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Women in Anabaptist Munster: Sadness and Suffering Part 6

© Michelle Powell-Smith

The status of women was first impacted by the directive to leave the convent and marry and bear children, and later by the introduction of polygamy by Jan van Leyden. It is rather easy to realize the negative impact of polygamy on the women of the community. In a polygamous Christian community, women lack control of their own households, and in are often forced into undesirable relationships. Women in Munster were expected to contribute fully to city life, even participating in the defense of the city; however, polygamy denied women the economic and social advantages of traditional, monogamous relationships. Polygamy has existed on occasion in Christian communities throughout time, and the modern Christian polygamist community can serve as an example of life in a polygamous household, and of women's roles in a polygamous household.

Jan van Leyden's justification for polygamy was much the same as that used by modern day Christian polygamists. He saw himself as creating a new patriarchy, like that of David or Solomon. While some modern day Mormon fundamentalist view polygamy as a path to heaven; others see it as simply a viable option. The Biblical justifications used for polygamy, both in Munster and today, include, in particular, the polygamy practiced by the patriarchs of the Old Testament, including Abraham, Jacob and David.

Other justifications used by the Munster polygamists remain current today, including, as suggested by the alchemist Paracelsus, "It so happens that God makes many more women than men. And He makes men die far more readily than women. And He always lets the women survive and not the men." Thus, both the Munster polygamists and modern polygamists justify polygamy as a solution to the problem of unmarried women. Polygamy also ensured that there was no opportunity for sex outside of marriage, thus protecting women from their own lustful impulses. This belief was revealed in Rothmann's sermon on polygamy and is still discussed in a multitude of polygamous texts in the modern world. There was, in fact, an excess of women in Munster, and it has been suggested that polygamy was a practical solution to this problem. Both emphasize the responsibility of every individual to "be fruitful and multiply," and large families are common even among modern polygamists. Polygamy would have, of course, provided the greatest likelihood for extreme population growth, since it insured that all fertile women had the opportunity to reproduce. Polygamy, then as now, also insured that women had a male authority figure, and prevented the possibility of independent thoughts and behaviors among unmarried women or widows.