| Notes |
- {{Switzerland Sticker}}
===Biography===
Hans “The Martyr” Landis was a notable Anabaptist and was probably the most famous Landis. He gained notoriety by being the last martyr in Switzerland to be executed for his religious beliefs. "In the Ausbund, (oldest hymnbook of the Swiss Brethren ) No. 132, is a song of 46 stanzas commemorating his death. It begins "Ich hab ein schön neu Lied gemacht." (google translation “I made a nice new song”). [[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Landis,_Hans_(d._1614)&oldid=129452 From the Global Mennonite Encyclopedia Online]] [First three Versus of Landis Martyr's Hymn - by Martin E. Ressler ]
:This lovely hymn I here display,
:I gave my time both night and day
:to sing anew this story;
:About a man of pious fame,
:Hans Landis was his given name, ·
:My goal, to show God's glory.
:In sixteen fourteen was the date
:When Hans had faced his final fate,
:In Zurich this befalling.
:He gave his life by martyr's death,
:Confessed and taught with his last breath
:Christ's Word, all men still calling.
:Here note this pious Christian's thought,
:Who stood and all the people taught
:the Word of God by preaching;
:Confirmed his faith by noble deed,
:He finished then his work of need,
:True victory he was teaching!
In 1589 fifteen men from Canton Zurich were imprisoned for their Anabaptist beliefs; among them were some whose descendants would later come to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. From Wadenswil came Rudolph Hofman, Walti Pfister, Rutsch Brupbach, Hans Pfister, Petter Hon, Walti Hess, and Jos Bruppach. From Horgen came Uli Sutter, Heini Landis, and Hans Landis . From Ebertswil came Gorius Weber. From Wetzwil came Jacob Hochstrasser. From Guldens came Uli Ertzinger. From Erlibach came Heinrich Bindschadler. From Surthal (Bernpirt) came Jagli Walti.
The authorities reported on the responses of each of these men concerning their religious beliefs and activities. In the Horgen reports for Hans Landis it stated: They alone are the signs for his soul. And he searched for the well-being of his soul. He will not turn away from it but stay with it. To take another stand is against his beliefs and he will not change.
After several imprisonments and escapes Hans was imprisoned in the Wellenberg tower which stood in the Limmat River in Zurich, Switzerland. The the tower is where the Swiss authorities decapitated Landis on September 30, 1614, for his leadership of the "heretical" Anabaptists and his refusal to leave his congregation.
{{Image|file=Landis-137-2.jpg|align=c|size=340px|caption='''Wellenberg Tower
Stood in the middle of the Limmat River and was only accessible by water.'''}}
{{Clear}}
==Landis History==
The Landis families have their origin in Menzingen, Aeugst am Albis, Hirzel, Horgen, Kappel am Albis, Kilchberg, Richterswil, Schönenberg, Urdorf, & Wädenswil, all of Canton Zurich, Switzerland, and all sitting on the western shore of Lake Zurich, in about 1392. There are still Landises living there. Swiss records state that this family name identifies an old family of the parish Hirzel in 1485. The oldest known Landis homestead is located in Hirzel was built in 1488 and is still kept by a Landis descendants.
The name Landis comes from "land" and "oesen" which means "land destroyer". The original spelling was Landoes (Landös).
Various historical sources record early Landises. A Hansen Landos of Uerikon is recorded in 1372 A Rudi Landos is recorded in 1415 The first appearance in the Horgen records of a Landis is 1485.
From the Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South-eastern Pennsylvania: A Landis is one of the names joining when Menno Simon founded the Mennonite Church in 1538.
Two Landises are listed as preachers to those who were Mennonite land buyers in the Skippack settlement in Pennsylvania in 1706. A Jacob Landis of Switzerland is one of the signers of a letter written on March 3, 1709 to the Anabaptist congregation in the Netherlands (Holland). The signers list themselves as ministers and elders of the Mennonite congregations of Switzerland. A Landis who is identified as being from Zurich is banished from Bern in 1710. With others from Zurich and Bern, they were transported down the Rhine in 1710 and are believed to have eventually moved to Obfeldon and Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania. Because Prussia had become depopulated by pestilence and war, King Frederick of Prussia in 1710, asked Bern, who wanted the Mennonites out of Switzerland, to send a colony of the persecuted Mennonites there. They would have religious freedom and be exempt from war. Bern expressed the hope that the Mennonites would find it (land near the border of Lithuania) comfortable so that none of them would attempt to come back. The project failed. They found that their principle of non-resistence was not respected and while not compelled to bear arms, they were compelled to pay large sums of money as the price of exemption, and too, the hope of going to Pennsylvania was a great a temptation.[[http://math.uww.edu/~mcfarlat/pictures/landis20.htm History of the "Landis" Families Website]]
There is no family so closely and so essentially connected with the growth and development of Lancaster County, as the Landis family. It is more numerous, and continued to be through all generations, time and changes devoted to farming, which made Lancaster County the Garden Spot of America. The pedigree, or genealogy of this numerous and powerful family, will be herein accurately given to the fifth generation or degree, from the first emigrant, the root of the stock. The Landis family are nearly all here at this time, and most of them own one or more farms.The common progenitor of the Landis family, whose descendants are here traced and arranged in order, by branches of families, emigrated to this country in 1718, as natives of Switzerland. [[http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/landis/1477/ Genealogy.com - Landis Family - Lancaster County]]
==Religion==
When a person is born they become a citizen of the country or area where they were born. They then were christened, as an infant, as a sign of admission to the Christian Church. So they are now compelled to obey the government in the area they were born and obey the teachings of the church. The Anabaptist movement was based on the fact that a person should govern themselves by strength of character and will. They did not want to be forced into armed service by the government or have the state church be their intermediary between God and themselves.
The Anabaptist is a protestant sectarian religion which was a radical reform movement of the 16th Century Christian Reformation. An Anabaptist is one who rejects infant baptism, believes in separation of church and state, non swearing of oaths, and nonresistance (one whose conscience is against killing another person, thus believing that war is wrong and therefore will not take up arms).
Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ and wants to be baptized. This believer's baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized.
The name Anabaptist means "one who baptizes again". Their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even if they had been baptized as infants. The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism.
A Mennonite is a member of a Protestant church rising out of the Anabaptists that follow the teachings of Menno Simons. The movement was named for Menno Simons, a Dutch priest who consolidated and institutionalized the work initiated by the moderate Anabaptist leaders.
The Anabaptist movement began in Zurich, Switzerland on January 21, 1525. The three men responsible for the beginning of this movement were Felix Manz, George Blaurock and Conrad Grebel, the latter being the acknowledged leader. This was the beginning of the Swiss Brethren, a group that formed in the face of imminent persecution for their nonconformity to the demands of the state church led by the Reformed theologian Huldrych Zwingli. The Anabaptist movement involved the issue of infant baptism, which the Anabaptists felt was wrong based on Biblical studies, but more importantly, the real issue was the nature of the church. Christ, according to their view, is Lord of the Church and only those who submit to that Lordship can be true members of His body. Furthermore, the body of Christ receives its guidance from Christ himself through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, not from or through the civil magistracy.
The Anabaptist movement spread northward through Germany and into the Netherlands, where in 1536 Menno Simons, a former Catholic priest, joined the Anabaptist movement and became its acknowledged spokesman. Persecution had a great deal to do with the spreading of the movement.
Some other Anabaptist movements included one in central Germany under the leadership of Hans Hut, Hans Denk and Pilgram Marpeck. Another movement came to be known as the Hutterian Brethren because of the coordinating leadership of Jakob Hutter, and this group was known for their communal living and for an intense missionary zeal that continued into the 17th century.
==Family and Children==
Hans Landis was born in 1543/44 [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005) - 1.1] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] in Horgenberg near Hirzel, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. [Primary source: Horgen KB p 97 - original documents from the church book of Horgen researched by [[Fosnocht-12|Bruce Fosnocht]]] [[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Landes_%28Landis%29_family Landes (Landis) family on Gameo]] He was the first child nine children (five sons and four daughters) born to [[Landis-132|Johannes Landis]] and [[Schinz-2|Katherina "Trini" Schinz Landis]] between 1544 and 1560. [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/2001-04.pdf Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1990-04.pdf Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22.]] [Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com, Landis] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005) - 1.1]
Sometime before 1580 Hans married [[Hochstrasser-36|Barbara Hochstrasser Landis]] in Hirzel, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1990-04.pdf Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22.]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/2001-04.pdf Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.]] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005). - 1.1] [Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com, Landis.] They had one child a daughter [[Landis-1174|Margreth Landis]] born before May 29, 1580 in Horgenberg, Horgen, Canton Zürich, Switzerland.[LDS Film 996932 Horgen KB p 331] On May 29, 1580, daughter, Margreth Landis was baptized at Horgen. [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005), page 6. - 1.1] According to (unsourced) Landis records, Hans married Barbara and after her death he married her sister Margaretha. Barbara possibly died in childbirth and therefore he needed a wife/mother for more children. [From Barbara original profile: According to Landis records, Hans married Barbara first and later married her sister Margaretha. Possibly died in childbirth and therefore he needed a wife/mother for more children.] [From [https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=hochstrasser&oc=0&p=barbara Barbara Hochstrasser in the Dowling Family Tree]]
Sometime before 1582 Hans married [[Hochstrasser-5|Margaretha Hochstrasser Landis]] in Hirzel, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. [[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Landes_%28Landis%29_family The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/2001-04.pdf Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.]] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005), 6. - 1.1] [Horgenberg near Hirzel was the birthplace of Hans Landis, a Mennonite preacher who died as a martyr on 29 September 1614, in his seventieth year. He left a large family. His wife Margaretha Hochstrasser was 60 years old and stood loyally at his side.] Between 1581 and 1597 they had nine children, 6 sons and 3 daughters,their names are: [[Landis-404|Hans Landis, Jr.]], On December 31, 1581 son Hans Landis was baptized at Horgen. [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/2001-04.pdf Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.]] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005), 6. - 1.1] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1990-04.pdf Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22, reports birth 1588.]] [[Landis-650|Rudolph Landis]], [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/2001-04.pdf Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1990-04.pdf Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22, reports birth 1590.]] [Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz (Akron, Pa.: 2005), 9. - 1.1] [[Landis-651|Heinrich Landis]], [[Landis-652|Verena Landis]], [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1995-01.pdf Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage - Volume XVIII, Number 1 - January 1995 - Pages 13 to 18 - Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland by S. Michael Wilcox - LS1]] [[https://www.lmhs.org/memberdb/PMH/PMH/1990-04.pdf Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22, reports birth 1595.]] [[Landis-653|Adeli Landis]], [[Landis-155|Felix Landis]], [[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Landis,_Felix_(d._ca._1642)&oldid=145676 "Landis, Felix (d. ca. 1642)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 23 Mar 2018] ] [[Landis-654|Jagli Landis]], [[Landis-648|Margreth Landis]] and [[Landis-656|Welti Landis]]. [[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/person/g7079.htm Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy]] [[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123839013 Find A Grave Index] Hans was survived by his wife Margarethe (Hochstrasser) and by an unknown number of children, some of whom also suffered persecution as Mennonites.] [[https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&p=margretha&n=hochstrasser Margarethe in the Dowling Family Tree]]
==Ministry, Imprisonment and Execution==
'''Excerpt from "Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German
Pioneer Settlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania"'''
1614 - The Sufferings and Death of Swisser Hans Landis. An important teacher of the Baptist minded or Mennonites was Hans Landis, who, against the prohibition of the government preached before large meetings in forest and field, baptized and solemnized marriages. He was, for that reason, taken prisoner and as he would not promise to cease such activities in the future,condemned to six years' punishment on the galleys. The Swiss authoritiesmade use of the galleys of the Italian Princes as penal institutions. On thegalleys he sawed his chains by means of an instrument which the brethrenhad smuggled to him, escaped and returned to his country, (Switzerland).
But soon after that he was again taken into custody, whereupon he wasordered to depart from the country; but he refused stubbornly to obey theorders, saying: "God favored me with this land as well as all others and thefaith is the Lord's." Besides, he would remain in his native country, as hedid not know where to go. Furthermore he said he was now aged and did not fear death. And, indeed, he could verily say, he did not know where to go to, for in the adjacent Austrian countries the Baptist minded or Mennonites were persecuted since 1601 unto death by Emperor Rudolph, who had again put in force the decrees of Ferdinand. In consequence he (Landis) was condemned to death by the Great Council of Zurich and beheaded in 1614, (Brons, p. 200).[[https://archive.org/stream/historicbackgrou01eshl#page/74/mode/2up HISTORIC BACKGROUND AND ANNALS OF THE SWISS AND GERMAN PIONEER SETTLERS OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, AND OF THEIR REMOTE ANCESTORS, FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE DARK AGES. DOWN TO THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - H. FRANK ESHLEMAN, B. E., M. E.. LL B. - 1917 - LANCASTER. PENNA]]
'''Excerpted from the "Martyr's Mirror, Thieleman J. Van Braght, 1659"
(The researcher is a multiple descendant of Hans Landis.)'''
HANS LANDIS, A. D. 1614
That the bloody constraint or dominion over the consciences of men still obtains, is a sad thing, and especially is it to be deplored, that those who boast of being, more than others, followers of the defenseless Lamb, have not more the nature of the lamb, but much rather that of wolves in them. It certainly cannot stand as an excuse, that such a course is conducive to the maintenance of purity of the church; but it appears to be a hot zeal to weed out the tares (or what they judge to be tares):
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whereas the servants of the lord, when their zeal urged them to root out the tares, did not venture to do it; but asked permission, and when they were forbidden to do it, they forbore. If these would also ask, or examine the law book of their Lord, they would find there, that the Shepherd does not teach His flock to devour, but sends them as sheep among wolves; that it is also not His will, that the erring should be destroyed, but that they should be .guided into the true way; and that He also does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should repent and live. And many other similar doctrines, all of which tend to the salvation and not the destruction of men. But it is very evident that there is still a veil before their hearts, so that they cannot understand this; or that a frantic zeal has inflamed their hearts to such bloodthirst, that they cannot tolerate it, that any one should walk the way to heaven in any other manner than just as they have chosen it, and in which they want to compel every one to walk, as was seen in the year 1614, at Zurich, in Switzerland, in the case of a pious witness of the divine truth, named Hans Landis, a teacher and minister of the Gospel of Christ, who had gone up the river Rhine, where he had his place of residence, to feed and refresh with the Word of the Lord some souls that were hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
When the council at Zurich learned of this, they, instigated by the disposition of the envious scribes and Pharisees, could not tolerate this, but instantly caused it to be forbidden him, as though they had thought thereby to hinder the true progress of the word of the Gospel. But he, who knew with Peter, that we must obey God's commands more than the commandments of men, had such love to the truth, and to the young sucklings on Zion's breasts, that no human threats could induce him to forbear feeding them with the true food of the soul. Hence the enviers of the same apprehended him, and sent him ironed from Zurich to Solothurm, to the papists, expecting that he should forthwith be sent to sea or upon the galleys; but through the help of goodhearted people he was there released; but subsequently apprehended again and taken to Zurich, where he was rigorously examined concerning his doctrine, and when he would in no wise desist from his godly purpose or from his faith, they showed in him, that their decree of eighty-four years previous was not yet forgotten, neither had the spirit of it died of old age; for, according to the import of the same, they sentenced him from life to death, and hence, in the month of September of the aforesaid year, 1614, for the sake of the truth he was beheaded as a true follower of Christ. Which they nevertheless would not acknowledge, but pretended, and persuaded the common people, to deceive them, that he was not punished and put to death for his religion, but for his obstinacy and disobedience to the authorities.
In this they evinced their old nature of Pharisees; who, when they condemned to death the inno cent Lamb, the Saviour of us all, did not say that it was for His virtuous doctrine by which He converted man to God, but that He had to die for His blasphemy. And this is the nature of all tyrants, to heap upon the innocent, besides sufferings and death, also false accusations. But when the last day of judgment shall come, when they must also expect and shall receive a sentence for their inconsiderate sentences, and shall lament in amazement, "Behold these whom we once had in derision, and a proverb of reproach, how are they now exalted"; then they shall too late repent of their wicked course, and lament it forever with gnashing of teeth.
But on the other hand, this pious martyr and witness of God, and all the righteous that are still under the altar and wait for the fulfillment of the number of their brethren who shall also make their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, shall receive a glorious reward, and shall then together, in shining raiment, with great boldness, as valiant heroes and confessors of Christ, with the wise virgins, be admitted by the Bridegroom to His marriage, where they shall enjoy eternal happiness, and possess the kingdom of the Father, prepared for them from the beginning. Amen.
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS TOUCHING THE PERSON AND DEATH OF HANS LANDIS
Having through our good friends B. Louwr and H. Vlaming come into possession of a certain extract from a letter dated, A. D. 1659, July 19-29, from one of the preachers at Zurich, who witnessed the death of the afore-mentioned martyr, we have deemed it well to add it here, that is, as much of it as is necessary to be given here for fuller information., "Further you remember," he writes,"that Hattavier Salr. witnessed the beheading of Hans Landis, which I also still remember well, having seen it myself in the Wolfsstadt, the whole transaction being as fresh in my recollection, as though it had happened but a few weeks ago."
Continuing, he speaks of his personal appearance and the manner of his death, saying., "Hans Landis was a tall, stately person, with a long black and gray beard, and a manful voice., "When he, cheerful and of good courage, was led out, by a rope, to the Wolfsstadt (being the place made ready for his execution), the executioner, Mr. Paull Volmar dropped the rope, and lifting up both of his hands to heaven, spoke these words, "'O that God, to whom I make my complaint, might have compassion; that you, Hans, have come into my hands in this manner; forgive me, for God's sake, that which I must do to you.', "Hans Landis comforted the executioner, saying that he had already forgiven him: God would forgive him, too; he well knew that he had to execute the order of the authorities; he should not be
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afraid, and see that there was no hindrance in his way., "Thereupon he was beheaded. After his head had been struck off, the executioner asked: 'Lord bailiff of the Empire, have I executed this man rightly according to imperial law and sentence?' Otherwise it was customary to say: 'This poor fellow,' etc. As though he believed that he died saved and rich., "The people were of the opinion, that the executioner by dropping the rope meant to indicate to Hans that he should run away, it was also generally said: that if he had run away, no one would have followed him, to stop him." So far the aforementioned extract.
Further Statement.-It is also appropriate to give here what has been stated to us through credible testimony, namely, that when the aforementioned Hans Landis was standing in the place of execution, to be put to death, his dear wife and children came to him with mournful crying and lamentation, to take a last and final adieu and leave from him. But when he saw them, he requested them to go away from him, in order that his good resolution and tranquillity of heart for the death awaiting him might not be disturbed or taken away by their weeping and grief; which having been done, and he having commended his soul into the hands of God, the quickly descending stroke of the sword put an end to his life. [[http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/martyrs160.htm#1103 The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660 - Thieleman J. van Braght]]
Hans Landis, a Swiss Brethren martyr, a preacher from Wadenswil in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, was imprisoned in the Wellenberg in 1608. After a few months his fellow prisoners managed to release him from the chains, and all escaped. The others were soon captured, but Hans reached his native village. Another attempt was made to indoctrinate the Anabaptists to win them to the state church. On 21 January 1613 the first disputation of the government with them took place at Wadenswil. It was fruitless, as was also the second one, held on 23 February. Thereupon Hans Landis was again put in prison with five other Brethren. In early August negotiations were begun. Landis remained "stiff-necked." He refused to emigrate, saying that the earth was the Lord's; no one had authority to send them away out of the country; they were going to stay in the country.
On 25 August 1613 all six Brethren were condemned to galley service and were to be delivered to the French minister at Solothurn on the next day. Once more they were given permission to emigrate, with a week's time to decide. Three wavered and consented; the others encouraged Landis to be faithful. These three (Hans Landis, Galli Fuchs, and Stephan Zehender) were taken to Solothurn and lodged in prison to await transport. In three days they escaped.
In December 1613 Hans Landis, having returned to minister to his flock, was again seized. In prison he wrote to his church and his friends. He asked his wife for the Doms-büchli (the Confessio of the martyr Thomas von Imbroich). He was questioned on the rack. On 29 September 1614 he was sentenced to death and was beheaded the next day. This was the last Anabaptist execution in Zürich.
Hans Landis had a stately figure, "a long black beard mixed with gray and a manly voice." The executioner asked his pardon for what he was about to do; Landis replied that "he had already forgiven him; may God also forgive him; he knew very well that he must carry out the government's orders." When his wife and children came to the place of execution with "sorrowful crying and mourning, to bid him at the end an eternal good night," he asked that they leave him, so that "his good resolution and his good courage for the death facing him might not be moved or hindered." In the Ausbund, No. 132, is a song of 46 stanzas commemorating his death. It begins "Ich hab ein schön neu Lied gemacht."
'''Excerpt from "The Landis Family of Lancaster County"'''
In the latter part of the Sixteenth century the Landises, among others in Switzerland, were noted for their piety, and were appropriately called Pietists. The first historical mention of individual members of the Landis family is made of Hans Landis,* a "pious witness of the Divine truth," who existed at that time. Hans was a Pietus or Mennonite preacher, who moved to the Rhine, in Switzerland, and lived there to feed and refresh others who were seeking after righteousness. The Council of Zurich, who be it known were not Catholics, but of the Reformed church, ordered Hans' arrest, thus thinking to stop his teachings. But that good man could not be deterred from his sincere convictions, and "he was taken prisoner by his enemies and sent in irons from Zurich to the papists at Zolothurn." After being liberated by theaid of some kind-natured persons, he was again retaken and sent to Zurich, where he was rigorously examined as to his doctrine. In September, 1614, he was beheaded with a sword, as a true follower of Christ. The authorities then
tried to persuade the common people that Hans was decapitatedfor his obstinacy towards them, but it remains a fact that he suffered death for religion's sake. It is interesting to know that Hans Landis was the last person to be beheaded for religious convictions in that locality, but persecution did not cease with his death. In May, 1637, among three other brethren, "Hans Landis, the second, a steadfast minister of the church in Horgerberg, and his daughter, Margaretha," were confined full sixty weeks at Othenbach. "Meantime the authorities sold their property for 7000 florins, and applied it to their own use." [[https://ia800209.us.archive.org/6/items/cu31924029842402/cu31924029842402.pdf The Landis Family of Lancaster County, By D.B. Landis 1888]]
{{Image|file=Landis-137-1.jpg|align=c|size=500px|caption='''Translation: "Here in the middle of the Limmat, there was a fishing platform Felix Manz [[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Manz,_Felix_(ca._1498-1527) Manz, Felix (ca. 1498-1527)]] and five other Anabaptists drowned in the Reformation between 1527 and 1532. Hans Landis was executed as the last Baptist in Zurich in 1614.''' '''By Roland zh - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0''' [ [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9975696 Memorial on the bank of the River Limmar, in Zürich, Switzerland]]
'''This Memorial is located on the wall opposite #43 Schipfe, Zurich''' [[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schipfe+43,+8001+Z%C3%BCrich,+Switzerland/@47.3735269,8.539454,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47900a077061107b:0x1d99edde82d495d!8m2!3d47.3735269!4d8.5416427 Goggle Maps - Research by Randi Rivenbark]]'''}}
{{Clear}}
==Sources==
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/185853944
==Other Sources==
*[http://www.gw.org/Sos/Sos.pdf The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation? by Peter Hoover - Pages 287 - 288]
*[https://ia800209.us.archive.org/6/items/cu31924029842402/cu31924029842402.pdf The Landis Family of Lancaster County]
*[https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wtm&id=I11552 RootsWeb Marshall Family Page]
*[http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Z%C3%BCrich_(Switzerland) Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online - Zürich (Switzerland)]
*1589 In October, fifteen Anabaptists were imprisoned at Horgen ... four from Horgen, namely, Pfister Hans Sommerauer, Uli Suter, and Heini and Hans Landis." Source: (1.) Paul Klaui, "Hans Landis of Zurich (1614)," The Mennonite Quarterly Review 22 (1948), 203-204.
*1608 Anabaptist meetings were held "in the house of Hans Landis, a farmer. Landis, a man more than sixty years of age, was their minister and leader." Source: Paul Klaui, "Hans Landis of Zurich (1614)," The Mennonite Quarterly Review 22 (1948), 204.
*Hans Landis "was taken prisoner by his enemies and sent in irons from Zürich to the papists at Zolothurn." After being liberated by the aid of some kind-natured persons, he was again retaken and sent to Zürich, where he was rigorously examined as to his doctrine. In September, 1614, he was beheaded* with a sword, as a true follower of Christ. The authorities, then tried to persuade the common people that Hans was decapitated for his obstinacy towards them, but it remains a fact that he suffered death for religion's sake." Source: David Bachman Landis, The Landis family of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: 1888), 10, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
*The following extract from a letter dated July 19-29, 1659, written by a preacher at Zürich, gives a description of the execution: "Hans Landis was tall of stature, had a long black beard, a little gray, and a masculine voice. Being led out cheerfully with a rope, to Wolfsstatt, the place of decollation, the executioner, Mr. Paul Volmar, let the rope fall [not, however, before Hans' wife and child came to him with tears in their eyes to bid him a last farewell, after which he entreated them to depart so as not to shake his resolution to meet his fate], raised both hands to heaven, and said: ' O, God of mercy, to thee be it complained, that you, Hans, have fallen into my hands; for God's sake forgive me for what I must do to you,' etc. Hans consoled the executioner, saying: ' I have already forgiven you, may God forgive you also; I am aware that you must execute the sentence of the magistracy; be undismayed, and see that nothing hinders you in this matter,' etc., whereupon he was beheaded." Source: David Bachman Landis, The Landis family of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: 1888), 10, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
*1614 - On 29 or 30 September, Hans Landis was an Anabaptist minister and was beheaded for his faith. Sources: (1.) Paul Klaui, "Hans Landis of Zurich (1614)," The Mennonite Quarterly Review 22 (1948), 208-209. (2.) S. Michael Wilcox, "Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 18 (January 1995), 13-19, at 13-14. (3.) Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 22. (4.) Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29. (5.) Richard Warren Davis, Mennosearch.com, Landis. (6.) Samuel E. Wenger and Werner Baumann, A Combined Landis/Landes Genealogy Report of the Descendants of Hans Landis and Katharina Schinz(Akron, Pa.: 2005).
*1615 - In February, Margaretha Hochstrasser Landis was imprisoned in Spital prison in Zürich. Sources: (1.) Paul Klaui, "Hans Landis of Zurich (1614)," The Mennonite Quarterly Review 22 (1948), 210. (2.) S. Michael Wilcox, "Landis Families of Canton Zurich, Switzerland," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 18 (January 1995), 13-19, at 14. (3.) Emmert F. Bittinger, "Ancestors and Descendants of 'Hill' John Landis (1779-1858) of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 24 (April 2001), 27-32, at 29.
*Mario von Moos und Matthias Zimmerman, "Ahnenliste Syz-Hegetschweiler: Kommentierte Ahnenliste der Anna Borgarello, geb. Syz (1864-1951), Bürgerin von Knonau, Kanton Zürich, Schweiz, mit Quellenangaben, Kommentaren und Namenindex," Zürich und Wien, 2007-2013.
*Excerpted from the Martyr's Mirror, Thieleman J. Van Braght, 1659. The original researcher, Thieleman, is a descendant of Hans Landis. The project manager [[Landes-150]] is an interested descendant as one of the many 9th great-grandsons of Rudolph Landis, a brother of "Hans the Martyr."
*[http://person.ancestry.com/tree/22789214/person/1301846445/facts Ancestry.com, One World Tree (sm) (Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., n.d.)]
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1544 - 1614 (70 years)
