New International Dictionary of the Christian Church

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“A man named John Matthys became leader, claiming that he was Enoch who should prepare the way for Christ by establishing the community of goods and doing away with all law codes. Many hundreds in the city were baptized, and ‘the ungodly’ who would not submit to rebaptism had to flee or be slaughtered. Despite a siege and the death of Matthys, the Münsterites held out for more than a year before the defense collapsed; there followed the slaughter and torture of the defenders. This episode discredited the Anabaptist movement, and a wave of persecution swept the Low Countries. Tens of thousands of Dutch Anabaptists died during the sixteenth century, but from this persecution emerged the Mennonites.” (Page 38)