Marcantonio Varotta (d. 1568), a Venetian weaver and painter who travelled extensively across Protestant Europe and converted to Anabaptism, visited Moravia, a land propagated as a safe haven for all sectarians. The warm reception of fellow Italians, however, could not mask the harsh rivalry between the various Anabaptist sects, which disagreed on many points since each group had its own specific articles of faith. Once back in Italy, Varotta told the Inquisition in 1567 that he left Moravia troubled by much of what he saw there:

Although all Reformation-era parties and sects that disapproved of the practice of infant baptism were called Anabaptists, and were considered as being of one party by hostile governments and leading theologians, the ‘Anabaptist’ movement in the sixteenth century never overcame its bitter divisions. Similarly, mutual hostility characterized the relationships between the various religious groups in Moravia.