Twenty-eight apostles were selected and sent out, charged to preach the
new gospel to the whole earth and to bring its inhabitants to
acknowledge the divinely-commissioned king. Their success was not
great, however. Wherever they came they were seized and immediately
executed, the earth showing itself very unwilling to accept John of
Leyden as its king.
In August, 1534, an army, led by Francis of Waldeck, the expelled
bishop, who was supported by the landgrave of Hesse and several other
princes, advanced and laid siege to the city, which the Anabaptists
defended with furious zeal. In the first assault, which was made on
August 30, the assailants were repulsed with severe loss. They then
settled down to the slower but safer process of siege, considering it
easier to starve out than to fight out their enthusiastic opponents.
One of the two leaders of the citizens, John Matthiesen, made a sortie
against the troops with only thirty followers, filled with the idea that
he was a second Gideon, and that God would come to his aid to defeat the
oppressors of His chosen people.
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