm toast to that.
No man can serve two masters.
You cannot serve God and Mammon.
Pastor Sadler.
Margarete.
We were expecting you.
How far?
An hour or less.
I'll send Gunther along.
Thank you.
Travel quietly, brother.
Not quietly enough, apparently.
Where might you be headed?
Towards Orb, to peddle my wares.
Not by this path.
No?
Bad time to peddle.
When's it good?
Bandits.
We've lost three or four travelers within a month.
My business is urgent.
I can watch out for myself.
I suppose it could wait.
That would be best.
Not every ax in this forest is as blunt as mine.
In spite of constant danger, we grew in number.
We became a hidden church, forced to meet secretly in caves, barns, and forest
glens.
We have one Lord.
Christ Jesus.
And he's all we need.
But we must take him to ourselves.
You see?
We must receive baptism that takes us from the old and into the new.
We must stand separate from the rest of the world in matters of faith.
But pastor, the scriptures say, render unto Caesar.
And so we shall.
We're obligated to pay the Duke his taxes, but we must not collect it.
We must not accept the Duke's protection.
We must take no oaths of loyalty to any government.
We acknowledge no authority over the church.
Except God's.
I could not believe what Michael was saying.
A church standing alone, no protection from city or state.
A church without sword or service to kings or dukes.
It was a view completely uncomplicated by reality.
Michael, you are misleading these people.
That's a serious objection.
You fill their heads with pipe dreams.
There has never been a church that lasted without a king or pope behind it.
And it will never happen.
Seems to me we're off to a pretty good start.
Only because we are so few in number they haven't noticed.
When that moment comes, we will be ground to dust.
Where would you build the church?
Not among privets and pine trees.
Listen to me, Michael.
Strasbourg.
Ah, Strasbourg.
Martin Busser and Wolfgang Capito.
The leaders there, they're strong, educated.
Wealthy.
Yes, power.
It's in the city now, not in the countryside.
We need the protection.
Strasbourg can offer.
Patronage.
Otherwise, we will be meeting in barns and caves forever.
Not bad locations for a message that began in a stable.
Capito and Busser can still be influenced.
They have kept an open mind.
Is that why they lock up our brothers and sisters?
Who refuse to swear oaths of loyalty to their city?
All the more reason to go.
To petition for their release.
You're changing baits.
Michael, like it or not, you are fast becoming a leader in our church.
Your presence in Strasbourg can make a difference to the fate of our brothers in
prison, to the fate of our church.
You are needed.
Strasbourg.
Under the tolerant leadership of Martin Busser and Wolfgang Capito, it had come to
be known as the city of hope.
For us Anabaptists, I believed Strasbourg was our last hope for protection and
patronage.
A man who has become a citizen of God's kingdom must separate himself from the
realms of the world.
A plague of Turks now lays siege on Vienna.
Yellow-skinned, hairless animals.
Some say they are the Antichrist.
They may well be.
The infidel seeks to destroy Christendom.
What resistance could you offer that would be consistent with your beliefs?
I could offer none.
But they are butchers.
Christ himself was butchered.
If our Lord endured persecution for God's sake, why should we seek to avoid it for
ourselves?
This is an extreme case.
We must simply seek a middle ground between the use of violence and
self-preservation.
Tell me, if we may not slay the Turk ourselves, may we accept protection if
it's offered?
If we accept a prince's force, we accept his authority.
Our authority is Christ.
But Christ used force to scourge the temple.
But not with a sword.
Hear me out.
A Turk who wields the sword does so out of ignorance.
For a Turk is not a Christian and has not heard the truth.
But a man, a man who has pledged to Christ, think of it.
When he picks up the sword, he mocks the very faith he claims to follow.
He defends the faith.
No!
I would not fight.
But if I did, I would rather fight alongside a genuine Turk than a hypocrite
Christian who uses the sword in false service to Christ.
While more and more Anabaptists refused to take up the sword, the Turks continued
their advance across Europe, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
A thousand more foot soldiers than that woman might be yet alive in her child.
Yes, your excellency.
What kind of age is it when men refuse to find the devil himself?
Not men, my lord.
Cowards.
Heretics.
And growing everywhere in number.
Mother of Jesus!
Too late.
Father!
Look on this woman.
Remember her.
Anyone who refuses to fight the infidel deserves a death no easier.
It was a fearful time for Anabaptists.
A bad time to reject infant baptism and oaths that marked civic loyalty.
We became outlaws, hunted not only in Catholic territory, but now on Protestant
land as well.
George Blaurock was beaten and driven from Zurich.
And Swingly gave Felix Manz his third baptism.
Death by drowning.
Then it is finished.
No.
Michael, we are outlaws.
We have no patron, no protection, no money.
We are hunted like common thieves in territories controlled by Rome,
and now by Zurich as well.
We have nowhere in all of Europe in which to turn.
The strength of the church should be found within the community of believers,
not without.
That's the worst of it.
Conrad, dead of consumption.
Now Felix, drowned!
We have many of our numbers imprisoned.
Those left in our congregations argue bitterly.
If our persecutors do not finish us first, we will destroy ourselves.
Wilhelm is right.
We can't agree on a single point.
What would you have us do, Wilhelm?
Perhaps Swingly will allow us a second disputation.
It will let him know that we are ready for compromise.
Swingly would have us debating from the river's bottom.
I like the idea of a disputation.
A gathering of representatives from each of our communities to agree on a common
unity.
That's an excellent idea, Wilhelm.
No, Michael.
With this third baptism of Felix, we are finished.
No, we're not finished.
We have no church.
Every man must become a priest, and every woman.
Every Christian must be his own bishop.
No!
Hoffman's men are everywhere.
If persecution comes, we must face it together.
As brothers and sisters.
Not enough to know that we're Anabaptists.
We need to know what it is we believe.
After that, everyone may choose for themselves.
We must select a central location.
Every thief-catcher available has been hired to look for us.
If we attempt to travel anywhere in numbers, we will be easily found.
We can travel on a holy day.
The roads will be full of travelers then.
Wilhelm?
You've given leadership to our movement since the beginning.
Your support is essential if we're to form a successful union.
What do you have?
There's to be a meeting.
St. Matthias Day.
Do you know who St. Matthias was, peddler?
No, my lord.
He was the disciple who replaced Judas Iscariot.
Is that right, my lord?
Yes.
Where will the meeting take place?
Good morning to you, John.
Anabaptist leaders came from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, to the Swiss border town
of Schleithain.
The price on our heads was greater than our church's treasury.
We were afraid, and I hoped I could use this fear to make those gathered see
reason.
I do not question brother Michael's sincerity.
I simply question the wisdom of his proposal.
Of a folly!
Like Michael, I too once sought God in a cell.
By separating myself from the outside world.
But unlike Michael, I realize the monastery is a womb we cannot reclaim.
I ask you.
How can we survive as believers if we cannot accept positions of influence?
And the soul!
Follow Michael's vision, and we not only invite destruction by the infidel,
we invite persecution by those who might otherwise defend us!
Many of you know...
I am a weaver.
For many years the good Lord protected the world from my obvious talents as a weaver
by confining me to a monastery.
But somehow, somehow I escaped.
And I managed to spin some cloth.
And I brought this specimen here today.
Tell me.
What would you give me for this?
A broken barrel!
Or a dead goat!
You are sensible people.
You can see that the cloth is ruined.
And you wouldn't waste your good earnings to buy it.
One of the first things I learned when I began weaving was that it takes only one
bad thread.
Only one poorly mixed dye to destroy an entire cloth.
Like my brother Wilhelm, I'm afraid.
I fear for those in prison.
I reap for those who have died and will die as Anabaptists.
But I fear even more the consequences of compromise.
For if we allow the power of this world to be threaded into the fabric of Christ's
church, all of us...
All of us, we've seen the results.
Compassion turns to pride.
Charity to greed.
Truth becomes fabrication, salvation, citizenship.
Peace, oppression.
And faith in God becomes faith in popes and princes and kings.
We must not imitate the world but Christ in all things.
Even if we are called to the gallows or the grave.
When I made this mistake, it cost me only four guilders.
If we deceive ourselves now,
the price will be eternal.
Hey, wait.
The following article is that we have dealt with in which we have been united as
brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ.
To baptize those who have repented of their sins and have made an adult and
voluntary commitment to follow Christ.
To swear no oaths of any kind.
To reject the sword as outside the perfection of Christ.
And finally, to separate ourselves so that good and evil, believing and unbelieving,
darkness and light, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this earth.
None will have part with the other.
It is not enough that we leave this place in simple agreement.
We must go forth fully committed to the course that we have set here.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We must go out as sheep amidst wolves.
As lambs to the slaughter.
How say you?
Amen.
David.
Ingrid.
I don't believe any of you have met my wife.
Adelaide.
How do you do?
And my daughter, Mary.
Say hello.
I had not known so many of our congregation felt as you.
How do you feel?
I believe...
We have a future, Michael.
What is that?
We've been found.
Quiet, please.
Quickly, out the back.
Wilhelm, I can't find Mary.
Over here.
Not the comforts of the monastery that you left, but perhaps better able to give you
a soul direction.
Crude tools should not be necessary among men of refinement.
Refinement.
It's one thing to risk your own hand.
What about the others?
What about them?
How can you bear to watch them suffer?
How can you bear to cause their suffering?
Michael, I'm not a cruel man by nature, but I will do whatever is necessary for
the Empire.
And the Church.
And I'm not a brave man, but I have chosen, along with my brothers and
sisters, to suffer whatever is necessary for the sake of truth.
Truth!
This is not truth!
This is heresy!
I pray that you turn from your ways while there's still time.
I'll run you through.
You and your people, one by one.
If I have to.
Think about it.
Quickly!
Before time runs out.
Take him back to his cell.
Admit to re-baptism.
Yes.
You defile the sacraments.
No.
The holy relics.
You deny the authority of the Pope.
God's word denies his authority.
You took oaths as a monk, did you not?
I took vows.
Of poverty.
Yes.
And chastity.
Yes.
To the woman you sleep with as a whore!
Margaretha is my wife.
Ah.
So you broke a solemn vow, ignored your oath to take a wife.
Oaths and vows are made by men.
Marriage comes from God.
My Lord's prosecutor!
Hartman, if you continue to conduct this trial as a religious debate, it may be we,
not our prisoners, who hang.
Your Grace, I was merely establishing that religious law was broken in order to lay
the groundwork for the verdict of death.
The Archduke has already given his permission to execute without benefit of
trial.
The Anabaptists have strong backing in this region.
The verdict we seek must come from the people.
Do you understand?
I understand.
One minute.
I am going to order a recess.
When we return, I suggest you be ready with charges that are civil in nature,
not religious.
Charges that the people understand.
Yes, Your Grace.
Margaretha!
Oh, you feel so good.
What?
How did you manage?
It seems the Countess von Sahlen arranged it.
I hope we don't office one with the Count.
Yes.
Your arguments increase our support among the people.
That may only make the judgment harsher.
To set an example.
And you?
How are you holding up?
Are the hardships too great?
Your skill as a weaver prevented me from becoming unduly dependent on luxury.
You have no mercy.
Yes, I do.
I have mercy.
Mercy.
How are the others?
Some hold fast.
The others...
There may well be more recantations.
More?
And late.
She cannot stand to be separated from her Mary.
And you, Michael?
I'm afraid.
For your life.
For mine.
For what we have worked to accomplish.
The threat of death is nothing new to our brothers and sisters.
But now they...
They watch to see if a martyr's death is...
Bearable.
Our union is so new, so fragile.
We lose courage.
Our church may die in its infancy.
Oh, I thought that only I had doubts.
I could not take the first steps of this pilgrimage by myself.
The final steps seem equally impossible to...
To travel alone.
Michael, you say marriage is of God?
Yes.
Were your vows confirmed only between yourself and God?
No.
Also before a minister.
Under whose jurisdiction?
The canton of Zurich.
By an instrument of the devil?
I have not claimed that.
You refuse to honor the authority of government?
I am bound by scripture to submit to dukes and princes.
Ah, so government is ordained of God.
Yes.
Yet you refuse to take up the sword in defense of your land.
In matters of conscience, Christ's followers must choose God's laws above
man's.
So man may choose by conscience which laws to obey and which to disregard.
The state would crumble if it allowed such freedom.
Unless Christ's followers claim such freedom, the church withers.
Each day, Ferdinand fights the Antichrist at our throats.
Do you deny this?
We do not know that the Turks are the Antichrist.
We know that they are Turks.
Yes?
Infidels.
So I have heard.
Barbarians, completely without Christ.
I cannot judge that.
Is it true, it was reported, that you say you would prefer to fight on the side of
the Turks against the Christians?
What?
Order!
Let the accused reply.
Have I spoken your words?
My meaning was...
Answer the court!
I said that if Warring was right, I would rather take the field against
so-called Christians.
If, as you state, Turks know nothing of the Christian faith, then they are but
Turks of the flesh.
But you, you who would be Christians, yet persecute Christ's followers with a
sword, you are Turks of the spirit.
You are a heretic.
You have seduced pious people.
It would be better if you had never been born.
God knows what is good.
Desperate villain, I tell you, if there were no hangmen here,
I would hang you myself, and know that I have done God's service.
God will judge.
Is there no argument that can convince you of the error of your ways?
I can only be convinced by Scripture.
You are a heretic.
The hangmen will convince you.
Eva.
Your name is Margarella, wife of Michael Sattler, the condemned man.
He has not yet been judged.
Do you know who I am?
I am the Countess of Hagensee, wife of the Principal Judge Campanzola.
Yes, I know who you are.
More importantly, do you know what I can offer you?
If only I could see Michael again, I would be so grateful to you.
No, no, that is no longer possible.
However, if you are a Count, I can offer you your life.
I can also offer you protection and employment in my home.
Why do you offer me this?
Because I feel sorry for you.
I know what it is like to have one's thoughts and actions dictated by the
position of one's husband.
I simply see no reason you should suffer for your husband's beliefs.
I do not follow my beliefs because of my husband.
I follow my husband because of my beliefs.
You will not recant, even if, as you must suspect, your sentence is death?
No.
These beliefs of your husband, your beliefs, you can be that certain of
them?
Yes.
Then I do not feel sorry for you.
I feel envy.
God, what will you do now?
Wait...
and pray.
In the name of the Empire, Michael Sattler, heretic and seducer, shall be
committed to the execution.
The executioner is first charged to cut the heretic's tongue from his mouth.
Glowing iron tongs shall tear the seducer's flesh seven times between his
first ordeal and the fire.
And then his body shall be burned to powder as an arch heretic.
Gunpowder.
Hurry up.
Two days after Michael Sattler burned on the bank of the Neckar, Margareta was
taken to the same river and drowned.
How, Michael?
How could you condemn us to such defenselessness?
How could you face death with such certainty?
It seemed so clear to me when it first began.
But with each passing day, more Anabaptists are led like sheep to their
death.
And I... I am consumed by such doubt.
Ah...
Semper Iberius Gloria.