Keywords

Anabaptist; Swiss Brethren; Switzerland; Netherlands; Committee for Foreign Need; Migration

Abstract

This thesis explores the logistics of travel, connections between women, and the motivations of Swiss Anabaptist women who were part of a forced migration from Bern to Amsterdam in 1711. In the early eighteenth century, Anabaptists, religious dissenters who were persecuted heavily within the canton of Bern, were aided through the intervention of the Dutch Anabaptist Committee for Foreign Need (Committee). The Committee commissioned Johann Ludwig Runckel, to deescalate the situation and organize the migration of Anabaptists the Bernese government expelled. Following negotiations, Anabaptists, (Amish and Reistian) took part, as well as people with loose connections to the faith. The records from this migration provide rare opportunities to study eighteenth-century women migrating without male companions. By analyzing the information in the documents and using thick description to place them in the political context of the time, this thesis demonstrates that Anabaptist women, including women with disabilities, could, and did, travel unaccompanied by men during the 1711 migration, thanks to the aid offered to them by the Committee. Analysis also reveals the strong connections these women built with other women before and during their travels. While the Anabaptists were forced to leave the canton, the women who migrated in 1711 without male family members harbored enough agency to make an array of choices within their limited circumstances. This micro study demonstrates Swiss women with ties to Anabaptism actively explored different options using what was available to them to make decisions. Analysis of the records associated with the 1711 migration of Swiss Anabaptists complicates and expands our understanding of women’s mobility in the eighteenth century.

Thesis Completion Year

2025

Thesis Completion Semester

Summer

Thesis Chair

Rosalind J. Beiler

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History

Thesis Discipline

History

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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Rights Statement

In Copyright