Jan van Leiden

This is a portrait of Jan van Leiden. He was an Anabaptist leader and was King of Munster after the death of Matthys. According to Zophy, Jan van Leiden ran throughout the streets proclaiming he was the new prophet without any clothes on. This was in a time period when marriage was controversial and Jan van Leiden was married to fifteen women. I'm not really sure if this was normal then, but from what I have read I would think marrying multiple women was not the norm. Eventually, Munster became involved in warfare and was taken over. Many died when Munster fell and Jan van Leiden was captured and executed. He was mutilated with red-hot tongs and then hung to his death. This was to be an example to the public to warn everyone of the dangers of fanaticism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Leiden

Zophy p 209-210