Includes bibliographical references (pages 334-341) and index.

Mountain valley -- Humanist priest -- Disruptive: 1519-1522 -- Divergent visions: 1523-1524 -- Reformation -- 'We wish to learn out his own mouth who God is': true and false religion -- Broken body: Zwingli and Luther -- Expansion and conflict -- Alliances and confrontations -- End -- 'It is certain that Zwingli died in great sin and blasphemy': remembered and forgotten -- Legacies.

Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) was the most significant early reformer after Martin Luther. As the architect of the Reformation in Switzerland, he created the Reformed tradition later inherited by John Calvin. His movement ultimately became a global religion. A visionary of a new society, Zwingli was also a divisive and fiercely radical figure. Bruce Gordon presents a fresh interpretation of the early Reformation and the key role played by Zwingli. A charismatic preacher and politician, Zwingli transformed church and society in Zurich and inspired supporters throughout Europe. Yet, Gordon shows, he was seen as an agitator and heretic by many and his bellicose, unyielding efforts to realize his vision would prove his undoing. Unable to control the movement he had launched, Zwingli died on the battlefield fighting his Catholic opponents.