Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/870

 840 ZWICKAU ZWINGLI Birkenfeld line, the ancestors of the present Bavarian dynasty. It belonged to France from 1801 to 1814, when most of it was restored to Bavaria, and the rest divided between Olden- burg, Saxe-Coburg, and Hesse-Homburg. . ZWICKAU, a city of Saxony, capital of a dis- trict of the same name, on the left bank of the western or Zwickauer Mulde, about 60 m. S. W. of Dresden; pop. in 1871, 27,322. It has five churches, including St. Mary's, with a lofty tower and the largest bell in Saxony, and St. Catharine's, with an altarpiece by the elder Cranach ; a gymnasium, with a library of 20,- 000 volumes, and other schools ; and a nation- al workhouse in the former Osterstein palace. The thirty years' war reduced the population from 10,000 to 4,000. After Saxony joined the Zollverein it rapidly increased. Coal mines which occupy over 6,000 men, and the Queen Mary iron works, are in the vicinity. Chemi- cal products, paper, and glass are also made. Zwickau is first mentioned in 1118. Thomas Munzer became pastor here in 1520. ZWINGLI, or (as it is often Latinized) Znin- gUns, Ulrle or Hnldreieh, a Swiss reformer and patriot, born at Wildhaus, a mountain village of Toggenburg (now canton of St. Gall), Jan. 1, 1484, fell on the field of Kappel, Oct. 11, 1531. His father, Ulric Zwingli, was a shepherd and bailiff of Wildhaus, and a brother of his father, Bartholomew Zwingli, was pastor there. As a child Ulric listened eagerly to the story of the oppression under which his native land had often suffered, and he learned patriotism among his earliest lessons. When he was ten years old he was sent to the St. Theodore school at Basel, and in 1497 to a classical school just opened at Bern by Wolflin (Lupu- lus), a distinguished scholar and poet. In 1499 he went to Vienna, where he studied philoso- phy, in the university for two years, and then resumed his studies, especially scholastic the- ology, in the university of Basel, acting at the same time as teacher in the school of St. Mar- tin. He was passionately fond of study, but cultivated also the lighter and more ornamen- tal accomplishments, especially music. As early as his 18th year the study of the New Testament had awakened in his mind doubts in regard to many of the teachings of the church. These were increased by the instruc- tions of Thomas Wittenbach, a teacher of the- ology, who in 1505 came from Tubingen to Basel, and around whom Ulric and all the young students gathered. In 1506 he was or- dained by the bishop of Constance, and the same year became pastor of the large parish of Glarus, not far from his birthplace. At this time the king of France, the duke of Mi- lan, and the pope were seeking to draw the Swiss into the foreign military service. Zwin- gli's heart was aroused, and he labored with tongue and pen to urge his countrymen to re- cover and maintain their ancient honor. In 1510 he wrote his noted poetic fable, in which he represents the confederacy under the sym- bol of an ox led astray by artful cats, though warned by faithful dogs, by which means the ox lost his liberty. Twice during this time he was ordered by his government to accompany the troops of his canton in the Italian var. He first went with the confederate troops against Louis XII. of France ; and two years later, when Francis I. undertook to reconquer the duchy of Milan, Charles of Austria (the future Charles V.) called upon the Swiss for help, and Zwingli accompanied the soldiers of Glarus through the campaign as chaplain. They were defeated ; and a few days after the battle of Marignano, in September, 1515, Zwingli delivered an address to the Swiss, exhorting them no more to expose their honor and their lives in so foolhardy a way. In 1516 the king of France again used money and flattery to enlist the confederates in his favor, and, in spite of Zwingli's efforts, suc- ceeded even in Glarus, where the French party gained the ascendancy. Zwingli withdrew to Einsiedeln, where he accepted a subordinate vicarship. During his ministry at Glarus ho had diligently studied the New Testament in the original Greek, committing to memory the epistles of St. Paul, and advancing himself and his parishioners in its knowledge. At Ein- siedeln he committed to memory the remain- ing portions of the New Testament, and after- ward also portions of the .Old. His opposition to several of the teachings and practices of the church grew daily more decided. The convent of Einsiedeln possessed an image of the Virgin of which miraculous stories were told, and over the convent gate was written : " Here the full forgiveness of all sins is to be obtained." The legends and the inscription stirred Zwingli to indignation. He preached Christ as the only sacrifice and ransom for sin. To the pope's nuncio, who called him to account, he said: " With the help of God will I go on preaching the gospel, and this preaching will make Rome totter." His efforts were victorious. The gov- ernor caused the inscription to be blotted out from the gate, the relics which the pilgrims revered were burie'd, and the new doctrine prevailed. In the beginning the evangelical movements in Germany and Switzerland were entirely independent of each other. " I be- gan," said Zwingli, "to preach the gospel in the year of grace 1516, that is, at a time when the name of Luther had never been heard among these countries. It was not from Lu- ther that I learned the doctrine of Christ ; it was from God's word. If Luther preaches Christ, he does as I do ; that is all." A worthy priest on one occasion said to him : " Master Ulric, they tell me you have gone into the new error, and that you are a follower of Luther." " I arn no Lutheran," said Zwingli, " for I un- derstood Greek before I had heard the name of Luther;" intimating thereby that the study of the Greek Testament had taught him the necessity of a reformation. D'Aubign6 has correctly said : " Zwingli did not communi-