Image: The Account of How Two Men of the Augustinian Order Were Martyred in Brussels in Brabant for the Sake of the Gospel (Erfurt, 1523)

Five hundred years ago, on July 1, 1523, two observant Augustinian monks from Antwerp, Hendrik Voes and Jan van den Esschen, were degraded, condemned, and burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in the Grand Plaza of Brussels, today an UNESCO World Heritage Site. These monks were adherents of Luther’s Reformation doctrine, making them the first Lutheran Christian martyrs and, as Martin Luther himself noted, perhaps the first Christian martyrs ever in the Low Countries.

For this episode, we welcome back Pastor Nathaniel Biebert for his mini-series, "Details Less OftenTold," where he examines fascinating hidden details of the Reformation 500 years later.

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• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.