The European World
Beat Kümin 11/15
Luther & Zwingli
Key messages: the Reformation put the Gospels & God’s Grace centre-stage;
its protagonists disagreed not only with Catholics, but also amongst themselves
‘Reformation’ in the Holy Roman Empire: 1517, 1529-21, 1525, 1529, 1540s, 1555
Timeline in the Swiss Confederation:
1518, 1522, 1523, 1529-31, 1531
1. Lives & Contexts
Martin Luther 1483-1546
• Saxony / middling background
• ‘Lightning experience’ 1505
• Monk, academic & pastor
• Mixed intellectual heritage
• Indulgence affair & 95 theses
• sola scriptura / gratia / fide
• Princely support & Wittenberg
civic / university Networks
Huldrych Zwingli 1484-1531
• Toggenburg / middling origin
• ‘International’ Humanist
• Key battlefield experiences
• Pastor / preacher in Glarus,
Einsiedeln and Zurich
• Gospel, Faith & Godliness
• Communal-republican
framework, theocratic drive
2. Ideas and Impact
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‘Other’ worldly
Accepts society / power
Consubstantiation
‘Northern’ & central Empire
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‘This’ worldly
Strives for godly society
Symbolic presence
‘Southern’ / Upper Germany
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Writings, Reformed Church,
nearly splits Confederation
Darker side: Wars, Anabaptists
Bullinger v Catholic Cantons
3. Perceptions & Legacy
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Writings, Lutheran Church,
divides Empire, German language
Darker sides: Jews & peasants
Melanchthon v Cochlaeus
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4. Assessment
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The early Reformation was sparked (but not single-handedly carried out) by
charismatic theologians like Luther & Zwingli
They built on medieval precedents, but devised an ingenious (and extremely
well-communicated) alternative to Catholicism (‘word’ not ‘works’)
Importance of socio-cultural contexts and networks in shaping movements
After much early enthusiasm, the reform movement slowed down, fragmented
and came to depend on the support of the secular authorities (princes, cities)
E. Cameron, The European Reformation (Oxford, 1991)
B. Gordon, The Swiss Reformation (Manchester, 2002)
M. Greengrass, Longman Companion to the European Reformation (1998)
B. J. Kidd ed., Documents Illustrative of the Continental Reformation (1911)
G. R. Potter, Zwingli (1976)
E. Vandiver et al. (eds), Luther's Lives: Two Contemporary Accounts of Martin Luther ( 2002)
Iconoclasm in the Zurich countryside (Swiss Reformation Chronicle, 16thC)