A biography of Anna Zwingli might be compiled by skipping from one pinnacle point in her life to another. However, much of her story is relative to what is known about her husbands John Meier von Knonau and Ulrich Zwingli. But Anna was more than simply the wife of a lesser noble or a famous reformer. Her life story was also intertwined with development of the Reformation in Zurich and the impact it had upon her and her family. The Reformation did not only bring about religious reform but also had an impact on women and their ministerial roles. Anna was indeed a woman of the Reformation but also the wife of a reformer. Together with other women of the Reformation and of Zurich she served its cause from within its gender confines overshadowed by her husband, Ulrich Zwingli. The role of woman/women remains a contentious issue for many in the Christian church.
Among the many women involved during the Reformation two remarkable groups stand out: women of royalty and high aristocracy
Although documentation on prominent female figures during the Reformation can be found, little is known about the lesser female figures during this time. These include the wives of well-known reformers. History focuses on the role of male reformers, but includes little about the women who wrote letters, hymns, debated theological matters, and agitated for reform in their own communities and congregations. While we gain many insights from their perspective, the available information is not as extensive as that of their husbands. For this reason it is not a simple matter to piece together the life of some of these women. Hence, when, for example, Hermione Lee
Anna left no known documented works or papers, only the story of her life. Reduction to a simple life-story would neither take into account the complexity of events in her life nor her background, which includes her first marriage to a disinherited aristocrat and mercenary. The usual emphasis is on her second marriage to a Protestant reformer. But both marriages ended in widowhood for her. It was the socio-political approach to war that led her husbands into war, though Ulrich Zwingli was also motivated by the reformational dynamics of Zurich and that of the wider Reformation. This article also takes cognisance that ‘good biography need not be about aristocrats, kings or generals, but it should have a purpose which defines the central character as significant, even if it is about an obscure figure like Martin Guerre [
The wives of reformers
It was the gospel that brought about a new dispensation for women
Women also entered into societies in which gender equality was unheard of. For a pastor’s wife equality did not extend to teaching and general ministry. Her role was supportive
Bainton (1971:14, 216f.) suggests that the more visible and enduring impact of the Reformation is most evident through mostly uneducated, and by implication unknown, women who were steeped in the Word of God and a new approach to marriage. The salvation of God liberated sinners, men and women, and imputed the righteousness of Christ (Gordon 2002:60). The story of the Reformation was of redeemed women and men who then fitted into a new evidential order.
Women who escaped from convents
Far from being house-bound, many wives of the Reformation took on administrative tasks and joined in theological discussions (Stjerna 2009). An emergent move came about as women agitated for, and defended their right to, pursue vocations beyond their station assigned to them by birth, views of marriage beyond that of ‘Kinder, Kirche, Küche, und Mann’ (Nielsen
Catholic priests and their supporters did not take these matters and the loss of their congregants to the Protestant cause lightly.
It was into this world that Anna Reinhard had been born and in which she, a woman, shaped her life as a human being, wife, mother and citizen of Zurich and Switzerland. She was born into a dynamic society that was changing, being shaped by political events and the winds of change brought about by the Reformation.
Anna, daugther of Oswald Reinhard
Despite his efforts to block his son’s appointment, John was appointed to the Zurich city council (1511) (Good 1901:6–7). Apparently, for some time Anna was able to dress in a manner fitting the rank of her husband, but it seems that shortage of money became an issue. To remedy this John von Knonau followed in Swiss canton tradition. He joined the army as a mercenary,
Anna von Knonau, like other widows, struggled to make ends meet. Some relief came in the form of her 3-year-old son Gerold/Gerald whose physical beauty attracted his grandfather’s attention. Gerold enjoyed his grandfather’s favour staying with him until the latter’s death 9 years later.
Unlike many other wives, Anna had not been a nun but she had been married before. She did not wrestle with ecclesial views of celibacy and clerical marriages. As former ecclesiastics disavowed the Middle Ages’ elevation of marriage as sacrament and took on marital vows, such marriages became more commonplace. This was significant as marriage brought into play a redefinition of reformed ecclesial roles for former priests and nuns and a realignment of personal status in the community.
Anna von Knonau sought in particular to attend church every time a red-headed, 35-year-old preacher named Ulrich Zwingli (Reeves 2009:69) visited to preach. He had come to Zurich after the death of his grandfather. In 1519 he was the newly installed ‘Leutpriester’ in the most important pulpit in Zurich the Grossmünster.
He soon faced the ravages of the plague (1519). Although he contracted the disease,
The proximity of Anna’s house, (named Hoefli/Höfli) to the parsonage made it a convenient venue for choir practice and Latin schooling (Baiter 1900:161). Again it was Anna’s young son, Gerold, who was instrumental in drawing attention, although indirectly to his mother. Gerold impressed Zwingli at the church seminary
Anna and Ulrich got married in 1522. Despite his public approval of marriage he was secretive about his own and did not reveal
Ulrich Zwingli referred to his wife as ‘his dearest housewife’. In due course the Zurich community in which they served called her their ‘apostolic Dorcas’ (Good 1901:11). Both pronouncements imply recognition of her biblical witness in serving. Her husband was equally accorded the same communal appreciation, sometimes referred to as ‘beloved of God’
Yet the pastoral couple did not escape gossip. Some said that he married her
But Anna Zwingli had to contend with another matter as well: whether Zwingli had a sexual past. This is still debated (Furcha 1992:134 fn. 13). Jackson (
Anna married a Catholic priest,
Anna was aware that, for instance, not everyone adhered to Ulrich’s theological persuasion.
Anna did not neglect her spiritual development. She loved listening to the Word of God being preached and enjoyed her husband reading his Bible translations
In the community Anna was like a mother to the poor and visited the sick without discrimination (Good 1901:10). Her deeds visibly demonstrated her husband’s social ethics explicated in the light of predestination and election (Locher 1981:139ff.; cf. fn. 78). Foundational to this view was that divine righteousness accompanies the command to love God and one’s neighbour.
The death of the Czech reformer Jan Hus (
When Gerold Meyer von Knonau was 14 years old he pursued studies at Basel (Baiter
But the story of Anna and Ulrich Zwingli was about to come to a final conclusion in a war supposedly based on reformation principles.
The peace of the first battle of Cappel/Kappel (Erster Kappelkrieg) between Zurich and Zug was decided in 1529 without a battle. Although both the Protestant and Catholic alliances
On October 9, 1531, Zurich faced the news that a Catholic army
At seven o’clock that evening Anna heard the cry, ‘Zwingli is dead’. The city had been defeated. She kissed her fatherless children, sank to her knees with them and sobbed in prayer: ’Lord, Thy will and not ours be done’ (Grob 1883:192). With the news of her husband’s death came reports about the deaths of her son Gerold, her brother, sons-in-law, her brother-in-law, her cousin, and many friends who had also fallen. She was overcome with grief
Anna and her children, together with the citizens of Zurich, heard of Zwingli’s stand during the battle. Pierced to death by Captain Vokinger of Unterwalden who cried out: ‘Die, thou obstinate heretic, shameful traitor and malefactor’. Death had finally come to the 47-year-old reformer (Grob 1883:191). But Anna had her children to care for. Good called her ‘the Mater Dolorosa (mother of sorrow), the weeping mother of the reformation’ (Good 1901:18). Letters came from far and wide to comfort her.
Comfort came in the person of Heinrich Bullinger, her husband’s successor whose words to her were: ‘You shall not want, dear mother. I will remain your friend, your teacher and adviser’. He backed up his words with many deeds (Good 1901:15–16). In time the Zwingli household became an integral part of the Bullinger household and Bullinger became a substitute father to Zwingli’s children. In Zurich the Reformation had begun with Zwingli and it was Bullinger who continued his work. In spite of this the Reformation in Zurich lost its impetus and Geneva took on the transfer of leadership (Cross & Livingstone 1977:116). It was against this backdrop that the life of Anna Reinhard Zwingli and the other women of Zurich unfolded.
Little is known of Anna’s later life. She rarely left the house except to go to church. She continued to live for her children and to serve her Lord. She became very sick and although struggling with her illness for some years bore her suffering patiently (Good 1901:16). Anna had four children with Zwingli. Regula, born in 1525, married Bullinger’s foster-son, Rudolf Gualther. Rudolf succeeded Bullinger as chief pastor of Zurich. Anna and Zwingli’s eldest son William, born in 1526, died at age 15 in 1541 while studying theology in Strasburg. Ulric,
Bullinger’s account of Anna’s death on 16 December 1538 reads:
I desire no more happy end of life. She passed away softly, like a mild light, and went home to her Lord, worshipping, and commending us all to God. This remarkable woman’s death was like her life – sweet, quiet, beautiful. (Good 1901:16)
The Reformation in Switzerland manifested as localised reformations of cities and states rather than a national movement (Gordon 2002:119). When both Berne and Basle adopted the Reformation in 1528 and 1529 respectively, it left, together with Zurich, three powerful members of the confederation outside of the Roman-Catholic Church (Gordon 2002:122). These cities faced an uncertain future. But as was shown in this article the story of the Reformation contains much more than merely a focus on reformers, politics, theological disputes and wars.
The story of the Reformation cannot be told accurately without taking into account the role that many remarkable women played during this time. Due to the lack of sources, it may never be clear what Zwingli’s true attitude to women was (Furcha 1992). Much insight can be gained from Heinrich Bullinger’s
Clearly the gender issue is far greater than that of a focus on Anna Zwingli alone. It is an ongoing matter. While the Reformation brought about some remarkable changes for all women, it tended to become prescriptive. Modern day theologians such as Breed, Van Rensburg and Jordaan (
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
Obviously some promoted while others opposed the Reformation choosing to support Rome. Among the latter are: Catherine de Medici (1519–1589), Elizabeth de Valois (1545–1568), Marguerite de Valois (1553–1615), Renata, Duchess of Ferrara (1510–1574), Catherine Parr (1512–1548), Lady Jane Grey (1536/7–1554). Among the promoters of the Reformation are: Catherine von Bora (Luther) (1499–1552), Idelette de Bure (Calvin) (died 1549), Anna Reinhard (Zwingli) (1484–1538), Anna Adlischweiler (Bullinger) (
Hermione Lee wrote a major biography of Virginia Woolf and is judge for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
‘When she began the work of constructing a life of the English artist Roger Fry, Virginia Woolf posed a question which all historians would recognize; “How can one make a life out of six cardboard boxes full of tailors’ bills, love letters and old picture postcards?”’ (Gunn & Faire
Walsh (1999:147, fn. 303), while appreciative of Bainton’s ‘Women of the Reformation’ series, is critical of his patronising manner, his uncertain stance as to their status, and his failure to address sexism, misogyny and subordination; therefore she prefers Douglass (
‘Matrimony was, in almost all cases, the dénouement of the drama which signalized the zeal for reformation’; it was acquiescence to carnality (Spalding 1875:176, 180).
See a comparison of the Lutheran and reformed theologies of marriage and their impact on social standing (Douglass 1974).
Not everyone was of the opinion that the Reformation was the work of God (Spalding 1875:102–103).
One way of determining social classes politically was: the First Estate (the clergy), the Second Estate (the nobility) and the Third Estate (residents of chartered towns) (Wiesner-Hanks 2013:104).
Early Christian history is replete with stories of ascetic lifestyles of both men and women and the complete break of family ties but with the added benefits of being allowed to further education, travel, become socially involved in works of compassion (Clark
Zwingli got a copy of Erasmus’ New Testament in Greek in 1516 and memorised Paul’s epistles. In the process he discovered the discrepancy between preaching and teaching of the Catholic Church and the Bible (Reeves 2009:68–69, 76).
‘During the summer of 1523 the attack on monasticism was starting to take effect: the Dominican nuns at Oetenbach, following a sermon by Leo Jud, expressed their desire to be released from their vows’ (Gordon 2002:61).
Secrecy was often attributed to ‘wilde Ehe’. The status of a ‘priest’s whore’ (Pfaffenhur) was a respectable one in Switzerland (Potter 1976:79) and commonly tolerated. Elsewhere, clergy wives in similar circumstances between 1521 and 1534 suffered enormously stigmatised by the public in general and sometimes by the very people they were serving as they struggled for identity (Plummer 2012:212f.). It is implied that their bastard children suffered similarly (Plummer 2012:16).
Plummer (2012:216) also notes that many women refused marriage in the light of a reduced social participation.
Female courtesan and often applied to a court-mistress or common prostitute whose clients included members of a royal court. Consequences of reformed preaching were the emergence of issues associated with this new freedom to get married. It led to problems such as ‘self-divorce’ practised by some women who tired of their husbands or sought lovers (Plummer 2012:279, 286) and particularly problematic for evangelical clergy who needed to be married.
Some convents became little more than hotels, stripped of relics and images (Reeves 2009:78). Nuns sometimes did not have a personal choice whether to leave the convent or not. City councils that reformed often closed down cloisters and convents entirely and often the nuns had to be absorbed into the social fabric of society (Plummer 2012:241).
Zwingli’s party stopped at the house of the dean of the cathedral at Strasburg, Pastor Matthias Zell. The intelligence of the pastor’s wife impressed Zwingli such that he declared that she ranked higher than many of the learned doctors (Grob 1883:149).
The Anabaptist leaders of Rottenburg were arrested together with their wives, showing the courage and commitment of the wives to their husbands and the Anabaptist movement itself (Estep
Following the Anabaptist approach of ’the higher revelation in the New Testament that that of the Old [
This statement may be challenged by a feminist such as Walsh (1999:157–158) supported by a host of references of the same chapter (1998:157–166).
Her husband Philip called his home ‘a little church of God’.
Both sides had some choice words for the other: Catholic priests denounced their opponents as heretical soul-thieves and soul-murderers, while the evangelicals replied with such choice bits as flesh-sellers, blood-suckers, mass-men, and idolaters (Potter 1976:400 fn. 4). Not least according blame to one side or another for the continued socio-theological-political military conflicts.
This dealt with women in society, function and place and with remarriage. Men and women were seemingly equally protected by the law in Zurich in these matters. For instance, pre-marital sex was usually seen in the light of leading to marriage, if not suitable fines and punishments were imposed (Furcha 1992:139–140). Disciplinary records regarding the sacrament such as the Lord’s Supper showed the ignorance of laity and clergy alike and the theological controversy of the ‘is’ (presence/non-presence) (Gäbler 1986:131–138). In addition life was proscribed by rules and regulations pertaining to dancing, excessive eating, drinking and public amusement.
Landlord of the Little Horse Inn.
Grob (1883:163) claims she was 20 years old.
Power at a local level had the most impact upon people’s lives. Wiesner-Hanks (2013:121–122) gives some insight into the impact upon the lives of people of power at a local level.
Mercenaries earned far more than ordinary soldiers.
Margaret, Agatha and Gerold.
Care of young Gerold was continued by his step-grandmother (Good 1901:8).
See Plummer’s (2012:236) Table 6.2. ‘Social status of husbands of former nuns, 1522–1530’.
Indeed the debate focussed on why would sexually active priests/monks/nuns want to disturb the status quo of concubinage for public marriage risking incurring Rome’s wrath? (Plummer 2012:3). Sexual misconduct among clergy was well-known.
One is reminded of the Ghandi’s inclusion of women in politics, the unconditional participation in Mao Zedong’s communist party (Chandran
Heinrich Bullinger took on the office of chief preacher in the Grossmünster from 1531 to 1571.
Reeves (2009:70) tries to draw a parallel between Luther’s hit by lightning fourteen years earlier and Zwingli’s brush with death through contracting the plague, claiming ‘[w]hen he recovered, he was a changed man, a man on a mission to do something bold for God’.
He boldly replaced the mass by preaching instead through the Gospel of Matthew in 1519. After the First Zurich Disputation (1523) between Zwingli and delegates from the Bishop of Constance the City Council of Zurich voted to become Protestant.
There is no doubt the support of prominent families such as the Roists was vital to lasting change (Gordon, Baschera & Moser 2014:4).
As a young chaplain he was disgusted at ’the sale of flesh and blood for gold/trading blood for gold’ by the Swiss confederation as was evident on the battlefields (Potter 1976:39; Wiesner-Hanks 2013:181). He in fact proposed missionary outreach to the Mohammedans as an alternate to war (Locher 1981:115–116).
Zwingli had petitioned the Bishop of Constance on behalf of 11 fellow priests for permission to get married. This was denied.
For its beginnings see Reeves (2009:77f.).
This seems not to have been too uncommon. For instance Paul Speratus kept his marriage to Anna Fuchs in Salzburg in 1517 secret for about four years (Plummer 2012:70 fn. 82). When it was eventually revealed publicly in 1524 it apparently caused greater commotion in Toggenburg than in Zurich (Good 1901:10). Plummer also shows that clerical marriage was forcefully advocated by most reformers rather it came about as priests/clergy interpreted Luther’s teachings and acted accordingly (Plummer 2012:131f.).
In 1523 Wolfgang Capito married Agnes Roettel.
Added to this may be the implication of Martin Bucer’s letter of 1524 to Zwingli, congratulating him on his marriage and implying that Zwingli may serve God even better than before.
Both Anna and Regula were immortalised by Hans Asper in a portrait. Furcha (1992:135) claims the ages of mother and daughter respectively as 25 and 7. Anna’s age would be hard to reconcile with her historical chronology. Anna had four children by Zwingli: Regula, Anna, Wilhelm and Huldrych. Zwingli was baptised ‘Ulrich’ but adopted the name ‘Huldrych’ meaning rich in grace ‘as a sign of his prophetic confidence’ (Gordon 2002:49).
In a letter from Michael Hummelberg, about 1522 (Grob 1883:140).
Spalding states that ‘Zuingle himself espoused a rich widow’.
Sources differ as to the currency.
This may refer to the clothing befitting the rank of one who had been married to an aristocrat.
It was probably fabricated by his opponents trying to prevent his appointment in Zurich.
The break with Rome would officially take place with refusal to celebrate mass and so ushered in new perspectives on worship (Vischer
Zwingli was an accomplished musician and often spent time making music for his children (Reeves 2009:77).
It is impossible to refer to the wide range of matters that Zwingli wrestled with and for that reason only a sample of the most important are mentioned.
The beginnings of the Free Church movement which rejected the jurisdiction of the Zurich council and of the Zurich church (Estep 1996:18) and claimed to possess truth through self-interpretation.
In it he requests she send him his coat but makes no mention of the theological progress that eventually led Bern to adopt a Protestant stance. In letters to the city council at Zurich he mentions his wife only in passing, on one occasion assuring them that he does not allow rumours to reach his wife. There are only seven letters addressed to him by women in correspondence and none of his replies remain except for one pastoral letter in manuscript form from Zwingli to Margareta Fehr of Einsiedeln and one to Anna Zwingli (Furcha 1992:131).
He began translating in 1525 and the Bible was published in 1529, five years before Luther’s complete Bible became public (Good 1901:11).
His tract was entitled ‘Von göttlicher und menschlicher Gerechtigkeit’ (regarding divine and human righteousness) and served as impetus towards social reform in Zurich and Germany (Raath & de Freitas
The ‘little priest’ from Einsidlen and former colleague of Zwingli. He arrived in Zurich at the end of 1522 (Spalding 1875:171).
The measure of Gerold Meyer was that at eighteen he was voted in as member of the city council and at 21 as its president (Good 1901:9).
These alliances were fragile and often taken advantage of by popes and secular rulers (Wiesner-Hanks 2013:180).
War was not the only solution for Zwingli. He considered missionary outreach to the Muslims as a better alternative than outright war (Locher 1981:116).
Comprising of the five Catholic forest cantons: Lucerne, Zug, Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden (Cross & Livingstone, eds.
His first experience as chaplain was accompanying the Swiss troops to Italy as chaplain in 1512–1515.
It is said that Oekolampad died of grief over the result of the battle on November 24 (Grob 1883:193).
When Luther heard of Zwingli’s death he characteristically said: ‘Gott hat schon zweimal gestraft; erstlich unter dem Münzer, jetzt unter dem Zwinglin’ (God has punished twice: first under Münzer, now under Zwingli) (Potter 1976:414 fn. 3).
For some insightful commentary appreciative of the emerging roles of women of the Reformation, see Stjerna (
His son, also Ulric, said to resemble his father, became professor of theology but died in 1600, aged 29. He was married to Bullinger’s daughter who died of the plague in 1565. With him the male line of Ulrich Zwingli, the reformer died out (Grob 1883:164).
Bullinger’s courtship correspondence with Anna Adlischweiler, the future Zurich ‘Zürimutter’, reveals his persistence, her refusal of marriage and eventual marriage after her mother’s death (Furcha 1992:136–137).