History of the Swiss Reformation

Order of Contents

General History
Early & Medieval Church
Eve of the Reformation
Reformation Histories
Specific Periods
Special Topics
Geneva
Zwingli
Calvin
Servetus
Beza

General History

Planta, Joseph – The History of the Helvetic Confederacy, vols. 1, 2, 3 2nd ed. (London, 1807)

Naylor, Francis Hare – The History of the Helvetic Republics, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4 (London, 1809)

Vieusseux, A. – The History of Switzerland from the First Irruption of the Northern Tribes to the Present Time… Compiled from the best Authorities including Muller, Meyer, Franscini and Kasthofer (London, 1846) 185 pp.

Early & Medieval Church History

Kruger, Gustav – ‘Literature on Church History in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and the Scandinavian Countries, 1914-1920, I. Early Church History’ & ‘The Medieval Church’ in Harvard Theological Review, vol. 14, no. 4 (Oct. 1921), pp. 283-374 & vol. 15 (Oct. 1922), pp. 323-405

The Eve of the Reformation

Jackson, Samuel – Huldreich Zwingli, the Reformer of German Switzerland, 1484-1531, with an Historical Survey of Switzerland before the Reformation, and a chapter on Zwingli’s Theology 1903 630 pp.

Reformation Histories

1800’s

Scott, John – Calvin and the Swiss Reformation (London, 1833)

D’Istria, Dora – Switzerland the Pioneer of the Reformation; or La Suisse Allemande, vol. 1, 2 (London, 1858)

D’Istria (1828–1888) was a Romanian and Albanian Romantic writer, most notable for having emblematized the Albanian national cause of the 19th century.

Spalding, M.J. – The History of the Protestant Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, and in England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France & Northern Europe, as a Series of Essays, reviewing D’Aubigne, Menzel, Hallam, Bishop Short, Prescott, Ranke, Fryxell, and Others, vol. 1 (Germany & Switzerland), 2 (England, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, France, Northern Europe) 6th rev. ed. (Baltimore, 1870)

Spalding was an American bishop.

Hagenback, K.R. – History of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland Chiefly, vol. 1, 2 1878

1900’s

Plummer, Alfred – The Continental Reformation in Germany, France, and Switzerland, from the birth of Luther [1483] to the death of Calvin [1564] 1912 230 pp. See especially chs. 7 & 8.

Good, James I. – History of the Swiss Reformed Church since the Reformation [to the early-1800’s] 1913 530 pp.

Johnston, Pamela & Bob Scribner – The Reformation in Germany & Switzerland 1993 155 pp.

2000’s

Gordon, Bruce – The Swiss Reformation 2002 390 pp.

Specific Periods

1500’s

Backus, Irena – The Disputations of Baden, 1526, and Berne, 1528: Neutralizing the Early Church 1993 135 pp.

Original Letters and the Zurich Letters Relative to the English Reformation, vol. 1 (1549-53), 2 (1548-58), 3 & 4 (1558-1602) (Parker Society)

On the accession of queen Mary, more than a thousand of the Reformers sought refuge on the Continent, and many of them settled in Zurich. On the return of the Zurich exiles to England, at the accession of Elizabeth, in 1558, they maintained a correspondence with the minister and magistrates of Zurich.

The letters show the opinion of that time on subjects which afterwards produced such agitation and include letters to and from Sandys, Jewel, Gwalter, Foxe, Parkhurst, Calvin, Peter Martyr, Grindal, Zanchi, Bullinger, Coverdale, Beza, George Withers, Pilkington, Flacius, Farell, John Rainolds, George Buchanan, Queen Elizabeth, Swiss Cantons and others.

Here is the original Latin for the ‘Original Letters’ (1537-1558): Epistolae Tigurinaede Rebus Potissimum Ad Ecclesiae Anglicanae Reformationem Pertinentibus…

Kingdon, Robert M. – Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France (1555-1563) Buy 1956 170 pp.

“Valuable monograph.” – Owen Chadwick

ed. Barker, S.K. – Revisiting Geneva: Robert Kingdon and the Coming of the French Wars of Religion 2012 107 pp.

1800’s

Alexander, William Lindsay – Switzerland and the Swiss Churches: being Notes of a Short Tour, and Notices of the Principal Religious Bodies in that Country [about 1846] (Glasgow, 1846)

Alexander (1808–1884) was a Scottish, Independent minister.

Special Topics

Monter, E. William – Witchcraft in France and Switzerland : the borderlands during the Reformation (Cornell Univ. Press, 1976) Another copy is here.

Aretius, Benedictus – A Short History of Valentinus Gentilis: the Tritheist, tried, condemned and put to death by the Protestant reformed city and church of Bern in Switzerland, for Asserting the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity to be Three Distinct, Eternal Spirits, etc. (London, 1696)

Aretius (d. 1574)

Geneva

General History

Keate, George – A Short Account of the Ancient History, Present Government and Laws of the Republic of Geneva (London, 1761) 240 pp.

Reformation History

Kingdon, Robert M. – Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France (1555-1563) Buy 1956 170 pp.

“Valuable monograph.” – Owen Chadwick

ed. Barker, S.K. – Revisiting Geneva: Robert Kingdon and the Coming of the French Wars of Religion St. Andrews Studies in French History and Culture (Centre for French History and Culture, 2012) 107 pp.

Kingdon, Robert – Geneva and the Consolidation of the French Protestant Movement, 1564-1572; a contribution to the history of Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, and Calvinist Resistance Theory (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1967)

Zwingli

1800’s

Christoffel, R. – Zwingli; or the Rise of the Reformation in Switzerland, a Life of the Reformer, with Some notices of his Time and Contemporaries (Edinburgh, 1858)

Christoffel was the pastor of a reformed church in Switzerland.

1900’s

Farner, Oscar – Zwingli the Reformer: his Life and Work Buy 1952

McNeill, J.T. – The History and Character of Calvinism Buy 1954 480 pp. Also helpful for Zwingli

John Calvin

Scott, John – Calvin and the Swiss Reformation (London, 1833)

M’Crie, Thomas – The Early Years of John Calvin: a Fragment, 1509-1536 1880 218 pp.

Barrage, Henry – True to the End: a Story of the Swiss Reformation 1895 200 pp.