Waite's biography of Joris concentrates on his career as a Dutch Anabaptist instead of his later, better-known activity as a Spiritualist in Basel. Waite argues convincingly that, from 1536 to 1539, Joris was the most influential Anabaptist leader in the Netherlands. Adopting a middle path between the revolutionary chiliasm of the M?nster Anabaptist kingdom and the radical separatism of Menno Simons and his flock, Joris sought to unite the splintered Melchiorite movement unde rhis leadership. However, as Waite notes, history has been unkind to Joris.