The Tetrapolitan Confession ( la, Confessio Tetrapolitana, german: Vierstädtebekenntnis), also called the Strasbourg Confession or Swabian Confession, was an early

Protestant 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 ...

confession of faith drawn up by

Martin Bucer Martin Bucer ( early German: ''Martin Butzer''; 11 November 1491 – 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a me ...

and

Wolfgang Capito Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (also Koepfel) ( – November 1541) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition. His life and revolutionary work Capito was born circa 1478 to a smith at Hagenau in Alsace. He attended the famous Lat ...

and presented to the Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

at the

Diet of Augsburg The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...

on 9 July 1530 on behalf of the four south German cities of

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Wü ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. (The name "Tetrapolitan" means "of the four cities".) The confession was based on an early draft of the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

to which Bucer and Capito had secretly obtained access, but amended in the direction of

Zwinglianism The theology of Ulrich Zwingli was based on an interpretation of the Bible, taking scripture as the inspired word of God and placing its authority higher than what he saw as human sources such as the ecumenical councils and the church fathers. He ...

. Its purpose was to prevent a schism within Protestantism. It is the oldest confession of the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

tradition produced in Germany. Bucer and Capito were called to the Diet of Augsburg by the envoys of Strasbourg, who were aware that

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

was working on a

Saxon Confession The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

that would represent the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

position. The north Germans (Lutherans) and the south Germans and Swiss had been divided in opinion since 1524 on the subject of the

Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

, with the Lutherans supporting

sacramental union Sacramental union (Latin: ''unio sacramentalis''; Martin Luther's German: ''Sacramentliche Einigkeit'';''Weimar Ausgabe'' 26, 442.23; ''Luther's Works'' 37, 299-300. German: ''sakramentalische Vereinigung'') is the Lutheran theological doctrine of ...

(the physical presence of Christ's body in the sacrament) and the Zwinglians

memorialism Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine (or juice) in the Eucharist (more often referred to as "the Lord's Supper" by memorialists) are purely symbolic representations of the body and ...

(the sacrament as a spiritual memorial only). This division had reached its high point in the

Marburg Colloquy The Marburg Colloquy was a meeting at Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany, which attempted to solve a disputation between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli over the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It took place between 1 October and 4 ...

between Zwingli and Luther in 1529. The original version of the confession contained the claim, probably authored by Capito, that "Christ the Lord is truly in the Supper and gives his true body truly to eat and his blood truly to drink, but especially to the spirit, through faith". The last clause was meant to express a Zwinglian emphasis on the spiritual nature of the sacrament. Even this was offensive to the Lutherans and at the insistence of Jakob Sturm and Matthis Pfarrer, the Strasbourg envoys, was watered down further. The confession consists of 23 chapters. The first chapter states that nothing should be taught except that which is explicitly stated in

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

, a statement that is not found in the Augsburg Confession. For political reasons, the confession was abandoned in practice within a year of its adoption, when the four cities joined the

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...

. In 1536, the theologians of Strasbourg signed the

Wittenberg Concord Wittenberg Concord, is a religious concordat signed by Reformed and Lutheran theologians and churchmen on 29 May 1536 as an attempted resolution of their differences with respect to the Real Presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist. It ...

that brought the Lutheran and Reformed churches into alignment. Formally, the Tetrapolitan Confession remained the confession of Strasbourg until 1598.

Girolamo Zanchi Girolamo Zanchi (Latin "Hieronymus Zanchius," thus Anglicized to "Jerome Zanchi/Zanchius"; February 2, 1516 – November 19, 1590) was an Italian Protestant Reformation clergyman and educator who influenced the development of Reformed theology dur ...

and

Conrad Hubert Conrad Hubert (15 April 1856 – 14 March 1928) was a Russian-American inventor''Who Was Who in America. Historical Volume, 1607-1896''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967. pg. 678 known for electric flashlights. He was the son of Belarusian Jew ...

both appealed to it, but after the 1560s it was regarded as little more than a generic statement of Protestantism. Bucer, however, stayed true to his confession and recited it even on his deathbed.

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{{Authority control 1530 documents Reformed confessions of faith Huldrych Zwingli 16th-century Calvinism 16th-century Christian texts