Hans Schlaffer (n.? - † Schwatz, Tyrol, 4 de febrero de 1528)
Priest since 1511 abandoned his functions in 1526, under the influence of Luther. He took refuge in Weinberg (Upper Austria), in the Castle of the Baron of Zelkin, a Protestant nobleman. There he was attracted by the preaching of the Anabaptists of the nearby town of Freistadt, followers of Hans Hut. He traveled in 1527 to Nikolsburg (today Mikulov, Czech Republic), where in the debate between "swordsmen" (Schwertler) and "stall holders" (Stäbler) he stood next to the latter, which meant adopting a position of refusal to use weapons to defend the faith and refusal to join the army, if it were to repel an eventual invasion of the Turks. Schlaffer wrote that access to grace, as the Light of God in the heart of every human being, expressly includes Jews, Turks or Muslims and pagans (Müller, 96). As Freistadt was not a safe place, it marched to Bavaria and in Augsburgo met with Jacob Wideman. In September 1527 he met Hans Denck in Nuremberg. He finally went to Regensburg where he met Oswaldo Glaidt and Wolfgang Brandhube. He was sent to the Tyrol, to the valley of the Eno.
He attended an Anabaptist assembly in the mining town of Schwatz, but on 5 December 1527 he was arrested there, along with Linhard Frick and imprisoned at Frundsberg Castle. There he wrote eight of his nine texts that are still preserved. One of them is an extensive (18 pages) and beautiful prayer, composed the night before its execution, a deep and vivid piece of devotional literature. He also composed two hymns.
On trial, he submitted a letter (Responsibility), which was sent to the provincial government in Innsbruck. He instructed Judge Capeller to lead the case. The statements of the prisoners were sent to the Bavarian authorities, who also wanted to prosecute the two men. The judge had to send a secret report on the attitude of the 12 jurors, as it was suspected that some of them would not approve the death penalty. They were finally sentenced to death and beheaded on February 4, 1528. Schlaffer had written that the Lord's Supper manifests the commitment to be ready to give his body for the brethren, as Christ gave Himself for us ... ready for to shed his blood for Christ and his church, to the point where faith and the proof of love require it. Anyone who gives his body and spills his blood as indicated, does not give his own life or shed his own blood, but the body and blood of Christ, because we are members of his body, indeed ...
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