A history of the Anabaptists in Switzerland

Front matter

I

I u j2 sst

Z<

Chapter I. Switzerland In The Sixteenth Century

AT the Opening of the sixteenth century the Swiss Confederation comprised thirteen cantons. Of these, Schwytz, Uri, and Unterwalden formed a league as early as 1291. This league was renewed in 1305, the time to which the Tell-legend is assigned, and was confirmed as a perpetual Confederation in 1318, after the decisive battle of Morgarten, the Thermopylae of Switzerland, in which the Austrians, under Duke Leopold, were signally defeated, and the Duke narrowly escaped the vengeance of the hardy mountaineers whom he had contemptuously assailed in their rocky fastnesses. In 1332, Lucerne joined the Confederation, which was now known as the Four Forest Cantons ( Vierwaldstdtte), a name which is still preserved in that of the beautiful lake whicli is bounded by them, and is known as the Lake of the Four Forest Cantons ( Vierwaldstdtter-See.)

Zurich was added to the Confederation in 1351, Glarus and Zug in 1352, and Berne in 1353. For more than one hundred years after the admission of Berne no other cantons were received into the Confederation ; and until the close of the last century these original eight cantons enjoyed many privileges not shared by the later members of the Confederation.

In 1481, Freiburg and Soleure were added. In 1498, the Emperor Maximilian endeavored to bring the Confederation under the power of the Empire for the purpose of securing the aid of the Swiss in his projected advance into Italy. But the Swiss did not favor his design, and in the war that followed, in which the Tyrolese subjects of Maximilian and the Swabian League bore the brunt, the Swiss were victorious ; and in the following year, for faithful service during the war, Basel and Schaffhausen were added to the Confederation. They were followed by Appenzell in 1513. Thus at the opening of the sixteenth century Switzerland was a free country, a Confederation of thirteen Cantons owing allegiance

^ The number was not increased until 1798. The whole number of Cantons at the present time is twenty-two, as follows, neither to the German Empire nor to individual lords. Upon the banner which the Confederates bore was inscribed the motto : " Each for all, and all for each."

But in their religious affairs the free spirit of the people had not been so strikingly illustrated. It was in the early part of the seventh century that the first efforts were made to convert to Christianity the pagan inhabitants of these mountainous wilds. Columban, an Irish monk from the monastery of Bangor, after a score of years of Christian labor in the Frankish Empire, established himself in 610 in the present territory of Zurich, near Tuggen, on the Limmat, in the hope of bringing the Allemani or Suevi of that region under the power of the gospel of Christ. But his efforts were in vain. The people compelled Columban to withdraw, and with his companions he took refuge in a castle named Arbon, on the southern shore of Lake Constance. A second attempt was made near the ruins of an ancient castle, known as Pregentia (Bregenz), at the eastern end of the lake. Here a church was erected and missionary labor was com-

Zarich, Berne, Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Glarus, Zug, Freiburg, Soleure, Basel, Schaffhausen, Appenzell, St. Gall, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Tessin, Vaud, Valais, Neuchatel, Geneva.

menced. But the hostile pagans at length drove Columban from this place also ; and in 613 he made his way into Italy, where he founded the monastery of Bobbio, near Pavia.

One of his disciples, however, an Irish monk by the name of Gallus, was left behind on account of sickness. After his recovery, instead of following Columban into Italy, he resolved to make an added effort for the conversion of the Pagans, whose condition had so deeply stirred his heart. Leaving the castle at Arbon he advanced a day's journey into the wilderness, and came to a spot where he said, "Here will I abide." Upon that spot he erected a monastery, which subsequently received his name, and from which went forth the missionaries who led the ignorant people to renounce their idol worship, and accept the Christian faith. Gallus closed his long and useful life in 640, but the work which he had commenced was carried forward by his disciples, who, inspired by his example, established other centres of religious influence, until at length the whole country was brought under the dominion of the Roman Church.-^

This hold upon these hardy mountaineers the Roman Church retained at the opening of the sixteenth century. At that time, however, there

^ Neander's Hist Chrn. Religion and Church, vol. iii. pp. 29-37.

were influences in operation that soon loosened that hold in some of the Cantons of Switzerland, and prepared the way for the Protestant Keformation.

Among these, first of all, was the revival of classical learning. Everywhere the students in the universities caught the spirit of the new era, and so intense was the interest manifested in the study of the humanities, that the scholastic philosophy and theology were more and more neglected. The University at Basel, which was founded by Pius IL in 1459, was at first strongly under the influence of the hierarchical spirit; but in this revival of classical learning the authorities of the University found it impossible to continue strictly in the old paths. Instruction in the Greek language and literature was given by Andronicus Contoblikas, a learned Greek, possibly one of the many Greek scholars who, in 1453, when Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, were obliged to make their way to other lands. In 1474, Peuchlin, afterwards the instructor of Melanchthon, came to Basel. He was then twenty years of age, and with enthusiasm, under the guidance of Contoblikas, he entered upon the study of the Greek and Latin classics. Two years later, at the suggestion of Contoblikas, Reuchlin began to give instruction in Greek and Latin Grammar, and also to expound some of the

Grreek and Latin authors. Crowds of students gathered around him, and the interest in classical studies was greatly increased. It was not long before the representatives of scholasticism in the University assailed EeuchliU; charging him, in giving instruction in the classical languages and literature, with undermining Christianity. Indeed, so strong was the hostility which was manifested toward Eeuchlin, that he was compelled to leave Basel in 1479, and for awhile the spirit of the new era was excluded from the University.

In 1502, however, Thomas Wittenbach was added to the faculty of the University as professor of theology. He had studied at Tubingen, and understood the value of the revival of classical learning in connection with his department. He was accustomed to say to his students that the time was not far distant when the scholastic theology would be set aside, and the old teachings of the church, as laid down in the writings of the church Fathers and in the Scriptures, would reappear. In his teaching he boldly assailed many abuses in the administration of the sacraments, and attacked indulgences. Indeed, on one occasion in a public discussion, he defended the proposition that papal indulgences have no value, and that the death of Christ is the only adequate ransom for the sins of

SWITZERLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTUEY. 23

men. Zwingli, who in 1502 came to Basel as a teacher of the classics in St. Thomas parish school, became interested in the new professor, and learned from him lessons which, at a later period, bore such abundant fruit in his reformatory work.

But of unspeakable importance to the new movement in Switzerland was the presence at Basel of Erasmus, who came thither in 1514, at the height of his splendid fame, in order to carry through the press the first edition of the Greek ISTew Testament. The friends of classical learning at once gathered around him. His frequent references to the Scriptures, as the foundation to which theology must return, attracted to him the most distinguished of the theologians in Basel, among them Dr. Ludwig Ber, who confessed with sorrow that he had wasted so much of his strength in scholastic instead of biblical studies, and commenced at once to make himself familiar with the Hebrew and Greek languages. Capito, who in 1515 was appointed professor of theology in the University, and soon after was made rector, also came under the influence of Erasmus, and in his exegetical lectures directed his students to the Scriptures as the source of divine knowledge.^

The press greatly aided in the new movement.

^ Herzog, Bas Leben Johannes Oekolampads, Bd. i. 80.

Among the first books published in Basel were the Latin Vulgate, and the writings of the scholastic theologians, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and others. The philosophical works of Aristotle, Petrarch, and Reuchlin followed. A Hebrew grammar, by Pellican, was printed in 1503. Later, in 1516, from the press of the celebrated publisher Froben, appeared the edition of the Greek Testament which Erasmus had prepared, and which could not fail among the learned to direct the minds of those who were in search of the truth to the inspired word of God.

But while these influences were such as to loosen the hold which the Papal Church had upon a people over which it had long exercised an almost imperial sway, other influences were even more potent in effecting this result. In the fifteenth century Swiss soldiers, who had learned the arts of war and proved their valor in the long struggle for independence in which they had been engaged, were hired to fight the battles of the Pope upon the plains of Italy. In these campaigns they were brought face to face with the corruptions which at that time characterized the Papacy, alike in head and members ; and on their return to their native mountain valleys, they brought with them, not only such proverbs as, '' The nearer Kome, the worse the

Christian," and " He who goes to Rome should leave his religion behind him," but also such reports of the notorious profligacy of those who occupied the highest positions in the Roman See as could not but lessen the reverence of the people for those whose spiritual rule they had so long acknowledged.^

Nor was the character of the Swiss clergy such as to make these reports in any way seem improbable. Some of the parish priests were Italians,

^ Hottinger, Oeschichte der Eidgenossen, Iste Abth. s. 240. In a note addressed to his Nuncio at the Diet of Nuremberg in 1522, Pope Adrian VI. said : " We know that in this holy See much corruption has continued to abound during many years, great abuse in all ecclesiastical affairs, as likewise in all that has emanated from our chair, and, in one word, a defamation in everything. Hence it is no wonder if the disease has transferred itself from the head to the other members — from the Pope to the priests ; therefore we promise, as far as in us lies, to devote all our attention and care towards reforming, first of all our chair, whence perhaps all this evil has originated, in order that as the destruction has issued thence to descend to the inferior grades, the care and renewed enjoyment of health may likewise find their source there.''

26 THE ANABAPTISTS IN SWITZEKLAND.

favorites of Eoman ecclesiastics, soldiers of the Papal guard even, who had been assigned to positions in the churches of Switzerland for the sake of the revenue which these positions afforded. The immorality of these foreigners was as conspicuous as their cupidity. Among the native parish priests, also, a low state of morals seems to have been the rule. Zwingli, in 1522, with some of his friends, addressed a letter to the Bishop of Constance, and another to the chief officials in the Confederation, asking permission for priests to marry. In the latter he said : ^' Your lordships have seen already how shameful have been our relations with women — for we will speak only of ourselves — how these have been the scandal and disgrace of many."^ Of the

^ Alzog, Universal Church History, vol. iii. p. 93, says of Zwingli : " In 1522, he demanded from Hugo Landenberg, Bishop of Constance, in his own name a general permission for priests to take wives : ' Your lordship,' he candidly said, ' very well knows how disgraceful have been my relations heretofore with females (for I would speak only of myself), how these have been the scandal and ruin of many.' " But Zwingli did not write in his own name merely (see Werke, Schuler u. Schulthess, i. 30). I have not seen a copy of this letter to the Bishop of Constance, and do not know that it has been preserved, but the letter being a joint letter he must have used the first person plural, as in the letter to the prominent ofl&cials of the Confederation, from which I have quoted above. It is but just, however, to add, that the statement would have been true if Zwingli had written the ten ^ who joined Zwingli in this appeal three had already been married without the sanction of the church, and were living, as was the case with manyother parish priests, with their wives in open violation of the rule of the Eoman Church. It was the custom of the Bishop of Constance to absolve these priests on the payment of a fine of four guldens for every child born to them. In 1522, he increased this fine from four to five guldens, and his revenue from this source alone is said to have been 7,500 guldens.""*

Indeed, the bishops, for the most part, were more intent on securing the perishable possessions of earth than the everlasting treasures of heaven. They mingled in political afikirs, and the duties which they owed to foreign princes and to the Confederation not unfrequently clashed. Indeed, so

letter in his own name. Indeed, from Zwingli's earlier history (see Opera, vii. 54 sq. and Morikofer, Ulrich Zwingli i. 50-52) we have an illustration of the low state of morals among the Swiss clergy.

1 These were Balthasar Trachsel, pastor at Art ; George Stiihelin, pastor at Meiningen, hitherto Zwingli's assistant ; Werner Steiner, of Zug ; Leo Jud, pastor at Einsiedeln ; Erasmus Schmid, canon at Zurich ; Simon Stumpf, pastor at Hongg ; Jost Kilchmeyer, canon at Lucerne ; Ulrich Pfister, pastor at Uster ; Caspar Grossman, hospital preacher at Zurich ; John Schmid, chaplain at Zurich.

' Hottinger, Geschichte der Eidgenossen Iste Abth. s. 248,

28 THE ANABAPTISTS IN SWITZEKLAND.

accustomed were the people to see these dignitaries of the church censured at the Diet, slain in the field, and banished from the land as disturbers of the peace, that public opinion in reference to the sanctity and inviolability of their office was greatly diminished.^

For letters they cared but little, and this indifference was even greater on the part of the lower clergy. The canons of the collegiate church at Zurich, in forwarding a report to the Bishop of Constance, said, as a reason why they themselves did not prepare the document, that some of them were unable to write.^ Ballinger says that at a meeting of all the deans in Switzerland it was ascertained that not more than three could be found, who were familiar with the Bible. The others freely confessed that they had read only the New Testament :^ with the rest of the clergy the case was still worse. The ignorance of many of the parish priests extended to the most elementary branches of education. They gave little attention to study, but devoted themselves chiefly to social pleasures. Of the clergy in the Valais, only one was found who had heard of the Bible.

A yet darker picture is presented when we turn to

1 Hottinger, GescMchte der Mdgenossen, Iste Abth. s. 244-246.

Planta, History of the Helvetic Confederacy, vol. ii. p. 122. 3 BuUinger, lieformationsgeschichte, Bd. i. s. 3.

the numerous religious houses which in the preceding centuries had been established here and there within the limits of the Confederation. Not one of these preserved its ancient reputation for good morals and sound learning. In all of them there was not a man to be found who, in the impending conflict between the Papacy and the Eeform party, could exert any influence whatever. Zurich, early in the eighteenth century, passed an order rebuking the immoralities of the monks, and forbidding their idling about the city, and especially in the nunneries. In Basel the Augustinians were in bad repute, while at Interlaken, at the close of the fifteenth century, it was found necessary to introduce monks from abroad, in order to improve the reputation of the brotherhood, while the nunnery was closed as if beyond improvement.^ The abbot Twinkler, of Cappel, expended vast sums of money for the maintenance of his love of display, and the concealment of his impure life : and he was at length deprived of his office as a wretched economist and a despot. In Wettingen the abbot, John Miiller, craved the help of the Confederation, saying that he and his subordinates needed speedy reformation, not only for the salvation of their order, but of their own souls. A letter of the abbot, John of Craux, written in 1514, explains the decline of the

I * Hottinger, Geschichte der Mdgenossen, Ist Abth. s. 258.

monasteries on tlie ground of the immoral life of the monks, and the neglect of visitation. The nunneries were as little the abode of purity as the monasteries. A visitor to some of these nunneries said of that at Frauenthal : " I detest these nuns, and would not like to say what others tell me. "Would that they were virtuous, faithful, honorable. They have desired my services as an inspector, because they know I am simple and easily deceived." At the nunnery at Grottstadt the nuns were so faithless to their vows that the government of Berne removed the immoral abbess.^

It was this state of things, long continued, which aided in preparing the way for a revolt against the papal rule in Switzerland. There were two events, however, which occurred early in the sixteenth cen- .tury that greatly aided in hastening this result. One of these was the attempt which was made by the Dominicans in Berne, in 1506, to impose upon the credulity of the people by a pretended miracle. At that time the Dominicans were not on friendly terms with the Franciscans on account of a difference of opinion in reference to the dogma of the immaculate conception, the Franciscans affirming, the Dominicans denying, this dogma. The popular feeling was with the Franciscans, and in consequence their revenues Hottinger, Geschichte der Eidgenossen, 1st Abth. s. 259-261.

far exceeded those of their jealous rivals. This was not a pleasing thought to the Dominicans ; and acting upon the principle that the end justifies the means, some of the most prominent of the brotherhood, including the prior, conceived a plan, by which they hoped to draw the attention of the community from the Franciscans to themselves.

John Jetzer, of Zurzach, a weak-minded tailor, had asked to be received into the monastery as a lay brother. His request had hitherto been denied ; but as it was now thought that he could be of service in the execution of the proposed plan, he was admitted to the brotherhood, and became an inmate of the monastery in Berne. The prior and his accomplices began at once to fill Jetzer's mind with terrors. One of the number, representing a soul from purgatory, appeared to the lay-brother in his cell, and asked his aid in securing deliverance from painful imprisonment. Subsequently, also at night, Jetzer received a visit from the Virgin Mary, who bestowed upon him three of the Saviour's tears, as many drops of his blood, and a letter addressed to Pope Julius II., who, it was said, had been selected to abolish the festival of the immaculate conception. To the bewildered mind of the lay -brother these were tokens of distinguished favor, but he was told that far greater honors were in store for him; and the pretended Virgin, approaching Jetzer's bed in order to make upon his body the five wounds of the Savioar, the distinguishing marks of a saint, took his hand and pierced it with a sharp nail. Jetzer shrieked and made so much disturbance that the completion of the work was necessarily postponed. On the following night a soporific was administered to him, and he soon had the full number of wounds with which St. Francis and other saints had been honored. As he awoke from his stupor the monks crowded around him, looked upon the miraculous wounds, and greeted Jetzer as highly favored of heaven. Then they bore him to a large room in the monastery which was hung with pictures of the sufiferings of Christ. Gazing upon these vivid representations, Jetzer became excited to a still greater degree. He wrung his hands as if he were in the agonies of Gethsemane, bowed his head as if oppressed by the crown of thorns, and sank to the floor as one overpowered in the conflict of death. At times the monks threw open the doors, and the people, attracted by reports of the miracle, crowded the monastery, and gazed upon the wonderful spectacle which Jetzer presented. " See," they said, " he is sufibring the Cross of Christ ; " while the monks called the attention of the astonished multitude to the favor thus shown to the Dominican order.

The Franciscans were greatly humiliated by this triumph of their rivals ; and thus far the Dominican plot was a glorious success. But the triumph of the Dominicans was of brief duration. The imposture was detected by the credulous Jetzer. The Virgin again manifested herself to him, and in her voice Jetzer recognized the voice of his confessor. On the following night the prior took the confessor's place, and he, too, was detected ; also the sub-prior in the role of Catharine of Sienna. The monks, unwilling to lose their hold upon Jetzer, made additional efforts to deceive him ; but skilful as they were in their endeavors, Jetzer 's suspicions were now aroused, and he at length was satisfied that he had been imposed upon as before. The monks now sought to get rid of him by means of poison, but Jetzer discovered the plot, and having made his escape from the monastery, he revealed the facts concerning the pretended miracle. In an investigation that followed Jetzer was subjected to the rack, but he told the same story as before : and the four monks who had been most conspicuous in the affair, having been convicted of fraud, were sentenced to death and were burned at the stake May 1, 1509, in the presence of thirty thousand spectators.^

The history of this affair, in numberless editions,

^ Hottinger, Geschichte der Eidgtnossen, 1st Abth. s. 271--280. Planta, Hist. Helvetic Confederacy, ii, 124.

2* and in many languages, was scattered throughout Switzerland, and had a powerful influence in calling the attention of the common people to the character of the monks, and in preparing the way for the great uprising against the Eoman Church that so soon followed.

An event of even greater importance in securing this result, however, was the appearance of Bernard Samson, a Franciscan monk, who in August, 1518, entered Switzerland as Apostolic Commissary General, having been empowered by the Pope to sell within the limits of the Swiss Cantons, at fixed prices, plenary indulgences for all manner of offences. With this traffic Samson was already familiar, having from "his sale of indulgences under two previous popes, added hundreds of thousands of ducats to the papal treasury. Full of Italian pride, and bent on plundering the people, he crossed the Alps by the St. Gothard pass, and commenced the sale of his wares in Uri. Among the poor mountaineers of this Canton he made only a brief halt, and then pushed on to Schwytz.

At that time Zwingli was pastor and preacher of the church of the Hermitage at Einsiedeln, having been called to this place from Glarus in 1516. At Einsiedeln there was a famous abbey, over whose gate were the words, "Here a plenary remission of sins may be obtained ; " and already, during his residence in the place, Zwingli's heart had been stirred by the sight of the crowds of pilgrims who made their way to the abbey allured by the promises of the monks. Light had dawned upon his own soul, and he spoke brave words to the people who had been so grossly misled. But now his heart was even more deeply moved, and with fiery energy he denounced the traffic in which Samson was engaged. " Jesus Christ, the Son of God," he exclaimed, ''has said, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Is it not, then, most presumptuous folly and senseless temerity to declare on the contrary : ' Buy letters of indulgence, hasten to Rome, give to the monks, sacrifice to the priests, and if thou doest these things I absolve thee from thy sins '? Jesus Christ is the only oblation, the only sacrifice, the only way ! "

Zwingli's warning voice penetrated the mountain valleys of Schwytz, and Samson was compelled to move on. Late in September he appeared in Zug, where a great crowd of poor people, responding to the call of Samson's heralds, pressed around the Papal Commission. *' Let those first come who have gold," cried one of Samson's attendants: "the rest will receive attention afterwards." For three days Samson remained in Zug. At times the throng was so great that many could not get near the cross where the indulgences were sold. Passing through Lucerne and Unterwalden, meeting with increasing success in his mission, Samson came at length to Berne. At first he was not permitted to enter the city, but through the efforts of some of his friends the refusal was at length withdrawn, and he opened the sale of his wares in St. Vincent's Church. To the poor he sold indulgences on paper for three cents. For the same thing on vellum the rich paid a crown. To absolve themselves from greater sins some paid hundreds of ducats. A celebrated warrior, Jacob de Stein, by the present of the grey steed which he rode obtained an indulgence for himself, his five hundred troopers, and all his vassals in the seigniory of Eealp. On the last Sunday of his stay in Berne, at a service in the church, Samson cried out, ''All those who kneel down and offer a short prayer shall be as pure as immediately after baptism ; " and as all kneeled he added, '' I deliver from the torments of purgatory and of hell, all the souls of deceased Bernese, no matter when, where, or how they died."

In Aargau, Samson found that, on account of his failure to have his credentials approved, the Bishop of Constance had ordered his clergy not to receive him. In Baden, he held mass in the church. Afterward, while accompanying a procession through the churchyard, he cried out, as if he saw already the souls of the dead released from purgatory, " Look, see them fly ! " One of the crowd mounted the tower to the belfry, and throwing out of the window a lot of old feathers he shouted, " Look, see them fly ! " and Samson, followed by the derision of the multitude, left the place.

He next appeared at Bremgarten, and was welcomed by the magistrate, and one of his preachers who had made the acquaintance of Samson at Baden. But Henry Bullinger, the pastor and dean of the church, and the father of the well-known historian, refused to recognize Samson. When the latter showed his letters from the Pope, Bullinger replied that he could not open his church to him upon these letters, as they had not been approved by the Bishop of Constance. " The Pope is above the Bishop," said Samson : ''therefore it is in the highest degree fitting in you not to deprive your flock of so great grace." But Bullinger could not be intimidated. "I will not grant your request," he said, " if it costs me my life." Samson was in a rage, and cried out, '' Brute, inasmuch as you put yourself in opposition to the Pope, I pronounce against you the greater excommunication, and I will not absolve you until you have atoned for your rashness by the payment of three hundred ducats." Bullinger, as he was leaving the room, said, "1 know wliat I have done, and will answer for it where it is fitting. I care nothing for you and your excommunication." " Impudent brute ! " shouted Samson, "I am going soon to Zurich, and I will complain of you there to the deputies of the Canton." Bullinger turned and defiantly added, " You will find that I have preceded you."

Zwingli, who in December, 1518, had been transferred from Einsiedeln to the Cathedral in Zurich, was informed of Samson's purpose as revealed in his threat to Bullinger, and attacked indulgences even more vehemently than at Einsiedeln. " No man," he said, " can remit sins. Christ, who is very God and very man, alone has this power." Samson was told that Zwingli was preaching against indulgences. "I am aware," he said, "that Zwingli will speak against me, but I will stop his mouth."

Bullinger was as good as his word, and reached Zurich in advance of the enraged Samson. On his arrival — it was late in February, 1519 — he had a consultation with Zwingli and the principal men in the city, and the result was that when Samson arrived in the suburbs of Zurich a few days after, he was informed by the deputies of the Canton that his presence was not desired there. Claiming that he had a message to communicate to the Diet in the name of the Pope, the monk was finally permitted to anter the city ; but when it was found that his plea was a false one he was told that he must withdraw his bann of excommunication against the Dean of Bremgarten, and leave the Canton. Not long after, Samson recrossed the St. Gothard, bearing with him the silver and gold he had plundered from the Swiss, and he and his shameful traffic, thanks to the firmness of Zwingli and his friends, were heard of no more.^