The Reformation
Zurich, Geneva
Key figures: Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin
Further reading: Huldrych Zwingli (Wikipedia)
From 1519 Huldrych Zwingli, preacher at the Grossmünster in Zurich, called for a return to Scripture alone: he abolished the Mass, closed the monasteries and removed images from the churches. The Reformation spread to Bern, Basel and Schaffhausen, while the cantons of central Switzerland remained Catholic. Zwingli died in 1531 at the Battle of Kappel.
In Geneva, from 1541, John Calvin made the city the «Protestant Rome», a model for the Reformed of France, the Netherlands, Scotland and America. The religious divide would mark Swiss history for more than three centuries.
Hans Asper, Portrait of Huldrych Zwingli, 1531
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
John Calvin, after Cristofano dell'Altissimo, 16th century
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Grossmünster in Zurich, where Zwingli preached
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0