Kautz, Jakob (1500-1532?) Jakob Kautz (1500-1532?), for two
years a Lutheran preacher at Worms, Germany, joined the
Anabaptists in 1526. In his later public work he expressed some
ideas similar to Hans Denck's. In the spring of 1527 Denck and
Ludwig Haetzer finished translating the Prophets from Hebrew to
German at Worms, a task which had not yet been done because of
linguistic difficulties. Thus Kautz had a considerable period of
contact with Denck beginning in January 1527. Denck did not
appear in public in Worms, but after his expulsion from
Strasbourg used this retirement to devote himself to his
scholarly work. In the free imperial city a lively religious
movement was in progress, the consequence of the struggles of
the citizenry with the bishop. The courage and eloquence of the
gifted young preacher Kautz had soon won a considerable
following. He urged a spiritual Christian life, and union with
God, placing no value on cult forms. He felt himself akin to
Wolfgang Capito, who also laid the chief stress o