About the Book

Winner of the 2026 Dale W. Brown Book Award

This comprehensive, annotated collection of Jakob Hutter’s letters and related documents begins with an extensive biography of Hutter and his wife, Katharina, based on recent archival research. This introduction serves to contextualize the Hutterite movement, a communal and pacifist Anabaptist group that emerged as part of the Radical Reformation in sixteenth-century Tyrol and Moravia.

The main text of the book opens with Hutter’s eight surviving letters, newly translated directly from the seventeenth-century codices where they have been preserved. As the leader of a scattered, persecuted movement, Hutter wrote pastoral letters of encouragement and admonition to various congregations in Tyrol and Moravia. The second chapter consists of material from Hutterite chronicles that describe Hutter’s life and context. Some of these are previously unpublished; in all cases, new translations have been made from the original codices. The third chapter is a collection of reports on government interrogations of Anabaptists who describe Hutter’s missionary activity, typically written by a state official during an interrogation process that often involved torture. Chapter Four is a compilation of writings by fellow Hutterites written during Hutter’s life and in the decade after his death, which show the importance of Hutter’s life and teachings. The fifth chapter includes internal correspondence between government authorities trying to suppress the Anabaptist movement. The accounts offer insight into the government’s perspective on the significance of Hutter and the Anabaptist communities in his spheres of activity. Additional documents relating to Hutter’s death and legacy from both within and outside of the Hutterite tradition are included in a final chapter.

This meticulously researched volume, peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Classics of the Radical Reformation series, is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of a volatile and fruitful chapter of church history.

Watch a video of author Emmy Barth Maendel telling about Jakob Hutter.

Book Trailer

Praise

Hutter’s letters acknowledge anxiety, display grief, summon solidarity, manifest longing, offer encouragement, and express joy. The editors have provided many helpful tools for reading and understanding these letters well, from a detailed biographical introduction to a wealth of other primary sources that illuminate the context for Jakob Hutter’s life and letters.

Gerald J. Mast, Series Editor, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History

This volume is of great significance for the study of early Anabaptism. It is essential reading for all who wish to understand – and be challenged by – what Hutter said and did.

Ian Randall, Cambridge

A testimony to how gripping simple truth can be in the lives of folks suffering under the oppression of political, social, and religious systems. Jakob Hutter was a hatmaker with a message dangerous enough to undo an entire consortium of social reality. His message was direct, unflinching, and practical. His suggested alternative, a community in which all goods would be shared with all, was also simple. It was something simple folks could understand. It made sense. Moreover, this effective alternative also happened to be—according to Hutter—biblically more faithful than the religious rigor undergirding the oppressive systems of the day. For this reason, it was revolutionary and dangerous.

Mennonite Quarterly Review

For the first time, we have access to a remarkable collection of writings by and about the founding leader of the Hutterites: Jakob Hutter. This exhaustively curated source collection gathers into one volume the primary sources relevant to Hutter's literary and historical legacy. I highly recommend this book not only to scholars but to anyone interested in the fascinating and inspiring story of Hutterite beginnings.

John D. Roth, Goshen College

Brilliantly illuminates the unique communitarian faith and early history of one of the three Anabaptist movements that have outlasted the centuries. This is a must-read and a most worthy addition to the Classics of the Radical Reformation series.

Leonard Gross, author, The Golden Years of the Hutterites

This volume provides the best scholarly introduction to the life and pastoral career of Jakob Hutter, the founding father of the Hutterites. This work has greatest emphasis on English translations of the eight preserved letters authored by Hutter, but it places them in the context of chronicle sources as well as published official records. It helps us to understand how and why the continuing religious communitarian movement has retained the name of Jakob Hutter.

James M. Stayer, professor emeritus, Queen’s University

Like so many of the early Anabaptist leaders, Hutter’s ministry lasted less than a decade before he was martyred. His leadership of the community that still bears his name nearly five centuries later lasted only two years. The letters included in this comprehensive collection of writings by and about him reveal a pastor who was deeply concerned for the flourishing of those he served. This is a welcome addition to the Classics of the Radical Reformation series.

Stuart Murray Williams, director, Centre for Anabaptist Studies, Bristol Baptist College

Tablet of Contents

Introduction

  1. Jakob Hutter’s Letters
  2. Chronicle Sources
  3. Witnesses
  4. Hutterian Epistles
  5. Governmental Correspondence
  6. Additional Documents

Appendix 1: Timeline for Jakob and Katharina Hutter

Appendix 2: List of Codices

Maps

Notes

Archives Consulted

Bibliography

Index of Names and Places

Scripture Index

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Anabaptists