Always among Us: Images of the Poor in Zwingli's Zurich - Softcover

Wandel, Lee Palmer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521522544 ISBN 13: 9780521522540

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

In this elegantly written book, Lee Wandel discusses the relationship between the reform of poor relief and the Protestant Reformation in early sixteenth-century Zurich. In the introduction she traces the various ways that poverty has been evaluated, and its social and religious connotations, up to the sixteenth century. After providing a portrait of sixteenth-century Zurich, the author goes on to explore the discussion of the poor in various media of the town: the sermons and pamphlets of Huldrych Zwingli, who was preaching that the poor were the true images of God; printed images depicting Christ calling beggars and other poor folk to Him (these appeared on title pages of Zwingli's pamphlets); the language of legislation (in particular the poor ordinances of 1520 and 1525). By exploring each of these different "languages"--the words of Zwingli's sermons, the visual images of title page prints, and the language of legislation--Professor Wandel restores the complex perception of the poor in Reformation Zurich. In each, the poor were located within matrices of religious and social values and were seen as both economically dependent and symbolic within larger theological and ethical constructs.

About this title

Book Description:

In this elegantly written book, Lee Wandel discusses the relationship between the reform of poor relief and the Protestant Reformation in early sixteenth-century Zurich. Close attention is paid to the sermons and pamphlets of Zwingli, who preached that the poor were the true images of God.

Review:

"Wandel has produced an elegant and crisp multidisciplinary profile of the reformation of charity in Zwingli's Zurich." William Monter, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"...much of the author's argument is highly convincing...." Christopher R. Friedrichs, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History

"...this book is to be commended for the concerted effort to weave together insights from different disciplines. It is particularly exciting to see the combination of visual imagery for the poor on Zwingli's pamphlets with the polemic against images in churches--a fascinating re-visioning of the commonplace that the Reformed tradition rejected religious art." Elsie McKee, Princeton Seminary Bulletin

"...a carefully crafted, well-written study, and it is a welcome addition to the growing literature in English about Zurich during the Reformation period." J. Wayne Baker, Church History

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521522544
• ISBN 13: 9780521522540
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208