The Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster fell to the forces of the Bishop who proceeded to execute every single Anabaptist within the city. The entire debacle horrified Christendom. All Anabaptists were labeled dangerous subversives. Wherever they went Anabaptists were regarded with suspicion and hatred while being ruthlessly persecuted. 

Many surviving Anabaptists found refuge in The Netherlands. Many of them followed Menno Simons, an Anabaptist who preached and practiced strict pacifism. Simons and his followers carved out small communities for themselves while living peaceably with their Dutch neighbors. Eventually, they were named Mennonites. 

Simons was a Catholic priest who embraced Anabaptism in the aftermath of the debacle in Munster. His pacifist views led him to write a treatise against Jan van Leiden. He was baptized by Obbe Philips and emerged as a strong Anabaptist leader in the following decade. 

Simons emerged as a leader within Anabaptism in the 1540s and by the 1550s his brand of Anabaptism was the most important branch in the Low Countries.