This week in Christian history: Zwingli marries, George Herbert born, Ignatius of Loyola elected
Ulrich Zwingli marries – April 2, 1524
This week marks the anniversary of when Ulrich Zwingli, a prominent leader of the early Protestant Reformation, publicly married a widow named Anna Reinhard.
Zwingli had actually married Reinhard secretly earlier. However, clerical marriage was a controversial matter at the time, and Zwingli was still technically a Catholic priest.
“Although rumors circulated that Zwingli married for the wealth and beauty of his wife, Anna had only 400 guilders in addition to her wardrobe and jewels. She ceased wearing her jewelry after the marriage,” noted Encyclopedia.com.
“Zwingli became the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, and the Zwingli home became a center for people who opposed the pope and who broke with the Roman Catholic Church. Anna Zwingli supported her husband's views and welcomed the dissidents into her home.”
