Menno Simons

Menno Simons (born 1496, Witmarsum, Friesland [Netherlands]—died January 31, 1561, near Lübeck, Holstein [Germany]) was a Dutch priest and an early leader of the peaceful wing of Dutch Anabaptism, whose followers formed the Mennonite church. Little is known about Menno’s early life. He was born into a Dutch peasant family, and his father’s name was Simon. At an early age he was enrolled in a monastic school, possibly at the Franciscan monastery in Bolsward, to...