Labadie, Jean de, or Jean de la Badie [key], 1610–74, French mystic, founder of the Labadists, a quietist sect. He had been a Roman Catholic priest, but c.1650 he embraced Protestantism. He was a minister in Geneva (1659–66), then in Holland (until 1670). There under his leadership his congregation at Middelburg became a religious community dedicated to simple living, holding goods and children in common. The Dutch authorities found him too independent of the ecclesiastical discipline, and the community moved to Westphalia in 1670 and later to Altona. By 1732 the movement had died. Labadists settled in Maryland (1684), but the community failed before 1730.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Protestant Christianity: Biographies
