Ulrich Zwingli
1484-1531 Swiss reformer

Ulrich Zwingli was educated at schools in Basel and Burn, Switzerland, and Vienna, Austria. He became a parish priest in 1506 and, on becoming pastor of the great Minster Church in Zurich, he began to preach against the unscriptural practices in the Catholic Church. He made an open break with Rome in 1522 after studying the works of Martin Luther.

The break was completed in 1525 when he replaced the Roman Mass with the first reformed communion service at his church. Zwingli differed with Luther in his views on communion, in that he maintained that the Lord's Supper is a memorial ordinance only, and it is found in I Corinthians, chapters 7 through 9. He participated in armed warfare against the Catholic states around him, and died in battle, sword in hand, defending the Bible over tradition.