Reformation in Switzerland

The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially mainly by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate and population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matters in Zürich and spread to several other cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Seven cantons remained Catholic, though, which led to inter-cantonal wars known as the Wars of Kappel. After the victory of the Catholic cantons in 1531, they proceeded to institute counter-reformatory policies in some regions. The schism and distrust between Catholic and Protestant cantons would define their interior politics and paralyse any common foreign policy until well into the 18th century.

External links

• Reformation in Switzerland by Markus Jud. In English, also available in French and German.
• Reformation in Switzerland by "Presence Switzerland", an official body of the Swiss Confederation. (In English, available also in many other languages.)
• Bauernkrieg (1525) from the Swiss Historical Encyclopedia (in German).
• The Escalade in Geneva in 1602.
• The Confessio Helvetica posterior (English transcription).
• Zweiter Kappeler Landfriede, in German.