Ligues, voulons et devons leur donner liberallement ; à sçavoir aux treize Cantons, à un chacun, particulièrement aussi au Païs de Walais deux mil francs, et les leur faire délivrer annuellement en la Ville de Lion au jour de Nôtre-Dame de Chandeleur, commençant à la prochaine venant et toujours ensuivant au même jour. Et quant aux Grisons' nous voulons qu'ils soient entretenus en la maniere qu'ils estoient par feu de noble recordation le Roi Louis XII. Item, promettons ausdits treize Cantons outre la somme susdite leur paier et délivrer annuellement encore deux mil francs, comme iceux les ont départis à leurs Coalliez, ainsi que s'ensuit; à sçavoir l'Abbé de Saint Gal et son Abbaie, et à la Comté de Togemburg six cens francs qui est à chacune partie trois cens livres, à la Ville de Milhuzen quatre cens, et aux sujets de la Comté de Gruieres six cens francs, à sçavoir à ceux de Gissenai, et à ceux de dessus de Volten quatre cens francs, et à ceux de la Ville de Gruieres, compris ceux qui sont dessous le Volten, ensemble ceux qui sont de la Seigneurie de Corbieres et leurs adherans, les autres deux cens francs.

No. 155. The Federal Constitution.

The Swissers, which are those people whom the ancients called Helvetians, have their habitations in the highest mountaines of Jura, of Valesia, and S. Godar: and are naturally valiant, warlike, and rude, and for the sterilitie of the country, rather shepheards than tillers of the ground. They have bene in times past under the subjection of the Dukes of Austria, whose jurisdiction they have shaken off many yeares since. They govern themselves, without any dependencie of either Emperours, Kings or other Princes. They are devided into thirteene communalties, which they call Cantons, each of them being severally governed by their particular Magistrates, lawes and ordinances. They hold their Councell every yeare, or more often if occasion require, wherein they dispute of universall affaires, their assemblies and meetings being not subject to certaintie of places, but referred as best pleaseth the Deputies of every Canton. They call those assemblies dyots or journeys, according to the custom of the Germains: wherein they deliberate of peace, of warre, of confederations, of the demands of such as make instance to levie souldiers by publike decree, or that such as are willing may be perBy the treaty of 1509 they received 6000 francs per annum.

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mitted and of such things as appertaine to their publike good. When they agree by publike decree to deliver souldiers, the Cantons chuse among themselves a Captaine generall, to whom they give the banner with the Ensign and name publike. Their unitie and the glory of their armes hath made famous the name of this so savage and barbarous a nation: insomuch as by their naturall valour, joyned to due discipline and order, they have not only at all times valiantly defended their own country, but have also employed themselves in forreine wars, and performed singular feates of armes to their perpetuall praise; which had been without all comparison far greater, if they had employed their forces for their owne jurisdiction, and not bene mercenary for the increasing of the dominion of strangers, or if they had set before their eyes an end more noble than the desire of money, by the love whereof suffering themselves to be corrupted, they have lost the occasion to be feared and redoubted in Italy. For, coming out of their countrey no otherwise but as mercenary souldiers, they have carried backe no publicke fruite of their victories: the desire of gaine making them to follow armies with huge pensions, and new demands of payes almost intollerable and besides, to such as wage them, they carry themselves very frowardly and obstinately. At home, the chief of them forbeare not to receive gifts and pensions of Princes, to follow and favour their faction in their dyots. By reason whereof, publike things being referred to private profite, and favours and voices being made vendible and corrupted, discords by litle and litle have crept in among themselves, whereby it came to passe, that matters which had bin approved in their dyots by the most part of the Cantons, being not embraced and followed of the residue, they fell at last and that not long since, to manifest warres among themselves, much to the diminution of the authoritie which they bare in the world. Somewhat below these be certaine townes and villages inhabited by a people called Valesians,' as having their dwellings in valleys; they are inferior to the Swissers in number, in publike authoritie, and in valour, for that in the judgement of all men they are not so hardy as the Swissers. There is also, yet more lower than these, another sort of people called Grisons, which are

1 The allied' (1416) Confederation of the Vallais (cf. Oechsli, op. cit. i. No. 53).

The allied' (1497, 8) Confederation of the Graubünden or Grisons (ibid. Nos. 86, 87).

governed by three Cantons, and thereupon are called Lords of the three Leagues. The capital town of their country is called Coire: they have societie and confederation with the Swissers, and with them they go to the warre: they have almost the same policie, the same lawes, the same manners, and for warlike matters are preferred afore the Valesians, but they hold no comparison with the Swissers, either in numbers or in valour. . .

No. 156. Heinrich Göldli's defence before the Diet, 13 March 1520.

In regard to the second article, it is true, I have in time past taken up livings and have requested them of the Pope. I serve the Pope for no other cause, nor have I any other reward or wage from the Pope, neither I nor others of His Holiness' servants, except such livings as happen to fall vacant in the Pope's month, which His Holiness presents to us, every one in his own country. . . . I hope that although I have made contracts or agreements regarding livings which I have lawfully received from his Holiness the Pope for my services over against an evil day, I have had the power and right to do so, so that I may act as I please with mine own and may gain mine own benefit and advantage. . . .

I have never in my life surrendered anything from which I have had profit without having given written evidence and laid myself under written obligation, so that, in case it should be disputed by anybody and I failed to protect him with my title and at my own expense in the holding of the living, I should be in duty bound to pay back all costs and damages, as well as all that I have received from him. . .

. . In regard to the third article, that I have sold livings. in the same way as horses are sold at Zurzach, I have never in all my life sold a living or bought it in this way, for that is simony, and whoever buys and sells livings ought to be deprived of them. But I have, when I have delivered over a living, by permission of his Holiness, demanded and taken the costs to which I have been put, and also have caused a yearly pension to be allowed me out of the living, a thing which is permitted me by the Pope, and concerning which I have my bulls, letters and seals; for this is a common custom among the clergy. . .

Furthermore, the Pope has given me the reservation of the provostship of Zurzach, so that when the present provost,

Peter Attenhofer, shall die, his provostship shall fall to me. I have also for this the letter and seal, and have paid the annates, as the firstfruits are called, to the camera apostolica.

No. 157. The admissions of Canon Hofmann, Dec. 1521.

Zwingli ought to be more careful about the wanton charges and sharp sallies . . . with which he assails the several estates, offices, orders, and communities, spiritual and lay. He is alleged to have said 'that among a hundred or a thousand spiritual persons, priests, monks, nuns, brethren, sisters and the like, scarcely a single one can be found that does not do and practise unchastity; that those who do not openly practise the same do worse, as he had come to know through the confessional at Einsiedeln; and that Beguines or sisters carry love-letters about with them and are procuresses.' It would be worth a good deal if such things did not happen.

§ I. GERMAN SWITZERLAND

III

ZWINGLI THE HUMANIST, TO 1519

Huldreich Zwingli was born, 1 Jan. 1484, at Wildhaus, in the Toggenburg, of peasant but well-to-do parents. His father was mayor and his uncle the parish priest. The latter became dean of Wesen, 1487-+1513, on the Walensee, and took his nephew with him to begin his education. Then he sent him to school, first to Basel, 1494-8; and next, to Bern, 1498-1500, with Heinrich Wölflin (Lupulus, +1534), a humanist, and, later, a reformer of that city. Thence Zwingli was removed to the University of Vienna, 1500-2, where he afterwards maintained his younger brother James, 1512-17, a letter from whom gives a picture of [No. 158] student-life in Vienna (Zuinglii Õpera, vii. 7, edd. Schuler and Schulthess) at that time. In 1502 Zwingli matriculated at Basel and there supported himself by teaching (ibid. vii. 85) in the school of St. Martin's church till he proceeded B.A. 1504 and M.A. 1506. In his last year he attended the lectures of the humanist, Thomas Wyttenbach, 1472-1526, of Biel (Bienne), himself to become a reformer there and now, in Basel, the teacher of other reformers and humanists besides Zwingli, viz., Wolfgang Köpfli (Capito), 1487-1541, reformer of Strassburg, Conrad Kürschner (Pellicanus), 1478-1556, professor of Hebrew at Zürich,

and Leo Jud, 1482-†1542, pastor of St. Peter's, Zürich, and translator of the Scriptures. Twice in later years, 1519 and 1527, Zwingli recalls [No. 159] his debt to Wyttenbach (ibid. i. 273; iii. 543).

From 1506-16 Zwingli was parish priest of Glarus, in his uncle's deanery. Here his first literary efforts (ibid. II. ii. 243 sqq.) were those of a humanist and patriot against mercenary service other than the Pope's. But to serve the Pope contingents went from Glarus into Italy, 1512, 1513, and 1515. Zwingli thrice accompanied them as chaplain, and has left an account (ibid. iv. 167) of the first of these campaigns. In 1513 he became pensionary for Glarus, and himself accepted a papal pension (ibid. i. 365). At home, these were years of the study of Greek 'non gloriae sed sacratissimarum literarum ergo' (ibid. vii. 9), of [No. 160] enthusiasm for Erasmus (ibid. i. 314: and a letter of 29 April 1516: ibid. vii. 12), and of [No. 161] liturgical discoveries (ibid. i. 265; iii. 87 sq., 92), which set him thinking on the claims of Rome. But his criticism of the pensionaries roused the French interest at Glarus against him (ibid. vii. 165) and he moved away.

From 1516-18 he was people's priest (14 Apr. 1516: cf. Egli, Analecta Reformatoria, i. 16) at [No. 162] Einsiedeln (Letter of 13 June 1517: Opera, vii. 24). Einsiedeln was then, as now, a famous place of pilgrimage: and it was directed by humanists (ibid. vii. 59). Zwingli preached from the Gospel at Mass, 'relying much upon the Fathers as expositors' (ibid. i. 253); told the Cardinal of Sitten . . . at Einsiedeln . . . that the papacy had a false foundation, and supported the same from Scripture' (ibid. II. i. 7); and wrote freely to fellow-humanists about the pardoner, Bernhardin Samson, who, much to the disgust of Faber, 1478+1541, the Vicar-General of Constance (ibid. vii. 69), appeared in Schwyz, August 1518. The letter, 6 Dec. 1518 (ibid. vii. 57) of [No. 163] Beatus Rhenanus (Bild, of Schlettstadt, 1485-†1547), in reply, illustrates the temper of amusement rather than of indignation with which Zwingli and his circle as yet viewed the business. It was therefore quite possible for him to accept the appointment, 1 Sept. 1518, of Acolyte Chaplain to the Pope (Egli, op. cit. i. 19), bestowed as on a person worth retaining.

As such, too, his humanist friend and biographer, Oswald Geisshäussler (Myconius, 1488-†1552), schoolmaster of the Great Minster at Zürich, pressed him on the chapter for the office of people's priest (Opera, vii. 52). Zwingli was elected 11 Dec. 1518 (ibid. 59), and admitted 1 Jan. 1519. He began to preach not, as at Einsiedeln, on the liturgical Gospels, but in continuous exposition of the Gospel of Matthew, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles to Timothy, to the Galatians and both the Epistles of Peter' (Sermon of 30 March 1522, Concerning choice and liberty respecting food,' ibid. i. 36: tr. Jackson, Zwingli, 448), and without reference to the Fathers. Scarcely had he thus settled in Zürich as preacher of the New Learning when its patron [No. 164]

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