Michael Sattler

Michael Sattler (1490–1527) was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.



Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany, Sattler became a Benedictine monk in the cloister of St. Peter and most likely became prior by the time he left, believed to be 1525. He then married a former Beguine named Margaretha. That year they traveled to Zurich, which was then embroiled in controversy over infant baptism, and was expelled from the city on the 18th of November. He became associated with the Anabaptists and was probably rebaptised in the summer of 1526. He was involved in missionary activity around Horb and Rottenburg, and eventually traveled to Strasbourg. In February of 1527 he chaired a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Schleitheim, at which time the Schleitheim Confession was adopted.

In May, 1527, Sattler was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities, along with his wife and several other Anabaptists. He was tried and sentenced to be executed as a heretic. As part of his execution, his tongue was cut out, and red hot tongs were used to tear two pieces of flesh from his body. He was then taken outside the city by wagon, and the tongs were used on him five more times. After that, he was burned at the stake. The other men in the group were executed by sword, and the women, including Margaretha, were executed by drowning.