Prophecy as a religious language in the Radical Reformation. The prophetic role and authorial voice of HN and his Family of Love

Abstract

The close relationship between prophecy and dissent is clear and well-researched. The example of the sixteenth-century charismatic Hendrik Niclaes, who wrote prophetical texts under the cryptonym HN, simply seems to be another case in point. Yet a close analysis of his language reveals a certain ambivalence. While Niclaes used a prophetical voice as seen in several characteristic elements of authorship to establish a dissenting position of authority, he also remained very close to conventional ideas of holiness and biblical wisdom. This ambiguity does not seem to be merely a result of precautionary measures meant to avert persecution. It furthermore appears to be a conscious part of his prophetic voice, which both exalts and minimizes HN as an author. In exploring this, this contribution supplies further evidence in favour of arguments first made by Nigel Smith in 1989: Prophecy was a “religious language” for dissidents, and Niclaes was a virtuoso in this language. Paradoxically, the openness and ambiguity of his cryptonymic texts seem to have furthered their successful dissemination.