The Affair of the Sausages (1522) was the event that sparked the

Reformation in Zürich The Reformation in Zürich was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrates of the city of Zürich and the princess abbess Katharina von Zimmern of the Fraumünster Abbey, and the population of the city of Zü ...

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

, pastor of

Grossmünster The Grossmünster (; "great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche and St. Peterskirche). Its congregation f ...

in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, spearheaded the event by publicly speaking in favor of eating

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

during the

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...

en fast. Zwingli defended this action in a sermon called ''Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen'' (Regarding the Choice and Freedom of Foods), in which he argued, from the basis of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

's doctrine of ''

sola scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of aut ...

'', that "

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

are free to fast or not to fast because the Bible does not prohibit the eating of meat during Lent."

History

Ulrich Zwingli was a pastor in Zurich and was preaching in a way that associated him with Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther. His first rift with the established religious authorities in Switzerland occurred during the Lenten fast of 1522, when he was present during the eating of sausages at the house of

Christoph Froschauer Christoph Froschauer (ca. 1490 – 1 April 1564) was the first printer in Zurich, notably for printing the Froschauer Bible, the Zwinglian Bible translation. His workshop is the nucleus of the Orell Füssli publishing house. Froschauer was ...

, a printer in the city who later published Zwingli's translation of the Bible. Gottfried W. Locher: ''Die Zwinglische Reformation im Rahmen der europäischen Kirchengeschichte''. Göttingen, Zürich: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht 1979, S. 95–98, insbesondere Fn. 55 According to William Roscoe Estep, Zwingli already held Reformation-oriented convictions for some time before the incident. In March 1522, he was invited to partake in a sausage supper that Froschauer served to his workers–who, Froschauer later claimed, were exhausted from putting out the new edition of The Epistles of Saint Paul–and to various dignitaries and priests.

Leo Jud Leo Jud (; also Leo Juda, Leo Judä, Leo Judas, Leonis Judae, Ionnes Iuda, Leo Keller; 1482 – 19 June 1542), known to his contemporaries as Meister Leu, was a Swiss reformer who worked with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich. Biography Jud was bor ...

, Klaus Hottinger and Lorenz Hochrütiner were present at the supper and later gained notoriety for their part in the Swiss Reformation. The meal involved Swiss Fasnachtskiechli and some slices of sharp smoked hard sausage, which had been stored for more than a year. Because the eating of meat during Lent was prohibited, the event caused public outcry and led to Froschauer being arrested. Though he himself did not eat the sausages, Zwingli was quick to defend Froschauer from allegations of heresy. In a sermon titled ''Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen'' (Regarding the Choice and Freedom of Foods), Zwingli argued that fasting should be entirely voluntary, not mandatory. According to Michael Reeves, Zwingli was advancing the Reformation position that Lent was subject to individual rule, rather than the discipline which was upheld at the time by the Catholic Church. The Zurich sausage affair was interpreted as a demonstration of Christian liberty and is considered to be of similar importance for Switzerland as Martin Luther's 95 theses in Wittenberg for the German Reformation. Martin Honecker: ''Wege evangelischer Ethik: Positionen und Kontexte''; Saint-Paul, 2002, p. 185

Impact

After hearing of the situation,

Hugo von Hohenlandenberg Hugo von Hohenlandenberg (c. 1457 in Schloss Hegi bei Winterthur Zurich">/nowiki>Zurich.html" ;"title="Zurich.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Zurich">/nowiki>Zurich">Zurich.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Zurich">/nowiki>Zurich/nowiki> – 7 January 1532 in Me ...

, the

Bishop of Konstanz The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dua ...

, was so scandalized by Zwingli's preaching that he called for a mandate prohibiting the preaching of any Reformation doctrine in Switzerland. However, the damage had already been done, and Zwingli went on to become an extremely popular and revered figure in Swiss

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, having contracted and recovered from the

Black plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causin ...

and drawn up sixty-seven theses (similar to Martin Luther's

Ninety-five Theses The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...

) that denounced several long-standing beliefs of the Church of Rome.

In culture

The Affair is the subject of a 2015

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning o ...

''Geist und Wurst'' by Edward Rushton.

References

{{reflist , refs = {{cite book , last = Lindberg , first = Carter , date = July 2009 , title = The European Reformations , publisher = John Wiley and Sons , isbn = 978-1-4051-8068-9 , page = 161 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GKoS6pB_3RQC&pg=PA161 , accessdate = 15 January 2012 {{cite encyclopedia , last = Fluri , first = Adolf , date = 24 January 2012 , title = Froschauer, Christoph (d. 1564) , publisher = GAMEO , encyclopedia = The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online , url = http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/F7663.html , accessdate = January 24, 2012 {{cite book , last = Estep , first = William Roscoe , year = 1986 , title = Renaissance and Reformation , publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing , isbn = 978-0-8028-0050-3 , page = 170 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dUENoh0ey4QC&pg=PA170 , accessdate = 16 January 2012 {{cite book , last = Tucker , first = Ruth A. , date = 16 August 2011 , title = Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church , publisher = Zondervan , isbn = 978-0-310-20638-5 , page = 244 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4ymP1rqsbkC&pg=PA244 , accessdate = 16 January 2012 1522 in Europe Huldrych Zwingli History of Zürich Christian fasting Sausages

History

Impact

In culture

See also

References