THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SWISS REFORMATION

Abstract

The reform movement was not limited to Germany alone. By the 1520s, and especially the 1530s, Lutheranism had spread to the Scandinavian countries and, to some extent, to England, France, Poland, and Hungary. Lutheranism exerted an even greater influence on Switzerland, Germany`s southern neighbor. Here, a new system of Protestantism was developed, and a new church organization based on Reformation principles was established. The loose and ill – defined nature of the Swiss Confederation turned the state into a political pawn in the hands of major powers; the King of France, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Pope all employed Swiss peasants as mercenary soldiers. Conditions were becoming ripe for the onset of the Reformation movement in Switzerland. In this process, the activities of Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin deserve special mention. The Reformation that triumphed in Switzerland was not confined to the country`s borders; it fostered an environment conducive to the emergence of qualitatively new, Europe – wide developments of a global nature. In this context, the formation of the Westphalian system – which formalized the creation of the new, independent Swiss state on the European stage – is of particular interest.