'ZWINGLI, Hutton, one of the most important of the reformers, was b. Jan. 1, 1484, at Wildhaus, in the canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, and was one of eight sons of the amtmann of that place. He studied first at Bern, then at the university of Vienna, where he devoted himself to philosophy; and afterward at Basel, where, under Wytten bach, he directed his attention to theology. He became pastor in 1506 in Glarus. At this time his studies were chiefly directed to the Latin classics and the church fathers; but having begun to learn Greek in 1513, he from that time devoted himself to the New Testament. He wrote out the epistles of Paul in the original language, and learned them by heart, which was of great service to him afterward in his disputatious. In the capacity of army chaplain, he attended the campaigns in Lombardy of the inhabitants of Glarus for the pope against the French, in 1512, 1513, and 1515, for which service he received a pension from the pope till 1517. In 1516 the liberal-minded administra tor, Geroldseck, invited him to be preacher in the convent of Maria-Eiusiedelu, famous for its pilgrimages. Here Zwingli began to preach against many abuses prevailing in the church; he also called on the bishops of Sitten and Constance to bestir themselves for the improvement of the church under the guidance of the Word of God. So little was he then suspected, that the papal legate. Antonio Pulci, conferred on him, in 1518, the diploma of chaplain to the holy see. He was soon afterward called to ZUrich; and he entered on his office as pastor in the great cathedral there, Jan. 1, 1519, with a dis course, in which he declared himself for the ptire gospel unfettered by glosses. In this office, to which was joined in 1521 that of canon in the cathedral, he laid the founda tion of his subsequent work as reformer. The same cause that had stir] ed Luther into activity gave the impulse to Zwingli. In 1518 Bernardin Samson, a Franciscan from Milan, came to Switzerland far the purpose of selling indulgences for the benefit of the papal court. Zwingli, who was still in Einsiedeln on Samson's first appearance, opposed him both there and afterward in Ztirich with the whole force of his pulpit eloquence, and succeeded so well that Samson was not allowed to enter the town of ZUrich. From this time Zwingli, although attacked by the monks and many of his brother canons, advanced with rapid steps in his reforming career; for the magistracy of ZUrich sup ported his measures to such a degree that, as early as 1520, they issued an order through out their jurisdiction that the Word of God should be taught without human additions. In 1522 the reformation was formally established in Zurich. At this time Zwingli wrote his first book against the fasts of the Roman church ; he also began to study the Hebrew language. The offers of high promotion made to him by Adrian VI. could not make him waver. In Jan., 1523, the government of Zurich invited all theologians dis posed to enter the lists with Zwingli to a conference at Zurich, which was attended by 600 clergy and laity. Zwingli had arranged the articles of faith, to the number of 67, which were to be the subject of the conference, and defended them so ably against the attacks of the celebrated Jolt. Faber, afterward bishop of Vienna,
that the council of Zurich declared in favor of Zwingli's doctrines, and upheld him and his assistants in adhering to them. The second disputation, Oct., 1523, at which Zwingli, before more than 900 people, spoke against the worship of images and the mass, was the cause of the removal of all pictures and statues from the churches of the city of Zurich and its jurisdiction; and this was followed in 1524 by the abolition of the mass. In the same year Zwingli entered into the married state with Anna Rhein hard, aged 43, the widow of a nobleman of the name of Meyer von Knonow. Iu the following year he published his creed, Von derTrahren and .Falschen. Religion (Of the True and False Religion.). He had thus, in a few years, placed the work of reformation in his native land on a solid footing. He now pressed zealously forward in the same course; while the magistracy of Zurich, who all along actively supported him, abolished the beg ging friars, brought matters relating to marriage before the secular courts, and insti tuted a better management of church property. On a great many points, Zwingli was at one with Luther and the other German reformers; only, in regard to liturgical mat ters, he carried out his reform more radically according to the little, and rejected the • dogma of the presence of Christ in the Lord's-supper. In order to heal the breach that had, as early as 1524, broken out between the two parties of the new religion on the latter point, a meeting between the Saxon and Swiss reformers was brought about by Philip, landgrave of Hesse, at Marburg in 1529. The conference lasted for three days, but little progress was made toward unity of opinion. See SACRAMENTARIAN. In 1531 open war broke out between Zurich on the one side, and the Catholic cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, and on the other; and Zwingli, by command of the council of Zurich, had to take the field with the banner of the canton, which had always been borne by a priest. On Oct. 11 came the conflict; and as their opponents were more than double in number, and also better led, the Ztirichers were beaten, and Zwingli was .among the fallen. His collected works were published in Zurich in 1545,, in 4 vols. ; a selection, in 2 vols., appeared in 1819-21, edited by Usteri and Vogelin.—See the lives by Rotermund (1818), Hottinger (1820), Christoffel (1857), and Morikofer (1869).
Of all the reformers, there is none more fitted to excite our love and respect than Zwingli. Fearlessly honest in purpose; with a clear head and eye for the truth; less violent, if less eloquent than Luther; more candid and open-minded, if less systematic and penetratino. in spiritual insight than Calvin; he stands before us quite as original, if not as prominent as these reformers. His work was not so great as theirs, his influ ence not so extended; but his character was quite as genuine, and his labor, in some respects, quite as enduring.