signed Hardcover
1524 · Various places
by Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531), et al.
Various places: various printers, 1521 to, 1524. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in contemporary half-pigskin over wooden boards, tooled in blind. The binding is well-preserved with small defects (chipping along the leading edge of the lower boards, with loss of one strap and clasp. Both catch-plates and one of the two straps are preserved.) Fine, broad-margined copies of all 17 works, many with deckled edges. With numerous historiated woodcut borders, woodcut vignettes, woodcut printer's marks, 2 large woodcut portraits (1 of Luther by Hans Baldung Grien; the second of Emperor Charles V), 2 smaller woodcut portraits (of Luther and Ulrich von Hutten), and 2 images of Christ. Seventeen works, many of them dealing with the Swiss Reformation, including a number by Huldrych Zwingli himself. The collection also includes works by two medieval writers considered forerunners of the reformation, an anonymous satire, and the apocalyptic poem “On the Christian, righteous doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther”, which declares Luther to be the angel of the Book of Revelations.
Contents:
1. An Account of the First Zürich Disputation (29 January, 1523)
[Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)] Hegenwald, Erhard (fl. 1523)
Handlung der Versamlung in der loeblichen statt Zürich uff den xxix. Tag Jenners: vonn wegen des heyligen Evangelii zwischen der ersamen treffentlichen Bottschaft von Costentz: Huldrichen Zwinglii ... vor gesessnem Radt beschehen im M.D. xxiii. Jar
Zürich: (Christoph Froschauer), 1523
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: A-L4
FIRST EDITION. Historiated woodcut border.
An eye-witness account of the First Zürich Disputation, at which Zwingli answered charges of heresy and presented his 67 Articles, his statement of faith and the founding document of the Swiss Reformation. The Articles, which have been compared, in spirit, to Luther’s 95 Theses (1517) and the Augsburg Confession (1530), are printed in this report.
When the official notary failed to show up for the disputation, Erhard Hegenwald, author of this report, took it upon himself to record what he had witnessed. The book is of enormous historical importance for our knowledge of what transpired.
Background:
From 1516 to 1518 Zwingli served as pastor at Einsiedeln. Troubled by discrepancies between the Bible and Church practice, he developed an antipathy for the indulgence trade and began to question the authority of the pope. In 1518, he was invited to Zürich to serve as people’s priest of Zürich’s principal church (the Grossmünster).
Over the course of the next three years, influenced by Martin Luther’s writings, Zwingli advocated for and began to implement a program of church reform. Zwingli’s perceived radicalism and his refusal to align Zürich with France brought him into conflict with the French-aligned Swiss cantons and the bishop of Constance. In July 1522, Zwingli and a group of Zürich pastors petitioned the bishop for freedom of the pulpit and the abolition of clerical celibacy.
“The fermentation in Zürich reached such a fever pitch that the magistrates decided to hold a religious disputation. On January 29, 1523, with about six hundred persons present, Zwingli debated these new practices with Johann Faber (the bishop of Constance’s representative) in an attempt to persuade city magistrates of the validity of Reformation thought and practice. For the occasion, Zwingli had drawn up Sixty-seven Articles that maintained the vanity of apparatus and scheme of the Church of Rome, the supremacy of Scriptural authority, and the sufficiency of Christ's atonement for sin.
“An original feature of the theses was the principle of ecclesiastical polity. Zwingli believed that the congregation, not the hierarch, possesses the right to consider the discrepancies that may arise in matters of doctrine and practice. He further asserted that the administration of the Church belongs to state authorities, but if the authorities of the state went beyond what is allowed in Scripture, they were to be deposed. The town council of Zürich decided completely in Zwingli's favor, and his ideas soon won wide acceptance. Zwingli was vindicated of the charge of heresy and his Sixty-seven Articles, drawn up for the debate, became the first Reformed confession of faith.”(Flick, The Swiss Reformation)
For the text of the Sixty-Seven Articles, see Appendix 1. at the end of this description.
VD16 H 1252. Vischer, Zürcher Druckschriften, C 37. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 107a.
2. Zürich Rejects Outside Interference in Matters of Religion
Zürich City Council; Fry, Caspar (Zürich City Clerk)
Antwurten so ein Burgermeister, Radt, und der groß Radt, die man nempt, die zwey hundert der Statt Zürich, iren getrüwe lieben Eydgnossen, der ein liff Orten, über etlich artickel, jnen, inhalt einer instruction fürgehalten, gebe habend. Und beschehen ist uff den xxj. Tag des Monats Mertzen, Anno. &c. M.D. xxiiij.
Zürich: Hans Hager, 1524
Quarto: 14 lvs. A-B4, C6
ONE OF TWO EDITIONS, both printed by Hager. Hager’s printer’s device is on the final leaf.
At the Second Zürich Disputation (26-28 October, 1523), Zwingli’s reform program -including the view that images are forbidden by Scripture, that the mass is not a sacrifice, and that adult baptism (proposed by the Anabaptists) is unwarranted, were adopted by the Zürich council and put into practice.
In January 1524, the Swiss Diet then sitting at Lucerne sent a warning to Zürich not to implement Zwingli’s innovations. In this pamphlet, Zürich’s mayor, the city council, and the grand council of the canton (groß Radt), reject the diet’s warning, asserting that Zürich will not tolerate outside interference in matters of religion.
VD16 Z 580. Minster, Zwinglibibl., 113
3. Zwingli’s Program of Reform is Officially put into Practice
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Ein kurtze und christenliche inleitung, die ein ersamer Rat die ein ersamer rat der statt Zürich den seelsorgern und predicanten in iren stetten, landen und gebieten wonhafft zuogesant haben, damit sy die evangelische warheit einheillig fürhin verkündent und iren underthanen predigent. Ussgangen uff den xvij. tag Noue[m]bris M.D. XXIII.
Zürich: (Christoph Froschauer), 1523
Quarto: 22 lvs. Collation: A-E4, F2
FIRST EDITION. Date of publication from VD 16. Historiated woodcut border, Froschauer’s device on final leaf.
At the conclusion of the Second Zürich Disputation (26-28 October, 1523), the council directed Zwingli to compose a document laying out his vision for distribution to the clergy. The result was this tract, “A Short and Christian Introduction… sent to the pastors and preachers… so that they may unanimously proclaim the gospel truth and preach it to their subjects.”, which Zwingli wrote on 9 November and had published on 17 November 1523.
It begins with a handling of sin, then of the law. At greater length it treats of the Gospel as God's way of deliverance from the law; next upon the deliverance itself, the removal of the law, idolatry (and the worship of images), and the abolition of the mass.
Zwingli’s argument against images: “It is clear that the images and other representations which we have in the houses of worship have caused the risk of idolatry. Therefore they should not be allowed to remain there, nor in your chambers, nor in the market-place, nor anywhere else where one does them honor. Most importantly, they are not to be tolerated in the churches. If anyone desires to put historical representations on the outside of the churches, that may be allowed, so long as they do not incite to their worship. But when one begins to bow before these images and to worship them, then they are not to be tolerated anywhere in the wide world; for that is the beginning of idolatry, nay, is idolatry itself.”
VD16 Z597. Vischer, Zürcher Druckschriften, C 47. Rudolphi, Froschauer in Zürich, 81. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 23.
4. The Authority of Church Councils over the Pope – With a Letter by Ulrich von Hutten
Zärtlin, Konrad (fl. 1521); Hutten, Ulrich von (1488-1523); Toke, Heinrich (1390-1454)
Concilia wie man die halten sol. und von verleyhung geystlicher lehenpfrunden. Antzoeig damit, der Bäpst, Cardinälen, und aller Curtisanen List, Ursprung und Handel bitz uff diß Zeit. Ermanung das ein yeder bey dem rechten alten christlichen Glauben bleiben unnd sich zu heiner Newerung bewegen lassen soll, durch Herr Cunrat Zärtlin in 76 Artickel vervasszt.
Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1521
Quarto: 28 lvs. Collation: A-G4
FIRST EDITION. On the penultimate leaf there is a woodcut of Ulrich von Hutten in armor, framed by a four-part historiated border with the imperial arms in the lower register. A full-page portrait of Emperor Charles V is printed on the final leaf. A few light stains, light dampstain at head of final leaf.
Two tracts, with an introduction by the humanist poet and knight Ulrich von Hutten, an ardent adherent of Luther. The first, an anonymous argument for the superiority of Church councils over the pope, was written in the wake of the Council of Basel (1439), during which the anti-pope Felix V was elected. In the second, Conrad Zärtlin asserts that the doctrines of Luther are those of the early church and those of Rome a “tissue of human innovations invented by monks and universities.” The first tract is sometimes attributed to the “proto-reformer” Heinrich Toke (d. 1454).
The editor of the volume, the rebellious humanist-reformer Ulrich von Hutten, was one of the shining lights of the “new learning” and a fierce proponent of German nationalism. Crowned poet laureate by Emperor Maximilian I (d. 1519), Hutten quickly became a leading figure of the anti-papal movement in Germany. Brilliant and erratic, a poet and a soldier, with lofty ambitions for himself and his nation, Hutten eventually led an armed uprising in a failed effort to jump-start a revolution that had failed to come quickly enough for him. In 1523, his life in tatters and with no one to protect him, Hutten fled to Zurich, where he would die alone, overcome by syphilis, at the age of 35.
VD16 K 2098.
5. “The Vulture Plucked” – A Satirical Account of the First Zürich Disputation
Anonymous [Possibly Hutten, Ulrich von (1488-1523)]
Das gyren rupffen. Halt inn wie Johans Schmid vicarge ze costenz, mit dem buechle darinn er verheißt ein ware bericht wie es uff den. 29. tag Jenners. M.D.xxiij. ze Zürich gangen sye, sich übersehe hat. Jst voll schimpffs unnd ernstes.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1523
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: A-L4
FIRST (SOLE) EDITION. Leaf A3 with marginal tear (no loss).
A sometimes vicious satirical account of the First Zürich Disputation, poking fun at Zwingli’s opponent in the debate, Johann Faber (1478-1541 ), vicar-general of the diocese of Constance, who -in reaction to the Hegenwald account (see item 1 above) - had printed his own account of the debate, “Warlich Undenichtung”, painting himself the winner. In “The Vulture Plucked”, a fictional Faber is forced to defend himself against charges of lying and plagiarism.
When the book appeared, Faber complained to the Zürich authorities but no action was taken against the publisher. Although it is a satire, the book includes details of the debate not found in either of the two other printed accounts. The book has been tentatively attributed to the German knight-poet-humanist-reformer Ulrich von Hutten, who at the time was in exile, dying of syphilis.
“The pamphlet was entitled ‘Das Gyren Rupffen’, using a play on Faber's family name to personify him as the ‘plucked vulture.’ The satire was written in the form of dialogue between Faber and seven ‘simple manual laborers’ said to be present at the disputation, each of whom embarks on lengthy verbal assaults in response to terse quotes from Faber's account and from the Hegenwald account.
“‘Das Gyren Rupffen’ displays a duality of angry satire and comic playfulness in which Faber is portrayed as an incompetent fool, while his performance at the disputation is described by numerous scatological and at times ridiculous metaphors. Furthermore, the Roman Church becomes the object of the author's wrath, and is portrayed as the source of endless vice and tyranny over the German people. It is the instrument of Lucifer and Belial, and extracts the hard-earned money of the German people in order to support its vices and ostentatious living.”(Lewis, Ulrich von Hutten, Johann Faber, and Das Gyren Rupffen: A Knight's Last Campaign?)
VD16 G 4167.
6. The Shepherd
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Der Hirt. Wie man die waren christlichen Hirten, und widrumm die valschen erkennen, ouch wie man sich mit inen halten sölle
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1524
Quarto: 36 lvs. Collation: i4, A-H4
SECOND EDITION (of two, both by Froschauer). Historiated woodcut title border by Hans Holbein, decorated with instruments, armor, and a scene of Christ calling the weary and sick in the lower register.
Zwingli’s important sermon on the corrupt state of the clergy, which he published by request in March, 1524, under the title “The Shepherd: How to recognize true Christian pastors and false ones, and how to deal with them.”
“He represents Christ as the good Shepherd in contrast with the selfish hirelings, according to the parable in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Among the false shepherds he counts the bishops who do not preach at all; those priests who teach their own dreams instead of the Word of God; those who preach the Word but for the glorification of popery; those who deny their preaching by their conduct; those who preach for filthy lucre; and, finally, all who mislead men away from the Creator to the creature. Zwingli treats the papists as refined idolaters, and repeatedly denounces idolatry as the root of the errors and abuses of the Church.”(Schaff)
VD16 Z 858. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 25b
7. Christians unjustly Burdened by Canon Law
Zwick, Johann (ca. 1496-1542)
Underrichtung warumb die Ee uss menschlichem Gzatz in vyl grad verbotten sey/ und das die Vereeungen göttlich geschehen/ und aber von dem menschen ungöttlich zertrent/ widerumb föllind bestätiget werden.
(Basel: Valentin Curio, 1524)
Quarto: 24 lvs. Collation: a-f4
FIRST EDITION? With a four-part woodcut title page border featuring elephants, giraffes, and other exotic animals being wrangled by “natives” with headdresses.
Johannes Zwick was a German theologian, jurist, and songwriter sympathetic to the reform movement. In 1523, Zwick was approached by two people who wanted to be married but were too closely related to each other according to canon law (and they did not have the 20 ducats necessary for a papal dispensation.) After much study and contemplation, Zwick performed the ceremony. In this tract, addressed to "all Christian pastors", Zwick aims to make them aware that the consciences of many Christians are wrongly burdened by papal laws, which are not God’s but man’s (“menschlichem gesatz”).
VD16 Z 736.
8. The Tower of Misguided Doctrine
Fener, Georg (fl. 1521)
Sturm wider ain laymen thurn ains römischen predigers, der auß der hailigen Meßgern ain opffer machte.
(Augsburg: Jörg Nadler, 1521)
Quarto: 4 lvs.
ONE OF FOUR PRINTINGS. Small woodcut of a city on the title page.
"It has recently come to my attention that a preacher has constructed a tower built of his theological arguments, boasting that his tower cannot be toppled or destroyed. However, this tower has not been fortified with cornerstones of Gospel truth but rather with the opinions of men.”(Georg Fener)
The “Assault Against the Tower of a Roman Preacher’ is a sharp critique of Roman Catholic doctrines, particularly the Mass as a perpetual sacrificial act. The author argues that this doctrine, built on human tradition and false interpretations, must be dismantled to restore biblical truth.
The author, Georg Fener, begins by addressing a preacher's claim that his doctrinal "tower" is unshakable. But he is misguided, for he has fortified his tower with the teachings of Church Fathers like Cyprian, rather than the words of the Bible. The assertion that the Mass is both a sacrifice and confers grace is condemned. Fener argues that faith, not ritual, is central to receiving grace.
Citing Hebrews 9:26-28, the author emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice was a singular and sufficient event that cannot be repeated. The doctrine of the Mass as a continual offering undermines the finality of Christ's atonement. Rituals without faith distort the Gospel message, as salvation is achieved through faith alone, not through human works or ceremonies.
The author harshly criticizes the clergy for moral corruption and financial exploitation. Priests, he claims, live in sin while using the Mass to extort money from the laity. Such practices betray Christ’s humility and the simplicity of the Gospel.
True worship, according to the author, must align with Scripture and Christ's teachings. The Mass, instituted at the Last Supper, is a memorial of Christ's sacrifice, not a repeated offering. Preaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments in faith are the core of Christian worship. Human inventions, superstition, and greed must be rejected.
Fener calls for Christians to reject teachings that contradict Scripture and return to the simplicity and sufficiency of the Gospel. Ministers must be held accountable, and the exploitation of believers must end. Faith, not ritual, is the foundation of salvation, and the Gospel alone is the truth that must guide the Church.
VD16 F 731.
9. Zwingli Reforms the Mass
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
De Canone Missae Epichiresis.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1523
Quarto: 28 lvs. Collation: a-g4
FIRST EDITION. With a four part woodcut title border with saints framing a woodcut of the risen Christ.
In his “Critical Evaluation of the Canon of the Mass”, Zwingli focused on the portion of the Mass known as the Canon, the standardized prayer recited over the bread and cup in the Lord’s supper portion of the liturgy.
“The core of the Canon was very ancient. But the Canon of the Mass had also come to express the latter doctrines of Christ’s bodily presence (real presence) and the continuation of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice in the Mass. These later doctrinal expressions… were an intermingling of new ideas with ancient formulas, giving to those ancient formulas meanings it is doubtful that they had at their inception. For example, the bread and cup are called ‘a holy offering, a victim without blemish.’
“Zwingli dispensed with the Canon entirely. In its place he set four prayers in Latin of his own composition. The first prayer recounts man’s fall and Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. The present action of the supper was not to be conceived as a sacrifice, but as a spiritual feast. In the second prayer Zwingli (who rejected Christ’s bodily presence in the supper) beseeched God that those who partook would be nourished by the spiritual food of God’s word. In the third prayer the communion of the supper is defined as a sharing by remembering: “so we firmly believe that he offered himself to be the food of our souls under the forms of bread and wine, so that the memory of his generous deed may never be abolished.” The final prayer is a request for divine aid that the recipients may “worthily and faithfully join the sacred banquet of your Son, of which he himself is both our host and our most delectable food.”(Kinneer, Roots of Reformed Worship)
VD16 Z 802. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 21
10. Desist from Speaking ill of Zürich
Myconius, Oswald (1488-1552)
Osvaldi Myconii Lucernani ad sacerdotes Helvetiae, qui Tigurinis male loquu[n]tur suasoria, ut male loqui desinant.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1524
Quarto: 26 lvs. Collation: A-E4, F6
SOLE EDITION. Historiated woodcut title border by Hans Holbein, decorated with instruments, armor, and a scene of Christ calling the weary and sick in the lower register. Froschauer’s printer’s device on final leaf.
A book directed at the Swiss priests who were critical of Zwingli and opposed to Zürich’s reform movement, written by one of Zwingli’s closest confederates, the humanist theologian Oswald Myconius of Lucerne. Myconius write his book in preparation for the Third Zürich Disputation, held on 20 January, 1524. The epistle is dated 19 January (“Undecimo Kalend. Februarii”).
VD16 G 829.
11. Priests Should be Allowed to Marry
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Suplicatio Quorundam apud Helvetios Evangelistarum ad D. D. Hugonem Episcopum Constantiensem ne se induci patiatur ut quicquam in pre̜iudicium Euangelij promulget neue scortationis scandalum ultra ferat, sed presbyteris uxores ducere permittat aut salte[m] ad eo[rum] nuptias conniueat.
(Zürich: Christoph Froschauer), 1524
Quarto: 8 lvs. Collation: a-b4
SECOND OF THREE EDITIONS. With a historiated woodcut title border.
A petition addressed to Hugo von Hohenlandenberg, Bishop of Constance (1457-1532), signed by eleven Swiss evangelicals, including Zwingli, who is generally considered the actual author of the work. Zwingli argues that clerical celibacy is not scriptural, and that Hugo should allow priests to marry (or at least turn a blind eye to the practice) and free himself from the ongoing scandal of the “whore-mongering” monks and priests who illicitly keep concubines.
Not all men, the petitioners argue, are naturally suited to celibacy, so those who are consumed by passion should be allowed to marry, rather than be left to be “crushed by human ordinances, struggling in vain against the weakness of the flesh, for the law stimulates to sin rather than restrains it.”
Zwingli had a vested interest in the issue. In 1522 he secretly married Anna Reinhard (c. 1484–1538), a widow and member of his congregation. A second, public marriage ceremony would be held two years later, on 2 April 1524.
VD16 Z 900. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 3b
12. Against the Cult of the Saints
Lonicer, Johannes (1499-1569)
Catechesis De bona dei voluntate, erga quemuis Christianum. Deque sanctorum cultu et invocatione
(Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1523)
Quarto: 36 lvs. Collation: a-i4
FIRST EDITION. With an attractive four-part woodcut title border featuring musical instruments and putti engaged in a wrestling match.
Johann Lonicer, Augustinian monk, poet, and eventual adherent of the reform, studied under Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg in 1521. He later taught Greek and Hebrew at the University of Marburg.
In this tract, Lonicer argues that Christ is the sole mediator between God and man, and our sole intercessor, echoing Zwingli’s argument in “On the Canon of the Mass”(item 9 above). “Solus Christus est mediator dei et hominum, idemque unus intercessor et interpellator noster, nullus Sanctorum, quantum vis magnus praedicetur”.
It is directed against the preaching (favouring the saints) of Balthassar Sattlers, parish priest of Esslingen, where Lonicer resided after receiving his Wittenberg degree. The essence of the work is a confutation, argument by argument, of his adversary’s thesis, which we know only from Lonicer’s book.
VD16 L 2436.
13. A Personal Dispute strikes a Common Nerve
Wurm, Matthias (also Mathis), von Geudertheim (ca. 1485-after 1529)
Balaams Eselin. Von dem bann: das er umb geltschuld und andre geringe sachen nit mag Christlich gefelt werden. Und das aller geystlicher standt.
(Straßburg: Matthias Schürer), 1522
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: a-l4
SECOND EDITION of three. With a woodcut title page border.
A lengthy pamphlet against the abuse of the ban (a form of excommunication) for minor offences such as owing monetary debts. The impetus for the book was a long-running dispute between the author, Matthias Wurm von Geudertheim, and the convent of Saint-Nicolas-aux-Ondes, which his sister Anna had entered before 1512. The conflict eventually resulted in the ban being placed on the author. This pamphlet, in which Wurm also advocates for the subordination of church authority to secular governance, resonated with a wide audience.
The conflict began in 1511-1512 when the convent failed to pay a property-related fee owed to Wurm and his brother. After losing their case in court, the brothers retaliated in 1517 by refusing to pay an annual pension tied to Anna's entry into the convent.
The matter escalated to the episcopal court, which threatened the brothers with excommunication. By 1521, the conflict involved both the city of Strasbourg and the Emperor, with the Strasbourg Senate mediating a resolution to the first dispute. However, the second issue persisted, leading to a minor excommunication against Wurm by the official Jacob von Gottesheim.
Wurm responded with this pamphlet, titled “Balaam's Donkey: On the Ban, that it cannot be Christianly imposed for monetary debt and other minor matters, and that all spiritual estates are obliged to obey secular authority...", in which the author, likening himself to the donkey of the Moabite soothsayer Balaam (Numbers 22:22) who tried to turn his master (here referred to as Gottesheim, representative of the official Church) away from the wrong path, denounces the abuses of excommunication and the privileged status of the clergy who should be subject to civil authority in matters of temporal affairs.
VD16 W 4659.
14. The Parable of the Ten Talents
Stifel, Michael (1487-1567)
Evangelium von den zehen pfunden Matthei. am XXV. mitt schöner christlicher ußlegung.
(Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1522)
Quarto: 32 lvs. Collation: a-h4 (leaf h4 is blank)
SOLE EDITION. With a woodcut title border with putti playing in trees. Small woodcut of Christ on the penultimate leaf. Leaf b1 with a 16th c. paper repair using red wax.
A sermon on the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) by the theologian and mathematician Michael Stifel of Esslingen. Stifel had joined the Augustinian order in his home town and was ordained priest in 1511. Convinced by Luther’s writings that monasticism was an abomination, he left his monastery in 1522 and worked briefly as a preacher in the Taunus. Stifel preached this sermon on 8 September, a month before his departure for Wittenberg, where he would be received as Luther’s guest.
In the Parable of the Talents, a master entrusts his servants with varying amounts of wealth before departing on a journey. Upon his return, he assesses how each has managed his money, rewarding those who have wisely invested and grown their allotment, and reprimanding the one who, out of fear, hid his talent without increasing its value.
Stifel's work offers an interpretation of the parable, emphasizing the importance of utilizing God-given gifts responsibly and the spiritual consequences of neglecting one's duties. He encourages believers to actively engage their abilities in the service of God and community.
Stifel was drawn to mysticism. Deeply immersed in the Book of Revelations, Stifel was convinced that Pope Leo X was the Beast of the Apocalypse and that Luther was the angel. He revealed and explained his interpretation in an apocalyptic poem, a copy of which is bound as item 17 in this volume.
See VD16 S 9011.
15. Two Priests Arrested for Living with Women
Fuchs von Walburg, Jakob (1480-1539)
Ain schöner Sendbrieff an Bischof von Wirtzburg. Darinn auß hayliger geschryfft Priester Ee beschirmbt vnnd gegründt wirdt
(Augsburg: Heinrich Steiner, 1523)
Quarto: 4 lvs.
SECOND(?) EDITION. With a fine historiated woodcut border.
An open letter by Jakob Fuchs the Elder, a humanist canon in Würzburg, pleading for leniency for two high-ranking clerics, Johann Apel and Friedrich Fischer, who had been arrested for living with women in marriage-like relationships.
The letter is addressed to Konrad von Thüngen (c. 1466 – 16 June 1540) Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, whom Apfel served as an advisor. The bishop had asked Apel to end his relationship but he refused, citing his adherence to the Gospel and Luther’s teachings (Luther wrote publicly on his behalf.)
“Bishop von Thüngen had both Apel and Fischer arrested. Their wives were able to flee in time because another canon, the humanist Jacob Fuchs the Younger, had warned them in advance. In this open letter to Bishop von Thüngen, Jakob Fuchs the Elder, a humanist canon in Würzburg, also intervened on behalf of the two arrested colleagues. As a result, both the Elder and the Younger Fuchs were compelled to leave the bishopric of Würzburg…
“Since all the clerics involved came from well-respected families and enjoyed good reputations in the empire-spanning network of highly placed humanists, the Würzburg case became a political affair…. After long hesitation, Bishop Konrad finally bowed to the political pressure and, after they had taken an oath of obedience, released Apel and Fischer in August 1523. Both, however, lost their benefices and were exiled from the territories subject to the prince-bishop’s rule.”
In addition to being adherent to Luther’s views, Fuchs might have had another interest at heart when he took up the cause of Apel and Fischer. A third priest, Paul Speratus, had also been living in a secret marriage with a woman named Anna Fuchs, possibly Fuchs’ sister or daughter.
VD16 F 3218.
16. Luther as the Angel of Apocalypse
Stifel, Michael, von Esslingen (1487-1567)
Bruder Michael Styfel Augustiner von Eßlingen, Von der Christförmigen, rechtgegründten leer Doctoris Martin Luthers, ein überuß schön kunstlich lyed sampt seiner neben ußlegung.
Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1522
Quarto: 32 lvs. Collation: a-h4 (leaf h4 is blank)
SECOND EDITION (of three. The first ed. was also printed by Schott).
With a full-page portrait of Martin Luther by Hans Baldung Grien (1485-1545). Luther is shown with tonsure, wearing his monk’s habit and holding a book while the Holy Spirit -in the form of a dove- hovers above his head. There is also a small full-length woodcut of Luther in his monk’s habit (by Grien or Hans Weiditz) on the title and again on the penultimate leaf (the latter impression is set within an elaborate woodcut border.)
A remarkable apocalyptic poem by the theologian and mathematician Michael Stifel of Esslingen. An Augustinian monk who was heavily influenced by Luther, Stifel was drawn to mysticism. Deeply immersed in the Book of Revelations, Stifel became convinced that Pope Leo X was the Beast of the Apocalypse and that Luther was the angel.
In the spring of 1522 he published this poem: "Brother On the Christian-shaped, rightly founded doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther, a superbly artistic song with its accompanying exposition.”
“If it was bold for a monk, albeit a member of the Wittenberg reformer's order, to have his name printed on such a title page, the content was by no means less bold. The preface loudly professes that Luther was chosen by God to expose the deception of the Antichrist, and that the ban on reading Luther's writings should therefore not be observed. This opinion is then expressed in four-line rhyming stanzas, each of which is followed by a longer explanation in prose. The first stanza is based on Revelation XIV: 6, in which “John writes to us clearly about an angel who should preach God's word”… Stifel explains that this angel, who flies through the heavens, holding an eternal gospel which he announces to the inhabitants of the earth, is Doctor Martin Luther.”(Neue Deutsche Biographie)
The book was mocked by the satirist Thomas Murner, igniting a pamphlet war between the two men.
VD16 S 9020.
17. A Netherlandish “Proto-reformer”
Gansfort, Wessel (ca. 1419-1489)
Von gaistlich gewalt und würdigkhait, warer und rechter gehorsam, unnd wievil der Prelaten gepott unnd gesatz die underthon verpinden.
(Augsburg: Sigmund Grimm and Marx Wirsung, 1522)
Quarto: 12 lvs. Collation: A-C4
ONE OF TWO EDITIONS. The other was printed at Nuremberg by Peypus.
First vernacular edition of this book on ecclesiastical dignity and power, written by the 15th c. Netherlandish “proto-reformer” Wessel Gansfort of Groningen. Gansfort asserts that subjects of the Pope are not bound to believe him unless he is right in his belief. These ideas resonated with the early reformers, particularly at this early period when they were challenging the authority of the Pope. Luther, in a foreword to a collection of Wessel’s letters, called him ‘taught by God’ (‘theodidactus’, from John 6:45 and 1 Thess. 4:9).
The text, “Of spiritual power and dignity, true and right obedience, and to what degree the prelates' commands and laws should bind their subjects”, was also published in the original Latin (‘De dignitate et potestate ecclesiastica’) as the third part of a collection of Gansfort’s writings, “Farrago rerum theologicarum”(Basel, 1522).
“Born at Groningen in about the year 1419, Gansfort first attended and then taught school at Zwolle, where he came into contact with the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. He went on to study at the University of Cologne and later at Louvain and Paris. He taught at Cologne for three years and then, in 1459, he moved back to Paris, where he spent the next fifteen years, punctuated by two visits to Rome (at which time he became acquainted with Pope Sixtus IV), building a substantial reputation as a scholar, abandoning his earlier commitment to the 'realist' school in philosophy and adopting the 'nominalist' stance that he was to maintain for the rest of his life. Around 1475 he returned to the Netherlands and to Zwolle. There, as a man of known 'liberal' opinions to matters theological, who 'was held in danger from the inquisition', he was fortunate enough to enjoy the protection of Bishop David of Burgundy whom he, in turn, furnished with medical advice. He spent his last years in his native Groningen where, until his death in 1489, he found lodgings at the Poor Clares' convent.”(Oakley, p. 215)
VD16 V 2706. The full title of the Latin original is: “De potestate ecclesiastica. De vera et recta obedientia: et quantum obligent subditos mandata et statuta praelatorum.”
Appendix 1. THE SIXTY—SEVEN ARTICLES OF ZWINGLI.
“The articles and opinions below, I, Ulrich Zwingli, confess to have preached in the worthy city of Zürich as based upon the Scriptures which are called inspired by God, and I offer to protect and conquer with the said articles, and where I have not now correctly understood said Scriptures I shall allow myself to be taught better, but only from said Scriptures.
I. All who say that the Gospel is invalid without the confirmation of the Church err and slander God.
II. The sum and substance of the Gospel is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has made known to us the will of his heavenly Father, and has with his innocence released us from death and reconciled God.
III. Hence Christ is the only way to salvation for all who ever were, are and shall be.
IV. Who seeks or points out another door errs, yes, he is a murderer of souls and a thief.
V. Therefore all who consider other teachings equal to or higher than the Gospel err, and do not know what the Gospel is.
VI. For Jesus Christ is the guide and leader, promised by God to all human beings, which promise was fulfilled.
VII. That he is an eternal salvation and head of all believers, who are his body, but which is dead and can do nothing without him.
VIII. From this follows first that all who dwell in the head are members and children of God, and that it is the church or communion of the saints, the bride of Christ, Ecclesia catholica.
IX. Furthermore, that as the members of the body can do nothing without the control of the head, so no one in the body of Christ can do the least without his head, Christ.
X. As that man is mad whose limbs (try to) do something without his head, tearing, wounding, injuring himself; thus when the members of Christ undertake something without their head, Christ, they are mad, and injure and burden themselves with unwise ordinances.
XI. Hence we see in the clerical (so—called) ordinances, concerning their splendor, riches, classes, titles, laws, a cause of all foolishness, for they do not also agree with the head.
XII. Thus they still rage, not on account of the head (for that one is eager to bring forth in these times from the grace of God,) but because one will not let them rage, but tries to compel them to listen to the head.
XIII. Where this (the head) is hearkened to one learns clearly and plainly the will of God, and man is attracted by his spirit to him and changed into him.
XIV. Therefore all Christian people shall use their best diligence that the Gospel of Christ be preached alike everywhere.
XV. For in the faith rests our salvation, and in unbelief our damnation; for all truth is clear in him.
XVI. In the Gospel one learns that human doctrines and decrees do not aid in salvation.
ABOUT THE POPE.
XVII. That Christ is the only eternal high priest, from which it follows that those who have called themselves high priests have opposed the honor and power of Christ, yes, cast it out.
ABOUT THE MASS.
XVIII. That Christ, having sacrificed himself once, is to eternity a certain and valid sacrifice for the sins of all faithful, from which it follows that the mass is not a sacrifice, but is a remembrance of the sacrifice and assurance of the salvation which Christ has given us.
XIX. That Christ is the only mediator between God and us.
ABOUT THE INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS.
XX. That God desires to give us all things in his name, whence it follows that outside of this life we need no mediator except himself.
XXI. That when we pray for each other on earth, we do so in such manner that we believe that all things are given to us through Christ alone.
ABOUT GOOD WORKS.
XXII. That Christ is our justice, from which follows that our works in so far as they are good, so far they are of Christ, but in so far as they are ours, they are neither right nor good.
CONCERNING CLERICAL PROPERTY.
XXIII. That Christ scorns the property and pomp of this world, whence from it follows that those who attract wealth to themselves in his name slander him terribly when they make him a pretext for their avarice and willfulness.
CONCERNING THE FORBIDDING OF FOOD.
XXIV. That no Christian is bound to do those things which God has not decreed, therefore one may eat at all times all food, from which one learns that the decree about cheese and butter is a Roman swindle.
ABOUT HOLIDAY AND PILGRIMAGE.
XXV. That time and place is under the jurisdiction of Christian people, and man with them, from which is learned that those who fix time and place deprive the Christians of their liberty.
ABOUT HOODS, DRESS, INSIGNIA.
XXVI. That God is displeased with nothing so much as with hypocrisy; from which is learned that all is gross hypocrisy and profligacy which is mere show before men. Under this condemnation fall hoods, insignia, plates, etc.
ABOUT ORDER AND SECTS.
XXVII. That all Christian men are brethren of Christ and brethren of one another, and shall create no father (for themselves) on earth. Under this condemnation fall orders, sects, brotherhoods, etc.
ABOUT THE MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTS.
XXVIII. That all which God has allowed or not forbidden is righteous, hence marriage is permitted to all human beings.
XXIX. That all who are known as clergy sin when they do not protect themselves by marriage after they have become conscious that God has not enabled them to remain chaste.
ABOUT THE VOW OF CHASTITY.
XXX. That those who promise chastity [outside of matrimony] take foolishly or childishly too much upon themselves, from which is learned that those who make such vows do wrong to the pious being.
ABOUT THE BAN.
XXXI. That no special person can impose the ban [excommunication] upon any one, except the Church, that is the [full] congregation of those among whom the one to be banned dwells, together with their watchman, i.e., the pastor.
XXXII. That one may ban only him who gives public offence.
ABOUT ILLEGAL PROPERTY.
XXXIII. That property unrighteously acquired shall not be given to temples, monasteries, cathedrals, clergy or nuns, but to the needy, if it cannot be returned to the legal owner.
ABOUT MAGISTRY.
XXXIV. The spiritual (so—called) power has no justification for its pomp in the teaching of Christ.
XXXV. But the laity has power and confirmation from the deed and doctrine of Christ.
XXXVI. All that the spiritual so—called state claims to have of power and protection belongs to the laity, if they wish to be Christians.
XXXVII. To them, furthermore, all Christians owe obedience without exception.
XXXVIII. In so far as they do not command that which is contrary to God.
XXXIX. Therefore all their laws shall be in harmony with the divine will, so that they protect the oppressed, even if he does not complain.
XL. They alone may put to death justly, also, only those who give public offence (if God is not offended let another thing be commanded).
XLI. If they give good advice and help to those for whom they must account to God, then these owe to them bodily assistance.
XLII. But if they are unfaithful and transgress the laws of Christ they may be deposed in the name of God.
XLIII. In short, the realm of him is best and most stable who rules in the name of God alone, and his is worst and most unstable who rules in accordance with his own will.
ABOUT PRAYER.
XLIV. Real petitioners call to God in spirit and truly, without great ado before men.
XLV. Hypocrites do their work so that they may be seen by men, also receive their reward in this life.
XLVI. Hence it must always follow that church—song and outcry without devoutness, and only for reward, is seeking either fame before the men or gain.
ABOUT OFFENCE.
XLVII. Bodily death a man should suffer before he offend or scandalize a Christian.
XLVIII. Whoever through stupidness or ignorance is offended without cause, he should not be left sick or weak, but he should be made strong, that he may not consider as a sin that which is not a sin.
XLIX. Greater offence I know not than that one does not allow priests to have wives, but permits them to hire prostitutes. Out upon the shame!
ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN.
L. God alone remits sin through Jesus Christ, his Son, and alone our Lord.
LI. Who assigns this to created beings detracts from the honor of God and gives it to him who is not God; this is real idolatry.
LII. Hence the confession which is made to the priest or neighbor shall not be declared to be a remittance of sin, but only a seeking for advice.
LIII. Works of penance coming from the counsel of human beings (except excommunication) do not cancel sin; they are imposed as a menace to others.
LIV. Christ has borne all our pains and labor. Therefore whoever assigns to works of penance what belongs to Christ errs and slanders God.
LV. Whoever pretends to remit to a penitent being any sin would not be a vicar of God or St. Peter, but of the devil.
LVI. Whoever remits any sin only for the sake of money is the companion of Simon and Balaam, and the real messenger of the devil personified.
ABOUT PURGATORY.
LVII. The true divine Scriptures know nothing about purgatory after this life.
LVIII. The sentence of the dead is known to God only.
LIX. And the less God has let us know concerning it, the less we should undertake to know about it.
LX. That mankind earnestly calls to God to show mercy to the dead I do not condemn, but to determine a period of time therefore (seven years for a mortal sin), and to lie for the sake of gain, is not human, but devilish.
ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD.
LXI. About the form of consecration which the priests have received recent times the Scriptures know nothing.
LXII. Furthermore, they [the Scriptures] recognize no priests except those who proclaim the word of God.
LXIII. They command honor should be shown, i.e. e., to furnish them with food for the body.
ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES.
LXIV. All those who recognize their errors shall not be allowed to suffer, but to die in peace, and thereafter arrange in a Christian manner their bequests to the Church.
LXV. Those who do not wish to confess, God will probably take care of. Hence no force shall be used against their body, unless it be that they behave so criminally that one cannot do without that.
LXVI. All the clerical superiors shall at once settle down, and with unanimity set up the cross of Christ, not the money—chests, or they will perish, for I tell you the ax is raised against the tree.
LXVII. If any one wishes conversation with me concerning interest, tithes, unbaptized children or confirmation, I am willing to answer.
Let no one undertake here to argue with sophistry or human foolishness, but come to the Scriptures to accept them as the judge (for the Scriptures breathe the Spirit of God), so that the truth either may be found, or if found, as I hope, retained. Amen.
Thus may God rule. (Inventory #: 5021)
Contents:
1. An Account of the First Zürich Disputation (29 January, 1523)
[Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)] Hegenwald, Erhard (fl. 1523)
Handlung der Versamlung in der loeblichen statt Zürich uff den xxix. Tag Jenners: vonn wegen des heyligen Evangelii zwischen der ersamen treffentlichen Bottschaft von Costentz: Huldrichen Zwinglii ... vor gesessnem Radt beschehen im M.D. xxiii. Jar
Zürich: (Christoph Froschauer), 1523
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: A-L4
FIRST EDITION. Historiated woodcut border.
An eye-witness account of the First Zürich Disputation, at which Zwingli answered charges of heresy and presented his 67 Articles, his statement of faith and the founding document of the Swiss Reformation. The Articles, which have been compared, in spirit, to Luther’s 95 Theses (1517) and the Augsburg Confession (1530), are printed in this report.
When the official notary failed to show up for the disputation, Erhard Hegenwald, author of this report, took it upon himself to record what he had witnessed. The book is of enormous historical importance for our knowledge of what transpired.
Background:
From 1516 to 1518 Zwingli served as pastor at Einsiedeln. Troubled by discrepancies between the Bible and Church practice, he developed an antipathy for the indulgence trade and began to question the authority of the pope. In 1518, he was invited to Zürich to serve as people’s priest of Zürich’s principal church (the Grossmünster).
Over the course of the next three years, influenced by Martin Luther’s writings, Zwingli advocated for and began to implement a program of church reform. Zwingli’s perceived radicalism and his refusal to align Zürich with France brought him into conflict with the French-aligned Swiss cantons and the bishop of Constance. In July 1522, Zwingli and a group of Zürich pastors petitioned the bishop for freedom of the pulpit and the abolition of clerical celibacy.
“The fermentation in Zürich reached such a fever pitch that the magistrates decided to hold a religious disputation. On January 29, 1523, with about six hundred persons present, Zwingli debated these new practices with Johann Faber (the bishop of Constance’s representative) in an attempt to persuade city magistrates of the validity of Reformation thought and practice. For the occasion, Zwingli had drawn up Sixty-seven Articles that maintained the vanity of apparatus and scheme of the Church of Rome, the supremacy of Scriptural authority, and the sufficiency of Christ's atonement for sin.
“An original feature of the theses was the principle of ecclesiastical polity. Zwingli believed that the congregation, not the hierarch, possesses the right to consider the discrepancies that may arise in matters of doctrine and practice. He further asserted that the administration of the Church belongs to state authorities, but if the authorities of the state went beyond what is allowed in Scripture, they were to be deposed. The town council of Zürich decided completely in Zwingli's favor, and his ideas soon won wide acceptance. Zwingli was vindicated of the charge of heresy and his Sixty-seven Articles, drawn up for the debate, became the first Reformed confession of faith.”(Flick, The Swiss Reformation)
For the text of the Sixty-Seven Articles, see Appendix 1. at the end of this description.
VD16 H 1252. Vischer, Zürcher Druckschriften, C 37. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 107a.
2. Zürich Rejects Outside Interference in Matters of Religion
Zürich City Council; Fry, Caspar (Zürich City Clerk)
Antwurten so ein Burgermeister, Radt, und der groß Radt, die man nempt, die zwey hundert der Statt Zürich, iren getrüwe lieben Eydgnossen, der ein liff Orten, über etlich artickel, jnen, inhalt einer instruction fürgehalten, gebe habend. Und beschehen ist uff den xxj. Tag des Monats Mertzen, Anno. &c. M.D. xxiiij.
Zürich: Hans Hager, 1524
Quarto: 14 lvs. A-B4, C6
ONE OF TWO EDITIONS, both printed by Hager. Hager’s printer’s device is on the final leaf.
At the Second Zürich Disputation (26-28 October, 1523), Zwingli’s reform program -including the view that images are forbidden by Scripture, that the mass is not a sacrifice, and that adult baptism (proposed by the Anabaptists) is unwarranted, were adopted by the Zürich council and put into practice.
In January 1524, the Swiss Diet then sitting at Lucerne sent a warning to Zürich not to implement Zwingli’s innovations. In this pamphlet, Zürich’s mayor, the city council, and the grand council of the canton (groß Radt), reject the diet’s warning, asserting that Zürich will not tolerate outside interference in matters of religion.
VD16 Z 580. Minster, Zwinglibibl., 113
3. Zwingli’s Program of Reform is Officially put into Practice
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Ein kurtze und christenliche inleitung, die ein ersamer Rat die ein ersamer rat der statt Zürich den seelsorgern und predicanten in iren stetten, landen und gebieten wonhafft zuogesant haben, damit sy die evangelische warheit einheillig fürhin verkündent und iren underthanen predigent. Ussgangen uff den xvij. tag Noue[m]bris M.D. XXIII.
Zürich: (Christoph Froschauer), 1523
Quarto: 22 lvs. Collation: A-E4, F2
FIRST EDITION. Date of publication from VD 16. Historiated woodcut border, Froschauer’s device on final leaf.
At the conclusion of the Second Zürich Disputation (26-28 October, 1523), the council directed Zwingli to compose a document laying out his vision for distribution to the clergy. The result was this tract, “A Short and Christian Introduction… sent to the pastors and preachers… so that they may unanimously proclaim the gospel truth and preach it to their subjects.”, which Zwingli wrote on 9 November and had published on 17 November 1523.
It begins with a handling of sin, then of the law. At greater length it treats of the Gospel as God's way of deliverance from the law; next upon the deliverance itself, the removal of the law, idolatry (and the worship of images), and the abolition of the mass.
Zwingli’s argument against images: “It is clear that the images and other representations which we have in the houses of worship have caused the risk of idolatry. Therefore they should not be allowed to remain there, nor in your chambers, nor in the market-place, nor anywhere else where one does them honor. Most importantly, they are not to be tolerated in the churches. If anyone desires to put historical representations on the outside of the churches, that may be allowed, so long as they do not incite to their worship. But when one begins to bow before these images and to worship them, then they are not to be tolerated anywhere in the wide world; for that is the beginning of idolatry, nay, is idolatry itself.”
VD16 Z597. Vischer, Zürcher Druckschriften, C 47. Rudolphi, Froschauer in Zürich, 81. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 23.
4. The Authority of Church Councils over the Pope – With a Letter by Ulrich von Hutten
Zärtlin, Konrad (fl. 1521); Hutten, Ulrich von (1488-1523); Toke, Heinrich (1390-1454)
Concilia wie man die halten sol. und von verleyhung geystlicher lehenpfrunden. Antzoeig damit, der Bäpst, Cardinälen, und aller Curtisanen List, Ursprung und Handel bitz uff diß Zeit. Ermanung das ein yeder bey dem rechten alten christlichen Glauben bleiben unnd sich zu heiner Newerung bewegen lassen soll, durch Herr Cunrat Zärtlin in 76 Artickel vervasszt.
Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1521
Quarto: 28 lvs. Collation: A-G4
FIRST EDITION. On the penultimate leaf there is a woodcut of Ulrich von Hutten in armor, framed by a four-part historiated border with the imperial arms in the lower register. A full-page portrait of Emperor Charles V is printed on the final leaf. A few light stains, light dampstain at head of final leaf.
Two tracts, with an introduction by the humanist poet and knight Ulrich von Hutten, an ardent adherent of Luther. The first, an anonymous argument for the superiority of Church councils over the pope, was written in the wake of the Council of Basel (1439), during which the anti-pope Felix V was elected. In the second, Conrad Zärtlin asserts that the doctrines of Luther are those of the early church and those of Rome a “tissue of human innovations invented by monks and universities.” The first tract is sometimes attributed to the “proto-reformer” Heinrich Toke (d. 1454).
The editor of the volume, the rebellious humanist-reformer Ulrich von Hutten, was one of the shining lights of the “new learning” and a fierce proponent of German nationalism. Crowned poet laureate by Emperor Maximilian I (d. 1519), Hutten quickly became a leading figure of the anti-papal movement in Germany. Brilliant and erratic, a poet and a soldier, with lofty ambitions for himself and his nation, Hutten eventually led an armed uprising in a failed effort to jump-start a revolution that had failed to come quickly enough for him. In 1523, his life in tatters and with no one to protect him, Hutten fled to Zurich, where he would die alone, overcome by syphilis, at the age of 35.
VD16 K 2098.
5. “The Vulture Plucked” – A Satirical Account of the First Zürich Disputation
Anonymous [Possibly Hutten, Ulrich von (1488-1523)]
Das gyren rupffen. Halt inn wie Johans Schmid vicarge ze costenz, mit dem buechle darinn er verheißt ein ware bericht wie es uff den. 29. tag Jenners. M.D.xxiij. ze Zürich gangen sye, sich übersehe hat. Jst voll schimpffs unnd ernstes.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1523
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: A-L4
FIRST (SOLE) EDITION. Leaf A3 with marginal tear (no loss).
A sometimes vicious satirical account of the First Zürich Disputation, poking fun at Zwingli’s opponent in the debate, Johann Faber (1478-1541 ), vicar-general of the diocese of Constance, who -in reaction to the Hegenwald account (see item 1 above) - had printed his own account of the debate, “Warlich Undenichtung”, painting himself the winner. In “The Vulture Plucked”, a fictional Faber is forced to defend himself against charges of lying and plagiarism.
When the book appeared, Faber complained to the Zürich authorities but no action was taken against the publisher. Although it is a satire, the book includes details of the debate not found in either of the two other printed accounts. The book has been tentatively attributed to the German knight-poet-humanist-reformer Ulrich von Hutten, who at the time was in exile, dying of syphilis.
“The pamphlet was entitled ‘Das Gyren Rupffen’, using a play on Faber's family name to personify him as the ‘plucked vulture.’ The satire was written in the form of dialogue between Faber and seven ‘simple manual laborers’ said to be present at the disputation, each of whom embarks on lengthy verbal assaults in response to terse quotes from Faber's account and from the Hegenwald account.
“‘Das Gyren Rupffen’ displays a duality of angry satire and comic playfulness in which Faber is portrayed as an incompetent fool, while his performance at the disputation is described by numerous scatological and at times ridiculous metaphors. Furthermore, the Roman Church becomes the object of the author's wrath, and is portrayed as the source of endless vice and tyranny over the German people. It is the instrument of Lucifer and Belial, and extracts the hard-earned money of the German people in order to support its vices and ostentatious living.”(Lewis, Ulrich von Hutten, Johann Faber, and Das Gyren Rupffen: A Knight's Last Campaign?)
VD16 G 4167.
6. The Shepherd
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Der Hirt. Wie man die waren christlichen Hirten, und widrumm die valschen erkennen, ouch wie man sich mit inen halten sölle
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1524
Quarto: 36 lvs. Collation: i4, A-H4
SECOND EDITION (of two, both by Froschauer). Historiated woodcut title border by Hans Holbein, decorated with instruments, armor, and a scene of Christ calling the weary and sick in the lower register.
Zwingli’s important sermon on the corrupt state of the clergy, which he published by request in March, 1524, under the title “The Shepherd: How to recognize true Christian pastors and false ones, and how to deal with them.”
“He represents Christ as the good Shepherd in contrast with the selfish hirelings, according to the parable in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Among the false shepherds he counts the bishops who do not preach at all; those priests who teach their own dreams instead of the Word of God; those who preach the Word but for the glorification of popery; those who deny their preaching by their conduct; those who preach for filthy lucre; and, finally, all who mislead men away from the Creator to the creature. Zwingli treats the papists as refined idolaters, and repeatedly denounces idolatry as the root of the errors and abuses of the Church.”(Schaff)
VD16 Z 858. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 25b
7. Christians unjustly Burdened by Canon Law
Zwick, Johann (ca. 1496-1542)
Underrichtung warumb die Ee uss menschlichem Gzatz in vyl grad verbotten sey/ und das die Vereeungen göttlich geschehen/ und aber von dem menschen ungöttlich zertrent/ widerumb föllind bestätiget werden.
(Basel: Valentin Curio, 1524)
Quarto: 24 lvs. Collation: a-f4
FIRST EDITION? With a four-part woodcut title page border featuring elephants, giraffes, and other exotic animals being wrangled by “natives” with headdresses.
Johannes Zwick was a German theologian, jurist, and songwriter sympathetic to the reform movement. In 1523, Zwick was approached by two people who wanted to be married but were too closely related to each other according to canon law (and they did not have the 20 ducats necessary for a papal dispensation.) After much study and contemplation, Zwick performed the ceremony. In this tract, addressed to "all Christian pastors", Zwick aims to make them aware that the consciences of many Christians are wrongly burdened by papal laws, which are not God’s but man’s (“menschlichem gesatz”).
VD16 Z 736.
8. The Tower of Misguided Doctrine
Fener, Georg (fl. 1521)
Sturm wider ain laymen thurn ains römischen predigers, der auß der hailigen Meßgern ain opffer machte.
(Augsburg: Jörg Nadler, 1521)
Quarto: 4 lvs.
ONE OF FOUR PRINTINGS. Small woodcut of a city on the title page.
"It has recently come to my attention that a preacher has constructed a tower built of his theological arguments, boasting that his tower cannot be toppled or destroyed. However, this tower has not been fortified with cornerstones of Gospel truth but rather with the opinions of men.”(Georg Fener)
The “Assault Against the Tower of a Roman Preacher’ is a sharp critique of Roman Catholic doctrines, particularly the Mass as a perpetual sacrificial act. The author argues that this doctrine, built on human tradition and false interpretations, must be dismantled to restore biblical truth.
The author, Georg Fener, begins by addressing a preacher's claim that his doctrinal "tower" is unshakable. But he is misguided, for he has fortified his tower with the teachings of Church Fathers like Cyprian, rather than the words of the Bible. The assertion that the Mass is both a sacrifice and confers grace is condemned. Fener argues that faith, not ritual, is central to receiving grace.
Citing Hebrews 9:26-28, the author emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice was a singular and sufficient event that cannot be repeated. The doctrine of the Mass as a continual offering undermines the finality of Christ's atonement. Rituals without faith distort the Gospel message, as salvation is achieved through faith alone, not through human works or ceremonies.
The author harshly criticizes the clergy for moral corruption and financial exploitation. Priests, he claims, live in sin while using the Mass to extort money from the laity. Such practices betray Christ’s humility and the simplicity of the Gospel.
True worship, according to the author, must align with Scripture and Christ's teachings. The Mass, instituted at the Last Supper, is a memorial of Christ's sacrifice, not a repeated offering. Preaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments in faith are the core of Christian worship. Human inventions, superstition, and greed must be rejected.
Fener calls for Christians to reject teachings that contradict Scripture and return to the simplicity and sufficiency of the Gospel. Ministers must be held accountable, and the exploitation of believers must end. Faith, not ritual, is the foundation of salvation, and the Gospel alone is the truth that must guide the Church.
VD16 F 731.
9. Zwingli Reforms the Mass
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
De Canone Missae Epichiresis.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1523
Quarto: 28 lvs. Collation: a-g4
FIRST EDITION. With a four part woodcut title border with saints framing a woodcut of the risen Christ.
In his “Critical Evaluation of the Canon of the Mass”, Zwingli focused on the portion of the Mass known as the Canon, the standardized prayer recited over the bread and cup in the Lord’s supper portion of the liturgy.
“The core of the Canon was very ancient. But the Canon of the Mass had also come to express the latter doctrines of Christ’s bodily presence (real presence) and the continuation of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice in the Mass. These later doctrinal expressions… were an intermingling of new ideas with ancient formulas, giving to those ancient formulas meanings it is doubtful that they had at their inception. For example, the bread and cup are called ‘a holy offering, a victim without blemish.’
“Zwingli dispensed with the Canon entirely. In its place he set four prayers in Latin of his own composition. The first prayer recounts man’s fall and Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. The present action of the supper was not to be conceived as a sacrifice, but as a spiritual feast. In the second prayer Zwingli (who rejected Christ’s bodily presence in the supper) beseeched God that those who partook would be nourished by the spiritual food of God’s word. In the third prayer the communion of the supper is defined as a sharing by remembering: “so we firmly believe that he offered himself to be the food of our souls under the forms of bread and wine, so that the memory of his generous deed may never be abolished.” The final prayer is a request for divine aid that the recipients may “worthily and faithfully join the sacred banquet of your Son, of which he himself is both our host and our most delectable food.”(Kinneer, Roots of Reformed Worship)
VD16 Z 802. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 21
10. Desist from Speaking ill of Zürich
Myconius, Oswald (1488-1552)
Osvaldi Myconii Lucernani ad sacerdotes Helvetiae, qui Tigurinis male loquu[n]tur suasoria, ut male loqui desinant.
Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1524
Quarto: 26 lvs. Collation: A-E4, F6
SOLE EDITION. Historiated woodcut title border by Hans Holbein, decorated with instruments, armor, and a scene of Christ calling the weary and sick in the lower register. Froschauer’s printer’s device on final leaf.
A book directed at the Swiss priests who were critical of Zwingli and opposed to Zürich’s reform movement, written by one of Zwingli’s closest confederates, the humanist theologian Oswald Myconius of Lucerne. Myconius write his book in preparation for the Third Zürich Disputation, held on 20 January, 1524. The epistle is dated 19 January (“Undecimo Kalend. Februarii”).
VD16 G 829.
11. Priests Should be Allowed to Marry
Zwingli, Huldrych (1484-1531)
Suplicatio Quorundam apud Helvetios Evangelistarum ad D. D. Hugonem Episcopum Constantiensem ne se induci patiatur ut quicquam in pre̜iudicium Euangelij promulget neue scortationis scandalum ultra ferat, sed presbyteris uxores ducere permittat aut salte[m] ad eo[rum] nuptias conniueat.
(Zürich: Christoph Froschauer), 1524
Quarto: 8 lvs. Collation: a-b4
SECOND OF THREE EDITIONS. With a historiated woodcut title border.
A petition addressed to Hugo von Hohenlandenberg, Bishop of Constance (1457-1532), signed by eleven Swiss evangelicals, including Zwingli, who is generally considered the actual author of the work. Zwingli argues that clerical celibacy is not scriptural, and that Hugo should allow priests to marry (or at least turn a blind eye to the practice) and free himself from the ongoing scandal of the “whore-mongering” monks and priests who illicitly keep concubines.
Not all men, the petitioners argue, are naturally suited to celibacy, so those who are consumed by passion should be allowed to marry, rather than be left to be “crushed by human ordinances, struggling in vain against the weakness of the flesh, for the law stimulates to sin rather than restrains it.”
Zwingli had a vested interest in the issue. In 1522 he secretly married Anna Reinhard (c. 1484–1538), a widow and member of his congregation. A second, public marriage ceremony would be held two years later, on 2 April 1524.
VD16 Z 900. Finsler, Zwingli-Bibliographie, 3b
12. Against the Cult of the Saints
Lonicer, Johannes (1499-1569)
Catechesis De bona dei voluntate, erga quemuis Christianum. Deque sanctorum cultu et invocatione
(Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1523)
Quarto: 36 lvs. Collation: a-i4
FIRST EDITION. With an attractive four-part woodcut title border featuring musical instruments and putti engaged in a wrestling match.
Johann Lonicer, Augustinian monk, poet, and eventual adherent of the reform, studied under Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg in 1521. He later taught Greek and Hebrew at the University of Marburg.
In this tract, Lonicer argues that Christ is the sole mediator between God and man, and our sole intercessor, echoing Zwingli’s argument in “On the Canon of the Mass”(item 9 above). “Solus Christus est mediator dei et hominum, idemque unus intercessor et interpellator noster, nullus Sanctorum, quantum vis magnus praedicetur”.
It is directed against the preaching (favouring the saints) of Balthassar Sattlers, parish priest of Esslingen, where Lonicer resided after receiving his Wittenberg degree. The essence of the work is a confutation, argument by argument, of his adversary’s thesis, which we know only from Lonicer’s book.
VD16 L 2436.
13. A Personal Dispute strikes a Common Nerve
Wurm, Matthias (also Mathis), von Geudertheim (ca. 1485-after 1529)
Balaams Eselin. Von dem bann: das er umb geltschuld und andre geringe sachen nit mag Christlich gefelt werden. Und das aller geystlicher standt.
(Straßburg: Matthias Schürer), 1522
Quarto: 44 lvs. Collation: a-l4
SECOND EDITION of three. With a woodcut title page border.
A lengthy pamphlet against the abuse of the ban (a form of excommunication) for minor offences such as owing monetary debts. The impetus for the book was a long-running dispute between the author, Matthias Wurm von Geudertheim, and the convent of Saint-Nicolas-aux-Ondes, which his sister Anna had entered before 1512. The conflict eventually resulted in the ban being placed on the author. This pamphlet, in which Wurm also advocates for the subordination of church authority to secular governance, resonated with a wide audience.
The conflict began in 1511-1512 when the convent failed to pay a property-related fee owed to Wurm and his brother. After losing their case in court, the brothers retaliated in 1517 by refusing to pay an annual pension tied to Anna's entry into the convent.
The matter escalated to the episcopal court, which threatened the brothers with excommunication. By 1521, the conflict involved both the city of Strasbourg and the Emperor, with the Strasbourg Senate mediating a resolution to the first dispute. However, the second issue persisted, leading to a minor excommunication against Wurm by the official Jacob von Gottesheim.
Wurm responded with this pamphlet, titled “Balaam's Donkey: On the Ban, that it cannot be Christianly imposed for monetary debt and other minor matters, and that all spiritual estates are obliged to obey secular authority...", in which the author, likening himself to the donkey of the Moabite soothsayer Balaam (Numbers 22:22) who tried to turn his master (here referred to as Gottesheim, representative of the official Church) away from the wrong path, denounces the abuses of excommunication and the privileged status of the clergy who should be subject to civil authority in matters of temporal affairs.
VD16 W 4659.
14. The Parable of the Ten Talents
Stifel, Michael (1487-1567)
Evangelium von den zehen pfunden Matthei. am XXV. mitt schöner christlicher ußlegung.
(Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1522)
Quarto: 32 lvs. Collation: a-h4 (leaf h4 is blank)
SOLE EDITION. With a woodcut title border with putti playing in trees. Small woodcut of Christ on the penultimate leaf. Leaf b1 with a 16th c. paper repair using red wax.
A sermon on the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) by the theologian and mathematician Michael Stifel of Esslingen. Stifel had joined the Augustinian order in his home town and was ordained priest in 1511. Convinced by Luther’s writings that monasticism was an abomination, he left his monastery in 1522 and worked briefly as a preacher in the Taunus. Stifel preached this sermon on 8 September, a month before his departure for Wittenberg, where he would be received as Luther’s guest.
In the Parable of the Talents, a master entrusts his servants with varying amounts of wealth before departing on a journey. Upon his return, he assesses how each has managed his money, rewarding those who have wisely invested and grown their allotment, and reprimanding the one who, out of fear, hid his talent without increasing its value.
Stifel's work offers an interpretation of the parable, emphasizing the importance of utilizing God-given gifts responsibly and the spiritual consequences of neglecting one's duties. He encourages believers to actively engage their abilities in the service of God and community.
Stifel was drawn to mysticism. Deeply immersed in the Book of Revelations, Stifel was convinced that Pope Leo X was the Beast of the Apocalypse and that Luther was the angel. He revealed and explained his interpretation in an apocalyptic poem, a copy of which is bound as item 17 in this volume.
See VD16 S 9011.
15. Two Priests Arrested for Living with Women
Fuchs von Walburg, Jakob (1480-1539)
Ain schöner Sendbrieff an Bischof von Wirtzburg. Darinn auß hayliger geschryfft Priester Ee beschirmbt vnnd gegründt wirdt
(Augsburg: Heinrich Steiner, 1523)
Quarto: 4 lvs.
SECOND(?) EDITION. With a fine historiated woodcut border.
An open letter by Jakob Fuchs the Elder, a humanist canon in Würzburg, pleading for leniency for two high-ranking clerics, Johann Apel and Friedrich Fischer, who had been arrested for living with women in marriage-like relationships.
The letter is addressed to Konrad von Thüngen (c. 1466 – 16 June 1540) Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, whom Apfel served as an advisor. The bishop had asked Apel to end his relationship but he refused, citing his adherence to the Gospel and Luther’s teachings (Luther wrote publicly on his behalf.)
“Bishop von Thüngen had both Apel and Fischer arrested. Their wives were able to flee in time because another canon, the humanist Jacob Fuchs the Younger, had warned them in advance. In this open letter to Bishop von Thüngen, Jakob Fuchs the Elder, a humanist canon in Würzburg, also intervened on behalf of the two arrested colleagues. As a result, both the Elder and the Younger Fuchs were compelled to leave the bishopric of Würzburg…
“Since all the clerics involved came from well-respected families and enjoyed good reputations in the empire-spanning network of highly placed humanists, the Würzburg case became a political affair…. After long hesitation, Bishop Konrad finally bowed to the political pressure and, after they had taken an oath of obedience, released Apel and Fischer in August 1523. Both, however, lost their benefices and were exiled from the territories subject to the prince-bishop’s rule.”
In addition to being adherent to Luther’s views, Fuchs might have had another interest at heart when he took up the cause of Apel and Fischer. A third priest, Paul Speratus, had also been living in a secret marriage with a woman named Anna Fuchs, possibly Fuchs’ sister or daughter.
VD16 F 3218.
16. Luther as the Angel of Apocalypse
Stifel, Michael, von Esslingen (1487-1567)
Bruder Michael Styfel Augustiner von Eßlingen, Von der Christförmigen, rechtgegründten leer Doctoris Martin Luthers, ein überuß schön kunstlich lyed sampt seiner neben ußlegung.
Straßburg: Johann Schott, 1522
Quarto: 32 lvs. Collation: a-h4 (leaf h4 is blank)
SECOND EDITION (of three. The first ed. was also printed by Schott).
With a full-page portrait of Martin Luther by Hans Baldung Grien (1485-1545). Luther is shown with tonsure, wearing his monk’s habit and holding a book while the Holy Spirit -in the form of a dove- hovers above his head. There is also a small full-length woodcut of Luther in his monk’s habit (by Grien or Hans Weiditz) on the title and again on the penultimate leaf (the latter impression is set within an elaborate woodcut border.)
A remarkable apocalyptic poem by the theologian and mathematician Michael Stifel of Esslingen. An Augustinian monk who was heavily influenced by Luther, Stifel was drawn to mysticism. Deeply immersed in the Book of Revelations, Stifel became convinced that Pope Leo X was the Beast of the Apocalypse and that Luther was the angel.
In the spring of 1522 he published this poem: "Brother On the Christian-shaped, rightly founded doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther, a superbly artistic song with its accompanying exposition.”
“If it was bold for a monk, albeit a member of the Wittenberg reformer's order, to have his name printed on such a title page, the content was by no means less bold. The preface loudly professes that Luther was chosen by God to expose the deception of the Antichrist, and that the ban on reading Luther's writings should therefore not be observed. This opinion is then expressed in four-line rhyming stanzas, each of which is followed by a longer explanation in prose. The first stanza is based on Revelation XIV: 6, in which “John writes to us clearly about an angel who should preach God's word”… Stifel explains that this angel, who flies through the heavens, holding an eternal gospel which he announces to the inhabitants of the earth, is Doctor Martin Luther.”(Neue Deutsche Biographie)
The book was mocked by the satirist Thomas Murner, igniting a pamphlet war between the two men.
VD16 S 9020.
17. A Netherlandish “Proto-reformer”
Gansfort, Wessel (ca. 1419-1489)
Von gaistlich gewalt und würdigkhait, warer und rechter gehorsam, unnd wievil der Prelaten gepott unnd gesatz die underthon verpinden.
(Augsburg: Sigmund Grimm and Marx Wirsung, 1522)
Quarto: 12 lvs. Collation: A-C4
ONE OF TWO EDITIONS. The other was printed at Nuremberg by Peypus.
First vernacular edition of this book on ecclesiastical dignity and power, written by the 15th c. Netherlandish “proto-reformer” Wessel Gansfort of Groningen. Gansfort asserts that subjects of the Pope are not bound to believe him unless he is right in his belief. These ideas resonated with the early reformers, particularly at this early period when they were challenging the authority of the Pope. Luther, in a foreword to a collection of Wessel’s letters, called him ‘taught by God’ (‘theodidactus’, from John 6:45 and 1 Thess. 4:9).
The text, “Of spiritual power and dignity, true and right obedience, and to what degree the prelates' commands and laws should bind their subjects”, was also published in the original Latin (‘De dignitate et potestate ecclesiastica’) as the third part of a collection of Gansfort’s writings, “Farrago rerum theologicarum”(Basel, 1522).
“Born at Groningen in about the year 1419, Gansfort first attended and then taught school at Zwolle, where he came into contact with the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. He went on to study at the University of Cologne and later at Louvain and Paris. He taught at Cologne for three years and then, in 1459, he moved back to Paris, where he spent the next fifteen years, punctuated by two visits to Rome (at which time he became acquainted with Pope Sixtus IV), building a substantial reputation as a scholar, abandoning his earlier commitment to the 'realist' school in philosophy and adopting the 'nominalist' stance that he was to maintain for the rest of his life. Around 1475 he returned to the Netherlands and to Zwolle. There, as a man of known 'liberal' opinions to matters theological, who 'was held in danger from the inquisition', he was fortunate enough to enjoy the protection of Bishop David of Burgundy whom he, in turn, furnished with medical advice. He spent his last years in his native Groningen where, until his death in 1489, he found lodgings at the Poor Clares' convent.”(Oakley, p. 215)
VD16 V 2706. The full title of the Latin original is: “De potestate ecclesiastica. De vera et recta obedientia: et quantum obligent subditos mandata et statuta praelatorum.”
Appendix 1. THE SIXTY—SEVEN ARTICLES OF ZWINGLI.
“The articles and opinions below, I, Ulrich Zwingli, confess to have preached in the worthy city of Zürich as based upon the Scriptures which are called inspired by God, and I offer to protect and conquer with the said articles, and where I have not now correctly understood said Scriptures I shall allow myself to be taught better, but only from said Scriptures.
I. All who say that the Gospel is invalid without the confirmation of the Church err and slander God.
II. The sum and substance of the Gospel is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has made known to us the will of his heavenly Father, and has with his innocence released us from death and reconciled God.
III. Hence Christ is the only way to salvation for all who ever were, are and shall be.
IV. Who seeks or points out another door errs, yes, he is a murderer of souls and a thief.
V. Therefore all who consider other teachings equal to or higher than the Gospel err, and do not know what the Gospel is.
VI. For Jesus Christ is the guide and leader, promised by God to all human beings, which promise was fulfilled.
VII. That he is an eternal salvation and head of all believers, who are his body, but which is dead and can do nothing without him.
VIII. From this follows first that all who dwell in the head are members and children of God, and that it is the church or communion of the saints, the bride of Christ, Ecclesia catholica.
IX. Furthermore, that as the members of the body can do nothing without the control of the head, so no one in the body of Christ can do the least without his head, Christ.
X. As that man is mad whose limbs (try to) do something without his head, tearing, wounding, injuring himself; thus when the members of Christ undertake something without their head, Christ, they are mad, and injure and burden themselves with unwise ordinances.
XI. Hence we see in the clerical (so—called) ordinances, concerning their splendor, riches, classes, titles, laws, a cause of all foolishness, for they do not also agree with the head.
XII. Thus they still rage, not on account of the head (for that one is eager to bring forth in these times from the grace of God,) but because one will not let them rage, but tries to compel them to listen to the head.
XIII. Where this (the head) is hearkened to one learns clearly and plainly the will of God, and man is attracted by his spirit to him and changed into him.
XIV. Therefore all Christian people shall use their best diligence that the Gospel of Christ be preached alike everywhere.
XV. For in the faith rests our salvation, and in unbelief our damnation; for all truth is clear in him.
XVI. In the Gospel one learns that human doctrines and decrees do not aid in salvation.
ABOUT THE POPE.
XVII. That Christ is the only eternal high priest, from which it follows that those who have called themselves high priests have opposed the honor and power of Christ, yes, cast it out.
ABOUT THE MASS.
XVIII. That Christ, having sacrificed himself once, is to eternity a certain and valid sacrifice for the sins of all faithful, from which it follows that the mass is not a sacrifice, but is a remembrance of the sacrifice and assurance of the salvation which Christ has given us.
XIX. That Christ is the only mediator between God and us.
ABOUT THE INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS.
XX. That God desires to give us all things in his name, whence it follows that outside of this life we need no mediator except himself.
XXI. That when we pray for each other on earth, we do so in such manner that we believe that all things are given to us through Christ alone.
ABOUT GOOD WORKS.
XXII. That Christ is our justice, from which follows that our works in so far as they are good, so far they are of Christ, but in so far as they are ours, they are neither right nor good.
CONCERNING CLERICAL PROPERTY.
XXIII. That Christ scorns the property and pomp of this world, whence from it follows that those who attract wealth to themselves in his name slander him terribly when they make him a pretext for their avarice and willfulness.
CONCERNING THE FORBIDDING OF FOOD.
XXIV. That no Christian is bound to do those things which God has not decreed, therefore one may eat at all times all food, from which one learns that the decree about cheese and butter is a Roman swindle.
ABOUT HOLIDAY AND PILGRIMAGE.
XXV. That time and place is under the jurisdiction of Christian people, and man with them, from which is learned that those who fix time and place deprive the Christians of their liberty.
ABOUT HOODS, DRESS, INSIGNIA.
XXVI. That God is displeased with nothing so much as with hypocrisy; from which is learned that all is gross hypocrisy and profligacy which is mere show before men. Under this condemnation fall hoods, insignia, plates, etc.
ABOUT ORDER AND SECTS.
XXVII. That all Christian men are brethren of Christ and brethren of one another, and shall create no father (for themselves) on earth. Under this condemnation fall orders, sects, brotherhoods, etc.
ABOUT THE MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTS.
XXVIII. That all which God has allowed or not forbidden is righteous, hence marriage is permitted to all human beings.
XXIX. That all who are known as clergy sin when they do not protect themselves by marriage after they have become conscious that God has not enabled them to remain chaste.
ABOUT THE VOW OF CHASTITY.
XXX. That those who promise chastity [outside of matrimony] take foolishly or childishly too much upon themselves, from which is learned that those who make such vows do wrong to the pious being.
ABOUT THE BAN.
XXXI. That no special person can impose the ban [excommunication] upon any one, except the Church, that is the [full] congregation of those among whom the one to be banned dwells, together with their watchman, i.e., the pastor.
XXXII. That one may ban only him who gives public offence.
ABOUT ILLEGAL PROPERTY.
XXXIII. That property unrighteously acquired shall not be given to temples, monasteries, cathedrals, clergy or nuns, but to the needy, if it cannot be returned to the legal owner.
ABOUT MAGISTRY.
XXXIV. The spiritual (so—called) power has no justification for its pomp in the teaching of Christ.
XXXV. But the laity has power and confirmation from the deed and doctrine of Christ.
XXXVI. All that the spiritual so—called state claims to have of power and protection belongs to the laity, if they wish to be Christians.
XXXVII. To them, furthermore, all Christians owe obedience without exception.
XXXVIII. In so far as they do not command that which is contrary to God.
XXXIX. Therefore all their laws shall be in harmony with the divine will, so that they protect the oppressed, even if he does not complain.
XL. They alone may put to death justly, also, only those who give public offence (if God is not offended let another thing be commanded).
XLI. If they give good advice and help to those for whom they must account to God, then these owe to them bodily assistance.
XLII. But if they are unfaithful and transgress the laws of Christ they may be deposed in the name of God.
XLIII. In short, the realm of him is best and most stable who rules in the name of God alone, and his is worst and most unstable who rules in accordance with his own will.
ABOUT PRAYER.
XLIV. Real petitioners call to God in spirit and truly, without great ado before men.
XLV. Hypocrites do their work so that they may be seen by men, also receive their reward in this life.
XLVI. Hence it must always follow that church—song and outcry without devoutness, and only for reward, is seeking either fame before the men or gain.
ABOUT OFFENCE.
XLVII. Bodily death a man should suffer before he offend or scandalize a Christian.
XLVIII. Whoever through stupidness or ignorance is offended without cause, he should not be left sick or weak, but he should be made strong, that he may not consider as a sin that which is not a sin.
XLIX. Greater offence I know not than that one does not allow priests to have wives, but permits them to hire prostitutes. Out upon the shame!
ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN.
L. God alone remits sin through Jesus Christ, his Son, and alone our Lord.
LI. Who assigns this to created beings detracts from the honor of God and gives it to him who is not God; this is real idolatry.
LII. Hence the confession which is made to the priest or neighbor shall not be declared to be a remittance of sin, but only a seeking for advice.
LIII. Works of penance coming from the counsel of human beings (except excommunication) do not cancel sin; they are imposed as a menace to others.
LIV. Christ has borne all our pains and labor. Therefore whoever assigns to works of penance what belongs to Christ errs and slanders God.
LV. Whoever pretends to remit to a penitent being any sin would not be a vicar of God or St. Peter, but of the devil.
LVI. Whoever remits any sin only for the sake of money is the companion of Simon and Balaam, and the real messenger of the devil personified.
ABOUT PURGATORY.
LVII. The true divine Scriptures know nothing about purgatory after this life.
LVIII. The sentence of the dead is known to God only.
LIX. And the less God has let us know concerning it, the less we should undertake to know about it.
LX. That mankind earnestly calls to God to show mercy to the dead I do not condemn, but to determine a period of time therefore (seven years for a mortal sin), and to lie for the sake of gain, is not human, but devilish.
ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD.
LXI. About the form of consecration which the priests have received recent times the Scriptures know nothing.
LXII. Furthermore, they [the Scriptures] recognize no priests except those who proclaim the word of God.
LXIII. They command honor should be shown, i.e. e., to furnish them with food for the body.
ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES.
LXIV. All those who recognize their errors shall not be allowed to suffer, but to die in peace, and thereafter arrange in a Christian manner their bequests to the Church.
LXV. Those who do not wish to confess, God will probably take care of. Hence no force shall be used against their body, unless it be that they behave so criminally that one cannot do without that.
LXVI. All the clerical superiors shall at once settle down, and with unanimity set up the cross of Christ, not the money—chests, or they will perish, for I tell you the ax is raised against the tree.
LXVII. If any one wishes conversation with me concerning interest, tithes, unbaptized children or confirmation, I am willing to answer.
Let no one undertake here to argue with sophistry or human foolishness, but come to the Scriptures to accept them as the judge (for the Scriptures breathe the Spirit of God), so that the truth either may be found, or if found, as I hope, retained. Amen.
Thus may God rule. (Inventory #: 5021)
(202) 907-7429![Vitae Duodecim Vicecomitum Mediolani Principum. [Bound with] Estienne, Charles (1504-1564), Abbregé de l'histoire Des Vicontes Et Dvcz de Milan, le droict desquels appartient a la couronne de France. Paris: Charles Estienne 1552](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/563/284/1673284563.0.m.jpg)
