Ulrich Burgy

  Noted events in his life were:

• Bernese Peasant War: Bernese Peasant War, 1653. I was 8 years old when the Bernese Peasant War broke out. The war was caused by widespread resentment between the peasants and the ruling class. The Obrigkeiten in Berne and in Lucerne carried out a devaluation of the currency, which they passed the cost off onto their rural Untertanen. The open revolt erupted in the beginning of February 1653 in Lucerne's Entlebuch. Although the war was short lived, the ruling class was now aware that the peasants wouldn't tolerate their abuses.

• Villmergen War, 24 Jan 1656. I was eleven years old when the Villmergen War occurred. The war was caused by the Catholic Church attempting to exert itself into the lives of the Swiss people. The conflict was between the Calvinists and the Catholic Church. The Calvinists lost this battle and many had to flee the country. However, northern Switzerland remained Protestant and the state church continued to be Swiss Reformed.

• Moved, Abt 1668, Biglen, Bern, Switzerland. We moved to Biglen, Bern shortly after our marriage.

• Persecuted, 1671. The plight of our fellow Mennonites became precarious during the start of 1671. Several members of our church were imprisoned, including children. Hendrick de Backer wrote to our Netherland brethren seeking aid. Hendrick received a letter in reponse from our Netherland brothers and read it to our congregation.

"Hendrick de Backer, most esteemed friend and beloved brother in Christ. I wish you and yours much grace and peace from God our Heavenly Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, as a friendly greeting. Amen.

This is in reply to your request touching the condition of our persecuted Swiss brethren. The fact is that on the 11th, it was resolved in the full council at Berne, to send the male prisoners that are young and strong also upon the galleys, even as they have before this done to six of them; but the old and feeble they would either send elsewhere, or keep them in perpetual confinement. Learning of this resolution, and being moved to compassion, a certain gentleman in Berne went to the magistrates, and requested that they would be pleased to postpone sending away the prisoners until he could go to their fellow believers, residing in Alsace, and see whether they would be responsible for the prisoners, by promising that the latter, after leaving the country, should return no more without consent. This he obtained, and coming into Alsace to our friends, he presented the matter to them, who, as soon as they had heard it, forthwith accepted the conditions, and promised in case the authorities at Berne should be pleased to send the prisoners to them, that they would be responsible for them, and aid them in obtaining other abodes. This friends, as I understand, promised this gentleman (his name was Beatus), not only orally, but also gave it to him in writing. Thereupon he praised them again to do his best with the authorities of Berne, and hoped to obtain so much from them, that they should bring the prisoners as far as Basle, from where the friends might take them away with them. Hence, we long to meet them, daily expecting to hear that they have arrived in Alsace, or that they shall come over here to us. "

The year continued with many searches of our homes and interruptions to our worship services. The searches became such an annoyance that those with barns devised a way of escape should our "barn services" be interrupted. We dug out the soil below our barns and lined the remaining hole with hay. Then, we made a trap door out of the floorboards such that if a person stood at the foot of the boards, the boards would tilt up and the person would slide below into the hidden cavity. We used this method of escape with great success. However, fear spread amongst the Annabaptist such that by the end of 1671 over 700 Mennonites had escaped to the Netherlands.

Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneers by Eshleman, H. Frank pages 1-74, Lancaster, PA, 1917

• Persecuted, 1693. Life for Mennonite families was becoming intolerable. The government in Bern spared no means to root us out. Forty Mennonites were executed in Bern this year. The government also employed severe fines, total confiscation of property, long imprisonments, fearful torture, and banishment from the country. The occasion for these extreme measures was not fear of riot or revolution; it was zeal for the unity of the state church. The Bernese government was determined to maintain control over the religious faith and life of its subjects. They regulated everything so as to affect the unity of the church and the salvation of the masses. This was the basic reason for compulsory infant baptism, for oaths and for the emphasis on the sacredness of the state offices, and finally for the grounds on which they based their persecution of the Mennonites. Hence the reason for the oppressive measures taken against us was religious, not political.

Ulrich married Elsbeth Hasler about 1667.⁶¹⁵ (Elsbeth Hasler was born about 1645 in Langnau Bern, Switzerland and died after 1705.)