Swiss Brethren
Early Mennonite predecessors
The Swiss Brethren were a group of Anabaptist reformers who broke from Ulrich Zwingli in 1520s Zurich, rejecting infant baptism and advocating separation of church and state.
They practiced adult baptism based on personal confession of faith, which brought severe persecution from both Catholic and Protestant authorities.
The movement spread through Switzerland and southern Germany, eventually giving rise to the Amish and contributing to Mennonite traditions.
- ZurichSwiss financial center
- MennonitesProtestant Anabaptist denomination
- pacifismAntiwar moral stance
- AmishTraditional simple-living sect
- Radical ReformationThoroughgoing sixteenth-century Protestant movement
Protestant Reformation · Anabaptists · persecution · Hutterites · martyrdom · hymn singing · separation of church and state · mutual aid · discipleship · farming communities · plain speech · nonconformity · separatist · Bible study groups · simplicity · religious tolerance · rebaptism · congregation
- AnabaptistsMennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Mennonite, Menno Simons
- Swiss ReligionCalvinism
Swiss BrethrenRoman Catholic Church
Papal Christian institution
Lutheran Church · Eastern Orthodox Church · Calvinists · Anglicans · Anglican Church
Swiss BrethrenHoly Roman Empire
Medieval Germanic political entity
state church · state churches · established church · established churches · theocrats