The information in this time line is primarily taken from An Introduction to Mennonite History (3rd Ed.) by Cornelius Dyck. Most links are to relevant articles in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
Oct. 31, 1517: Martin Luther posts ninety-five theses in Wittenberg
January 1, 1519: Huldreich Zwingli begins ministry in Zurich
1524: Hans Hut refuses to have his infant child baptized; this leads to a public debate in his town of Bibra and the subsequent banishment from the region of all who did not support infant baptism
September 5, 1524: Conrad Grebel and friends send a letter to Thomas Muntzer; Anabaptist scholar Walter Klaassen refers to this letter as “the charter of the free church.” (Anabaptism: Neither Catholic nor Protestant. Waterloo, Ontario: Conrad Press, 1973.)
January 21, 1525: First adult baptism in Zurich; Georg Blaurock is first to be baptized
January 21, 1525: Hans Denck banished from Nürnberg for unorthodox beliefs, particularly regarding the Lord’s Supper
February 1525: First imprisonment of Anabaptists in Zurich
Palm Sunday, 1525: Conrad Grebel participated in a mass baptism involving approximately 200 people in St. Gall
May 1525: First Protestant martyr, Hippolytus Eberle, executed in Schwyz
May 1525: Climax of Peasants’ War at Franckenhausen
July 1525: Balthasar Hubmaier publishes a book on baptism in Strasbourg
1526: Anabaptists begin coming to Strausborg because of its relative tolerance and religious freedom
November 1526: Hans Denck arrives in Strasbourg and debates other ministers
1527: “Prot-Anabaptist” Weynken of Monnickendam burned at the stake in Amsterdam for her views on the Lord’s Supper
January 5, 1527: First execution of an Anabaptist by a Protestant government, Felix Manz in Zurich
February 1527: Conference at Schleitheim (on the Swiss-German border); considered by some to be the true beginning of Anabaptism
February 1527: Some Anabaptists in Konigsberg executed, others flee with Hut to Austria and further
May 1527: Nikolsburg Disputation between Hut and Hubmaier; Hut’s group came to be know as “staff-bearers, Hubermaier’s as “sword-bearers”
May 20, 1527: Martyrdom of Michael Sattler; his wife Marguerita was martyred a few days later
May 26, 1527: Hans Denck baptizes Hans Hut
July 27, 1527: City of Strasbourg issues a mandate prohibiting citizens from “sheltering” Anabaptists; full-fledged persecution of Anabaptists, however, never develops in Strasbourg
August 1527: “Martyrs’ Synod” with Denck, Hut, and other leaders to discuss the role of the “end times” in their preaching
August 1527: Hans Hut dies in prison in Augsburg after being tortured
August 20, 1527: Ferdinand I of Austria issues a mandate against heretics, leading to persecution of Anabaptists in that region
November 1527: Denck dies of Plague
January 14, 1528: Leonhard Schiemer is beheaded; he had served as elder of the Reattnberg Anabaptist congregation for one day before his arrest the previous November
January 28, 1528: Pilgrim Marpeck is expelled from his position with the city of Rattenberg
February 4, 1528: Hans Schaffer, an Anabaptist preacher in Rattenberg, is executed
March 10, 1528: Hubmaier burned at the stake
March 13, 1528: Elsbeth Hubmaier executed by drowning
April 1, 1528: Ferdinand I of Austria issues a harsher mandate against Anabaptists
Spring 1528: “Staff-bearers” who had broken fellowship with larger Anabaptist group in Nikolsburg ordered to leave by Leonhard of Liechtenstein; approximately 200 adults pooled their resources and traveled to Austerlitz (this group eventually became the Hutterites)
September 19, 1528: Pilgrim Marpeck becomes a citizen of Strasbourg
1530: Commonly accepted date for beginning of Anabaptism in the Netherlands
1530: Melchior Hoffman brought his apocalyptic message from Strasbourg to Emden
December 9, 1531: Marpeck and Bucer “debate” infant baptism and relation of church to government
December 18, 1531: Marpeck told to leave Strasbourg and never return; leaves the following February
1533: Jacob Hutter comes to group in Austerlitz
Mid-1530’s: Austerlitz group had fully developed idea of community of goods
early 1534: Jan Matthijs moves to Munster
June 24, 1535: City of Munster held by Jan van Leiden
October 10, 1535: Mandate issued against Anabaptists in Belgium; another issued Jan. 24, 1539, and another December 14, 1541; persecution is severe and many flee
1535-36: 25 Dutch Anabaptists brought to trial in England
January 30, 1536: Menno Simons makes public his commitment to Anabaptism and goes into hiding with the help of the peaceful Anabaptists
February 25, 1536: Jacob Hutter is burned at the stake
1542: Marpeck publishes a book on baptism
1544: Marpeck works in the city of Augsburg where he dies in 1556 of natural causes
1544: Menno meets with Reformed leader John a Lasco at Emden to discuss issues of church/state relationships
February 1554: a series of meetings is held between Mennonites and Reformed leaders
1555-1595: Considered to be the “golden period” of the Brethren (Hutterites)
1556: In Northern Germany, Menno Simons and his followers employ strict use of the ban and a group that comes to be known as the Waterlanders splits off in protest
1560: Beginning of the Frisian–Flemish division
1560: Queen Elizabeth I issues an edict against Anabaptists in England; another edict issued in 1568
January 31, 1561: Menno Simons dies in Northern Germany and is buried in his garden
January 17, 1568: Waterlander Mennonites meet at Emden where they agree on twenty-one points on which to base their work together
May 16, 1569: Dirk Willems burned at the stake; he was captured after rescuing one of his pursuers from icy water
1574: Death of last Anabaptist martyr in Belgium; 1,500-2,500 killed from the beginning of the movement until this date
January 26, 1577: Prince Williams orders that Mennonites should not be forced into military service
February 25-May 17, 1578: Reformed representatives and Flemish Mennonites debate 14 points in Emden; the debates last for 124 sessions.
Late 1590’s: Hutterites persecuted by Austrian government
1593-1606: Turkish War
1601: Mennonites legally tolerated in Altona, Germany
1615: Hans de Ries publishes a history of martyrs on which the later Martyrs’ Mirror is based
1622: Hutterites forced to relocate to colonies in Slovakia
1618-1648: Thirty Years’ War
1632: Dordrecht Confession of Faith
1642: King Wladislaw IV of Poland pronounces an edict that favors Mennonites in his lands
1644: Quakers emerge
1644: Earliest records of Anabaptists in the United States (New York)
1651: Gemeinde-Ordnungen, a statement of community regulations, instituted among the Hutterites by Andreas Ehrenpreis; it is still used in the communities today
1660: Martyr’s Mirror by T. J. van Braght is published
1664: Edict of toleration issued in the Palatinate; Anabaptists from several regions pass through here
1671: Swiss persecution of Anabaptists; also 1691 and 1711
October 6, 1683: Mennonites and Quakers from Germany settle in Germantown, PA
1694-1697: Jacob Amman and his followers, mostly from Alsace, split with Mennonites from Switzerland; Amman’s followers come to be known as the Amish
1705-1725: Some Mennonites join the Dunkards (Church of the Brethren)
1712: Amish face expulsion order from French government
1725: Dutch Mennonites establish an organization to facilitate sending relief money and supplies abroad
1735: An Anabaptist seminary is founded in Amsterdam
1776: Hutterite migration to Ukraine
1782-1783: More Hutterites migrate to Ukraine
October 19, 1786: Jacob Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch are sent by Prussian Mennonites to scout out territory in southern Russia that has been opened for settlement by Catherine II
March 3, 1788: Russian Mennonites are granted a special charter of privileges that serves to keep Mennonites separate from the native Russian population; charter is reaffirmed September 8, 1800
July 24, 1788: first group of Mennonites reach Russian encampment at Dubrovna
1789: Choritza Colony of Mennonites in Russia is established
Fall 1803: first group of Molotschna Mennonites reach Choritza, moving on after the winter to establish the Molotschna Colony
1817: Johann Cornies becomes permanent chair of the Agricultural Association which came to be in charge of education for Russian Mennonites
1835: First Mennonite “daughter colony” is established; such colonies are formed in Ukraine, Crimea, Causcasus, south central Asia, and Siberia
1853: Am Trakt Mennonite Colony established in Russia near Volga River
1859: Alexandertal Mennonite Colony established in Russia, also near the Volga River
January 6, 1860: Mennonite Brethren Church is organized
1860: General Conference Mennonite Church is formed
1870’s: Hutterites migrate to Canada and United States
1871: Heinrich Dirks is the first missionary sent by the Amsterdam Mennonite Missionary Society; he goes to Sumatra
1874: Russia passes universal military service law; Mennonites granted an alternative service provision
1873-1884: Wave of Dutch-Prussian–Russian Mennonites settle in Midwestern US
1880: A visionary group led by Claasz Epp, Jr. flees into the wilderness
1890’s: Russian government required that all school instruction be done in the Russian language (with the exception of Bible and German)
1898: Mennonite General Conference is organized; this group was also known as Old Mennonites and later came to be known as the Mennonite Church
1905: The Evangelical Mennonite Church (Allianz Gemeinde) forms, trying to overcome divisions among Mennonite Brethren
1917: Bolshevik Revolution in Russia makes life more difficult for Russian Mennonites
1920: Mennonite Central Committee is organized to respond to requests for aid from famine-ravaged Mennonites in Russia
1920’s: A large group of Russian Mennonites immigrate to Canada
1927: Harold S. Bender publishes first issue of The Mennonite Quarterly Review
October 1, 1928: Soviet’s first five-year plan is initiated and prompts many Mennonites to leave USSR
1939: World War II begins, leading to the complete dissolution of Russian Mennonite colonies
1943: Bender’s speech on “The Anabaptist Vision”
February 1, 2002: the General Assembly of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church officially merged to create Mennonite Church USA; Canadian Mennonites had organized a similar merger a few years earlier
Martin Luther posted his 95 theses ub 1517, not in 1571 as stated in your timeline
Luther posted the 95 Theses in 1517, not 1571. Thanks.
Lois & Seth: Thank you for your posts with the correct date for the Martin Luther 95 Theses line. It has been changed. PMC