Affair of the Sausages facts for kids
The Affair of the Sausages in 1522 was a key event that helped start the Reformation in Zürich. This happened when Huldrych Zwingli, a pastor at Grossmünster in Zurich, Switzerland, openly supported eating sausage during the Lenten fast. Lent is a time when many Christians traditionally give up certain foods, like meat. Zwingli defended this action in a sermon called Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen (About the Choice and Freedom of Foods). He argued that Christians should be free to fast or not to fast. He believed this because the Bible does not say that eating meat during Lent is wrong. This idea was based on Martin Luther's teaching that the Bible is the main source of religious authority.
Contents
History
Huldrych Zwingli was a pastor in Zurich. His ideas were similar to other important reformers like Martin Luther. His first big disagreement with the church leaders happened during Lent in 1522. This was when he was present while people ate sausages at the home of Christoph Froschauer. Froschauer was a printer in Zurich who later published Zwingli's translation of the Bible.
Before this event, Zwingli already had ideas that were part of the Reformation. In March 1522, he was invited to a sausage meal at Froschauer's house. Froschauer said his workers were tired from printing a new edition of The Epistles of Saint Paul. Important people and priests were also there, including Leo Jud, Klaus Hottinger, and Lorenz Hochrütiner. They later became well-known in the Swiss Reformation. The meal included Swiss Fasnachtskiechli (a type of pastry) and some slices of smoked hard sausage.
Eating meat during Lent was against the rules at that time. Because of this, the event caused a public outcry, and Froschauer was arrested. Even though Zwingli himself did not eat the sausages, he quickly defended Froschauer. He argued that fasting should be a personal choice, not something forced upon people.
Zwingli was promoting the idea that people could decide for themselves about Lent. This was different from the strict rules of the Catholic Church at the time. The Zurich sausage affair showed an example of Christian freedom. It is seen as a very important event for Switzerland, similar to how Martin Luther's 95 theses were important for the German Reformation.
Impact
When Hugo von Hohenlandenberg, the Bishop of Konstanz, heard about the sausage affair, he was very upset. He ordered that no Reformation ideas should be preached in Switzerland. However, it was too late. Zwingli became a very popular and respected leader in Swiss Protestantism. He had even recovered from the Black plague. Zwingli also wrote sixty-seven theses, which were similar to Martin Luther's. These theses challenged several old beliefs of the Church of Rome.
In culture
The Affair of the Sausages is the topic of a musical piece called Geist und Wurst (Spirit and Sausage) by Edward Rushton, created in 2015.
See Also
In Spanish: Caso de las salchichas para niños
