Reformation in Switzerland - Definition

Huldrych Zwingli was elected priest of the Great Minster church in Zürich in 1518. Zwingli's Reformation of 1523 was supported by the magistrate and population of Zürich and led to significant changes in civil life and state matters in Zürich. The Reformation spread from Zürich to five other cantons of Switzerland, while the remaining five sternly held onto the Roman Catholic faith, leading to inter-cantonal wars (Kappeler Kriege) in 1529 and 1531, where Zwingli died on the battlefield.

In the "Golden League" (Goldener Bund, named after the golden initials on the document) of October 5 1586, the seven Romanist Catholic cantons (Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Fribourg and Solothurn) conspired for the preservaton of the Roman Catholic faith on their territories. The treaty admits the right of mutual military intervention should the Roman Catholic faith appear endangered in one of the subscribing cantons.

During the Thirty Years' War, Switzerland was a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe, mostly because all major powers in Europe were depending on Swiss mercenaries, and would not let Switzerland fall in the hands of one of their rivals. Politically, they all tried to take influence, by way of mercenary commanders such as Jörg Jenatsch or Johann Rudolf Wettstein. The Drei Bünde of Grisons, at that point not yet a member of the Confederacy, were involved in the war from 1620, which led to their loss of the Valtellina in 1623.

External links

• Institute of Swiss Reformation History (http://www.unizh.ch/irg/index.html) (University of Zurich)

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