ADRIANISTI. - A little-known Dutch Protestant sect of the 16th century. It took its name from Adriano Hamsted, born at Dordrecht in 1524 and died at Bruges in 1581. During the reign of Elizabeth, he was for some time minister of the Dutch congregation in London, but was excommunicated by the Anglican bishop of London, Edm. Grindal, in 1561, for having denied the miraculous conception of Our Lord. Having returned to Holland, he founded a congregation of Anabaptist tendency and, according to what his adversaries say, his false mysticism and exaggerated asceticism led his followers to excessively lax conduct.
A sect which lasted only a short time, and whose origins, according to Theodoret, go back to Simon Magus, is also known by the same name. Some believe that there was some confusion with the sect of the Menandrianists, MENA, JUAN DE (v.).