The Torture and Death of Elizabeth Dirks (1549)

[The following is a paper I wrote for my Reformation and Enlightenment class at Capital University, where I am seeking a minor degree in religion.  My apologies, but I can't find a copy of the original document on the internet.  You'll have to go to your local library to read it.  The document came from a book by Janz called A Reformation Reader.]

Jesse Harmon

RELIG 321

Dr. Schroeder

February 14, 2012

The Torture and Death of Elizabeth Dirks (1549)

            The document called “The Trial and Martyrdom of Elizabeth Dirks” is marred with the screams of someone in pain.  The first half of the pamphlet shows a young woman defending her beliefs to the “Lords.”  The second half, as she is being tortured, she continues to deny confession, claiming that she is only under the rule of the Lord her God, and not under any priest. 

            Here is a little background on Elizabeth Dirks.  She was arrested on January 15^th, 1549.  She is considered to be the first Mennonite deaconess.  She escaped a convent at the age of 12 to become an Anabaptist.  She studied Latin New Testament scriptures.  She was executed in May of that same year, although many accounts claim she was executed in March (Janz 228).

            There are many good points that Elizabeth Dirks makes in this confrontation with the lords.  The lords said, “What persons were present when you were baptized?”  Dirks responded with, “Christ said, ‘Ask them that were present, or who heard it,’” which came from John 18:21.  The lords also asked,  “What then do you hold concerning the house of God?  Do you not regard our church as the house of God?”  Dirks responded, “No, my lords, for it is written: ‘Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them (2 Corinthians 6:16),’” (Janz 229).

The lords ask if children are damned because they were in fact baptized.  She responded saying she should not judge children.  This showed that she had some compassion for those who were not able to determine right from wrong.

I think this story is eerily similar to the Pharisees asking Jesus questions.  Matthew 19:3 says, “Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’”  Jesus responds with, “‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh…” The Pharisees also ask Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  (Mark 2:24).  Jesus responded with, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.”

            Elizabeth Dirks was doing something similar to Jesus.  The lords could be seen as the Pharisees, while Dirks herself could be seen as Christ.  Both were being pressured into answering questions, and both were executed; Christ hung on a cross, while Dirks was drowned in a bag. 

            Dirks was questioned even after having been tortured using thumbscrews and shin screws.  Thumbscrews were a form of punishment or re-education that involved putting both thumbs into a vice-like device and crushing the bones in the thumb.  Sometimes, sharp objects were put on the screws to penetrate the nails and increase pain.  “Shin screws” were then put on her legs.  I can’t seem to find anything about shin screws, but I have found out that medieval torture device include putting a set of boots on the legs, called Spanish boots, and tightening them down until the shins broke (“Medieval Warfare”).  Dirks pleaded not to have this done, as a man has never touched her.  Dirks refused to recant her teachings, and even cried out to God himself to ease her pain, which eventually subsided. 

            How could anyone deal with such suffering?  Christ did it, and Dirks did it.  They both were tortured.  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:10).  Elizabeth Dirks stood up for what she believed in.  She was a very brave woman who knew what she wanted, and was very insistent on what she believed.

Works Cited

Janz, Denis R. A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions. 2. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008. 228-30. Print.

"Medieval Torture." Medieval Warfare. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2012. <http://www.medievalwarfare.info/torture.