104 Ch. 3 • The Two Reformations

A doctrinal conflict among reformers helped define the character of the
Swiss Reformation. Luther maintained that communion represented the
physical presence of Christ. In this he had not diverged far from the
Catholic Church, which insisted that through the miracle of transubstan­
tiation (which the pope formulated in 1215), the priest transformed bread
and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist. But to Luther, who condemned Catholic worship of the
Eucharist, the bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist came from the
fact that Christ and God were universally present. Zwingli, by contrast,
believed that communion was only a symbol of Christ’s real presence in
the Eucharist and that Luther’s refusal to abandon this idea demonstrated
that he still stood with one foot in Rome. The “Sacramentarian Contro­
versy” emerged as the first major doctrinal dispute among Protestants. The
Augsburg Confession of 1530 sealed the rift by excluding reformers who
rejected Lutheranism, such as Zwingli and his followers.
Between 1525 and 1530, some German-speaking parts of Switzerland
and regions of the southern German states accepted Zwingli’s reforms. In
1531, Catholic forces attacked Protestant cantons because Zwingli was
actively espousing his version of reform there. Zwingli, carrying a sword and
a Bible, led the Protestant forces into the Battle of Kappel and was killed in
the fighting. Both Catholics and Lutherans claimed Zwingli’s death to be
divine judgment against his religious positions. The peace that followed,
however, specified that each canton could choose its own religion.

(Left) Woodcut of Huldrych Zwingli. (Right) Burning church ornaments and reli­

gious statues in Zurich.