Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system.
104 Facts About Huldrych Zwingli
2.
Huldrych Zwingli attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism.
3.
Huldrych Zwingli continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
4.
In 1519, Zwingli became the Leutpriester of the Grossmunster in Zurich where he began to preach ideas on reform of the Catholic Church.
5.
Huldrych Zwingli clashed with the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution.
6.
Huldrych Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines.
7.
Meanwhile, Huldrych Zwingli's ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers.
8.
In 1531, Huldrych Zwingli's alliance applied an unsuccessful food blockade on the Catholic cantons.
9.
The cantons responded with an attack at a moment when Zurich was ill-prepared, and Huldrych Zwingli died on the battlefield.
10.
The Swiss Confederation in Huldrych Zwingli's time consisted of thirteen states as well as affiliated areas and common lordships.
11.
The religious factions of Huldrych Zwingli's time debated vociferously the merits of sending young Swiss men to fight in foreign wars mainly for the enrichment of the cantonal authorities.
12.
At ten years old, Huldrych Zwingli was sent to Basel to obtain his secondary education where he learned Latin under Magistrate Gregory Bunzli.
13.
The Dominicans in Bern tried to persuade Huldrych Zwingli to join their order and it is possible that he was received as a novice.
14.
Huldrych Zwingli enrolled in the University of Vienna in the winter semester of 1498 but was expelled, according to the university's records.
15.
However, it is not certain that Huldrych Zwingli was indeed expelled, and he re-enrolled in the summer semester of 1500; his activities in 1499 are unknown.
16.
Huldrych Zwingli continued his studies in Vienna until 1502, after which he transferred to the University of Basel where he received the Master of Arts degree in 1506.
17.
Huldrych Zwingli placed himself solidly on the side of the Roman See.
18.
In return, Pope Julius II honoured Huldrych Zwingli by providing him with an annual pension.
19.
Huldrych Zwingli took the role of chaplain in several campaigns in Italy, including the Battle of Novara in 1513.
20.
Huldrych Zwingli's countrymen were presented as virtuous people within a French, imperial, and papal triangle.
21.
Huldrych Zwingli stayed in Einsiedeln for two years during which he withdrew completely from politics in favour of ecclesiastical activities and personal studies.
22.
Huldrych Zwingli perfected his Greek and he took up the study of Hebrew.
23.
Huldrych Zwingli's library contained over three hundred volumes from which he was able to draw upon classical, patristic, and scholastic works.
24.
Huldrych Zwingli exchanged scholarly letters with a circle of Swiss humanists and began to study the writings of Erasmus.
25.
Huldrych Zwingli's turn to relative pacifism and his focus on preaching can be traced to the influence of Erasmus.
26.
Huldrych Zwingli's connection with humanists was a decisive factor as several canons were sympathetic to Erasmian reform.
27.
Huldrych Zwingli continued to read and interpret the book on subsequent Sundays until he reached the end and then proceeded in the same manner with the Acts of the Apostles, the New Testament epistles, and finally the Old Testament.
28.
One view is that Huldrych Zwingli was trained as an Erasmian humanist and Luther played a decisive role in changing his theology.
29.
Huldrych Zwingli attacked moral corruption and in the process he named individuals who were the targets of his denunciations.
30.
In 1519, Huldrych Zwingli specifically rejected the veneration of saints and called for the need to distinguish between their true and fictional accounts.
31.
Huldrych Zwingli cast doubts on hellfire, asserted that unbaptised children were not damned, and questioned the power of excommunication.
32.
Huldrych Zwingli's attack on the claim that tithing was a divine institution had the greatest theological and social impact.
33.
Huldrych Zwingli insisted that he was not an innovator and that the sole basis of his teachings was Scripture.
34.
Huldrych Zwingli responded with displeasure that the people were not being properly informed about the conditions of the indulgence and were being induced to part with their money on false pretences.
35.
All of those who could afford it left the city, but Huldrych Zwingli remained and continued his pastoral duties.
36.
Huldrych Zwingli described his preparation for death in a poem, Zwingli's Pestlied, consisting of three parts: the onset of the illness, the closeness to death, and the joy of recovery.
37.
Huldrych Zwingli retained his post as the people's priest of the Grossmunster.
38.
The first public controversy regarding Huldrych Zwingli's preaching broke out during the season of Lent in 1522.
39.
Huldrych Zwingli noted that no general valid rule on food can be derived from the Bible and that to transgress such a rule is not a sin.
40.
Huldrych Zwingli defended himself against charges of inciting unrest and heresy.
41.
Huldrych Zwingli denied the ecclesiastical hierarchy any right to judge on matters of church order because of its corrupted state.
42.
Huldrych Zwingli summarised his position in the Schlussreden.
43.
Fabri, who had not envisaged an academic disputation in the manner Huldrych Zwingli had prepared for, was forbidden to discuss high theology before laymen, and simply insisted on the necessity of the ecclesiastical authority.
44.
The decision of the council was that Huldrych Zwingli would be allowed to continue his preaching and that all other preachers should teach only in accordance with Scripture.
45.
Supporters of the mass claimed that the eucharist was a true sacrifice, while Huldrych Zwingli claimed that it was a commemorative meal.
46.
Huldrych Zwingli's opponent was the aforementioned canon, Konrad Hofmann, who initially supported Zwingli's election.
47.
At this point, Konrad Schmid, a priest from Aargau and follower of Huldrych Zwingli, made a pragmatic suggestion.
48.
Huldrych Zwingli believed the opinions of the people would gradually change and the voluntary removal of images would follow.
49.
Huldrych Zwingli wrote a booklet on the evangelical duties of a minister, Kurze, christliche Einleitung, and the council sent it out to the clergy and the members of the Confederation.
50.
Huldrych Zwingli was a major figure in the Swiss Reformation, advocating for the authority of scripture and the rejection of religious practices not supported by the Bible.
51.
Huldrych Zwingli's preaching and teachings helped spread Reformation ideas beyond Switzerland and influenced the development of Protestantism throughout Europe.
52.
Huldrych Zwingli gave a formal opinion in Vorschlag wegen der Bilder und der Messe.
53.
Huldrych Zwingli wrote an official response for the council and the result was the severance of all ties between the city and the diocese.
54.
For some time Huldrych Zwingli had accused mendicant orders of hypocrisy and demanded their abolition in order to support the truly poor.
55.
Huldrych Zwingli suggested the monasteries be changed into hospitals and welfare institutions and incorporate their wealth into a welfare fund.
56.
Huldrych Zwingli requested permission to establish a Latin school, the Prophezei or Carolinum, at the Grossmunster.
57.
The Zurich Bible translation, traditionally attributed to Huldrych Zwingli and printed by Christoph Froschauer, bears the mark of teamwork from the Prophecy school.
58.
Shortly after the second Zurich disputation, many in the radical wing of the Reformation became convinced that Huldrych Zwingli was making too many concessions to the Zurich council.
59.
Huldrych Zwingli secretly conferred with Grebel's group and late in 1524, the council called for official discussions.
60.
When talks were broken off, Huldrych Zwingli published Wer Ursache gebe zu Aufruhr clarifying the opposing points-of-view.
61.
Huldrych Zwingli was the first Anabaptist martyr; three more were to follow, after which all others either fled or were expelled from Zurich.
62.
Huldrych Zwingli was to be banned and his writings were no longer to be distributed.
63.
Huldrych Zwingli assumed the main burden of defending the Reformation and he preached twice in the Munster.
64.
Huldrych Zwingli outlined justifications for an attack on the Catholic states and other measures to be taken.
65.
Huldrych Zwingli was obliged to state the terms of the armistice.
66.
Huldrych Zwingli demanded the dissolution of the Christian Alliance; unhindered preaching by reformers in the Catholic states; prohibition of the pension system; payment of war reparations; and compensation to the children of Jacob Kaiser.
67.
Huldrych Zwingli began to express his thoughts on the eucharist in several publications including de Eucharistia.
68.
Understanding that Christ had ascended to heaven and was sitting at the Father's right hand, Huldrych Zwingli criticized the idea that Christ's humanity could be in two places at once.
69.
Huldrych Zwingli accepted Philip's invitation fully believing that he would be able to convince Luther.
70.
Yet, Huldrych Zwingli replied, if the words were taken in their literal sense, the body had to be eaten in the most grossly material way.
71.
The main issue for Huldrych Zwingli was not the irrationality or exegetical fallacy of Luther's views.
72.
Huldrych Zwingli personally negotiated with France's diplomatic representative, but the two sides were too far apart.
73.
Huldrych Zwingli then produced his own private confession, Fidei ratio in which he explained his faith in twelve articles conforming to the articles of the Apostles' Creed.
74.
Huldrych Zwingli interpreted this to mean that preaching should be permitted, but the Five States suppressed any attempts to reform.
75.
The battle lasted less than one hour and Huldrych Zwingli was among the 500 casualties in the Zurich army.
76.
Huldrych Zwingli had considered himself first and foremost a soldier of Christ; second a defender of his country, the Confederation; and third a leader of his city, Zurich, where he had lived for the previous twelve years.
77.
Huldrych Zwingli placed its authority above other sources such as the ecumenical councils or the Church Fathers, although he did not hesitate to use other sources to support his arguments.
78.
The principles that guide Huldrych Zwingli's interpretations are derived from his rationalist humanist education and his Reformed understanding of the Bible.
79.
Huldrych Zwingli rejected literalist interpretations of a passage, such as those of the Anabaptists, and used synecdoche and analogies, methods he describes in A Friendly Exegesis.
80.
Huldrych Zwingli paid attention to the immediate context and attempted to understand the purpose behind it, comparing passages of scripture with each other.
81.
Huldrych Zwingli rejected the word sacrament in the popular usage of his time.
82.
For Huldrych Zwingli, a sacrament was an initiatory ceremony or a pledge, pointing out that the word was derived from sacramentum meaning an oath.
83.
Huldrych Zwingli challenged Catholics by accusing them of superstition when they ascribed the water of baptism a certain power to wash away sin.
84.
Huldrych Zwingli argued that baptism was a sign of a covenant with God, thereby replacing circumcision in the Old Testament.
85.
Huldrych Zwingli approached the eucharist in a similar manner to baptism.
86.
Huldrych Zwingli used various passages of scripture to argue against transubstantiation as well as Luther's views, the key text being John 6:63, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is of no avail".
87.
Huldrych Zwingli himself asserted vigorously his independence of Luther and the most recent studies have lent credibility to this claim.
88.
Huldrych Zwingli appears to have read Luther's books in search of confirmation from Luther for his own views.
89.
Huldrych Zwingli agreed with the stand Luther took against the pope.
90.
In contrast to Luther, Huldrych Zwingli adhered to official church theology on Judaism.
91.
In contrast, Huldrych Zwingli's creed was convinced that the papacy and its military power derived from Jewish influences.
92.
Huldrych Zwingli thereby opposed the anti-Semitic tendencies of Luther, and placed himself closer to Catholicism during the Reformation.
93.
Huldrych Zwingli enjoyed music and could play several instruments, including the violin, harp, flute, dulcimer and hunting horn.
94.
Huldrych Zwingli criticized the practice of priestly chanting and monastic choirs.
95.
Huldrych Zwingli's arguments are detailed in the Conclusions of 1525, in which, Conclusions 44,45 and 46 are concerned with musical practices under the rubric of "prayer".
96.
Huldrych Zwingli associated music with images and vestments, all of which he felt diverted people's attention from true spiritual worship.
97.
Huldrych Zwingli eliminated instrumental music from worship in the church, stating that God had not commanded it in worship.
98.
Nevertheless, scholars have found that Huldrych Zwingli was supportive of a role for music in the church.
99.
Huldrych Zwingli was a humanist and a scholar with many devoted friends and disciples.
100.
Huldrych Zwingli communicated as easily with the ordinary people of his congregation as with rulers such as Philip of Hesse.
101.
Huldrych Zwingli was more conscious of social obligations than was Luther, and he genuinely believed that the masses would accept a government guided by God's word.
102.
Huldrych Zwingli tirelessly promoted assistance to the poor, who he believed should be cared for by a truly Christian community.
103.
Huldrych Zwingli had instituted fundamental reforms; Bullinger consolidated and refined them.
104.
Huldrych Zwingli is often called, after Martin Luther and John Calvin, the "Third Man of the Reformation".