Fleeing to America - Persecution - Mennonites

Murder of David van der Leyen and Levina Ghyselins, Ghent, 1554  Engraving by J. Luyken, from T. J. V. Bracht (or Thieleman van Braght), Het Bloedig Tooneel De Martelaers Spiegel ... Amsterdam: J. van der Deyster, et al., 1685.

Execution of Mennonites

The above engraving depicts the execution of David van der Leyen & Levina Ghyselins, described variously as Dutch Anabaptists or Mennonites, by Catholic authorities in Ghent in 1554. Strangled & burned, van der Leyen was finally dispatched with an iron fork. Bracht's Martyr's Mirror is considered by modern Mennonites as second only in importance to the Bible in perpetuating their faith.

Persecution of the Mennonites from John Fox, The Ecclesiastical History containing the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs.