AMYOT 445 ANABAPTISTS Corinth, and in the Middle Ages a Latin see known to the French rulers of Achaia, as Micles, or Nicies, afterwards united with the sees of Veligosti and Ixsondari (Megalopolis). It was one of the most an- cient towns of Cireece, and said to have been the home of Tyndarus antl of Castor and Pollux (Amy- cla;i fratrcs). It is mentioned by Homer (Iliad, II, 584). It was situated quite close to Sparta in a fertile and wooded distnct, not far from the river Eurotas. I.EQriKN. Oriena Chrinlianua (1740), II, 228-229, III, )0.31-;)2; .Smith. Diet, of Greek and Roman Geogr., I, 127-128. Amyot, J.cQUES, Bishop of Auxerre, Grand Almoner of France, and man of letters, b. 30 Octo- ber, 1.513; d. February, 1593. He studied in Paris at the C'oll(>ge de France, where he earned his liing by performing menial .services for his fellow students. Although naturally slow, his uncommon diligence enabled him to a<-cumulate a large stock of classical and general knowlctlge. lie took his degree of Master of .rts at the age of nineteen. A .secretary of State engaged him a.s tutor to his children and recommended him to Marguerite d'Angouleme the only sister of Francis I. He was appointed Pro- fessor of Greek and Latin in the I'niversity of Bourges. During the ten years in which he held this position, he translated into French the Cireek novel "Thea^enes and Chariclea" and several of Plutarch's "Lives". Francis I, to whom these works were dedicated, conferred upon their author the abbey of Hellozano. After the death of Francis I Amyot accompanied the French ambassador to Venice, and later went to Rome. Cardinal de Tournon, whose favour he had won, sent him with a letter from Henry II to the Council of Trent. On his return the king named him tutor to his two younger sons. He now finished the translation of Plutarch's "Lives", and afterwards undertook that of Plutarch's "Morals", which he finished in the reign of Charles IX. The latter made him Bishop of Auxerre, Grand Almoner of France, and Curator of the University of Paris. Notwithstanding his success, Amyot did not neglect his studies; he re- vised all his translations with great care. His trans- lation of Plutarch is the basis of North's English translation, the source of Shakespeare's three Roman plays. During his closing years, France was the prey of civil war. Happening to be at Blois when the Guises were murdered, Amyot was falsely ac- cused of having connived at the assassination. This charge greatly afflicted the aged Bishop It is the general opinion of scholars that, by his translation of Plutarch, Amyot contribvited greatly to the re- finement of the French language, flis style is always simple, charming, picturesque, and pithy. Amyot 's works are: translations of Heliodorus (1547) and of Diodorus Siculus (15.54), "Amours pastorales de Daphnis et Chlo6" (1559), "Vies des hommes illustres do Plutarque" (1565-75), "ffiuvres morales de Plutarque" (1572). C. F. A. DE BL^ONikREA, Essai 8ur Amyot (Paris, 1851); Sainte Beuve, Causeriea du Lundi, IV, Jean Le Bars. Anabaptists (Gr. ivi.. again, and /Sairrifoi, baptize; rebaptizcrs), a violent and extremely radical body of ecclesiastico-civil reformers which first made its ap- pearance in 1521 at Zwickau, in the present kingdom of Saxony, and still exists in milder forms. 1. Name and Dof-rniNAL PiuNrii'LE.s. — The name Anabaptisls, etymologically applicable, and some- times applied to all Christian denominations that practise re-baptism is, in general historical usage, restricted to those who, denying the validity of infant baptism, became prominent during the great reform movement of the sixteenth centurj'. The designa- tion was generally repudiated by those to whom it was applied, as the discussion did not centre around the question whether baptism can be repeated, but around the question whether the first baptism was valid. The distinctive principles upon which Ana- baptists generally agreed were the following: (1) They aimed at restoring what they claimed to have been primitive Christianity. This restoration included the rejection of oaths and capital punishment and the abstention from the exerci.se of magistracy. (2) In a more consistent manner than the majority of Protestant reformers, they maintained the abso- lute supremacy and sole sufficiency of the canonical Scriptures as a norm of faith. However, private in- spiration and religious sentiment played an important role among them. (3) Infant baptism and the Lutheran doctrine of jiLstification by faith alone were rejected a.s without scriptural warrant. (4) The new Kingdom of (!od, which they purposed to found, was to be the reconstruction, on an entirely different basis, of both ecclesiastical and civil society. Com- munism, including for some of them the community of women, was to be the underlying principle of the new state. II. Onir.iN AND HiSTOiiY. — ^The question of the validity of baptism appears in two great phases in ecclesiastical historj-. The first controversy raged at an early date (third and fourth centuries) and re- garded the minister of the sacrament (baptism con- ferred by heretics). It was at a much later date that the second discussion originated, in which the sub- ject of infant baptism was the point controverted. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Petrobrus- ians rejected infant baptism and they and many sub- sequent medieval heretics (Henricians, Waldenses, Albigen.scs, and Bohemian Brethren) held views re- sembling in some respects the tenets of the Ana- baptists. There is, however, little if any historical connection between the Anabaptists and those earlier sects. Luther's principles and ex. mples exer- cised more influence over the new movement. Private interpretation of the Scriptures, however, and inward teaching by the Holy Ghost could be claimed by any individual, and logically led to the extreme Anabaptist views. (a) Anabaplism in Saxon;/ and Thuringia (1521- 25). — Nicholas Storch, a weaver (d. 1525), and Thomas Miinzer, a Lutheran preacher (c. 1490-1525), together with the other self-styled "Prophets of Zwickau" made, at the Reformation, the first attack on infant baptism. The doctrines of the absolute equality of all men and complete community of goods and the resulting disturbances soon brought them into conflict with the civil authorities of Zwickau. Storch, before any repressive measures were taken against him, left with two associates for Wittenberg (1521), where he continued his preach- ing, ftirlstadt was soon gained over to the cause. The combined agitation of Carlstadt and Storch at Wittenberg, and Carlstadt's iconoclastic proceedings forced Luther to leave the Wartburg and appear on the scene. He preached against the new apostles with such vehemence that they had to leave the city. Storch until his death at Munich travelled through Germany, spreading his doctrines, especially in Thuringia (1522-24) where he was one of the princi- pal instigators of the Peasants' War. Munzer re- jected infant baptism in theory, but retained it in practice. He was expelled from Zwickau (1521) and went to Bohemia, where he had but little success as a propagandist. In 1525 he came as preacher to Alsteclt (Electoral Saxony) and married a former mm. He was soon surrounded by a large following, introduced a German religious service and attacked Luther as well as the then existing order of things. His sojourn at MilhlhaiLsen (Thuringia), which w.is interrupted by a journey through the south of (Jermany, was equally successful. Henrj- Pfeifer, an apostato monk, who became his co-labourer at
