January 1, 1484
Wildhaus, Switzerland
October 11, 1531
Kappel, Switzerland

Religious reformer

"Everything that God permits or has not forbidden is proper."

Huldrych Zwingli.

The Swiss Protestant reformer Huldrych Zwingli paved the way for the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. (The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement that resulted in the establishment of a Christian religion separate from the Roman Catholic faith). Zwingli's ideas had a profound and long-lasting influence on church-state relations in Swiss cantons (states in the Swiss Confederation) that adopted Protestantism. A contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546; see entry), the German priest who initiated the Reformation, Zwingli made significant contributions that permanently affected Western (non-Asian) civilization.