Mennonites

Mennonites, members of a sect which arose in Friesland soon after 1500, and was named after Menno Simons (1492-1561), one of the most prominent professors of their tenets. They advocate baptism upon profession of faith, and refuse to take oaths, or to take any part in war. In the 17th century the sect divided, the Lowland Mennonites separating from the Upland Mennonites or Ammanites, who preserved the original vigour of the sect. The sect is found in the Low Countries, Germany, and Russia, and also (in the largest numbers) in the United States, where several divisions are recognised.