Zwingli, Ulrich

tswing'lee, Ulrich (1484-1531), a Swiss reformer. He was the son of a bailiff in the canton of St. Gall. He studied philosophy and theology at Basel, Berne, and Vienna, and in 1506 took up the work of a parish priest at Glarus. A few years later he served as chaplain in the papal army then operating against the French. In 1516 he was made preacher in the convent of Einsiedeln, then the resort of many pilgrims. In this office he began calling on the Bishop of Constance to reform the Church. He set his face against the preaching of indulgences and became shortly the acknowledged leader of the citizens of Zurich in opposition to the Church of Rome. In 1524, following the example of Luther, with whom he was in correspondence and substantial accord, he married. He may be regarded as the leader of Swiss Protestants of German nationality. Calvin was the leader of the French Protestants. In 1531, in a war between Zurich and the Catholic cantons of Lake Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Zug, Zwingli took the field, bearing the consecrated banner of his canton, and was slain in battle. Zwingli's Greek Bible with Hebrew annotations in his own hand is preserved in the town library of Zurich. His sword, battleax, coat of mail, and helmet are kept in the town arsenal.