During the Reformation in 16th century Europe, Margaret and Balthasar Beck printed Anabaptist pamphlets and books to help spread the beliefs of a new Christian movement.  They operated a successful printing press in Strasbourg, a German city located along the Rhine River in central Europe.

Margaret's father had been a printer and she inherited the family business.  Soon Balthasar came to town, worked as a printer, learned the business, and eventually got to know Margaret and they got married.  For many years Balthasar and Margaret ran their little print shop in the shadow of the Great Gothic Cathedral in Strasbourg.

Though the Becks printed books, pamphlets, and broadsheets for anyone willing to pay, they helped nurture the emerging Anabaptist movement with their printing press.  There were many causes of the Reformation, but it was Gutenberg's printing press that allowed ideas and beliefs to circulate freely around Europe.
 
The radical beliefs that Margaret and Balthasar believed in included the separation of church and state, baptism of believers instead of infants, and active nonviolence towards their enemies.  About four thousand Anabaptists (those who were rebaptized) gave their lives for such radical beliefs in the 16th century.

Religious groups that descend from the Anabaptist movement include Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, Amish, Hutterites, and many other smaller groups.  Today the number of descendants of the Anabaptists around the world is about 1.4 million in 75 countries.

References