Zwingli, Ulrich - World Encyclopedia

Zwingli, Ulrich (1484–1531) Swiss Protestant theologian and reformer. Zwingli was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1506, but his studies of the New Testament in Erasmus' editions led him to become a reformer. By 1522, he was preaching reformed doctrine in Zürich, a centre for the Reformation. More radical than Martin Luther, Zwingli regarded communion as mainly symbolic and commemorative. He died while serving as a military chaplain with the Zürich army during a battle against the Catholic cantons at Kappel.