FAMILISTS, a term of English origin (later adopted in other languages) to denote the members of the "Family of Love," founded by Hendrik Niclaes who died probably in 1580. His calling was that of a merchant, in which he and his son Franz prospered, becoming ultimately wealthy. Not till 1540 did he appear in the character of one divinely endowed with "the spirit of the true love of Jesus Christ." For twenty years (1540-1560) Emden was the headquarters at once of his merchandise and of his propaganda ; but he travelled in both interests to various countries, visiting England in 1552 or 1553. Niclaes claimed to hold an impartial attitude towards all existing religious parties, and his mysticism, derived from David Joris, was undogmatic. Yet he admitted his followers by the rite of adult baptism, and set up a hierarchy among them on the Roman model (see his Evangelium Regni, in English A Joyfull Message of the Kingdom, 1574 ? ; reprinted, 1652). His pantheism had an antinomian drift ; for himself and his officials he claimed impeccability ; but what ever truth there may be in the charge that among his followers were those who interpreted "love" as licence, no such charge can be sustained against the morals of Niclaes and the other leaders of the sect. The society spread in the eastern counties, in spite of repressive measures; it revived under the Commonwealth, and lingered into the early years of the 18th century ; the leading idea of its "service of love" was a reliance on sympathy and tenderness for the moral and spiritual edification of its members. Thus, in an age of strife and polemics, it seemed to afford a refuge for quiet, gentle spirits and meditative temperaments.
See W. T. Whitley, article "Enthusiasts, religious" in Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics; F. Loofs, article "Familisten" in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopaedie; F. Nippold, "H. Niclaes and das Haus der Liebe" in Zeitschri f t fur die hist. Theol., 1862.