Swiss Reformation

How did a couple of sausages in 1522 lead to the denominational divide of a country, religious civil wars, and the eventual establishment of the Swiss federal state 300 years later? The Swiss Reformation permanently changed the course of Switzerland's history, introducing the rivalrous Reformed Protestant denomination to the Roman Catholic Church, and leading to the dissolution of Christianity's political power. Let's look at how the Swiss Reformation caused such irrevocable change to Switzerland.

Swiss Protestant Reformation

So when did the Swiss Reformation occur? And how did Switzerland change as a result? Let's dig in!

Swiss Reformation Summary

The Swiss Reformation took the loosely allied Old Swiss Confederacy and created conflicting denominational borders between cantons. After a series of civil wars between Catholics and Reformed Protestants, Switzerland eventually adopted a federal system rather than a union of states in 1848. The secular federal constitution formally separated religion and politics, granting Swiss citizens freedom of religion and conscience.

However, to get to this point, the Swiss Reformation had a long road ahead. It began with Zwingli's support of the Affair of the Sausages in 1522, whereby reformers illegally ate sausages during the Lent fast in protest of Catholic tradition. Afterwards, Zwingli established Reformed Protestantism in Switzerland. As the faith found its feet, Swiss cantons either reformed, kept their Catholic faith, or accepted a coexistence of the two.

Fig. 1 - Erected in 1909, the Reformation Wall in Geneva celebrates the Protestant Reformation with the key figures of (from left to right), William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. Martin Luther and Huldrych's Zwinglinames are engraved on either side of the wall to remember their initial efforts in starting the Reformation

Zwingli began the Reformation wishing to aggressively expand the Reformed faith into all cantons and establish a United Reformed Switzerland. This resulted in The Kappel Wars (1529 and 1531), during which Zwingli died on the battlefield of the Second Kappel War.

When Heinrich Bullinger succeeded Zwingli, the Swiss Reformation took a different turn and introduced the idea of coexistence with Catholics, so long as their faith was recognised and freely preached. Bullinger created the Helvetic Confessions to unite the Reformed Protestant faith across Switzerland. When he allied with John Calvin, the Reformed Church was united by a common Confession of Faith across Europe, but its followers were still persecuted within the Holy Roman Empire.

Fig. 2 - The Peace of Westphalia 1648 recognised the denominational status of the Reformed Protestant faith within the Holy Roman Empire. The combined efforts of Zwingli, Bullinger and Calvin led to this status but did not end religious conflict within the newly independent Switzerland

Following the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Holy Roman Empire officially recognised the Reformed faith, and Switzerland gained its independence as a neutral country. Internally, however, there was still civil conflict between Reformed Protestants and Catholics due to the unification of the religion of the cantons and their political power within the Old Swiss Confederacy.

After several religious civil wars between the 17-19^th centuries, Switzerland eventually became a secular federal state in 1848 which legislated the freedom of religion throughout the country's cantons. This separated religion and politics at a national level, and the new Constitution meant that Catholics and Reformed Protestants could coexist peacefully as neither could fight for political control of the country.

Swiss Reformation Leader

Every Reformation needs a leader, and in Switzerland there were two significant reformers who took the reins of the movement: Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. Each had different ambitions for how Reformed Protestantism should progress, let's take a look at these individuals.

Huldrych Zwingli

So who was Huldrych Zwingli, and how did he start the Swiss Reformation?

Fig. 3 - Huldrych Zwingli is accredited with starting the Reformation movement in Switzerland

• Zwingli began his life in a Catholic family and underwent theological education at the universities of Basel and Vienna.
• He became a chaplain for the Swiss mercenary army in Glarus, and in 1518 was appointed the people's priest of the Grossmünster church in Zürich. It was here that he began to preach his ideas to reform the Catholic Church by consulting Biblical scripture as the highest authority on Christianity rather than the Catholic papacy. He also contested Catholic traditional practices that were not derived directly from the Bible.
• One such tradition was fasting and the prohibition of meat during Lent. Zwingli stated there was no guidance for this in the Bible and thus argued it should not be followed. The Affair of the Sausages in 1522 broke this rule and had Zwingli's support.
• He wrote the 67 Artikels in 1523 for the two Zürich Disputations and persuaded the canton of Zürich to adopt his Reformed ideas, the first Swiss canton to do so.
• Zwingli recognised how religion and politics were intertwined, especially in Switzerland, and wished to unite all the Swiss cantons under the Reformed faith through forceful conversions of Catholics if necessary. Staunchly Catholic cantons naturally resisted the idea of a United Reformed Switzerland, and the Kappel Wars ensued.
• As the Old Swiss Confederacy was the loose alliance of 13 independently governed cantons who were ruled by their sovereign religion, the Confederacy could not operate effectively with the warring denominational split of Reformed Protestants and Catholics. At the Confederacy's meetings, known as the Tagzatsung, the effect of the Reformation across Switzerland often limited its power.

Heinrich Bullinger

After Zwingli's death on the battlefield of the Second War of Kappel, Heinrich Bullinger became the leader of the Swiss Reformation. Let's see how Bullinger continued Zwingli's work!

Fig. 4 - Heinrich Bullinger succeeded Zwingli and steadily developed the Swiss Reformation. His allegiance with John Calvin helped to unite and catapult the Reformed Protestant faith. From this point, Reformed Protestantism had a common confessional doctrine, but the faith still had issues in Switzerland

• Bullinger recognised the infeasibility of Zwingli's United Reformed Switzerland, and took a less aggressive approach to instead unite the Reformed Protestants in the country under a single confession of faith.
• He published the First and Second Helvetic Confessions in 1536 and 1562 respectively.
• Bullinger also wanted to unite the Swiss Reformed faith with the growing Calvinist faith in Geneva, a Swiss allied city at the time. John Calvin published the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536, which helped to spread Calvinism across Europe.
• In 1549, Bullinger managed to reach an agreement with John Calvin to unite Zwinglianism and Calvinism under the single denomination of the Reformed Protestant faith. This took the Swiss Reformation beyond the country's borders and throughout Europe. Calvin became the key leader of the European spread of the Reformed faith, operating out of Geneva.
• Calvin made Geneva a Republic in 1541 under the Reformed faith, but remained an ally to the Old Swiss Confederacy. Geneva became a hub for the Reformation in Europe, being nicknamed the “Protestant Rome”, and Calvin combined the efforts of the Swiss reformers to export the faith globally.

Effects of the Swiss Reformation

After the Reformed Protestant faith was developed through Bullinger's Helvetic Confessions and Calvin's Institutes on the Christian Religion, the denomination developed a strong, united following throughout Europe. In Switzerland following the Second Kappel War in 1531, the Old Swiss Confederacy declared the principle of cuius regio, eius religio which allowed each canton to decide its faith, Catholic or Reformed Protestant.

Although the Swiss Reformed Church was permitted in Switzerland, the Reformation had spread across Europe and the Holy Roman Empire, which did not allow Reformed Protestants, only Catholics and Lutherans. Reformed Protestantism, or Calvinism, was still persecuted throughout the Empire. Let's look at how the Swiss Reformation affected Switzerland.

As the Reformed faith spread throughout Europe, Switzerland was surrounded by warring countries sparked by the prospective Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, who wanted to enforce Catholicism within the Empire.

Switzerland avoided becoming a belligerent country due to its policy of neutrality. After the Swiss defeat at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the peace treaty declared that Switzerland would not engage in warfare with France again. This policy was soon followed for future conflicts and endorsed by the Swiss Reformation as Zwingli was opposed to conflict and the mercenary system.

Thirty Years' War

Switzerland's cantons divided into Protestant and Catholic during the Swiss Reformation. This meant that allying to either side of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) would have pulled the Old Swiss Confederacy apart. Therefore, Switzerland as a country continued its policy of neutrality, but the Swiss mercenary armies still fought in the employment of the belligerent countries based on alliances and shared faith.

Fig. 5 - This map shows the significant conflicts of the Thirty Years' War. Switzerland is shown in the centre between France and Austria. Its outer cantons are shown as Protestant majorities but the country remained neutral during the conflict

Switzerland avoided becoming a belligerent country due to its policy of neutrality. After the Swiss defeat at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the peace treaty declared that Switzerland would not engage in warfare with France again. This policy was soon followed for future conflicts and endorsed by the Swiss Reformation as Zwingli was opposed to conflict and the mercenary system.

Treaty of Westphalia

The Thirty Years' War concluded in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, a series of treaties signed by the belligerent parties to resolve the conflicts.

Fig. 6 - The Treaty of Westphalia established the new international boundaries of Europe and hailed in the new era of nation-states across the continent

The Treaty of Westphalia meant Switzerland gained its international status of neutrality and recognised the Reformed Protestant faith. The power of the Holy Roman Empire over Europe was broken, and the Treaty divided Europe along boundaries that are recognisable today. Switzerland was still nominally under the Holy Roman Empire, but effectively had become exempt from its jurisdiction.